Hey everyone, I am about to buy my first LCD HDTV, and looking to spend around $1,300. I would prefer a 40''-42'' 1080P set if possible...I am leaning towards the VIZIO GV42LF which comes out mid July but I have heard mixed reviews about VIZIO. I just want to have a decent quality set thats going to be reliable and give me good picture quality when watching HD. I plan on hooking up a PS3 and a HTIB system with an upscaling DVD player (Philips HTS3555) and possibly use it as a PC monitor from time to time (VGA connection). Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

.

can anyone give me any insight?

not sure about the vizio's. pq just don't look that good to me. save a little more $ and pick up a samsung, sharp, or sony. otherwise, go plasma for under $1300.

yea but i've heard plasmas aren't good for gaming and bright rooms, so i pretty much need an lcd.

Check the plasma section for gaming. Many people think they are excellent. Much smoother. Search for pros and cons. The Panasonic TH-42PX77U has an anti-glare screen that folks say are almost LCD-like. See if they are anti-reflective enough for you. CC and Sears has them. No VGA though, if this is a priority.

yea but i've heard plasmas aren't good for gaming and bright rooms, so i pretty much need an lcd.

i know of a few people that play games on plasma and they look fine to me. earlier first generation sets use to have burn-in issues but i'm pretty sure they got alot of that worked out now. they're plenty robust so don't fret. Very good deals out there. Wait for the LCD's to drop.

i know of a few people that play games on plasma and they look fine to me. earlier first generation sets use to have burn-in issues but i'm pretty sure they got alot of that worked out now.

No, it is not worked out. You still can get image retention and burn in. And it is still less bright and reflects more.

Many folks are rather annoyed by the green trails in fast moving scenes - that is due to different fall time in phosphors. No such issue in LCD, as the fall-off is identical for all colors. Kinda like rainbows in DLP - not everybody is bothered.

Then, 1080p plasmas are not cheap yet, and not in smaller sizes, and while for watching movies, or SD programming, plasma resolution is adequate - you most definitly do see a difference when a computer is hooked up - and you need to read text, watch photos etc.

If you watch movies - new Kuro Pioneers are AWESOME. I will try to convince myself to upgrade in the fall. For everything else there is LCD.

For ~$1,300+ i think the best deal right now is a 42" 1080p Philips 42PFL7422D set at Costco - the one without ambilight and swivel stand. I just picked one up as a Nth screen at home.

I just looked on Costco's site and that Philips model isn't on there, is it in store only? also how much is it exactly?

I just looked on Costco's site and that Philips model isn't on there, is it in store only? also how much is it exactly?

$1399, which I considered decent, given the 1 year extension to warranty that Costco provides and nice return policy (though not as nice as it used to be).

Picture quality is very competitive with some much more expensive sets.

is that model in store only?? because I cannot find it on their website

is that model in store only?? because I cannot find it on their website

It was in a store.

ok, and is there any known issues that philips lcd's may have?

ok, and is there any known issues that philips lcd's may have?

1. Fairly mild whine sound from the stand-by transformer. You get to try to hear it from the behind of the set. My wife could not hear it. No such sound when it is on.
2. Some sets had an uneven backlight, just like Sony, Samsung had. Mine is quite OK. No banding like on Sharp.
3. Recent firmware upgrade (you stick an USB stick with a downloaded file to the side USB port) fixed issues with a buffer overflow that caused it to go into a permanent sleep mode when hooked up directly to cable for certain providers in Texas - who assigned too many channels somewere.

PQ and features are very good for the price. Vizio is not in the same league.

do you think it will possibly go down in price in the next month or 2?

do you think it will possibly go down in price in the next month or 2?

I did not bet on it. Then there is 90 days to return.