Looking for an LED 1080p 40" HDTV for around $500?

Any reason why it has to be LED backlit?

Might get more bang for your buck with ccfl at this price point. Brand name, size, IPS panel etc.

It won't have "LED" in the description, if it doesn't outright tell you what kind of backlight in the specs. All led backlkt sets will say led though. Big sellign point, slightly thinner.

The benefit is no one wants LCd tv's that don't have a LED backlight, they're cheaper, & mot ccfl's look better, more even, than an edge lit led anyway. & you can get ips & a name brand instead. Full array backlit led with local dimming is another story, but also more expensive. Lg, samsung, & panasonic still make some, idk about sony. Just my opinion though, it doesn't matter that much at this price point. They're all goijg to have compromises.

IDK but some of the top gurus here at avs ARE capable of discering such things.

If it is advertised as an "LCD" rather than an "LED", or "LED-LCD" it is going to have ccfl backlighting, simple as that. It will also be thicker (in the 3-4" range for ccfl, rather than the 2" range for LED-LCD). I don't think there is a plasma available in a screen size of less than 42", so if you stick to 40" or under you will get LCD.

CNET likes the Toshiba 40L5200U which can be had for ~$550 right now. Tiger Direct had a coupon last week that made it $500.
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/toshiba-40l5200u/4505-6482_7-35244017.html

I would recommend the Toshiba also...it's a great deal.

That should be way down your list of priorities for a TV set as the difference in electricity between an led/lcd and a ccfl/lcd will be so negligible and hardly noticeable.. Picture quality should be way more important. It would be like choosing a lesser car cause it's rated to get 26 mpg as opposed to 25.9 mpg.

If you crunched the numbers & proved led is more profitable for your application, then yeah. That Westinghouse will have paid for itself by this time next year, or by this time some other year in the future.

I see Best Buy has the excellent Samsung 40E550 1080p 40" LCD HDTV on sale this week for well under your target price...

^ nice one, unfortunately Stealth needs all 120 herzes.

The 42cs570 is $520, but not LED, & no 3d or smart aps etc.

Can't have it all, price, PQ performance & all the features you want.

even at this sizE you have to decide where you,re willing to compromise.

Bigger than your target siZe, under your target budget, smart apps, & it's a VIZIO! Not some disposable budget brand you can't even find parts for once its warranty expries.

I don't think Vizio is a good brand and some have had serious issues with their sets wiithout the option to repair them (parts were not available and warranty had expired). I'd go with a Samsung or perhaps a LG instead. Also, 120Hz isn't that important/doesn't really improve the picture that much, especially on TVs in this price range.

Yeah, I'm referring to the issue in that HD guru article (and the related threads here at AVS). It seems that more often than not, their sets cannot be repaired as parts are not available and issues often occur right after the standard warranty expires. Buying a new set is then the only option (and they might give you a small discount but at that point would you really want another Vizio? I wouldn't).

I have a 120Hz Samsung CCFL-LCD from 2009 I spent over $700 on (only a 32 incher too) and the auto motion plus feature barely reduced motion blur and caused more artifacts than real improvement to fast moving scenes... I ended up just disabling the feature altogether and have since not considered Hz to be a good reason to pick one TV over another. My 60Hz 2011 LG LCD actually has better motion than the 120Hz Samsung.

Stealth- ypu got it. Deeper blacks, brighter whites & longer life with LED vs. more even backlight, smoother motion, & wider viewing angle with ccfl IPS.

I really can't argue with your choice, but my prederence is the latter at this price point.

Im not sure if you have made your decision as of yet? But I know most electronics especially flat screens start trending down in price after the Labor Day Weekend. I personally agree with a few posters when advising against the visio brand. I had a 42" LED with the "smart" online features last year for 48 hours. Then after seeing a 42" Samsung at BJ's online for $499 and hooked up a Blue Ray with online capabilities ($119) I was so much happier with quality and picture! Might I add the Samsung was LCD not LED like the Vizio but the picture was much more brilliant! Also with any Samsung if you register online it extends your warranty by 12 months. Good Luck

Thats a plasma TV not an LED set.
Are you now looking at other than LED models too?

these benefits of "LED" are not always the case and have a lot to do with whether the set has a better panel or not (which has nothing to do with it being "LED")... that being said full array LED-LCDs with local dimming can have deeper blacks but that category of LED-LCD is very pricey and uncommon

Also, claims of LED sets having brighter whites is pointless since any modern LCD can get far too bright with the backlight maxed out and the longer life claim is totally bogus (in fact the LED lifetime may actually be shorter based on some threads regarding LED long-term performance here at AVS).