Best TV for the Buck



Quote:
Originally Posted by CheeseB /forum/post/16860426


Like many others, I haven't really researched TVs recently. After a quick scan of these forums, I haven't come to a conclusion, I've come to a question.


I'm looking for about 50" @ under $1500. Obviously the bigger the better, and the cheaper the better (my original budget was around $1000; however, as always, my researched has raised my ceiling). I don't care about plasma/LCD.


It seems like the LED LCDs are probably out of my price range. So my question is, what TV should I get?


I'd use it mostly as my computer monitor and some PS3 (games & movies).


I'm thinking along the lines of a Panasonic G10 (or even the V10). Or should I wait to see if the Samsung B750 will come down in price? Or are there other viable options I should consider?


Thanks for all your input.

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By all means if you for God knows why you'd enjoy a plasma do it and enjoy as it's a value if you only look at how CHEAP it is but from my perspective as being totally ANTI-PLASMA having owned one POS Panny in my sunny room here's my reasoning on why not to buy CHEAP Mirrored Plasmas. I do not post these thoughts like a Troll in the Plasma threads but I will on LCD threads. I would not place a G10 in my HT Room even if I got it for FREE! Best Bang for Nothing won't make the cut in my HT!


Best Bang for Buck always depends on how many Bucks one has to get the bang. IMO the Sony "Z" PQ got my bucks and I love the 650/750 Samsung despite it's reflective panel that is not like a mirrored plasma.


Here's what I see as negatives having owned a Panny Plasma and I post these points so that when you audition them with your own eyes that you can look for those points in your evaluation considering your own viewing environment and preferences - when I bought mine it was based on it being deemed on this forum as King of the Hill by fanboys on this forum and when I got it in my home I deemed it King of the Crap Hill and never again be a Lemming of this Forum again (AKA Kuro Fanboys too) and it cost me $500 to get it out of my house and this was when a 50" sold for $3800 on sale and when I audition them today I still see the same flaws and last year I vacationed at a Condo in Florida and was forced to view it and it was crap also and only reinforced my distaste for Panny Plasma. Don't fret though as it's certain some bored plasma fanboys will arrive to the G10's rescue and flame me since they may be getting bored with dwindling discussions over their on the Dark Side of the forum.


The Panny Plasma has it's STRONG deficiencies:

• Dirty Yellow Gray WHITES - in fact no true white! Urinated on Whites! Carribean Ocean Wake and Ski Slopes are bright nearly blinding white and requiring sun glasses/goggles - they are not gray or yellow white - been to the real deal and they are WHITE!
• Daytime Washout - Glare! If you have daytime SUN forget any dark video games or movies. Try poppng in FEAR and playing it during daytime or similar dark gaming and movies.
• Reflective panel 24/7 to shave in and inventory the contents of your room.
• Dull and Dim compared to a quality LCD.
• No Shadow Details in those BLACKS. CR is measured Black to White and back again not Yellow. White provides contrast to the entire color spectrum - look around you as you go through your day how it's used - your trim is most often painted WHITE.
• Cartoonish Greens and periodic green tint and fringe around objects and trails.
• My Sharp has the best flesh tones of any panel I've owned - Panny plasma has that tint on it's glass that gives it the false illusion of deeper blacks which leads to those gray and yellowish dirty whites.
• Blurry inferior SD
• You can go to sleep every night viewing LCD and not worry about IR/TIR or Burn-in period and no assinine break-in period.
• Mine had ZERO WoW factor even at 50" vs. the SXRD I had previous to it and my current 57" Sharp and my new Sony Z5100 blows them all away IMO.
• Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing!

I have to agree with the previous poster about the weaknesses of Plasma for use in a non theater only environment.


I have always been bothered by the dirty whites on a Plasma, and the reflections everywhere. I find it very distracting to see reflections of yourself watching the set, even in darkened environments.


As to best set for the buck, it's a tough call. Samsung is undisputed King of the LCD hill, but you pay for that title in their sets.


For value, Vizio is hard to beat. Good track record of PQ; reliability; service; and the no dead pixel guarantee.


Now that Vizio has gotten away from some of the tacky looking design of the front of their sets, they actually look like they belong in a home.


They are usually ranked at the top of the "second tier" manufacturers, which is usually where the value lies for purchasers wanting the most performance for their bucks, with the fewest tradeoffs.

you should pretty much ignore westa's post. he will be posting the same post 10 years down the road. this is at least the 3rd time he has made a post like this because he disliked his plasma years ago.


"I'm the anti-plasma Member and here's why I would not take one for free in my Sunny room:


The Panny Plasma has it's STRONG deficiencies IMO & Experience:

Dirty Yellow Gray WHITES - in fact no true white! Urinated on Whites! Carribean Ocean Wake and Ski Slopes are bright nearly blinding white and requiring sun glasses/goggles - they are not gray or yellow white - been to the real deal and they are WHITE!

Daytime Washout - Glare! If you have daytime SUN forget any dark video games or movies. Try poppng in FEAR and playing it during daytime or similar dark gaming and movies. Dark detailed blacks are non-existant in a sunny room.

Reflective panel 24/7 to shave in and inventory the contents of your room.

Dull and Dim compared to a quality LCD.

No Shadow Details in those BLACKS. CR is measured Black to White and back again not Yellow. White provides contrast to the entire color spectrum - look around you as you go through your day how it's used - your trim is most often painted WHITE.

Cartoonish Greens and periodic green tint and fringe around objects and trails.

My Sharp has the best flesh tones of any panel I've owned - Panny plasma has that tint on it's glass that gives it the false illusion of deeper blacks which leads to those gray and yellowish dirty whites.

Blurry inferior SD

You can go to sleep every night viewing LCD and not worry about IR/TIR or Burn-in period and no assinine break-in period.

Mine had ZERO WoW factor even at 50" vs. the SXRD I had previous to it and my current 57" Sharp."


one of his past posts. Now he has added buzzing because of what he saw on the samsung plasma threads.



He should really view a newer panasonic plasma in a proper viewing environment and compare it to a mid-level lcd, or low-level lcd, like what will be suggested in this thread, and see if his opinion has changed. But I am sure he has because every one on the internet has done everything.

Still laughing out loud at the drivel posted above (westa).


I have one of the brightest living rooms imagineable with east, south, and western exposure...huge windows, vitually no window treatments.


I owned an XBR4 which is still considered one of the finest LCD's around. I liked it quite a bit.


I wanted bigger and got a 60" Kuro (plasma).


It's (the Kuro) a better display in virtually EVERY meaningful way. It is perfectly visible at EVERY hour of the day. Any dunderhead knows that plasma's reflective issues were all-but resolved with the introduction of AR (anti-reflective) coatings in the last 2-3 years.

Ironically, it appears now that (especially Samsung) LCD's are facing more of the reflective issues with their panels.


As far as burn-in and IR, anything short of blatant abuse is a non-issue. I could care less about the FRACTION of new plasma owners who've experienced otherwise...there's always outliers.


Good grief. I know this is technically the "LCD" area, but the insertion of a little objectivity is useful to someone spending $1500 on a television and indifferent to particular tech.


There are plenty of great choices either way, LCD or plasma, but I personally like your first inclination: the Panny V and G series are pretty much garnering wide-spread acclaim for their performance- especially at their price-points.


good luck sir, and try to side-step the madness.


James



Quote:
Originally Posted by BoilerJim /forum/post/16860856


I agree with westa 100%. Obviously, this is an LCD Forum so I don't understand why all of the Plasma fanboys come over here to tell us how great that technology is. If that were the case, you would see plasma sales increasing, not dropping like a rock. You would also see an increase in the number of plasma manufacturers, not a decrease. If you like plasma, you probably also like 8-track tapes, 35mm cameras, and betamax.

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I am not a plasma owner. If some one posted 100 times the same out-dated illogical anti-LCD crap I would've responded exactly the same. When people call some one out because they say stupid non-sense its not cause they are a fanyboy.


I think you should re-consider your logic on sales=quality, along with gathering some more information.




OP might want to leave this forum(not just the lcd section) and read some professional reviews of some of the sets in his price range. Cnet will give him a good enough over-view to make a purchase rather than listening to people on this forum cry about plasmas and how a plasma that ate their baby and burnt a hole in their wall.


It's starting to get hard to tell if people are trolling......... and this is an av forum.



Quote:
Originally Posted by mistermad /forum/post/16862549


Obsolete technology? I'm rofl at such an egregious claim. Tell that to my 60 inch kuro elite. If it could speak, it would laugh at you.

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Recently saw a Pioneer Elite (plasma) with HORRIFIC screen burn in. This can still be a problem even with orbiting pixel shifting and all the other stuff designed to prevent a problem inherent to plasma technology.


I will freely admit that for a video purist, plasma is better, however, for the vast majority of people, LCD technology fits the bill best.


My new 52" Sony XBR LCD wirelessly doubles as my computer screen with no burn in concerns.... I can live with what is a minor concern to me considering LCD display versus plasma - LCD's slightly lesser ability to reproduce black.


Like it or not, plasma is a technology being supplanted by LCD - that's just reality.



Quote:
Originally Posted by mistermad /forum/post/16862549


Obsolete technology? I'm rofl at such an egregious claim. Tell that to my 60 inch kuro elite. If it could speak, it would laugh at you.

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You are aware that Pioneer dropped production of Plasmas.


Due to this, there probably won't ever be a talking Kuro Elite - mach II.


By the way, my Toshiba DLP TV does talk - providing audio error messages. Too bad DLP is also obsolete technology.

I was so keen on buying Pioneer Kuro plasma - but to me this WHOLE RANGE (and all plasmas in general) had unacceptable flicker, especially when there’s a lot of white displayed across most of the screen area...!!! Black is fantastic, but there are not enough details in dark shades...LCD's have much worst blacks, but at least they produce details in dark shades...


Then, there was a problem with Kuros TV supply to shops and market in general.... I had to wait 3 months at least...


Then Pioneer announced that they will stop production of plasma screens - and focus on "car stereo market"..???


It would be interesting to know what a typical Kuro owner would deem a suitable replacement for their screens if they had to replace Kuro TV for any reason, hypothetically… (I know they wouldn’t want to replace their screens with anything else currently available on the market)


Boky