[Parafly9]

Alright, here's the deal. Last year I lived in an apartment with Wifey. We bought a 42" 1080p Westinghouse to complement the PS3. It was great there - smallroom, my upgrade from a CRT 32" 4:3 1080i TV, and I was really happy.


However, we bought a house this year. And our great room with the TV is 25x25.


Here's a picture of the room:

Anyway, the TV is about 12' from the couch. The 42" is just lost up there. It's tiny.


I wasn't going to buy a new TV, but then my wife was complaining about the TV size (imagine that!) and now all of a sudden I'm looking for a TV. Of course, we have superbowl at our house so if I do buy a new one I'd like to do it before that.


My budget is in the $2k range. Really, like $2300 most. There are a lot of good deals out there it seems. I'm thinking a 52" would be a good step up from a 42". I went to BB today to take a quick look and compare TV sizes to see how much bigger a 52" looks and it really is a substantial difference.


Anyways, I also looked on Amazon and picked out 5-6 TV's I might be interested in looking at.

• Toshiba REGZA 52HL167 ($1999 at Amazon, free ship)
• Samsung LNT5265F ($2199 at Amazon, free ship - also $2199 at BB but then there is tax
  )
• Sharp Acquos LC52D64U - $2349 Amazon shipped
• Sony Bravia KDL52W3000 - $2399 Amazon shipped

So there are 4 great TV's. I also like my Westinghouse so I was looking at the 52" Westinghouse (TX???) but I just feel like these other ones are probably better brands. The 42" one will probably become a PC monitor or something.


Things i want to know:


1. What TV is considered the "best"? I do mostly movies, HD TV, and Blu-Ray & PS3. I really rarely watch Standard Def anymore. I have Dish Network. I don't plan on hooking a PC up to it, at least not yet. The one thing that really bugs me about the Westinghouse is the poor black levels & contrast ratio.

2. My room is HUGE. Is 52" Enough? I think I'm limited by budget. I can't see going to 60", they get so much more expensive.

3. I have a room where the sun rises in the back so in the morning I have glare. The afternoon is usually Ok when I watch most stuff anyways. I heard teh Acquos has a glare issue?


Thanks for all your help! This was kind of a spur of the moment research.

 

[kazm899]

i would go with the sony 52w3000


that sharp series has some banding issues, and its a hassle to return a product when buying online.


the samsung has glare issues, so its out of the question if you have a well lit room, or like watching tv with the lights on at night.


im not too familiar with toshiba but they do have some green push issues but when properly calibrated it shouldnt be too bad.


some sony tv's have clouding issues but, i have not really heard any problems on the w3000 series, people are reporting some problems with the xbr4 series, but its nothing compared to the clouding on the xbr2/3 last year.


I think the decision is between the toshiba and sony, and if price wasnt a factor i would go with the sony as it should give you the better picture. If you go with the toshiba you could purchase a blu ray player or home theatre system if you dont already have them...........


you also should consider waiting a bit after the super bowl, stores might be clearing products in the wake of the new 2008 tv's............

 

[Parafly9]



Quote:
Originally Posted by kazm899 /forum/post/12919283


i would go with the sony 52w3000


that sharp series has some banding issues, and its a hassle to return a product when buying online.


the samsung has glare issues, so its out of the question if you have a well lit room, or like watching tv with the lights on at night.


im not too familiar with toshiba but they do have some green push issues but when properly calibrated it shouldnt be too bad.


some sony tv's have clouding issues but, i have not really heard any problems on the w3000 series, people are reporting some problems with the xbr4 series, but its nothing compared to the clouding on the xbr2/3 last year.


I think the decision is between the toshiba and sony, and if price wasnt a factor i would go with the sony as it should give you the better picture. If you go with the toshiba you could purchase a blu ray player or home theatre system if you dont already have them...........


you also should consider waiting a bit after the super bowl, stores might be clearing products in the wake of the new 2008 tv's............

Thanks for the advice. Amazon does a 30-day price thing right if I bought it now? Or would they drop the price then at the end of Feb, haha


I am watching BR right now on a PS3. I also have an Onkyo TS-xr640 with 5 speaker setup right now. (I do want a new subwoofer).


Thanks for the input. Is 52" sufficient for the distance? that's probably a pointless question since I am tied to size by $$.

 

[Parafly9]

What about the Samsung LNT5271F? It's a little more expensive ($300 or so) but has 120 hz apparently and has a better framerate I guess? I'm not sure waht that would mean ( I do use the PS3 quite a bit).


I plan on keeping this TV on the wall for many years so...

 

[Adult Beverage]

It's a beautiful room, but not designed for television watching. I would arrange my furniture so that I had a "TV area" on one side and a "sitting area" including the fireplace on the other. The TV area could have a smaller arrangement of chairs to allow you to sit closer so that a 52" would be big enough. Trying to make a TV the focal point of a room of that size and beauty is difficult. BTW, like the Sony.

 

[Parafly9]



Quote:
Originally Posted by lcd-bob /forum/post/12920793


If that is a real fireplace, FIREPLACE SOOT will ruin LCD mattte screen, but Plasma glass screen is washable. That's why on all the TV home decorating shows, they put Plasma (not LCD) TVs over fireplaces.

But the soot from the fireplace can get into the Electronics of either type TV so I would not put a set above a real fireplace.

However, if you must buy an LCD (and don't get much smoke when opening the wood stove door), buy the Samsung. There is no glare problem on the *65F model, but the *81 is very bad, like a mirror reflective surface. lcd-bob

It's a fake (gas) fireplace.

 

[Terminader]

The TV should be the size and location of the fireplace.


The fireplace should be the size of the existing TV.

 

[kazm899]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Parafly9 /forum/post/12919509


Thanks for the advice. Amazon does a 30-day price thing right if I bought it now? Or would they drop the price then at the end of Feb, haha


I am watching BR right now on a PS3. I also have an Onkyo TS-xr640 with 5 speaker setup right now. (I do want a new subwoofer).


Thanks for the input. Is 52" sufficient for the distance? that's probably a pointless question since I am tied to size by $$.

no problem.............


yes you are pretty tied up for size, 10 inches should be a sufficient upgrade though.........


the samsung 71 series is very nice set, but it also suffers from glare issues, and i think it has an 8 bit panel versus the sony's 10 bit, correct me if im wrong.


and the samsung 65 does have glare (somebody else said it didnt) as does the 71 series (as mentioned above) and the 81 series.


I saw some nice samsung, and toshiba 57 inch sets, and ive heard about the 65 inch sharp 64 set (pretty nice if you can find one without banding), those sets should go down in price in a few months as clearing for 08 sets begin, but the prices should go no where near the $2500 mark.


as of now, i still like the sony 52w3000...........


GOOD LUCK!!