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Wife and I are looking for a new TV for Christmas. We have HD digital cable from Time Warner, so we need a nice TV to watch. We don't watch a lot of TV, but would like something fairly nice and under $800.

Is there an optimal size? Maybe it's just me, but the TV's over 50" just seem kind of obnoxious and the clarity is not as good. I seem to like the 42".

Any recommendations, or any good sites with reviews?
Thanks

RickyTick wrote:

Is there an optimal size? Maybe it's just me, but the TV's over 50" just seem kind of obnoxious and the clarity is not as good. I seem to like the 42".

Any recommendations, or any good sites with reviews?
Thanks

If you will be watching mostly HD, then 50" is definitely not too big (unless of course you are sitting less than 5 or 6 feet away). The thing with HD TVs is that most people get used to the larger sized screen pretty quickly, and then often kick themselves for not going larger. I picked up a new TV this summer. The original plan was for a 46 inch, but ended up with a 58 inch. No remorse for going too big. Plus, there are a number of decent 50" sets that you should be able to grab for around $800 these days.

For general TV viewing I tend to recommend plasmas (personal preference). I think they are generally better bangs for the buck, as long as your environment is somewhat light controllable. (though after spending some time with the Samsung pn58C6500 set, I can vouch that this is much less of an issue than with many of the older plasmas)

For around the $800 to $850 mark, the Samsung PN50C550 is a pretty good set. And for ~$200 more is the slightly higher end PN50C6500. The latter is nice if you want to wall mount, especially in the living room as it's just over an inch thick. It also purportedly has somewhat better picture quality than the pretty decent PN50C550 (though this has been a point of contention on A/V forums such as AVSforum). I would expect to see these prices discounted somewhat as we approach Black Friday.

Check out the LED LCD TVs: the contrast and picture quality exceeds that of regular LCDs, regardless of size. An LED LCD also saves power (and also money) while you are using it.

I'm just waiting until I see something amazing on slickdeals.net. I'm more about value for dollar than spending more on the best tech. I'm probably going to go LCD and when I get something better, it'll go into the basement.

I am looking to buy a TV this black friday
probably going with 40-48" at least 120hz
LED doesnt matter depending on price
800$ seems reasonable

Make sure that it supports the full 1920x1080 resolution natively. Smaller sets may have a lower native resolution.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Make sure that it supports the full 1920x1080 resolution natively. Smaller sets may have a lower native resolution.

Would that generally be the case with most TV's. or is there a particular size to steer clear of?

We really don't have a lot of space, and we don't watch a lot of TV anyway, but when we do, we want it to be a very good experience. I do have an Xbox 360 (w/HDMI) to connect also.

At this point, I'm just not sold on 50+ inch screens, unless an unbeleivable deal was available.

Samsung has some nice LED TV offerings.

A 42" or 46" LCD television is likely a full-HD 1920x1080 panel. A 42" or 46" plasma set may have lower native resolution.

What's your viewing distance? Any particular genres of programs do you watch, like sports, dark movies, etc?

Flying Fox wrote:

What's your viewing distance? Any particular genres of programs do you watch, like sports, dark movies, etc?

Viewing distance is 8 to 10 feet. Usually basic movie watching, HGTV, ESPN,TLC, News, and of course Nickelodeon. We also watch a fair amount of Netlix via an Xbox 360.

If I were in your position I'd be checking the Panasonic plasmas and getting the largest one in my price point. Keep your eyes on slickdeals. 3 days ago or so there was a 50" 720p for 499

Newegg is running a promo on the Panny 50" U2. Add promo code EMCZZZN32 it will go below your $800 threshold. While it is no G25, price/performance is no equal once you tag on the promo code. Good luck.

Edit: all sold out, oops

50" TV is the best entertainment dollar I've spent ever.