# Flat Screen TV?



## Mechanicaldawg (Oct 8, 2004)

I'm in the market for a flat screen. The question is plasma or LED? And why?


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## Randy (Oct 8, 2004)

I just bought a brand new flat screen from Walmart.  I bought the Sony WEGA.  It was ranked tops by consumer reports.  I did not go plasma becasue I think the price is still too high.  I bet within a year they will be half what they are now.  I could not wait that long.


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## Kdog (Oct 8, 2004)

Man it must be nice to have that kind of money.  All I got is a 2 year old digital 52".  It will have to do for a few more years.

Kdog


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## Mechanicaldawg (Oct 8, 2004)

OK!

I guess I used the wrong terminology.

What I mean is "Flat TV". You know, the type you hang on the wall.


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## Randy (Oct 8, 2004)

Sorry, I can't help you there.  I can't afford those either!


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## Mechanicaldawg (Oct 8, 2004)

reylamb?!?!? Where are you?!?!?


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## Steven Farr (Oct 8, 2004)

Jeff,
From what I have been told, Plasma is still too risky.  There is no such thing as a "minor" repair on them.  I believe the LED is the way to go if you are wanting something to hang on the wall.  If you want the flat look, look for a DLP.  Sam's had the best buy for the money not long ago.  The problem with a true, hang on the wall tv is that the picture gets bad the further to the side you get.  Just move to the side of a laptop and you will understand.  A DLP tv keeps an undistorted picture from the side.  The 48" DLP's are less than 20" deep and weigh less than 30 lbs.

Maybe I helped some.


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## Mechanicaldawg (Oct 8, 2004)

Thanks Steven.

I've heard that with plasma, if you don't have a HD signal the picture is very grainy.

Is that true with DLP?


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## Steven Farr (Oct 8, 2004)

The DLP's still look very, very good without an HD signal. 

I looked into getting an HD signal but Dish Network only offers a few channels and I didn't think it was worth it. 

Again, the DLP's have a great picture without an HD signal


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## TurkeyCreek (Oct 9, 2004)

Kdog said:
			
		

> Man it must be nice to have that kind of money.
> Kdog



Yep...i knew i shoulda been a contractor!!!  

Hey Jeff..you aint gettin ready for a National Championship game or something are ya???????  

Good Luck in getting the new TV....i don't have i clue about those things...


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## HuntinTom (Oct 9, 2004)

*I must be Behind...*

I'm just now looking at buying one of those new-fangled TV's with a remote control...


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## reylamb (Oct 9, 2004)

As a chief engineer of a TV station, I have an LCD at the house.  I would not own a plasma yet.  The technology is just not there yet.  Contrary to what the wonderful sales staff at Best Buy may have to say, they still have burn in problems, something that has plagued the plasma sector from the beginning.  Having said that, Panasonic has a new plasma geared towards broadcasters that is awesome, but they are very proud of it, $15k for the 52" model.

The picture quality on plain old analog TV is the same between plasma and LCD or DLP's.  There may even be a slight edge towards the LCD and DLP monitors.  Do not get suckered into buying a plasma that is EDTV.  Yes they are cheaper, but they will not now, nor ever display true HDTV and the picture quality is not up to par with with the LCD and DLP monitors either.  EDTV monitors have their niche, for the folks that want to impress their neighbors with a cool TV, but do not care about the quality.  While the quality is better than the older NTSC TVs we all know and love, it is not up their with the HDTV monitors.  If anyone here owns an EDTV monitor, I apologize if I may have offended.

As for HDTV, until you see it you will not know what you are missing.  Several of the ATL cable outlets are beginning to offer HD over cable, with Comcast leading the way.  On the DBS side, Dish does have a decent offering of HDTV, as does Direct TV.  Voom offers the most HD channels at this time.  The drawback to the DBS guys is the cost for multiple receivers, but even that is coming down.  There will not be a lot of over the air DTV available in Monroe, unless you have a 100' tower in your backyard.  Cable and/or DBS may be your only option.  Prior to buying a set you may want to contact your cable provider to see if they plan on offering HDTV via cable.  If not, investigate the DBS provider, Dish, Direct TV, and VOOM.

Now, this piece of advise may come as a shocker, but I disagree with Clark Howard.  If you are planning to buy a flat screen, get the extended warranty or service plan.   Also, contrary to what the, once again, wonderful sales staff at Best Buy may say, you do not need to buy $80, gold plated component video cables.  Plain Jane, average as dirt, ordinary component video cables work just fine at a fraction of the cost.  The sales guy may tell you that you will not get the best image with the cheaper cables, but that is a hoax.  The plain coax cables have plenty of bancwidth to do the job and work just fine.  Fact is we, the broadcasters, are still using copper coax in all of our plants.  If we do not need the gold plated cables for the transmission, you do not need it at home.

For the audio portion you have 2 options.  Get a monitor with audio bult in or buy a receiver.  If you already own a receiver check to see if it has a digital audio input.  The receiver option is the best way to truely experience HDTV since you get the full surround sound effect.

In order to receive HDTV, whether OTA or through cable or DBS providers you will need a HDTV receiver.  The new 5th generation chipsets are flat out awesome.  If OTA is not an option in your area you will get one from either your cable provider or the DBS provider.  Most are sending out Samsungs, and I do not care for them for techincal reasons as to how they handle the video levels.  Most consumers will never know the difference, so the picture may look great to you, I can not say for sure.

Finally, let me say this.  Unless the money is just burning a hole in your pocket, hold off until November.  Recent trade journals are expecting massive drops in pricing just in time for the Christmas season.  With These massive price drops, many of the monitors will have built in HDTV tuners, another plus.


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## reylamb (Oct 9, 2004)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, SONY is a 4 letter word, I am suprised the filter did not **** it out!!!!!  Just kidding Randy.  Or maybe not, I hate Sony equipment and try to keep all of it out of my TV station.


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## ramblinrack (Oct 9, 2004)

jeff, i bought a sony wega widescreen (picture tube) about a year ago and to me, watching the games on it is about as good as it gets. my local cable is now offering hd as well although i haven't checked on it yet. the pic is purdy darn good as it is! ask woody...i believe he bought one as well.


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## dixie (Oct 10, 2004)

*Hdtv*

I'm glad this tread came up, we're looking at a sanyo 32 inch HDTV. It's appox 725.00 new, It as the "HD" box built in, so there's nothing else to buy, can you please tell me what your opinion of sanyo HD's are?


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## TOW (Oct 10, 2004)

HuntinTom said:
			
		

> I'm just now looking at buying one of those new-fangled TV's with a remote control...



Hmm..

I'm looking a *COLOR* TV.. Wouldn't that be nice? 

I've still got my old B & W Zenith. It does have one of those green, clear and blue colored plastic filters over it so it looks like real color..remember those?


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## reylamb (Oct 11, 2004)

Dixie,

Sanyos are Samsungs by any other name.  They have the engine and chips from Samsung.  They are a very good quality and you should like it.


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## Mechanicaldawg (Oct 11, 2004)

Thanks, Jeffrey! I figured you'd be able to head me in the right direction.

Just for the record, I'm looking at buying one of these for one of my customers!

He's a good'en, if you know what I mean, and oh yea, maddog! He's an engineer!


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## TurkeyCreek (Oct 11, 2004)

buying a big screen for your customers...taking them deep sea fishin......wow, i need to get on that customer list   i'll see if we can't send some work your way...


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## Mechanicaldawg (Oct 11, 2004)

Come on in! The water's fine!


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## reylamb (Oct 11, 2004)

When you say a good customer, how good is good?  The reason I ask is that there is one plasma out there that I would recommend, but the price is big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.  Thus far, it has been the best performing plasma screen to date, and the image is crystal clear.  That plasma is the Pioneer PureVision 50".


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## Thedawghouse (Oct 11, 2004)

I have been looking into these TV's too.  I found Plasma have fans in them since they operate at higher temps than LCD and may not be the best choice of TV for a bedroom due to added noise.  Right now I think a plasma for the LR/Den  and LCD for the bedroom.   There's a new store at PIB and GM Blvd. at I-285 called Bargan USA that had a real good deal last weekend on both TV'S.  You might want to look there also for a good deal.  Last weekend you couldn't get within 1/2 mile of the store so I wasn't able to score one.  They have a web site too but don't have the address right now. the store name witha  .com..>Should work.


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