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Flat Screen TV Virgin

Tmissy

Tmissy

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Messages
57
Hello All, I am looking to venture in to the wonderful land of flat screen TV viewing. Problem is I need help pulling the trigger.

Interested in 40-42 inch. Not a name brand whore but do want the best quality, affordable TV in that size. Either LCD or LED NOT Plasma. I have been told you want to get a minimum of 1080 resolution (I think) but that is about it for my knowledge.

For someone looking to buy a flat screen for the first time what features, and brands would any of you more knowledgable folks guide me too? I am a moderate to heavy TV viewer if that helps any. Also what do I need to buy extra to have the HD experience? i think I need to get HDMI cables. I think most new TV have these features anyway correct?

I know I will need to upgrade my cable service..only have very basic (just to get reception right now). What else might I need to know?

Budget? well not sure again for a 40 inch average to best quality brand TV what is a fair price to pay?

Any of the Tekkie folks that have recently researched and purchased a flat screen TV your input would be greatly appreciated.
 
We also never had a flat-screen TV, however DH ended up getting me a cute little 26" LCD TV for our kitchen for Christmas and we're so happy with the picture that we're getting a 55 or 60-inch LED TV this weekend for our living room.

We've done a bunch of research and Vizio keeps popping up as a brand that provides the most value for LED and LCD TVs.The one we have is a Vizio and comes with a lot of extras, which we probably won't use. For instance, it connects to our WiFi so we could download movies from Netflix straight to the TV. I also like how the screen is very matte since we have a lot of windows in our home. When we were at Best Buy this weekend I noticed a lot of other screens are shinier and I hate the reflection of light.

The other brand we are considering is a Sony Bravia because it also ranked pretty high among several consumer sites. We would likely still choose the Vizio over the Bravia, but the Vizio only comes in 55 inches and DH really would prefer the 60, in which case it would have to be the Bravia.

I found that scouring sites and reading reviews was most helpful to me! Good luck!
 
In addition to the brands NEL mentioned, Panasonic makes great tvs.

eta: I recommend getting one of those "set up discs" - it will help you set your tv to have the best possible picture. They cost a couple dollars, but often you can get them for free at a Best Buy or something when you buy your tv (or go in later and lie about buying a tv from them ;)) )
 
Was up at 5 am on boxing day to get our Sony Bravia 55 inch LED. Its fantastic. We chose it because the reviews are good, it was a good deal on boxing day, and we wanted something that can connect to wifi. It seemed thinner than some of the others in the store so I liked that. Vizio isn't available at any stores near my parents' house (we were there for Christmas) so that made the decision pretty easy. We went with LED because the contrast is supposed to be sharper and it is supposed to last longer.

We upgraded our cable to the HD package and the guy brought HDMI cables when he came to install it. However, our bluray player didn't come with cables so we had to go and buy some. It worked right out of the box with our regular cable, but the picture looked "funny" until we upgraded to HD everything.
 
Vizio -- We have a 32" as our "kitchen tv" that has been great for the last almost 6 years. It died once and we shipped it for warranty service. Had it back within a week, all repaired, for a flat $150($99?).

We like ours so well that we just got a 36" 1080 LCD for my grandparents! (They LOVE it!). The picture is absolutely gorgeous. Light sensor so that it adjusts brightness to the level needed (so better picture with light room, not blinding in dark room!!).

Watch for sales (especially with free shipping) online at places like Vann's and Dell. (We got the 36" from Dell). The prices can be better than local stores and there's no sales tax.


I also read great things about Panasonic.


Look for:

1080 resolution
viewing angle (if that matters to you -- does for us!-- this is where you can be sitting and still see the picture)
contrast ratio (bigger ratio is better: 50,000:1 is MUCH better than 10,000:1)
 
We have 2 of them..the newest is a 55inch LED Samsung. The Samsung brand is excellent when it comes to these TVs..check out CNET.COM they give reviews. My other TV is a Sharp Aquos LCD which is 3 yr old..another good one. LED is the newer technology...ours is about 1 inch thick and very very light. I love that TV and I'm not an electronics person. Here is the LED we have http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN55B8000-55-Inch-1080p-HDTV/dp/B0028YB8MA
 
i have two Samsung LCDs a 19" on top of my desk and a 40" in the bedroom.i love the red frame... :love: my next TV purchase will be a "true LED" for the living room. IMO...the best bang for the buck is a TRUE LED by LG.
 
Dh does all the research so I don't know the details. We have a panasonic (but it's not an LCD - it's a plasma)....

Be sure to get a Blue Ray to go with your new tv :)
Enjoy!
 
WOW this information is exactly what I was looking for......a HUGE THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU...

I really needed a place to start the process. This will help a lot. The infamous "THEY" say January is a good to time to catch TV deals where new modals are coming in gotta move the older modals and with Superbowl around the corner the TV deals are usually better.

Can anyone provide a ball park regarding pricing for example in the spectrum for a 40 inch what is fair/average? A good deal, vs ok price vs that is a steal price?
 
Tmissy|1294796771|2820247 said:
WOW this information is exactly what I was looking for......a HUGE THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU...

I really needed a place to start the process. This will help a lot. The infamous "THEY" say January is a good to time to catch TV deals where new modals are coming in gotta move the older modals and with Superbowl around the corner the TV deals are usually better.

Can anyone provide a ball park regarding pricing for example in the spectrum for a 40 inch what is fair/average? A good deal, vs ok price vs that is a steal price?
Click to expand...
usually the best time to buy an older model is b/t March-May when the newer models are released,but be sure to compare prices,cuz the newer models may be less expensive... ;))
 
Ours was $1600 for a 55 inch Sony Bravia LED (120 Hz). It was a boxing day sale. We're in Canada so I'm not sure how that price compares to the US (our stuff is usually more expensive). It is usually around $1900 I think. The Samsung ones are a bit more expensive than that. Anything 240 Hz is going to be more expensive. I didn't look in to 40 inch TV's much, but I believe they were under $1000. There were a few door crashers that were in the 300's, but they were brands I'd never heard of. I think the more known brands were around $700.
 
We just bought a Samsung 40" LED 1080p 120hz from Amazon, a couple days after Christmas. Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036WT492/ref=oss_product. I saw it at Best Buy for $899, but Amazon had some kind of secret sale on it, and I ended up paying $760. We love it so far, and it has great picture quality. We also bought a Sony Blu-ray player with built-in wireless so we can stream Netflix and other internet apps directly to the TV. And we upgraded from Charter Cable to Verizon FIOS, because apparently only FIOS broadcasts at 1080p, so will have the best HD picture. The TV has 4 HDMI slots, so we can simultaneously plug in a computer, the blu-ray, and other things if needed. You'll have to buy the cables separately, but they're about $8-11 on Amazon.com. The majority of the mid-level 40-42" tvs seemed to be running $800-1000, but definitely keep an eye out for deals, or packages that will include a blu-ray player and sound system with the TV.
 
our old sony rear projector hand-me down tv died back in september, so we just bought our first flat screen. we didn't really have a budget set in stone (though in my head i wanted to keep it around $1000). we went to best buy & i feel head over heels for the 42" sharp aquos they had on display. we then looked at every other tv & annoyed the sales people for hours more. left & went to check out sears selection. prices were higher. went back to best buy. milled around another hour (seriously.) and decided on the 50" sharp aquos, which was a budget buster ($1600 at the time) but we could still afford it. after like 7 hours of shopping we wanted to take it home & set it up. the box wouldn't fit in our car :( so, back to the drawing board. we ended up w/a 50" panasonic veira plasma that was in a smaller box & a little over 1/2 the price of the sharp (on sale $899). we our beyond happy with it. i was against getting a plasma b/c i thought if they were so much cheaper they had to be worse. the sales associate explained the differences & for us they we were ok with the plasma. you don't have to worry about viewing angle distortion, our model has an anti-glare coating. has great black levels. beyond great refresh rate. it does put out heat but our living room is the coldest room in our house, so that wasn't a deal breaker; & really, it doesn't put off that much heat. "burning images" aren't a concern with plasmas these days, according to the sales associate. anyways, that's all i know about them.

good luck!

ETA: change prices, messed them up...whoops.
 
The 38" LCD from Vizio we got for my grandparents cost us $439. That was an AMAZING deal that included a discount because of the company FI works for. Sale prices had it closer to $599. Regular price about $700.
We could have gotten the 40" (42?) for $559.

Check to see if you can get discounts through your employer. (FI & I both get discounts at Dell through the companies we work for.)
 
I plan to forever remain a flat screen TV virgin.
That thing would hurt. ;(
 
LOL ....Kenny you are kraazy!! Thanks for the chuckle.

Thanks All I am filing all the info away.

Measured my space in LR where TV will live. Really would better to get 37 inch. 40 I realize was too ambitious.
 
Good luck, TMissy! I'm sure you'll get somehing you'll love!

Funny story--we just got hit with a snow storm here in New England and my husband decided to try out our new snow tires by driving to New Hampshire (no sales tax) to get our TV tonight. Only my husband would decide to drive to another state after an enormous snow storm for a TV.
 
Tmissy|1294885762|2821256 said:
LOL ....Kenny you are kraazy!! Thanks for the chuckle.

Thanks All I am filing all the info away.

Measured my space in LR where TV will live. Really would better to get 37 inch. 40 I realize was too ambitious.
Click to expand...

Are you checking the actual width of the TV in the specs? Keep in mind that 40" is the diagonal measurement, and the width of the TV will be less. Our 40" TV is actually 37" wide.
 
I have 4 in my house. Basement one I use for working out and the kids play wii on is a samsung 46 inch lcd. I love it. NO complaints. Liked it so much I bought a 52 inch Samsung for family room.

Bought a 36 or37 inch (can't remember which) Vizio for a steal at Costco. On sale, coupon GREAT price. It has a super sharp picture and is as good as the Samsung.

I later bought a 42 or something like that for my bedroom Its a sharp and I HATE it. Awful TV. Awful picture. I can't wait for it to break so I can replace it. I may replace in in a year anyway. I would never buy Sharp again. Its my second. First sharp broke under warrenty for buzzing sound. This one is past warranty and the picture is terrrrrible. Even with HDTV.

One word about sound. The Samsung sound in my living room is fine. In the basement, its a huge open room about 1,000 square feet and when I was on my treadmill I could not hear the tv clearly over the motor. I bought speakers to add on to it for better sound. If I was not trying to hear the tv over the treadmill motor though sound would have been fine.

I will note that on my Vizio, it is sloooow to turn on. Of all my TVS, it has the slowest turn on response time.
 
chemgirl|1294804335|2820390 said:
Ours was $1600 for a 55 inch Sony Bravia LED (120 Hz). It was a boxing day sale. We're in Canada so I'm not sure how that price compares to the US (our stuff is usually more expensive). It is usually around $1900 I think. The Samsung ones are a bit more expensive than that. Anything 240 Hz is going to be more expensive. I didn't look in to 40 inch TV's much, but I believe they were under $1000. There were a few door crashers that were in the 300's, but they were brands I'd never heard of. I think the more known brands were around $700.
Click to expand...


Sony has a few "levels" of TV. I don't know what the current lineup is, but when I was researching, XBR models were more expensive and had better materials than a KDL TV.

Right now, I'd stay away from 3D TVs...they're only going to get cheaper and better...and that's if they don't totally bomb completely. So far, consumers have not been that interested and there is not much content out there. Yet, all the TV manufacturers were pushing 3D at CES.

I do know that Sony's fiscal year ends March 31. Which means March might be a good time to buy, if you're interested in Sony.
 
I don't have advice regarding specific brands, but I do recommend you get HD service. Wide screen TV's without HD have a distorted picture unless you adjust the aspect ratio back to that of a regular TV ... and then, what's the point of the upgrade? Your picture is not going to look crisp and bright like in the demo version in the store if you have just regular service.

It's more money, but in my opinion, there is no point in having a wide screen if you aren't going to have HD service.

I have friends that have a massive flat screen, no HD, it's like watching TV through fogged up glasses - terrible picture! Our TV in our bedroom is the same way, a very small flat screen, but no HD like our main TV and the picture is lousy.

And, you are going to LOVE the size difference of the old box TV and your new one. I didn't realize how much space our old giant thousand pound box TV :knockout: took up until we got a new flat screen one! I guess it's the same feeling I had when I got rid of my giant computer monitor at work and suddenly had double the desk space when I replaced it with a flat screen monitor...
 
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