To buy or not to buy ... that is the question.

[jokeworm]

Am looking for a new TV for the den. I would like either a plasma or an LCD (it'll probably be wall-mounted after we have decorated)... but i have a limited budget.

Was looking at the sale ads on Sunday and noticed that Best Buy had the Westinghouse TX-47F430S on sale for $1500.

We have a 32" Westinghouse 720p in the bedroom and its got a great picture ... but I read around a few forums and noticed many people with plenty of complaints about this TV.

This lead me to find the LVM-47w1 Which is a 47" HDTV Monitor .. got much better write-ups it seems. But i can't find a dealer within a 50 mile radius that has one in stock. I could buy from newegg i guess, but I'd quite like to see it in action before i pull the trigger.

I also looked at the vizio 50" plasma ... (1080i or 720p for around the same price)

When i do this kind of shopping i tend to find one i like - then do some research and eventually find enough negatives about a product to put me off buying .... so I guess I'm after some reassurance or advice from you guys. Anyone got one of those models above ? Anyone got anything else that is in a similar price range (1500) that i should look at ?

We are going to use it for mainly Dish Network HD/SD we wouldn't use it for gaming or anything fancy - we don't have a hd dvd player (yet) so don't necessarily need 1080p ... but I'm not sure if i want to go with plasma or lcd or 720p, 1080i or 1080p. We need it to be at least 46"-50" ...

The more i read - the further i get from pulling the trigger and buying something. Anyone else have this problem - it can't just be me can it ? I hate to think what i'll be like when we buy our next new car ...



Recommendations anyone ? Please help me get a new tv .. i've got two new La-z-Boys being delivered next week - seems a shame to waste them

 

[navy8ball]

i can only relate as to i went through some of the same thoughts. i drove the 50 miles and looked at the tv's that i had researched. i was looking at a top rated panasonic plasma and watching it and other top rated choices that was the one i chose.i got the 42" panasonic and my only regret was i wish i had got the 50" one.the model was TH-42PX60U the 50" is the same model number with 50 instead of 42.i highly recommend either of these two tv's.i found the cheapest and best xtra warranty through walmart and ordered it and had it shipped right to my house because i had a small car and couldn't pick it up at the store.its been nov06 since i received it and its working great.i paid 1700 for it but have seen them for 1200 in the past month. so go forth and follow up on your research.remember you will have to live with your choice for quite awhile.

 

[Andrewwski]

Vizio looks like junk, Westinghouse is a bit of a step up. I like Sharp and Samsung in LCD and Pioneer Elite and Panasonic in plasma.

 

[jokeworm]

well - just back from circuit city even more confused ..

Saw 3 plasma 720p 50" sets that looked real nice.

LG, Samsung and Panasonic ... all around 1700 - 1800 price tag ... the LG has a two year manufacturers warranty and is the cheapest of the bunch, I think the Samsung is the better looking of the three ....

Time for another couple of hours research ..

arrgghhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!

 

[jokeworm]

go for it !

well i think i'm going to pull the trigger and get a samsung 720p - HP-T5054 - 50" plasma ... I would expect to change/buy new again in about three years anyway .... maybe that would be the time to go for 1080p ... or whatever will have replaced it by then ..

Reviews seem to be solid .... I like the way it looks ... picture looked great in the store.

Going to get it later today.

 

[rcwilcox]

well - just back from circuit city even more confused ..

Saw 3 plasma 720p 50" sets that looked real nice.

LG, Samsung and Panasonic ... all around 1700 - 1800 price tag ... the LG has a two year manufacturers warranty and is the cheapest of the bunch, I think the Samsung is the better looking of the three ....

Time for another couple of hours research ..

arrgghhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!

I

If you liked the panny try Fry's on line 50 panny $1300 plus shipping that would be my choice if not for the $2500 entertainment center already in place

 

[Andrewwski]

Don't judge how they look in a store like Circuit City. They're all in "torch mode" which means they haven't been calibrated. Mess with the settings and you'll see that you can make either one of them look better.

 

[jokeworm]

Don't judge how they look in a store like Circuit City. They're all in "torch mode" which means they haven't been calibrated. Mess with the settings and you'll see that you can make either one of them look better.

yup - that was after playing a little with the settings. (I wasn't comparing it to the other sets there - I was comparing it to the setup I have right now )

Went to pick it up yesterday and it would not go into the back of the SUV we took .... so arranged delivery for today. Should be here between 1-3.

I know i could have gotten it a little bit cheaper online ... but I'd rather have it on the back of a truck for 5 miles than for 1500 miles. I also had $150 in Circuit City gift cards (which is why we didn't go to best buy) .. signed up for the credit card too which should give us an extra $80 in Circuit city bonus bucks or whatever they call them .. and bought through a fatwallet link for an extra 2% cash back ($40). I had a $1500 budget .. so the interest free credit will also let me pay-off the extra spend over the next month or two ... always nice to know that you are not going to be paying anyone any interest.



Will be here in 3 hours ..

 

[BobHelms]

I'm a newbe here, my first post / reply. I totally agree with your decision on the Samsung HP-T5054. I bought one yesterday. I also spent many hours staring at sets, LCD and Plasma, from 40 inch to 63 inch. Wanted a Pioneer, but my piggy bank was too skinny. Read every review that Google could point me to and talked to every CC and BB sales person in the greater Raleigh area. The Samsung was always at or near the top given my budget and requirements. Consumer Reports also reported Samsung (Plasma) at or near the top of customer satisfaction ratings. I have it up and running now and I'm even more impressed with it at home than in the CC showroom. It's my first plasma. I did not realize they generated so much heat. I guess that will come in handy this winter. Did I read somewhere in this forum that there is a way to turn off the blue light when the set is powered down? I recall one 5054 review where a guy was having problems with 'loss of audio' when using HDMI connections from his cable box. I never did see if he resolved it with the HDMI cable as his final comment in the review was "use componet hookups and live with it". I'm enjoying mine, hope you do the same.
Bob

 

[jokeworm]

Welcome to the forums ... yup - installed earlier today and its looking fantastic so far... at least on the HD channels. This thing makes the SD channels look so bad in comparison. On my old set (a big old HD Sony) Even the HD channels were a little "fuzzy" but the contrast between HD and SD on this thing is frightening.

You can turn the light off in the tv "settings" menu. I know i saw it in there somewhere while i was browsing around earlier tonight.

There are a few good threads about the set on avs forums if you have not yet seen them ...

Samsung 54 and 64 Series Plasma Thread - AVS Forum
Zippy's "Officially" Unofficial Samsung 54/64 PDP settings,tweaks and tips thread. - AVS Forum

and don't forget to try and "go easy" for a while just to ensure you don't get "burn-in" on your set.

MASTER BURN-IN/BREAK-IN THREAD: ALL POSTS HERE ONLY! - AVS Forum