TV recommendations/advice?

Susie Derkins

We're shopping for a TV, and are having trouble sorting out the advice.  It seems everyone we talk to (including store salespeople) has a very strong bias, and not always in the same direction.  Yesterday we were ready to buy - but then the salesperson who helped us get the actual TV from stock totally talked us out of it.  We left too turned around to buy anything.

Backing up, we're looking primarily at Samsung, and Panasonic for plasma.  55" is the target size.  The budget is not restrictive, although I'd certainly prefer that it not be outrageous.

I really like the LED-LCD picture, and that's what we almost bought.  My light sensitive eyes like the brightness and contrast.  The energy efficiency is nice, but it's not on enough hours a day to be a big deal.  The employee we worked with was a die hard plasma fan, though, and told us the first gen LED's are pretty buggy, and that we would absolutely use the warranty, possibly multiple times:  tales of blue lines through pictures, TVs that wouldn't turn on... we aren't interested in that.

He pushed plasma, which we originally thought we didn't want.  Yeah, you get 600 Hz, over the 120 Hz or 240 Hz that are common with LED, but we have a big glass door opposite where the TV's going.  That seemed like a fail?  Although, now we're reconsidering.  Most of our TV watching is at night, and the glass door faces northeast (not much strong sun anyway). 

LCD would handle the light better, but I have to say I like the picture the least of the three.  

Plasma and LCD have been in the $1300-1700 range, while the LED-LCD adds about $1k to that - plus I'll feel more compelled to buy the extended warranty than with a more tried & true plasma technology.

I was surprised to hear that the LED bugs are so prevalent - everything I'd been reading was that if you had room in the budget, it was the best move.  Can anyone share reasons why you went one way or the other recently? 

LittleSweetie

We just bought a plasma on Black Friday this year in that size range. We also have light coming into the room that sometimes shines where the TV is.  Not ideal, but we don't watch TV that often when it's really bright out.

I actually like the plasma picture better than the other technologies.  A friend has an LCD TV and has already gone through 2 bulbs in 3 years.  Another friend had a DLP TV where I could see the color wheel - basically, when I blinked or looked away, I could see the color spectrum in the picture. I know that technology is older, but just an example of how picky I am about the TV!  My husband is also pretty picky, and we settled on a TV that we love - a Panasonic plasma. 

maryandkirk0909

My husband is currently obsessing over the LED TVs- we currently have an LCD (a Samsung we have had 0 problems with over the last 3 1/2 years).  The LCD shows colors more truly and blacks a lot better- the contrast is easier for our eyes to process because they're not so bright.  Also, they use significantly less power.  

A plasma was a non-option because they burn a lot brighter (I get migraines) therefore their shelf life isn't as long- and the cheaper price reflects that.

He says if you're going to buy a newer technology that you should buy from a reputable brand with a good warranty.  Also, research before you buy anything.  He says www.cnet.com has lots of detailed reviews that are helpful.  

We're currently looking at this one (Visio 55" LED):

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Video_Conferencing/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A3082454 

If you do decide to do that, it is also available on Amazon and we saw a similar (but 52") at Costco.  The Costco one comes with an extended warranty included in the price.  Dell has had the best price so far- last weekend it was $300 cheaper, so maybe call customer service and ask or hunt around for coupon codes online.  The difference should be $5-700 over a plasma, not $1000+.  

GL! 

snoopy3319

LED is the newest technology, so it's going to take a while for the bugs to get worked out. If you want to go that route, I would wait longer, not only for bug reasons, but the prices will drop significantly over time. It's the "it" thing right now, so the demand is high, which means the price is high. I prefer plasma over LCD, because plasmas have a glass screen, making them more durable. (a.k.a. a tennis ball won't bust through it when my dog gets rowdy or nephew throws it too far.) Also, with Panasonic, their plasmas tend to have a more glare resistant screen. I have no idea why their plasma screens are different, but they are, and not significantly. That is something you should factor in. Plasmas originally had a bad rap for burn out problems, but that isnt' the case anymore. We just went with a friend and bought a Panasonic plasma, and it was approximately $600 just before black Friday this year. LCD will cost a little more since it's newer than the plasma technology, and the LED will be even more than that, about the $1000+ range. It's a personal preference, so go with what you like to look at. Once you get it home, there won't be a wall of TVs to tell you it looks different than another one.

estherandgeoff2

We bought a 55" plasma a few years ago when they were the price that the LED's are right now. We bought a Hitachi and while we love it we've had a significant repair to it recently that was outside of the warranty and cost us almost $700. I think Panasonic is a great brand though and their plasma's are great. I would love an LED as well bc it's a lot lighter than the plasma tv and the contrast seems really nice. But I'm not sure how well it compares to plasma. Overall we're very happy with our TV.