Television shopping

[hickslawns]

Okay gang, talk to me. I am tech-tarded. Wifey and I are talking about getting rid of the 52" projection TV and hanging one on the wall. Probably will end up building a console for underneath to store all the mess of DVDs and Wii games and such which will double as the receiver/DVD player/cable box storage.

I have looked into Plasma and LCD. I think I like the LCD picture better. Seems like 1080DPI is pretty standard anymore. Obviously, we want as many HDMI outlets and such as possible. Seems there are some differences in the hz. Some are 60hz and others are 120hz. From what I am gathering, this seems to effect frames per second or something. More hz means less blurriness?

I am also seeing 2d and 3d. Truthfully? Probably doesn't matter to me. Unless they start filming hunting shows in 3d, I am not going to benefit any. Doubt the kids watch many movies in 3d either. Do you gain much by going 3d?

Smart TVs seem to be the latest trend as well. I pretty much doubt I will be surfing the net on the tv so this isn't a big deal to me. However, it seems like you would want this option simply to take advantage of any future advancements. Currently, the only bonus I see is streaming Netflix or something.

Is there anything I should be looking for? Anything I should write off as old school or unneeded?

For what it is worth, my current front runner is the Vizio Model M3D550KDE.

 

[Beentown]

Samsung is what I use/recommend anymore.

LG, Sony and Visio make some good ones. Should a waited until Christmas when they all go down in price again.

 

[Alphamax10]

I agree with Samsung. I just got model number un55es7150. It's a samsung smart tv 55 inch LED 240 hz for $1300. From eBay with a one year warranty. Best TV I have ever had. Picture is crystal clear, sound is amazing, and haven't tested out Internet or 3d that much but what I have done is also amazing. I spent a lot of time reading reviews before I bought it. TV's are just like anything else and you really do get what you pay for. It's worth the extra few hundred dollars when you plan on having it for a while.

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

Samsung. And you want to get a Smart TV for Netflix; pulling up pictures from a camera; etc.

If not Samsung, then Visio.

Hey Phil, my gym just got 2 new tv's...they are Visio 72 inchers...that'd look good on your wall!

 

[hickslawns]

72"? Holy cow! You are looking at some serious coin Huck. haha

Samsung? Might have to look into them a bit more.

Alphamax- I agree you often do get what you pay for. I am not sure if I feel the same about electronics though. I think you often pay for the newest. I am okay buying technology 6mo-1yr old if it saves me money. You are correct though (in my opinion), it is usually worth it to spend a little more for quality.

 

[cotty16]

Samsung is the best in my opinion. Sony is still good too.

Look into the LED instead of LCD. I believe it has the better picture. Especially for sporting events. The LED doesn't leave the blurry trail behind players or the scrolling info at the bottom of the screen.

Be careful of plasma tvs. They need a room with zero daylight to look good.

 

[jagermeister]

If it were me, I'd get either a LG, Vizio, or a Samsung... LED screen, 1080, and SmartTV and wifi-capable. I think it'd be sweet to browse Netflix or Hulu wirelessly.

 

[Hedgelj]

If it were me, I'd get either a LG, Vizio, or a Samsung... LED screen, 1080, and SmartTV and wifi-capable. I think it'd be sweet to browse Netflix or Hulu wirelessly.

The smartTV and wifi capabilities are nice but with a Roku box you have the same options.

 

[hickslawns]

Samsung is the best in my opinion. Sony is still good too.

Look into the LED instead of LCD. I believe it has the better picture. Especially for sporting events. The LED doesn't leave the blurry trail behind players or the scrolling info at the bottom of the screen.

Be careful of plasma tvs. They need a room with zero daylight to look good.

This is what I am learning. Seemed like the LED/LCD screens look better in store with lots of lighting. Realistically, in our front room it will not be "dark" unless watching at night with lights turned off.

Anyone up to speed on the 60hz vs 120hz? I think this eliminates some of the blurriness. Hard to tell unless you watch two side by side and focus. At the store last night that is what I did. I wanted to see if I could visibly see a difference. I could. Am I correct in the "hz" being the difference in fuzziness? Is there another spec I should be checking out? I am really not a techy kind of guy.

 

[Gern186]

Phil,

I have 2 Samsung Plasmas and and just put up an LG LED 1080 in the bedroom last week. All are very good TV's.

Make sure that you invest in the HD packaging on Dish or DirecTV....whichever you have. It does no good to buy a TV with 1080 HD capabilities and to have non HD signal, other than the local air channels that you can pull in with your antenna.

 

[Gern186]

This is what I am learning. Seemed like the LED/LCD screens look better in store with lots of lighting. Realistically, in our front room it will not be "dark" unless watching at night with lights turned off.

Anyone up to speed on the 60hz vs 120hz? I think this eliminates some of the blurriness. Hard to tell unless you watch two side by side and focus. At the store last night that is what I did. I wanted to see if I could visibly see a difference. I could. Am I correct in the "hz" being the difference in fuzziness? Is there another spec I should be checking out? I am really not a techy kind of guy.

It is the refresh rate of the picture from what I understand. HZ is hertz.....spend the extra coin and get the 120 HZ.....

 

[cotty16]

Yeah, the 120 hz is the way to go.

 

[hickslawns]

It is the refresh rate of the picture from what I understand. HZ is hertz.....spend the extra coin and get the 120 HZ.....

This is what I was thinking as well. Just wasn't sure exactly.

Great suggestion on the cable package as well. We do get some HD channels with our current package, so it is not pointless. We will be able to take advantage.

 

[bowhunter1023]

We have a 55" Samsung LCD 120hz and I love it. Wish they had the SmartTVs when I bought mine, but I really have no complaints. We did have one minor issue that I fixed thanks to YouTube. But we own 2 Samsung LCD's and love both. That said, buy an LED...

 

[DJK Frank 16]

When we bought ours 5-6 years ago I liked the Sharp Aquos picture and they received good reviews, so that's what we ended up with. Stay away from plasma if you have any windows. Go LED if you can. Not sure about the quality of their products now but my grandpa and cousin both own Panasonic flat screens and they both had the same problem with a power unit (something like that) going bad in the first year, so I would stay away from those.

I don't think you can go wrong with Samsung or Vizio. If I were back in the market now, I would probably own one of these two brands.

Best of luck Phil! I didn't have time to read each post in this thread so sorry for any duplicate info!

 

[CritterGitterToo]

Bumping this thread. We're moving, and I don't want Time Warner cable (only option) or dish. So, I'm looking at going cable-less. I have been doing my homework on these new Xbmc media players. You can stream anything, and a friend of mine got Sportsdevil for his which enables you to stream live sporting events. He even watched the big Paciao fight a few weeks ago............for free. The media players run as cheap as $40 or up to thousands of dollars. I've been looking at the Roku 3 for $100.

I found a 70" Vizio LED smart TV with 1080p and 240hz for about $1200 at TigerDirect. Any advice or suggestions on this?

 

[Redhunter1012]

I have the Vizio in 60" I think. Smart tv and all that other jazz. Honestly, I love the quality of the picture. Only thing I hate is when you turn it on, it takes about 20 seconds for the picture to come up. Not sure if other brands do that?

 

[hickslawns]

I have a 60" Vizio as well. 60 or 65". Can't remember. Picture is fantastic. There are 3 models (grades or levels I suppose you could say) of their "Smart TV". Believe ours was the "M" series. We have major issues with connecting to Netflix. Kicks out all the time. Netflix blames Vizio. Vizio blames internet. Internet provider blames Netflix and Vizio. Outside of Netflix connection issues, it has been a great TV.

 

[jagermeister]

LG all the way

 

[CJD3]

All I know is that the newest ones that have facial recognition creep me out...



And stay the hell away from anything called the "Hal 9000"