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Originally Posted by jaydorn
We moved in the spring and with the weather getting dark/cold again we’re looking at putting some paint/decor into the living room, and well as remounting the 48” TV on the wall.
Been about 10 year since I last did this, not sure of the latest & greatest, so a few questions: - Are flat TV mounts pretty much all the same at this point? Any specific sources or styles to avoid?
- Power: Any distinct advantage to wiring in a recessed plug VS a “power bridge” plug & play?
- Best sites outside Amazon for components?
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Flat panel TV mounts come in a few different options. Do you want a fixed bracket, tilting, or a full-motion arm?
We have a mix of mounts at our home:
- Master bedroom TV is full-motion as we have a little sitting area by the fireplace, so we can point the TV that way. We can also extend the TV closer to the bed if we so choose.
- Gym TV is also on a full-motion mount, it can be put flat against the wall when doing free weights as it points to the free weight / aerobic area, and I can extend and turn it toward the spin bike or treadmill when doing cardio.
- Guest bedroom is on a fixed mount - the mounting bracket itself allows for some tilt as you first mount the TV for adjustment purposes, but it is otherwise fixed once mounting is complete.
- Entertainment room TV is on a tilt and pan mount (it's on an entertainment unit, not a wall mount), I usually keep it pointing straight ahead with a slight tilt downward when sitting closer to it.
What you decide on for your mount is going to depend what you plan on doing with it.
- Fixed mounts are the smallest, cleanest option and keep the TV as tight to the wall as possible. Once you finish mounting the TV, it's staying that way until you get the screwdriver out to adjust the tilt angle. The seating area immediately in front of it will always be the best place to watch it.
- Tilt mounts trade the sleek, clean installation for a little flexibility, the mount will hold the TV slightly farther away from the wall than a fixed mount to allow tilt to work.
- Full-motion arms provide the ultimate in flexibility at the cost of weight and bulk, and you will need to make sure you have enough slack in your cables to allow the TV to extend all the way to the extremities of the arm's movement, which also means cable management is paramount to ensuring it doesn't look like crap.
I got a couple of the mounts from Monoprice, one came with the house, and one I picked up with my TV from Best Buy. For online mounts, read the reviews and make sure you know what to expect. Sometimes the screws they come with are crap and you'll be going to Home Depot for replacements. No big deal. Other times there are build quality issues and the holes are misaligned or rubbish, stay away from those, there are enough options out there that you need not gamble on potentially getting a good one.