I Need Flat Screen advice Today Friday Nov 27, 09

[Nufy]

I'm looking at picking up a Flat panel TV.

There seem to be some good deals today on

the "Boxing Day Sales"


Looking around 50" in size.

Will be used for mostly TV and some sports.

With a new TV I will be picking up a HD PVR box in the near future as well.

Some gaming as my boys have a Wii and a PS2.


What looks good today ???

[Icon]

mostly TV and some sports.

LCD then. Unless you're really technically inclined, LED won't be worth the $ for you, and Plasma really only wins for sports, and that gap's been closed alot with the 120 & 240 Hz LCDs in the past couple years.

And my suggestion - Samsung LCD. There's a bunch at BestBuy & Futureshop on sale at the moment.

As for picking which specific one, well that really depends how much you want to spend, as a 52" LCD tv can range anywhere from ~$1400 to $2500 depending what model you get. The main difference between the models is refresh rate (60/120/240 Hz, of which I'd recommend at least getting 120Hz), and contrast ratio (anywhere from 20,000:1 to upwards of 200,000:1 for LCD).

Really the best way to pick out a TV, especially when deciding between different models of the same brand, is to see them in action. Go to the store, get them to tweak the settings on each with you (because sometimes the display models have their settings turned down purposely), and see which one fits your fancy. Might also push you to something bigger than your original plan... that's been the case for me the last 2 times I bought a TV :P They'll also have alot of in-store specials that they don't show online.

I have a year-older (120Hz) model of this TV: http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...0121227&catid= and it's incredible.

[IliketoPuck]

LED's are qutie a jump in price from LCD/Plasma, and since they are relatively new to the market, I would tend to stay away from them until they can be proven to be reliable technology.

I just bought myself a 46" Samsung LCD about two months ago and absolutely love it. I weighed the pros and cons of all the options out there, and felt that I got the best TV for my money in the Samsung. A friend of mine works at an electronics store and also seconded my opinion, saying he had seen more returns from LG, Toshiba and Sony than from Samsung.

As far as getting the HD PVR I would suggest getting the stand-alone HD box (~$200), and then getting the standalone PVR that just came out (~$300) that has ~600 hours of recording. For roughly the same price as a PVR/HD reciever $500 all-in-one! The hd/pvr reciever all in one only has about 1/6th of the memory as the stand alone PVR unit that just came out.

Happy Shopping!

[IliketoPuck]

Oh, and I play a ton of video games on my Samsung and the picture quality and frame rate is awesome.

[transplant99]

Sort of OT....but KMart here in the states is selling 50" Samsung plasmas this weekend for $699.00....unreal deal, even if it is only 720I.

[GoinAllTheWay]

I'm in the same boat. Trying to break the 50" mark.

Sounds around, Computer Trends, Visions.. all seem to have decent priced TV's in that range. Current TV was purchased from BB. I guess another important thing to keep in mind is the stores return policy. I've been warned about Sounds Around, no idea what Visions is like.

I have a 46" Samsung right now (not sure on the model) It's 60 hz, no idea what the refresh rate or contrast ratio is but it's treated me pretty well. The HD channels loook great, SD channels are pretty good but sure I can do better. 360 Looks pretty good.

I think moving up to a Samsung that is 120Hz and has the "touch of color" feature will make a difference. Seems like there are a number of 50"+ tv's around that can be bought for under 2K.

[Phaneuf3]