New TV choices....

doc

doc

Odd Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Southmont
My 3 year old RCA 36" tube TV will go blank w/ a v rainbow of sorts & shut off. It's done this multiple times last night.

I've read online about reliability issues w/ RCA tv's - although I've had a 27" for about 13-years w/o any problems (a little extra green every now & then).

Any ideas for a new TV in the same size range - considering an LCD HD tv as a replacement.

I do watch a lot of movies w/ the wife & play my 360 quite a bit as well @ night.

Any help is appreciated....

Thanks!
Doc
 
What's the budget? That will determine a lot.

Only other big thing to consider is that when watching a 4:3 channel, my 47" is reduced to the equivalent of a 38.5" screen size. I can't stand watching it stretched one way or the other, so I deal with the sidebars.
 
Middle of the road budget, no cheap crap & no top of the line, unless it's on sale!:beer:
 
i work for time warner and most of the customers we are working are going with vizio 32in and up and for the 32 and down are sony or rca. i have a vizio myself and love it. its 42 inches.
 
Hard to go wrong with any of the names.. Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Mitsubishi, etc..

You could get a nice deal on a 720p set these days.. under a grand, or a little over for a 42"..
 
Just dont go RCA unless you like your electronics crapping out!
 
32" vizio,awesome picture
 
raleighjeepguy said:
I've got a vizio 42" plasma which I got for 699 at tiger direct and its great. Picture blows my neighbors panasonic out of the water
Click to expand...


Yeah i doubt thats plasma. You mean LCD.
 
Cant say I beleive it man. I used to sell TVs, and Vizio is actually an American company, i know their TVs are good and inexpensive but for plasma technology you wont be paying 700 bucks unless it was open box, damaged or possible 720p which i doubt. And i know how much the depreciate as well, for instance I got a 50" Pioneer PLASMA (Not LCD) w/ optional sound card for $5k 3 years ago. It is now worth about $1200. And the screen broke and to repair was $4000....


So you tell me how you got such an excellent deal on that "plasma".


LCD is the way to go though, they arent as exensive as plasma, doesnt use gas like plasma screens so the liquid crystal has a longer life span, DLP's the bulbs typically burn out after about 2 yrs or 2000 hrs respectively.

I got a Toshiba 1080p 42" LCD with 3 HDMI inputs, two colorstreams, 3 aux, and 1 VGA input for $1200, and I shopped around for at least a year before I bought. SO ~ if your TV is plasma, then I am jealous.. But again, I dont think it is.
 
Dude, in the 42" range I can buy plasmas all day for less than LCD.

I dont sell JUST TVs though, so maybe you know different than me.

I PERSONALLY cant stand a vizio, while bright, they dont have the edge contrast I want. i would rather have a lesser resolution with higher edge contrast....but every eye is different.

If I was in "Doc" 's shoes Id be looking for either a DLP or a used rear projection. Under $500 you would be amazed at what you can get. BTW DLP bulbs are crapping about 4500-5000 hours not the 1000 the box stores would like you to believe. Even if we stretch that to 2500 thats 7 hours per day. My research shows that most families watch 5.5 hours of TV per day CUMULATIVE OF EVERY TV IN THE HOUSE. If you use my 5k hours at 5hours per day ONLY on that TV you are closer to 3 years.... I have numerous DLPs older than 4 years that have never had a bulb.

Doc, call me if I can help.
If not best of luck to ya.
 
y2kcrawler said:
Cant say I beleive it man. I used to sell TVs, and Vizio is actually an American company, i know their TVs are good and inexpensive but for plasma technology you wont be paying 700 bucks unless it was open box, damaged or possible 720p which i doubt. And i know how much the depreciate as well, for instance I got a 50" Pioneer PLASMA (Not LCD) w/ optional sound card for $5k 3 years ago. It is now worth about $1200. And the screen broke and to repair was $4000....
So you tell me how you got such an excellent deal on that "plasma".
LCD is the way to go though, they arent as exensive as plasma, doesnt use gas like plasma screens so the liquid crystal has a longer life span, DLP's the bulbs typically burn out after about 2 yrs or 2000 hrs respectively.
I got a Toshiba 1080p 42" LCD with 3 HDMI inputs, two colorstreams, 3 aux, and 1 VGA input for $1200, and I shopped around for at least a year before I bought. SO ~ if your TV is plasma, then I am jealous.. But again, I dont think it is.
Click to expand...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3120528&CatId=3652
900 for an LG. Tiger direct has better deals than that quite often.
But personally, I'd prefer an LCD.
Plasma's are "brighter" but I have shades and curtains to make it dark where I watch my movies. So contrast is more important to me.
I'm a huge fan of the Sony lcd rear projections.
Or with price drops, direct view LCD.
 
Whats the deal with them refurbished TV's at tiger direct? How do they hold up? I am purchasing a 42" lcd for a rental property, and I would rather not spend a whole lot.
 
SkyHiK5~stay away from the DLP TVs, my friend has a samsung NEW and the bulb has gone out twice, hes had it three years. His neighbor has a phillips DLP, bulb has gone out twice as well. They watch at most 7 hrs a day. I hear about so many people having to buy bulbs it ridonkulous. But hey, if they think they are better go for it. I used to think plasma was the good stuff but overall LCD is proving to be best all around, picture and life. Also, if you a plasma down on its back or screen that is also not good for them, far more fragile.

hscrugby- kick @ss deal man, but exactly as dude (Eastern) said, arent those refurbished? So that goes back to what i was saying about being damaged. How long have you had it for? is it holding up? And black lines on the screen from dead spots or green tint? Ill have to check that site out for other stuff tho. thanks.
 
Ive probably installed +/-50 DLPs so far not one single complaint.

Ive done many more Plasmas and LCDs, but I wouldnt call DLP junk....most of the bad rap comes from folks who sold the farm buying a high dollar plasma early, and then felt like a DA when they realized what they could have had for 1/5 the price.
 
y2kcrawler said:
hscrugby- kick @ss deal man, but exactly as dude (Eastern) said, arent those refurbished? So that goes back to what i was saying about being damaged. How long have you had it for? is it holding up? And black lines on the screen from dead spots or green tint? Ill have to check that site out for other stuff tho. thanks.
Click to expand...
I didn't buy that.
I've got an old school 50" Sony rear projection LCD.
Love it even though it's, ermm, 5 years old? Bulb is prolly a little dimmer than when it was new, but like I said, curtains do wonders. Yea, I was a "DA" and paid through the noise before the HUGE price drop. (5 years ago, 3500 was a great deal, 4 years ago, 1800. :( )

As for DLPs, I have no qualms recommending them, and have quite a few friends and family running them happily. The only issue I've seen is that some, (and I swear it's individual units, not model ranges) have a SUPER ANNOYING DELAY if you are going to video game on them.
Not as bad for a Wii, but if you are doing FPS's from a PS3 or 360, or worse, trying to kick in football. It will make you want to throw the TV out the window.
(actually it just made us pack up, drive from Apex back to N Raleigh to play at my house)

But in theory my rear lcd has the same bulb issue as the DLP's.
But it's been 5 years, and 1.5 of that my wife was unemployed, and happily watching a LOT of tv. So it was ALWAYS on.
I think a bigger cause for bulbs toasting is dirty power. My parents lost several TVs over 2 years then they bought a "good" surge protector, that was supposed to have brownout protection too. (Really it just shuts off if it drops, so kind of annoying.) Since they did that they have had the same TV. That was ~10 years ago.
 
Cant say I beleive it man. I used to sell TVs, and Vizio is actually an American company, i know their TVs are good and inexpensive but for plasma technology you wont be paying 700 bucks unless it was open box, damaged or possible 720p which i doubt. And i know how much the depreciate as well, for instance I got a 50" Pioneer PLASMA (Not LCD) w/ optional sound card for $5k 3 years ago. It is now worth about $1200. And the screen broke and to repair was $4000....
Click to expand...

Tiger direct ran that deal for like a month. I actually got a 42" viz plasma, wall mount, extended warranty, and harmony remote for less than a G. It was a refurb but I have 3 years of in home warranty and everything I needed for what was the price of a 42" dlp.
 
raleighjeepguy said:
Tiger direct ran that deal for like a month. I actually got a 42" viz plasma, wall mount, extended warranty, and harmony remote for less than a G. It was a refurb but I have 3 years of in home warranty and everything I needed for what was the price of a 42" dlp.
Click to expand...


Damn, i wish i wouldnt have gone to HH Greg now. :shaking:
Good deal bro!
 
SkyHiK5 said:
PERSONALLY cant stand a vizio, while bright, they dont have the edge contrast I want. i would rather have a lesser resolution with higher edge contrast....but every eye is different.
Click to expand...

I agree completely... but people are funny like that. I've got a neighbor with a pretty nice Sony... watches everything in stretched SD, and thinks the picture looks great. Some people just can't fawking tell the difference.

However, I wouldn't touch a used DLP with a 10' pole. Bulb life is only one concern. The fancy mirrors and lenses that make that great picture (when the teevee is new) have a lifespan, too. They crack from heat cycling, and the picture goes to shit.
 
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