So I've decided to change the 45" rear projection out for a 50" Plasma. I think it will open the family room up a lot more since I'm getting rid of the entertainment center as well. More TV + less space taken up = me happy + wife happy.

I'm not up on all the latest technology, so maybe some of you SRiC gurus can help. I want 1080p, HD, and 16:9. I've decided on 50", but 52" works also. I figured plasma was the best bet since I have some glare in that room. Plasma also seems to look better with fast motion

I looked around at Circuit City (least helpful salespeople on the planet), Best Buy, and RC Willey. I refuse to go to Fry's just because of the morons who work there. Here's what I found to look good in the store, watching sports and DVD's:

Panasonic 50" Plasma TH50PZ700U, $2499
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panas...oductDetail.do

Panasonic 50" Plasma TH50PZ77U, $2299
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panas...oductDetail.do

Samsung 50" Plasma FPT5084, $2199
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsu...oductDetail.do

The Panasonics seem to have better reviews than the Samsung. I've never owned either brand so I don't have a feel for what's good.

Feel free to pick these apart and/or suggest others in the same price range. I'm trying to stay under $2500. There's no way in hell I'm spending $5K on a TV. I do need to keep it around 50" just based on the size of the room. I think 58" is going to be too big.

 

I spent a lot of time looking at TVs just now, and it essentially came down to a Panasonic Plasma or a Samsung DLP for me.

I ended up going with the DLP due to the fact that its bigger, cheaper and I don't need to worry about the space (there is an entertainment cove built into the wall so its wasted space regardless).

Anyway, the salesman at RC Wiley spent a lot of time with me (considering he sold me half the furniture and **** in my new house) and I do believe he actually gave me real good advice. He whole heartily recommended the Panasonic plasma above any other plasma. Looking at them side by side in the store, the Panasonic did look a lot better than the other plasmas. And the color looks more vibrant than LCD and even the DLP I ended up with (though the DLP looks pretty damn good too).

After that, its down to the connectors you might need. How many component and how many HDMI you might want. Make sure you have enough, unless you plan on routing them through a receiver of some sort.

 

Some TV's can't handle a 1080P 24FPS signal. You might make sure the ones you are looking at can handle this kind of input. Some next gen disc formats are produced with this type of video. Otherwise you'll need to have something convert the signal for you.

 

blasphemer!!!

 

My parents living room is something like 17' in length, and their 52" LCD looks perfect, although, it's a little difficult reading text in IE from the recliners without using IE's zoom.

 

why not an lcd? i'd get a 71 or 81 series samsung (they make them up to 52" IIRC)

 

Plasma looks way better than LCD.

And you don't have to deal with deal pixels and stuff.

 

Have you thought about going with a Projector?


And Magnolia Hi-Fi usually has knowledgeable staff, but their prices are high, so buy the TV somewhere else. There used to be one at Arden opposite end of the Mall, by Best Buy and ATT.

 

FYI, Magnolia is now part of Best Buy. I thought they closed all the independent stores (not 100% sure) and opened Magnolia's inside of most Best Buys.

The advice has suffered tremendously. Now its just the slightly better Best Buy lackeys that will answer your questions.

 

Oh wow. That sucks. I used to go to Magnolia to sit in a lazy boy and watch a movie on a $50,000 system after school.

 

Actually, I just read all the independent stores are still open, and essentially the same staff is there. Phew, that's a relief.

 

CNET HDTVs
Panny 50px77u
Panny 50pz700u
Sammy fpt5084
The 50px77 is supposed to do better with brighter rooms with their antiglare coating compared to the 50pz700u.

 

Personally, I'm a DLP man. They're definitely worth a look, I spent a few day with a friend of mine's brand new 1080p Samsung DLP and it was incredible. I just don't think that the Plasma technology is as mature as I'd like it to be.

 

I hate my Projector, bulbs cost soooooooo much. Too much in fact. Instead of buying a bulb, I went out and bought a 42inch plasma around Thanksgiving.

Love the thing.

Its bright as ****! Clear as hell. Its setup to be the monitor for my computer.
Even in direct sunlight I can see everything.

 

I looked at the PZ77U (same as the PX, but 1080p instead of just 720p) at Circuit City today. While the anti-glare is nice, the color is much better on the PZ700U - that's with the color settings the same on both TV's. They were side by side so I could really pick up on the differences.

CC was willing to price match the best I found on the internet at $2299 - they had the TV "on sale" at $2699. My only problem with CC is that their 5 year protection plan is $649 whereas everywhere else it's $350-$399. I don't really like those rip off, pure profit for the store plans, but with Plasma I thought it was a good idea. One nice thing was 3 years, zero interest at CC which might make me buy it there as opposed to online.