$2,000 - this weekend

[mike123abc]

I have a 40a650, it does do 24p. It has a lot of nice features. I like the set overall. I do prefer plasma over it still, but it all depends on your situation. I went with the LCD since it does better in bright rooms (mine is in a sun room).

It has a cool ethernet port that you can then bring up weather, news and stocks. They have a wifi usb adapter you can get if you do not have ethernet by the TV.

Standard definition is ok. Yeah it does it, but HD is far, far, far better. You definitely want to feed it HD.

Cnet has some good settings for this set in their review.

 

[tigerfan33]

I really like my 650 but you may not like it in a bright room. I use mine mostly for my nightime tv watching. I have a Sammy 65 ( with the same glossy screen ) in a darker room for daytime tv watching. I like the glossy screen instead of the matte because it makes the colors look a lot deeper.

On a side note. I had my 650 professionally calibrated and most really love this tv.

Ask Gregg Lowen about it.

 

[navychop]

Sorry, Elway, I bought the Samsung. Buying it from Amazon got me a two hundred dollar coupon (that I probably won't use) and two hundred off the BD-P1500 BD player. Net cost for that player: $80. Not the best player, but hey, for the price?

Anyone else taking up this offer should be aware if you are a Prime customer, you'll have to call to get the correct price. The computer splits up Prime orders, eliminating the discount.

I believe this deal expires 9/13.

 

[Stargazer]

I have seen a 67" Samsung DLP with LED light on ebay for around $1700 shipped and is the best price I have seen and can get around 60,000 hours out of it before the LED would need replaced and no colorwheel. Anything else would be a bit more expensive at this price wouldn't it? How would the quality compare of anything else this size? I do not care if it is flat as I would think it would be easier to move around a little bigger tv on wheels instead of one that is mounted to a wall. If I decided on not moving it around then mounting it on the wall would be preferrable as it would take up less space but the price difference would be a lot greater.

 

[tigerfan33]

Sorry, Elway, I bought the Samsung. Buying it from Amazon got me a two hundred dollar coupon (that I probably won't use) and two hundred off the BD-P1500 BD player. Net cost for that player: $80. Not the best player, but hey, for the price?

Anyone else taking up this offer should be aware if you are a Prime customer, you'll have to call to get the correct price. The computer splits up Prime orders, eliminating the discount.

I believe this deal expires 9/13.

Don't forget the 30 day price drop Amazon offers. If the tv price drops below what you paid for it, they will give you the difference.

I wouldn't rely on them to tell you that you got money back though. I would check the website every other day to check the price. I do believe the price has about bottomed out though.

 

[navychop]

I have an RPTV as my main TV. Love all 61 inches of it. I wish LCoS RPTVs were still on the market. Hopefully LED/laser DLP RPTVs will survive. But this bedroom TV must be a thin screen, to fit on the furniture and provide (reclaim) space to make my wife happy. Of course, I just discovered the support bracket on the furniture says max 50" & this is a 52". But I'm sure it's the same VESA mounting, and if it'll hold up a 50" plasma it'll certainly hold up a 52" LCD.

Oddly, the price of the Sammy has gone up. I suspect that sales will increase as February approaches, some stocks of some models will run low, and there will be little incentive to cut prices much. That, and the falling dollar, may see fairly level prices over the next 6 months or so. Actually saw some cheapie tiny (13"?) CRT TVs with ATSC tuners in Target. I guess there's a market for that, but I bet it'll be tiny tiny tiny. Folks saving money can buy large old CRTs and cheap converter boxes for less.

But thanks for the reminder about the price guarantee- I'll certainly be checking. And need to check the warranty on this thing, too- and on the 1500. I think I'll run the heck out of the 1500 to see if it'll be a keeper or not, before the warranty expires.

Thanks to all.

 

[snathanb]

Sorry, Elway, I bought the Samsung. Buying it from Amazon got me a two hundred dollar coupon (that I probably won't use) and two hundred off the BD-P1500 BD player. Net cost for that player: $80. Not the best player, but hey, for the price?
=.

For the money, I think you made a fine choice.

 

[RedWings]

I know you dont want a plasma, and I agree they are heavier, but heat is not really an issue with mine. Also, in a store reflectivity is worse, mine never gives me any grief during the day.

I guess at the end of the day, I want better blacks, and LCD's in the same price range just dont do it.

If you decide to look at amazon, this is the guy Id recommend:

Amazon.com: Panasonic Viera TH-50PZ800U 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV: Electronics

$1900

After researching the past few weeks, i'm on the fence between the 50" 85u or 800u. Reviews are awesome and a lot of people say you can't go wrong with either.

Looking at Buydig.com. Seems to be a few bucks cheaper than Antonline

 

[mike123abc]

It is hard to go wrong with Plasma if it works in your environment. I love my Plasmas, they give fantastic pictures. LCD is starting to catch up, but they still do not have the viewing angles and blur fast motion (even with 120HZ).

 

[allargon]

For a bright room, I wouldn't recommend a plasma. LCD's and (especially) DLP's are actually better in bright environments than plasmas.

That Sammy should serve you well. Most will say the 3 S's (Sony, Sharp, Samsung) as well as Toshiba tend to have really good LCD's. The two P's (Pioneer and Panasonic) are the winners in the plasma arena.

 

[gadgtfreek]

After researching the past few weeks, i'm on the fence between the 50" 85u or 800u. Reviews are awesome and a lot of people say you can't go wrong with either.

Looking at Buydig.com. Seems to be a few bucks cheaper than Antonline

I love my 85u, the only reason I say 800u is the colors are better out of the box. If you were doing a calibration, then it prob would not matter. The 50" 800u is a great deal right now.

As far as bright rooms, my living room has 6 windows without curtains, tv during the day is fine. None of them are in front of the tv because the reflection would be annoying, they are all pretty much to the side. As stated, reflection could be an issue with window location, but I have mine at a pic setting of 65 (out of 100) and its just fine during the day.

The new LCD's are catching up in blacks, the Samsung 950 just got rave reviews. Problem is, you could pay $1000 or higher for a good LCD over the 800u. Ill take plasma as long as it lives. Keeping my eye on OLED now.

 

[navychop]

Yep. OLED seems to be a sure bet for TV, since it's so widely used today in other products. No SED vaporware there. But the 2010-2012 estimates are probably optimistic, especially for a 46" or larger set at a price that will let them be sold thru mass retailers like BB, CC, etc.

When I bought it (April 2005) , I planned to replace my 61" RPTV around 2010. I suspect it'll be more like 2015. Maybe with luck, there will be a 70" OLED on the market then at a price I can afford. Dreaming is cheap.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Yeah, thats my plan. I also want to see how they handle the cons and what new ones arise.

My 1080p 50" is plenty of tv for me for awhile. I wont buy another until there is a better format in at least the same size, for under $3k. Thats what kills me about LCD. They keep making them better BUT still try to keep the 46" MSRP at $3k.

 

[navychop]

Let's see- I ordered it 9/12. I was told to expect delivery on the 22nd or 23rd. I'd be given at least one day's notice, and a 4 hour morning or afternoon delivery window. The delivery status online changed to reflect an estimated 9/23 delivery date. OK.

Yesterday, the 17th, at 5 minutes before noon, I got a call. They'd be there between noon and 4, that day. No way I could leave work. I asked if they could make it by 2, and they said they would. I arranged for my wife to be there, and to possibly go in to work late (after 4) if they didn't get there by 2.

Talk about going out of their way. The guy left his assistant at one location, hooking something up, and drove the truck himself and carried the roughly 100 lb with packing TV into the house and upstairs. Even offered to place it on a table and set it up. And did so before 2. She just had him set it down, since it was going to be mounted on a rack and there was a TV in the way that would have to be moved. Absolutely superb.

The short notice wasn't nice, but the ultra fast delivery sure was, and the delivery guy couldn't possibly have done more. Shucks, getting it a week early- oh, how I suffer!


We don't see lights reflected off the screen, but the bezel catches the light and reflects back. Have to tweak it. Haven't watched much so far. Blacks seem just fine. The SD (from 721 recording) is "interesting." In some ways, it's better than my JVC LCoS RPTV, in some ways- well, not. For example, take a man's grey jacket. For a moment, it looks great, gradations of shading and fabric, lighting, etc are fine. Then, perhaps with a bit of movement beyond some "limit" it breaks up a bit. Not exactly blocky, but definitely less resolution. No banding noticed as of yet. HD is superb, what little we've seen of it so far. The OTA tuner has not picked up as many stations as my other ATSC equipment does, but I haven't fooled around much with aiming the antenna or doing anything. We'll see. But I doubt we'll ever watch OTA on this TV. Maybe DVR'd OTA, but that will of course be using a different tuner.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Glad you like it.

Just got news from Gregg Loewen today, looks like around Sept 30th on getting my Panny calibrated!

 

[TBoneit]

My own feelings on the subject are that you need to view the TV and decide what you like the look of.

If you are a member of Costco then buy there, they have the best return policy.

Before you buy think about what your wants are.
VGA input for the computer?
How many Component and HDMI inputs. I wish I had more HDMI on my Current Tv.
Screen size vs Viewing distance.
Viewing angle.
I'm on Satellite and Basic cable so I wanted a Open QAM tuner to be able to watch the HD locals and subchannels off of cable.
What version of HDMI is it?
Are the inputs easy to use? Mine are split between the two sides and are easy to use.
Do you want a HDTV that can be switched between overscan and no overscan? One for locals to avoid seeing the junk at the top of locals and the other to see the entire image from BD or DVD.
720p, 1080i or 1080P. Not capable but native resolution. Many 32" for example are 1366 by 768 resolution and support 1080i & 720p both of which get scaled to 768p native for that display panel.
Check the TV with both HD and SD signals. Some do better on SD than others.
How good is the sound? How loud and how quiet and frequency range.

Much of this can only be determined by auditioning the TV in person.


I am directing this to everybody as someone that is working retail.

Do the local retailers that spend their time educating & helping you a favor and don't waste their time by then buying online to save a few dollars. Think of the cost of returning online TV purchase.
BTW I can tell when that is happening and then ......................

 

[lakebum431]

I am directing this to everybody as someone that is working retail.

Do the local retailers that spend their time educating & helping you a favor and don't waste their time by then buying online to save a few dollars. Think of the cost of returning online TV purchase.
BTW I can tell when that is happening and then ......................

If it was only a few dollars that is one thing. But I saved over $2000 on my last TV purchase. The big B&M guys were amazed when I told them what I was paying. They couldn't come close.

 

[H2OSkier]

I would also give a thumbs up for a Panny. I've helped a few friends/family purchase Panny's and all were very nice.

Ken

 

[navychop]

I'm willing to pay more to support B&M. But there's a limit as to how much more. I've certainly bought a lot from BB. And I bought my speakers where I auditioned them.

FWIW, I almost bought an HDTV from Costco. But for about the same money, I got a much better one. And if I actually use that $200 coupon, the Sammy will actually have been cheaper.

 

[Zookster]

My local Fry's rivals and often beats most internet prices when running a special on certain TV brands/models, which is quite often.

I still have yet to see anyone beat the $594 I paid for my 32" Sammy (450) by getting Best Buy to match Fry's Fourth of July weekend price. (I originally paid $675 with coupon, which at the time was as good as any online price, and earned double reward zone points, before the price match brought it down to $594.)

Unfortunately to get the best B&M prices, you have to be patient, wait for sales, get on their mailing list for coupons, and pay sales tax. TVs are one of the few things I prefer to buy at a B&M, even if I pay more, as the one time I had a TV shipped it arrived in several pieces, and the shipper wouldn't take it back until he talked to the owner of the online vendor I bought it from, who gave the OK.