2011 Official LGP HDTV Buying Guide

[eddysnake]

hmm, that's interesting, I don't seem to remember what happened to me earlier in the day, so I'm not surprised I missed that. Seeing those pictures is making me feel extremely jealous. I need to get a projector soon. Maybe I don't need 4 new tires on the minivan?

[pittsoccer33]

cats out of the bag - the black friday special editions I was referring to are the Samsung D5003 and D6003 models. Various big box stores and club warehouses will have them in various sizes from 32" to 55."

The 5000 series is 1080p/60hz and the 6000 series is 1080p./120hz. They both have ONLY two HDMI ports, so if you have a number of components (that is likely to grow) spending the extra money might be worth it. The 6003 will also include Samsung's array of Smart TV applications.

The 46" D6000 was $950 at my store last week (I think it's back to $1099). The 46" D6003 is going to be $799 and the 55" will be $999.

If you are looking for a gift the 32" Samsung D450 is a basic 720p LCD. It would make a great bedroom tv or even a living room set for somebody who wants a new television but isn't concerned with a large set or fantastic picture quality. This one is a standard model.

There are also some smaller Samsung LCD tv's that will be holiday promo period specials. I think the only differences are less contrast, no VGA port, and possibly no headphone output. Those are model number D403

[pittsoccer33]

I edited the recommendation list in the first post to reflect the best tv's I saw in several of the black friday circulars. Feel free to post some other great deals you find, whether in store or online, and I'll add them to my rankings.

[mac5155]

What's the price on that 32" Samsung? And what store..?

[pittsoccer33]

looks like they'll be about $280 and available at pretty much every store who carries Samsung.

i updated the list a little bit further with some more stores and all of the name brand tv's ive seen in them. i also used *** to denote something that was an above average deal. most black friday sales are about 10% off normal prices, and most stores over the course of the year have various promotions and really good deals that come close to that. the *** is a price a good bit lower than anything I've seen all year.

[skullman80]

Any recommendation for the best TV for 2000$ or under.. preferably at Best Buy that may be going on sale or even afterwards...

[pittsoccer33]

Any recommendation for the best TV for 2000$ or under.. preferably at Best Buy that may be going on sale or even afterwards...

what size and features are important to you?

Best Buy doesn't have many above average tv's in their ad. No idea what their sale prices will be next weekend yet though.

The Sony NX720 plus home theater system is one of the better values out there. HH Gregg though is selling the HX729 (without home theater) for a bit less. It's a better tv and you could put the savings towards surround sound and the 3D glasses kit.

Best Buy usually has the 55" Panasonic VT30 at $2000. That's considered along with the $2900 55" Sony HX929 and $5500 60" Sharp Elite to be the three best tv's available.

[Psychlone]

I wouldn't waste money on a 3D TV, I've heard that the whole 3D thing is a fad and not something that is going to be around much longer.

[skullman80]

Any recommendation for the best TV for 2000$ or under.. preferably at Best Buy that may be going on sale or even afterwards...

what size and features are important to you?

Best Buy doesn't have many above average tv's in their ad. No idea what their sale prices will be next weekend yet though.

The Sony NX720 plus home theater system is one of the better values out there. HH Gregg though is selling the HX729 (without home theater) for a bit less. It's a better tv and you could put the savings towards surround sound and the 3D glasses kit.

Best Buy usually has the 55" Panasonic VT30 at $2000. That's considered along with the $2900 55" Sony HX929 and $5500 60" Sharp Elite to be the three best tv's available.

Picture is the most important quality to me. 3D I don't really care for... maybe down the road a few years. Audio doesn't mean as much as I will probably have a receiver and speakers doing the audio.

So really for me it's picture quality above anything else. I have a 42" Vizio 1080p now as my main Tv that I've had that I will be moving to the bedroom probably, so this new TV would go in the main living area so I'm looking to step up a bit.

[pittsoccer33]

I wouldn't waste money on a 3D TV, I've heard that the whole 3D thing is a fad and not something that is going to be around much longer.

Picture is the most important quality to me. 3D I don't really care for... maybe down the road a few years. Audio doesn't mean as much as I will probably have a receiver and speakers doing the audio.

So really for me it's picture quality above anything else. I have a 42" Vizio 1080p now as my main Tv that I've had that I will be moving to the bedroom probably, so this new TV would go in the main living area so I'm looking to step up a bit.

not that I'm disagreeing with the fact this is possibly a fad, but all of the better tv's are 3D now. I don't know if anyone is making a 240hz LED this year without it. Ditto on the plasma tv's with the deepest black levels.

I wouldn't buy one because I want to watch ESPN Thursday Night College Football or play MW3 in 3D, I'd buy one because they look the best watching 2D. They have the deepest contrast levels, the highest refresh rates, and the most advanced image processing chips.

If you are looking for picture quality above all else under $2000 this what I'd recommend you look at in descending order. I know Best Buy carries all of these models:

55" Panasonic VT30 (plasma)
51" Samsung PND8000 (plasma)
46" Samsung UND8000 (LED)
55" Sony HX729 (LED)
55" Samsung UND7000 (LED) - rarely have I seen it below $2000 but it will be this weekend at Sears and HH Gregg, not sure of BB
51" Samsung PND7000 (plasma)
60" Panasonic GT30 (plasma)
59" Samsung D6500 (plasma)
55" Sony NX720 (LED) - on sale at BB and Sears w/ free 5.1 surround

[skullman80]

I'm not against 3D, I'm just not so sure if I'm willing to pay more for it right now. Thanks for the list though... it helps a bunch!

[pittsoccer33]

The best "non-3D" tv available in my opinion is the Samsung D6000 series LED. There are four models in that series. with the possible exception of the D6900 (which my store does not carry) I think they all have the same contrast ratio

D6000: 1080p 120hz Smart LED
D6300: 1080p 120hz Smart LED w/ full web browser
D6400: 1080p 120hz Smart LED w/ 3D
D6900: 1080p 120hz Smart LED w/ full web browser & 3D

In my store last week the difference between the D6000 and D6400 was $100. I also would have thrown in two pairs of $30 3D glasses for free. So thats about all you are "paying extra" for 3D.

They really want to push the technology out there, since sales are slowing down (early adopters of HD have already upgraded and those late to the game have already bought their first set in the last 2-3 years) and 3D an internet apps are the only new technologies they will be able to embrace before they start selling Ultra HD (UHD aka 4K) television sets

[skullman80]

I like the specs on the D6400.. decisions.. decisions..

[Nuge]

Realistically, what's the best deal (price range) that I could find on an 42-47 inch LED 1080 120hz?

[pittsoccer33]

Realistically, what's the best deal (price range) that I could find on an 42-47 inch LED 1080 120hz?

Sony HX729 - 1080p 240hz 3D Smart TV LED
46": HH Gregg - $998

Sony NX720 - 1080p 120hz 3D Smart LED w/ 2 pairs of glasses, Chronicles of Narnia, and 5.1 bluray HTIB
46": Best Buy - $1398

Samsung D6400 - 1080p 120hz 3D Smart LED
46": HH Gregg - $1149

Samsung D6000 - 1080p 120hz Smart LED
40": HH Gregg - $729

LG LW5300: 1080p 120hz 3D LED tv w/ bluray player and four pairs of glasses
47": Walmart, HH Gregg - $798

Samsung D6003 - 1080p 120hz Smart LED
46": Sears - $799

LG LV4400 - 1080p 120hz LED
47": Sears, Kmart - $679***
42": Best Buy - $499

I also saw a 42" Vizio LED in the walmart ad. its the only Vizio i saw in any of the circulars

[canaan]

pittsoccer brings the television knowledge heat.

[Nuge]

Realistically, what's the best deal (price range) that I could find on an 42-47 inch LED 1080 120hz?

Sony HX729 - 1080p 240hz 3D Smart TV LED
46": HH Gregg - $998

Sony NX720 - 1080p 120hz 3D Smart LED w/ 2 pairs of glasses, Chronicles of Narnia, and 5.1 bluray HTIB
46": Best Buy - $1398

Samsung D6400 - 1080p 120hz 3D Smart LED
46": HH Gregg - $1149

Samsung D6000 - 1080p 120hz Smart LED
40": HH Gregg - $729

LG LW5300: 1080p 120hz 3D LED tv w/ bluray player and four pairs of glasses
47": Walmart, HH Gregg - $798

Samsung D6003 - 1080p 120hz Smart LED
46": Sears - $799

LG LV4400 - 1080p 120hz LED
47": Sears, Kmart - $679***
42": Best Buy - $499

I also saw a 42" Vizio LED in the walmart ad. its the only Vizio i saw in any of the circulars

So these are all Black Friday prices?

[pittsoccer33]

You'll have to check through the ads. Some are just that morning, others are all weekend long. That 46" D6003 will probably be available at that price ($800) until they're all gone in mid January. Same with the LG tvs on that list. That D6400 price at HHGregg isn't very far off it's normal selling price.

All in all I don't think most of the Black Friday prices are amazing. TVs at Sears, Best Buy, etc are always "on sale." How "on sale" they are is what varies week to week. Add in that stores will have certain promotional events allowing you to take 5%-10% off or charge it interest free for 12-36 months and you could have bought most of these tv's at that price on one really close to it at several different times this year.

Next week at Sears, for example, the 46" D6000 will be $899 (starting this Sunday-Wednesday). Best Buy and HHGregg both sell it and should be able to price match that. The best price I've ever seen on that tv has been $1099 with a free $150 gift card and just $950 one other week.

Most of the stuff in the ads at seemingly heavily discounted prices are special editions of the normal tv's that are lower in picture quality (subjective) and with less features (quantitative). That or they are off brand items made by god knows who.

Also factor in Amazon if you are comfortable buying there. Their margins are ridiculously thin. They sell their tv's at extremely low margins all year long. These prices are about what you find there on any given day.

Bottom line, for an above average quality 46ish inch led you will be looking at $700-$1200 depending on
-screen type (matte or glossy)
-contrast ratio
-internet apps
-3D

[shmenguin]

on a related note, i upgraded my AVR over the weekend to one of the new pioneer models. the network connectivity is bad ass. on my iphone, i can change all the settings on the AVR (volume +/-, inputs, fine tuning the video/sound, etc.) using my home network connection. i can also do this on my "cable box". those home automation companies like crestron should be very nervous about their future viability.

[pittsoccer33]

the #1 thing keeping home automation extremely expensive (and uncommon among most people) is that there is no standard language for it. Crestron uses their own, Control4 their own, AMX, Savant, etc. There is some hardware intercompatibility, and some integrators are beginning to use iPads w/ apps in place of proprietary touch screen controllers, but it will take an open standard for this to really take off.

it shouldn't cost $100,000 to turn off the porch light or arm the security system from your bed at night via smartphone, especially when you can use phones to control all manner of home theater gear already, but until somebody comes up with an open protocol from whole home automation it is going to be prohibitively expensive.

[sdadowski]

Thanks pittsoccer33...picked up the Samsung 6400 55 inch last night at Bestbuy for our new house.

Can you give me the truth about HDMI cables?

[skullman80]

Don't pay more than 5 or 10$ for an HDMI cable. Monster cables are ripoffs. Go to monoprice or Amazon or similar and save yourself a ton of money.

[pittsoccer33]

D6400 is a really nice tv. Make sure when you are buying 3D glasses that you buy 2011 versions (which connect to the tv via bluetooth). 2010 glasses used IR, and would occasionally lose the connection if something bright was on the screen.

HDMI cords carry digital information (0s and 1s). The information is either there, or it's not. If it's not, you will see little sparkly looking things on the screen for a microsecond, or more likely you will see nothing at all. It's not a function of some kind of interference, it is simply whether or not the cable is working.

The longer your cable run the less likely it is to work properly. The other aspect that would seperate "good" from "bad" cables is the HDCP handshake. HDCP is a copy protection built into most HDMI devices. For instance, when you plug your blueray player into your tv via hdmi they "shake hands" and establish a safe link is there. That way you cant copy a bit perfect video stream and stick it on the internet. A given cord might have more trouble doing this quickly enough. If it doesnt work the link fails.

You will want to make sure you're buying HDMI 1.4 cables (which should be the only ones on store shelves at this point). There have been revisions to the specifications of HDMI over time. 1.4 is the newest one and only one guaranteed to play 3D bluray (each second has twice the amount of data flying through it) and to do ARC (audio return channel, allows you to cut down on the number of HDMI cords to a receiver).

I rarely sell anyone anything more than the $20 3.3 foot or $30 6.6 foot cables we carry. When they come in asking for the best picture, I'll throw a Monster cable on their order, but other than Monster cables being warranted for life I'd never buy one myself.

[JS©]

What do you know about the Toshiba 65HT2U? Best Buy has it available for $1499. Yay? Nay? Anything comparable with the same screen size for the same price?

[pittsoccer33]

That was a special edition tv Toshiba put out just to sell very cheaply for Christmas time.

If you will go a little smaller, the 60" Panasonic ST30 can be had right now for $1499. Much higher contrast levels, better motion, more accurate colors, a few internet widgets, and 3D capability.

If youre hell bent on the large screen size at that price point I'd look into the 73" Mitsubishi. The one without the high end speakers is around $1500