2011 Official LGP HDTV Buying Guide

[pittsoccer33]

well those are pretty much the best two tv's on the market (ill lump in the elite models as well).

i cant imagine being displeased with either of them. only the pickiest people in the world could find a fault with either set.

there isnt much else to say. its like picking a ferarri or a lamborghini. you win with either.

[eddysnake]

Thanks that's kinda what I figured, going to head down to the Stereo Shop in Greensburg this week and check them out

[JS©]

JS© signs multi-year deal with Samsung UN55D6400. Terms of the deal, per club policy, were not disclosed.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... 77284439#p

[viva la ben]

The vlb household is in the preliminary stage of buying a flat screen between 55-60 inches. It will probably be purchased at Costco.

[viva la ben]

So I think I decided on a Vizio 46" 3d led, Costco has them for 899 after a 100 instant rebate. I went with the 46 because 55 was just too big, and I really like the picture quality of the led, really good contrast..the 3d is more a novelty at this point, Comcast in my area does have two 3d channels.

[pittsoccer33]

im not terribly familiar with Vizio's 3D tech, but I do know they use passive glasses, which I think at this point is much more family friendly. No worrying about batteries or syncing. Just put them on and watch. That tv probably has some internet connectibility that a similar LG (LW5300) would lack.

The cheapest Samsung competing model (the D6400) was $999 at it's best on sale price last year, so thats right in the same ballpark.

If you can see one on display I would encourage you to check out the LG LW5300. It's a little bit more money (around $999) but also includes a 3D bluray player. Just to give you something to compare it to.

[JeffDFD]

Pittsoccer33:

If we ever run into each other...I owe you a beer (or drink of your choosing).


Watched my first Pens game on the 70" last night. Pretty sure I assisted on Malkin's game tying goal with 6.6 to go.

[eddysnake]

there isnt much else to say. its like picking a ferarri or a lamborghini. you win with either.

took a long look at both the Sony 929 and Panny VT30 today. Picture wise, they both looked awesome, I was a little disappointed with the look of the Panny. It has a distracting silver plastic piece along the edge of the tv that made it look kinda cheap. The bezel is also pretty big. On the other hand, the Sony is just a piece of work. The glass covers the entire front of the set and with the tv off it looks like one giant piece of glass, it would look like art hanging on a wall. For this alone, I think I like the Sony a bit more and I think my dad is going with that one. The 3D seemed better as well, maybe it was the brighter display from the LCD?

Do you know anything about the newer Mitsubishi Rear Projection DLPs? Hows the video quality with those compared to other tvs. Price to size ratio, it seems like plasmas and lcds are coming down, but these still seem like good bang for your buck, but I haven't heard anything about the picture quality?

[pittsoccer33]

3D "should" theoretically be better on a plasma tv than an LCD due to the refresh speeds. LCD makers were throwing blank frames into each eye after every real frame to help with motion. Plasma didn't need to do that to reduce blurring.

I'm debating a new tv and for my money I think I might go with a Sony NX720. It would be a bit of a step down from the 929 but has many of the same features (such as one single piece of glass). For 55" at $1499 it's closest competitor would be a Panasonic GT30, and the fact the GT30 can't handle 24p is the turn off for me (the VT30 can however). Thats a minor thing 99% of people would never notice, but I do.

The Mitsubishi rear projection line are great values for the money. They can't compete anywhere near the top end tvs in picture quality, but they do compete well with projectors. You can get the 82" ones well under $2000. Contrast that to an Optoma HD20 projector, screen, and sound bar (just to give an close comparison) and you're getting it all for the same price with fewer set up headaches. They are much cheaper than the Sharp LEDs. I'd like to see a side by side comparison. The Sharp's should be more vibrant and will definitely handle blacks better.

[viva la ben]

For accessories like mounts and cables, you can't beat www.monoprice.com

[eddysnake]

3D "should" theoretically be better on a plasma tv than an LCD due to the refresh speeds. LCD makers were throwing blank frames into each eye after every real frame to help with motion. Plasma didn't need to do that to reduce blurring.

Thats interesting. My dad got the Sony 55" 929 last night with a Panny BD-210 3D player and 3D starter kit for $2200 on Vanns through Amazon. I have no idea how he got it so cheap, he called last night and said they have this deal for another 48 minutes, should I do it?

[pittsoccer33]

well that is a really good price. you looked at them yourself and thought the sony was superior. if you're thinking about a new tv you cant really do much better in terms of price on a tv that good.

[mac5155]

Amazon.com has 60" Panasonic Viera TC-P60ST30 1080p 600Hz 3D Plasma HDTV for $1,249.98 + free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-T ... 394&sr=8-1

edit - not sure anything about this TV but it was posted on Slickdeals Front page

[pittsoccer33]

very good price. about $200-$250 cheaper than you could buy it in any local store (plus another $100 tax savings, and a local delivery would be $75 or so)

[eddysnake]

well that is a really good price. you looked at them yourself and thought the sony was superior. if you're thinking about a new tv you cant really do much better in terms of price on a tv that good.

Are you certified to do calibrations?

[mac5155]

Best Buy has 42" Sharp LC42SV49U 1080p LCD HDTV for $329.99 with free ship to store.

This one was also posted but has since been confirmed dead.

[pittsoccer33]

Are you certified to do calibrations?

i am not. wish i was though. probably don't have the patience for it.

for my panasonic I used avsforum poster D-Nice's calibration offsets. not perfect but far superior to my friend who has the same tv (he comments every time he comes over) navigating the panasonic service menu is a nightmare. its clear they dont want average joes in there.

[eddysnake]

Are you certified to do calibrations?

i am not. wish i was though. probably don't have the patience for it.

for my panasonic I used avsforum poster D-Nice's calibration offsets. not perfect but far superior to my friend who has the same tv (he comments every time he comes over) navigating the panasonic service menu is a nightmare. its clear they dont want average joes in there.

I did the same for my Samsung DLP, pretty scary once you start messing around with wobulation mirrors and apperture settings, none the less it looks better than when I first got it.

[pittsoccer33]

Panasonic 2012 Q3: $9 billion loss, Sanyo writedowns, restructuring

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/03/panasonic-q3-2012/

Sharp struggles with TV competition, Q3 2011 results reveal 86 percent drop in profit

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/01/shar ... veal-86-p/

Sony's Q3 earnings are in: wider than expected full year loss, lowered sales projections

http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/02/sony ... s-q3-2011/

Sony posts $350 million loss in Q2 earnings report, forecasts full-year loss

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/02/sony ... ecasts-fu/

Double Yoi. Add this to the thread where I mentioned the losses at Best Buy and Sears, and its a tough time to be an electronics retailer.

I can see from our numbers how far off we've been the last few months, especially in January. Thanks Tebow.

[viva la ben]

Nevermind Vizio, now I'm interested in a LG 55LW5700. I just read too many problems with VIZIO. Costco has the lg for 1299+99 for a 5 year square trade ESP. I don't want to regret not going bigger :lol:

[JeffDFD]

Nevermind Vizio, now I'm interested in a LG 55LW5700. I just read too many problems with VIZIO. Costco has the lg for 1299+99 for a 5 year square trade ESP. I don't want to regret not going bigger

My goal was to get a TV bigger screen wise than my wife. Success! Good thing my wife is shorter.

[mac5155]

Nevermind Vizio, now I'm interested in a LG 55LW5700. I just read too many problems with VIZIO. Costco has the lg for 1299+99 for a 5 year square trade ESP. I don't want to regret not going bigger

My goal was to get a TV bigger screen wise than my wife. Success! Good thing my wife is shorter.

hahaha

[viva la ben]

So I'm watching the over the air broadcast of the Super Bowl on my new 55lw5700. I've read about all of the different calibrations and hacks to get a better picture, but I'm really impressed with it out of the box. I wall mounted it with a simplicity slf4 full motion mount. I have plaster over lathe walls so I was nervous about not being able to find the studs. Thank goodness for the Internet because I found enough tricks and tips to get the job done.
We watched Tron Legacy in 3d and that was pretty cool. I tried some Gran Turismo 5 in 3d too, pretty neat.
Anyhow, since we live in the city, were able to get a bunch of DTV channels over the air, pretty sweet considering Comcast isn't coming out until later this week.

[pittsoccer33]

ota is higher quality than comcast by far too.

im glad you like it. if you have kids try picking up Tangled 3D. very impressive effects.

also comcast has a bunch of 3D stuff on demand for free. not sure whats in there but it would be worth checking out.

[JS©]

FIOS has a bunch of movies listed too. If you don't want to do the whole movie and just want to check out the 3D, they let you watch the 2 min trailers.

Is anybody looking for a 47" LCD TV? Being that my old TV is too big and too bright for my bedroom, I figured I'd offer it to anybody looking for another TV. Wallyworld still has it listed for $670, Amazon new is 699 and Amazon used is 650, but there's no way I'd be asking anything close to it. Basically I'm looking to get enough money out of it to buy a 32"-37" TV and have some extra cash left over.

I've had it for about 18 months, but during the last 6 months it has seen minimal usage due to being away from home.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-47PFL5704 ... B001SQTE7U

If listing this TV on here is against site rules, mods....do your thang with the post, not my account.