slomo007 wrote:I would avoid DLP as well unless price is your main concern. Perhaps I have just not seen a properly setup one, but I have never seen a DLP come close to matching the picture of either a plasma or LCD. My preference is plasma, due to the darker blacks. I also don't care much for projections of any type.
Of course plasmas are probably the most expensive, so only go that route if you can afford it.
i agree. as far as quality goes, none of the rear projection televisions can match plasma's black level. plasmas generally boast the highest contrast ratios of any of the competing technologies, which is one of the most important factors in picture quality.
the true cost to own is kind of confusing--
DLP, or any of the rear projection sets, require lamp/bulb replacements every couple of years. currently the bulbs are around $200-300. they should get cheaper as time goes on. some sets require a service tech to install the lamp while others can be done by the consumer. anyway, DLP is cheap up front but requires continual lamp replacements which decreases the price gap.
plasmas are energy hogs and can cost $30-$50 more than DLP and LCD per year in electricity.
LCD displays are cheaper than plasmas for the small sizes but for 40" and higher plasmas are cheaper than LCDs.
i would tend to stay away from the bargain brands. they may be cheaper up front but typically dont look as good and dont last as long.
The lamp on my Sony LCD TV is about $200 now. It's been 4 years running and I had it replaced once while it was under warranty.
The service guy told me that it is about $200 to call him out next time and that would include the parts. That is not that bad considering Plasma will die and there is no way to revive it.
Plasmas take 10+ years to die, and even that is short-sighted.
In 10 years a replacement 42" plasma is going to be so much more advanced and less costly than it is today that I'll actually be glad it died and made me buy a new one.
In all seriousness, regarding your decision scottytrav. Your price range isn't really high enough for a decent plasma. I'd go with an LCD (not projection) that is 37" or so, and then get the Wii. You should have more than enough money. Sharp Aquos gets the best reviews, but I'm not an LCD expert so I'll let some other guys take care of that.
Plasmas do not last 10 yrs where the hell did you hear that? Also, you are not supposed to play video games on a Plasma due to image burn-ins.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin
slomo007 wrote:Man plasmas have dropped in price a TON. I bought a 42" Hitachi about a year and a half ago for about twice that price.
Last I heard they were all done making plasmas, which is why the prices started falling so drastically. I could have been misinformed though.
Plasmas are definitely still around. They're still pretty popular, the main problem is that LCDs and DLPs can be made cheaper so people like to buy them. IMO there is a definite picture improvement in plasma over the others, but I realize that sometimes it is not worth the price unless you're a real TV connoisseur. It's encouraging to see a Panasonic (a high end brand) 42" version for $1250 though, that's a good sign for the future of plasmas if they can get their price point down.
I know they are still around, I see them advertised all the time and they want to move them. I guess the guy at Best Buy was misinformed as I remember talking to one of them about plasmas not being made anymore, and could have sworn there was a post/thread about that on one of the Cafes. I'll see if I can find it, as maybe I misread or misunderstood something.
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slomo007 wrote:I would avoid DLP as well unless price is your main concern. Perhaps I have just not seen a properly setup one, but I have never seen a DLP come close to matching the picture of either a plasma or LCD. My preference is plasma, due to the darker blacks. I also don't care much for projections of any type.
Of course plasmas are probably the most expensive, so only go that route if you can afford it.
i agree. as far as quality goes, none of the rear projection televisions can match plasma's black level. plasmas generally boast the highest contrast ratios of any of the competing technologies, which is one of the most important factors in picture quality.
the true cost to own is kind of confusing--
DLP, or any of the rear projection sets, require lamp/bulb replacements every couple of years. currently the bulbs are around $200-300. they should get cheaper as time goes on. some sets require a service tech to install the lamp while others can be done by the consumer. anyway, DLP is cheap up front but requires continual lamp replacements which decreases the price gap.
plasmas are energy hogs and can cost $30-$50 more than DLP and LCD per year in electricity.
LCD displays are cheaper than plasmas for the small sizes but for 40" and higher plasmas are cheaper than LCDs.
i would tend to stay away from the bargain brands. they may be cheaper up front but typically dont look as good and dont last as long.
The lamp on my Sony LCD TV is about $200 now. It's been 4 years running and I had it replaced once while it was under warranty.
The service guy told me that it is about $200 to call him out next time and that would include the parts. That is not that bad considering Plasma will die and there is no way to revive it.
Plasmas take 10+ years to die, and even that is short-sighted.
In 10 years a replacement 42" plasma is going to be so much more advanced and less costly than it is today that I'll actually be glad it died and made me buy a new one.
In all seriousness, regarding your decision scottytrav. Your price range isn't really high enough for a decent plasma. I'd go with an LCD (not projection) that is 37" or so, and then get the Wii. You should have more than enough money. Sharp Aquos gets the best reviews, but I'm not an LCD expert so I'll let some other guys take care of that.
Plasmas do not last 10 yrs where the hell did you hear that? Also, you are not supposed to play video games on a Plasma due to image burn-ins.
60,000 hour life. That's 2500 straight days at 24 hours/day. That's 7 years, if you leave it on 24 hours/day. Considering most people leave it on at the most 8 hours a day, that's 21 years. Hell you'll burn through $1000 worth of lamps by the time a plasma would die.
Burn-in is also no longer an issue on newer plasmas. The biggest misconceptions about plasmas were true way back in the day, but technology has advanced so much that there really isn't any downside to owning a plasma other than price.
slomo007 wrote:Sharp Aquos gets the best reviews, but I'm not an LCD expert so I'll let some other guys take care of that.
I'm no expert either, but in my recent research I've read several marginal reviews on the Aquos. Samsung and Sony tend to come out on top, and their panels are made by the same people.
slomo007 wrote:Sharp Aquos gets the best reviews, but I'm not an LCD expert so I'll let some other guys take care of that.
I'm no expert either, but in my recent research I've read several marginal reviews on the Aquos. Samsung and Sony tend to come out on top, and their panels are made by the same people.
Interesting, thanks for clarifying. Sharp used to the be best, back when I was researching them a couple years ago. Guess things have changed.
slomo007 wrote:Sharp Aquos gets the best reviews, but I'm not an LCD expert so I'll let some other guys take care of that.
I'm no expert either, but in my recent research I've read several marginal reviews on the Aquos. Samsung and Sony tend to come out on top, and their panels are made by the same people.
Interesting, thanks for clarifying. Sharp used to the be best, back when I was researching them a couple years ago. Guess things have changed.
Just to clarify my bad syntax, Sharp mfg is separate from the other two.
Yoda wrote: Plasmas do not last 10 yrs where the hell did you hear that? Also, you are not supposed to play video games on a Plasma due to image burn-ins.
60,000 hour life. That's 2500 straight days at 24 hours/day. That's 7 years, if you leave it on 24 hours/day. Considering most people leave it on at the most 8 hours a day, that's 21 years. Hell you'll burn through $1000 worth of lamps by the time a plasma would die.
Burn-in is also no longer an issue on newer plasmas. The biggest misconceptions about plasmas were true way back in the day, but technology has advanced so much that there really isn't any downside to owning a plasma other than price.
exactly. the risk of burn in on a plasma is roughly the same as on a CRT.
slomo007 wrote:I would avoid DLP as well unless price is your main concern. Perhaps I have just not seen a properly setup one, but I have never seen a DLP come close to matching the picture of either a plasma or LCD. My preference is plasma, due to the darker blacks. I also don't care much for projections of any type.
Of course plasmas are probably the most expensive, so only go that route if you can afford it.
i agree. as far as quality goes, none of the rear projection televisions can match plasma's black level. plasmas generally boast the highest contrast ratios of any of the competing technologies, which is one of the most important factors in picture quality.
the true cost to own is kind of confusing--
DLP, or any of the rear projection sets, require lamp/bulb replacements every couple of years. currently the bulbs are around $200-300. they should get cheaper as time goes on. some sets require a service tech to install the lamp while others can be done by the consumer. anyway, DLP is cheap up front but requires continual lamp replacements which decreases the price gap.
plasmas are energy hogs and can cost $30-$50 more than DLP and LCD per year in electricity.
LCD displays are cheaper than plasmas for the small sizes but for 40" and higher plasmas are cheaper than LCDs.
i would tend to stay away from the bargain brands. they may be cheaper up front but typically dont look as good and dont last as long.
The lamp on my Sony LCD TV is about $200 now. It's been 4 years running and I had it replaced once while it was under warranty.
The service guy told me that it is about $200 to call him out next time and that would include the parts. That is not that bad considering Plasma will die and there is no way to revive it.
Plasmas take 10+ years to die, and even that is short-sighted.
In 10 years a replacement 42" plasma is going to be so much more advanced and less costly than it is today that I'll actually be glad it died and made me buy a new one.
In all seriousness, regarding your decision scottytrav. Your price range isn't really high enough for a decent plasma. I'd go with an LCD (not projection) that is 37" or so, and then get the Wii. You should have more than enough money. Sharp Aquos gets the best reviews, but I'm not an LCD expert so I'll let some other guys take care of that.
Plasmas do not last 10 yrs where the hell did you hear that? Also, you are not supposed to play video games on a Plasma due to image burn-ins.
60,000 hour life. That's 2500 straight days at 24 hours/day. That's 7 years, if you leave it on 24 hours/day. Considering most people leave it on at the most 8 hours a day, that's 21 years. Hell you'll burn through $1000 worth of lamps by the time a plasma would die.
Burn-in is also no longer an issue on newer plasmas. The biggest misconceptions about plasmas were true way back in the day, but technology has advanced so much that there really isn't any downside to owning a plasma other than price.
I stand corrected... Seems like technology has really changed a lot since I bought my TV 4 years ago...
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." ~George Carlin
I recently bought a 42" Sharp Aquos 1080p LCD...it's awesome. Lots of users complain about a banding issue (either vertical or horizontal lines during grayish or white scenes but mine is fine).
The one thing I don't love is that the 176 degree viewing angle it claims to have is B.S. but that's what you get with LCD. I happen to sit directly in front of it so it's not an issue for me.
Okay thanks guys. It's going to be kind of difficult for me to get the money offline soon. In the meantime I'm going to keep researching and see which picture I like best and what I can afford to splurge on. Will let everyone know as soon as I get the deal done.
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by Yoda » Mon May 21, 2007 2:31 pm 
