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Decent TV upgrade?

B

BrooksyX

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 22, 2008
Messages
1,131
Hey guys I am wondering if you think this will be a good TV upgrade. I am selling my 32" Vizio 720p/1080i VO32L LCD for $250 and am planning on upgrading. My budget is below $500 (more like $450 or below) and must be at least a 40". Right now my #1 choice is this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panason...HDTV/9770484.p?id=1218170522194&skuId=9770484. I am a little put off by the maximum resolution of only 1024x768 but because its just movies I don't think I will be able to tell the difference. I think costco has the same model for the same price in store. I would probably buy it there because of the extra 2 year warranty they include. (at least thats what I got when I bought my old vizio lcd.)

Do you think picture quality will be better/ a worthy upgrade? Any other suggestions on TVs? I am open to plasmas and LCDs. I don't do a whole bunch of gaming on my TV, just an occasional old skool emulator streamed through it. The main use of my TV is streaming HD movies via boxee through HDMI. This TV will be in my bedroom about 8 feet away. My room is a little bright but I mainly watch TV at night so I am not to worried about LCD glare.

Thanks
 
It's a decent TV. 720p, plasma (which I prefer over LCD for most applications.) Only 2 HDMI ports though. I've heard that the 1024x768 issue isn't that big of a deal for 720p plasma tvs if you're using them as a TV (and not a computer monitor, which I would advise using an LCD for anyways.) I think the picture quality will be slightly better than your current LCD because of the superior contrast. However, since you mentioned HD movies through Boxee, you may want to consider a 1080p TV like Panasonic TC-P42U2 ($650 at Best Buy.) In truth though, when sitting 8 feet from a 42" TV you won't notice much of a difference between 720p and 1080p.

If you really want to get a larger TV and stay within the $500 budget, this is a very good option. If your budget was larger though, I would put more money toward a larger screen first, and then toward 1080p, and not the other way round (assuming an 8-foot viewing distance.)
 
Ok thanks. I think I wanna stay under my budget if possible but I will look at both TVs this weekend when go instore. I won't be using this as my main pc monitor, but it will be an extended display (thats what my current TV is). Most of my movies are dvd rips from my personal collection and I don't think ill be switching to bluray any time soon. I am satisfied with dvd up conversion. So this might be something to consider as well.
 
Not a bad choice especially if your not watching no blue ray movies. The thing about plasma tv is that they are very good in displaying blacks for watching movies. So, its good when its displaying dark scenes. I know most would like to have 1080P tvs for Blue Ray/PS3 but, if your mainly watching dvds (720x480) resolution, its going to stretch it to 1920x1080 res on the tv. This would be good also for people who are watching tv via analog channels. Watching analog channels on a 1080P tv looks pixelated.
 
$20 more. That's more worth it actually. It has PC input with 3 x HDMI inputs has USB input and the native res is 1365 x 768. However, no media card slot. The Pansonic 42" has media card slot.
 
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HardwareGuru said:
$20 more. That's more worth it actually. It has PC input with 3 x HDMI inputs has USB input and the native res is 1365 x 768. However, no media card slot. The Pansonic 42" has media card slot.
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meh, I would never use the sd card slot so its definitely not a deciding factor.
 
Personally I'm a fan of Panasonic for plasma tvs (I have a TC-P50G25.) Consumer Reports says they're more reliable than Samsung and LG (though all plasmas are faily reliable) and Panasonics generally score better on reviews than their competition. The 3rd HDMI port is nice though (especially since the TC-P42C2 doesn't have a DVI port.) However, at the end of the day you're going to be the one watching it, so go look at the TVs and see what you like. Just be aware that at most retail stores the settings for each TV will usually be set to make the colors "pop" as it catches the eye more than a well calibrated setting.
 
tonytnnt said:
That's a great price if you can get it for under $400. Good luck!
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Thanks! Fred Myer has a TV listed in their weekly add for $399 a 720p 42" plasma but it doesnt say what brand. I don't think its the Panasonic though because its listed as having 3 hdmi vs 2 on the Panasonic. I hope its the samsung but doubt it. I would rather get the samsung because the bigger resolution and its more aesthetically pleasing.
 
I ordered the samsung online for instore pickup (ill be home this weekend for spring break at college right now.) I want to check how the floor model looks like but this is the best TV I could find in my price range of about $450 and it was the last one they had in stock and don't have time to wait for them to ship it to the store. I figured worst case scenario is I don't like how the floor model looks and I just cancel my order in store. I always want to see if they have any good open box models as I don't mind going with something like that too as long as it gets the full warranty. But I think ill like the samsung. Its only 720p but it has resolution of 1365x768 vs the 1024x768 resolution of the panasonic. Can't wait to pick it up and try it out.
 
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