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$400 Insignia 42in plasma TV- BACK ON SALE

Not a brand I care for. And this would involve dealing with Best Buy, which I despise.
On the other hand, thats a fantastic price.

Edit: Wait, thats 720p.
I dunno, these days any 42 incher should be 1080p. Lemme think about it.
 
2 year warranty as well. Bought one for my mom last sale. Calibrated pretty nice. She hated the calibrated picture though....said it wasnt bright enough....
 
I'm seriously considering one of these as my first HDTV, anything I should know about it. I understand plasma aren't as bright as LCD, but I've never been a fan of LCD tvs at anything other than straight on viewing and some of the seating in the room I plan on putting it in are at an angle.

I'm really just wanting it for viewing ESPN HD and having it hooked up to my crap-box computer for mlb.tv, would this work well or should I hold out for something else?
 
StarvinMarvin22 said:
I'm seriously considering one of these as my first HDTV, anything I should know about it. I understand plasma aren't as bright as LCD, but I've never been a fan of LCD tvs at anything other than straight on viewing and some of the seating in the room I plan on putting it in are at an angle.

I'm really just wanting it for viewing ESPN HD and having it hooked up to my crap-box computer for mlb.tv, would this work well or should I hold out for something else?
Click to expand...

I had a 42" plasma around '05 and it had a pretty decent picture. For only $400 it's pretty hard to go wrong with this deal. (I may just run on down and give it a look myself...)
 
What is the horizontal resolution?
Some budget plasma screens are 1024x768, and 1280x768 would be preferred.
 
I bought it a week ago. I missed the sale by one day and couldn't talk them into giving me the sale price, but they said if I paid by credit card and it came back on sale they would adjust there price. i saw it was back on sale last night so I called them and they knocked the price down for me. 🙂

It's my first "big" TV, plasma, or LCD. The viewing angles are great and the picture is good, great when you get 1080i or 720p. You can really see the difference between the channels that are 1080i nor 720p as compared to the analouge or 480i channels. The sound is very good also. The only thing is that it has a lot of reflection, but I have it in the basement of a split level house and can control the outside refelections from windows so that doesn't bother me.

I like it, it's a big improvment over my old CRT TV and I'm glad I bpought it for a lousy $400 plus tax. However, that said my next one will be 1080p.
 
nobodyknows said:
1024x768

Also, they told me at besy buy that it's made by Insignia, but they use mostly Samsung parts??
Click to expand...


According to what I've read on other forums the TV is built by Samsung, not just the panel. It's like one of their models except with less connections and is branded Insignia for BB.
 
They had them side to side at the best buy near me. The picture looked very similair (to the point where I can say the same). While it has been confirmed it is a Sammy panel, I would not be surprised if this was made on the same production line as the Sammy C430 (version Sammy C450 that has 1 less HDMI input and no ToC, which is usless. They are sold at retailers such as Target) and just given a different case.

I bought the c450 for $500 3 weeks ago. If this deal would have been going on, i would have got the insignia instead. After all, it comes with a 2 year warranty. The Samsung comes with a 1 year plus what ever they extend it to (when you register the TV, they extend your warranty by atleast 3 months...some people have it extended to two years). Then, count AMEX's extended warranty....hmmmmm.
 
Great display...have one in the bedroom & have no complaints, esp. for the price. It supports 1080i w/ my Comcast HD cable box & 1080p from all of my BR players.
 
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texasfury said:
Also there is no mention of a tuner.
Click to expand...

Its a TV, not a monitor.

Does someone have actual "personal knowledge" that his unit is a rebadge unit as opposed to simply using some Samsung parts? Last posting, they were trying to say it was 1080p; wishful thinking?
 
russw said:
Its a TV, not a monitor.

Does someone have actual "personal knowledge" that his unit is a rebadge unit as opposed to simply using some Samsung parts? Last posting, they were trying to say it was 1080p; wishful thinking?
Click to expand...

The panel has to be made by either LG, Panasonic or Samsung. The way things go now, it would make no sense for another company to make the whole set. There is not enough market for just a store brand. The unit would end up costing more than a name brand unit if they did that because Mass production is what makes the TV cheaper. Also, lots of these TVs are made in the same factory. It is not uncommon to see an assembly line for two competing companies right next to each other. So, you can see why people are making the assumption that since Samsung makes the panel, Samsung made this whole TV.

Oh, this is 720p, not 1080p.
 
I bought this TV when it was on sale a couple of weeks ago. So far I have been completely satisfied, although it is quite a bit more reflective than the 32" Sony LCD we had in the living room before. We can deal with the reflections.

Now to answer some questions in this thread: it's a 720p TV at 1024x768 native resolution. Supposedly the missing lines of resolution are not as important because you can't see vertical lines as well as you can horizontal lines. Or something. And the HDTV consortium (or whatever) states that any TV that has 720 or more lines of horizontal resolution can be sold as a 720p HDTV. This thread has a lot of info about it:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=758937

My 32" Sony was 1366x768 and I have not noticed the resolution difference at all. That said, my only HD source is an Xbox 360. The rest of my sources are 480p DVD's. I have the TV hooked up with its component inputs through my Onkyo TX-SR703 receiver. I will hopefully get an HDMI-capable receiver soon and hook it up through HDMI. Also, being a bigger TV, we re-arranged the living room and now sit farther from the TV, so resolution is less noticeable.

Now, as to who makes the TV. It is a rebadged Samsung. The soft-touch buttons on the front bezel: Samsung. The remote control: Samsung shaped, with different plastic. The back panel: same design as a couple of Samsung models, but missing a couple of connectors.* The base upon which it sits, and the method by which it is attached: same as Samsung. So IMO it is fair to say that this TV was 100% assembled in a Samsung factory. But IMO it is better than a Samsung because it has a 2-year warranty and that warranty is through Best Buy, as Insignia is BB's house brand. If I have a problem, I can bring it to Best Buy, and they will have to deal with it. There's no rigamarole dealing with the manufacturer vs. the dealer -- it's cut down nicely. Not to mention, the price is lower than a comparable Samsung would be.

Now, I am usually a spec hound. If I were spending $1000+ on a TV, it damn well would be 1080p, have more inputs, be a big name brand, blah blah blah. $1000 is well into my "major purchase" range, and it would be a very considered decision! But at 42" for $400, you've got to cut corners somewhere and realize... it's $400. $400 is cheaper than many 32" TV's on the market. This TV meets my needs very nicely. It's got a great warranty (even better since I bought with Amex). Its limitations don't affect me and my situation (switching sources through a receiver, no 1080p sources, etc.). I would expect to see better deals on Black Friday, with all the Black Friday caveats (camping out, limited numbers, etc.).

*Note: Those missing connectors might be important, depending on your situation. There are (2) HDMI inputs and (2) component inputs, one of which is shared with a composite input. The green RCA connector for one of the component inputs doubles as the yellow (video) RCA connector for the composite input. So, you can have only 2 analog inputs at a time, only 1 of which can be composite. If you've got a lot of older analog sources, you will face a bottleneck.
 
Well, I went to Best Buy today with every intention of buying this tv if it looked good...

I bought http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-PN42C4...3920309&sr=8-1 instead for the same $400 price

Everything I had read told me this insignia was a 430 series Samsung.. so I feel pretty good about getting the 450 for the same price

Still thank you guys for this thread or I wouldn't have gone in and found the good prices on other tvs


* slight hijack the other tv available for this price was http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-P...3922778&sr=1-1

is the Samsung a better buy at the same price or should I get the Panasonic because I have to go back to the store on Friday to pick it up as they were OOS, so I could probably change my mind.
 
StarvinMarvin22 said:
Well, I went to Best Buy today with every intention of buying this tv if it looked good...

I bought http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-PN42C4...3920309&sr=8-1 instead for the same $400 price

Everything I had read told me this insignia was a 430 series Samsung.. so I feel pretty good about getting the 450 for the same price

Still thank you guys for this thread or I wouldn't have gone in and found the good prices on other tvs


* slight hijack the other tv available for this price was http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-TC-P...3922778&sr=1-1

is the Samsung a better buy at the same price or should I get the Panasonic because I have to go back to the store on Friday to pick it up as they were OOS, so I could probably change my mind.
Click to expand...


Neither of those show up as $400 for me, how did you get that price?


I too went to best buy to look at the tv. It's definitely a nice tv but you can tell it's based off of an older plasma panel design. I compared it to other high end plasmas and the biggest difference was the pixel size. While the pixels are not huge by any means they are bigger than newer plasma displays and for my particular application it wont be suitable (I'll be using it for non conventional purposes which include viewing it at pretty close distances).
 
ivwshane said:
Neither of those show up as $400 for me, how did you get that price?


I too went to best buy to look at the tv. It's definitely a nice tv but you can tell it's based off of an older plasma panel design. I compared it to other high end plasmas and the biggest difference was the pixel size. While the pixels are not huge by any means they are bigger than newer plasma displays and for my particular application it wont be suitable (I'll be using it for non conventional purposes which include viewing it at pretty close distances).
Click to expand...

they aren't 400 on the website, but when i went into the store today, thats the price they were listed

it might be something available only to my store but i feel i did good for $400

this is my first hdtv so i hope it works out for me, i have to go to the comcast office tomorrow to upgrade my service to hd and get a new box
 
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StarvinMarvin22 said:
they aren't 400 on the website, but when i went into the store today, thats the price they were listed

it might be something available only to my store but i feel i did good for $400

this is my first hdtv so i hope it works out for me, i have to go to the comcast office tomorrow to upgrade my service to hd and get a new box
Click to expand...

????? Fvck.....time to price match.....I bought it for 499.
 
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shortylickens said:
Not a brand I care for. And this would involve dealing with Best Buy, which I despise.
On the other hand, thats a fantastic price.

Edit: Wait, thats 720p.
I dunno, these days any 42 incher should be 1080p. Lemme think about it.
Click to expand...

Yea 720p was a concern, but went for it as a bedroom TV. Hooked it up to computer for Win 7 WMC and was recognized as "Samsung"
 
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