Best 50-60 Inch TV Period

[poofyhairguy]

I am helping my grandparents buy a new TV. The mostly watch sports, DVDs, and they have a Suddenlink HD cable box.

They are loaded though- I know I could talk them into any set pretty much. The only real limitation is that they want something they buy locally- so no internet only deals like discontinued Kuros. The local stores available are Best Buy, Sams, Sears, and one high end place that could probably get me anything if I gave them a heads up.

The room it is going in is pretty bright. It is to be hung on a wall so flatness matters. Looks that impress people would help. They love their current IR Harmony, so I will be using that. The speakers will be used at first.

They currently have a 65inch 3 year old Mitsubishi Diamond in the other room. I want to get a TV that blows that away. To me that means stuff regular people love that nerds hate- super brightness and interpolation. 3D doesn't matter one bit.

I would love some advice. My reputation is riding on this....

 

[JackBurton]

Period? Find a Runco dealer near you. Secondly, get rid of that crap Harmony and get a Crestron setup. Let's go all out.

 

[0roo0roo]

ask avsforum

 

[fralexandr]

panasonic v25 would be my vote, i think its the best looking tv thats commonly sold in most retail stores that is wall mountable.

 

[s44]

Uh, the discontinued Samsung 55B8500?

Yeah, yeah. I know.

Problem is, high-end LCD sort of sucks this year even though the bright room will kill the plasma and hide LCD issues.

 

[Soccerman06]

The VT25 is probably the best of the tvs for the average consumer, but if your willing to spend $10,000+ you have more options.

 

[IGBT]

costco has the 50" Panasonic plasma on sale for 649.00 super deal for something way better then LCD. New plasma tech.has lower power consumption too.

 

[RipGlitter]

Period? Find a Runco dealer near you. Secondly, get rid of that crap Harmony and get a Crestron setup. Let's go all out.

At ANY price? I'd agree with ^^, look into Runco. Otherwise, I'd see if anyone local has the nicer Panasonic TV's, they are pretty nice. Sanyo are actually pretty good TV's too, but you don't get much in the way of menu adjustments, they're pretty plain in that respect. They get great reviews for reliability from Consumer Reports, though, as do the Panasonic and Toshiba Tv's.

 

[Emulex]

VT25 has the best anti-reflective. it's about half as good as most ancient LCD's lol.

the 3D is nice if you have content - it requires faster phoshor so you get less image retention than the non-3d units.

I love the LG60PX950 deal ($1500 with 2 3d-glasses) very slim - decent apps - looks awesome

 

[Patranus]

60" Panasonic Pro Plasma.

 

[Drako]

60" Panasonic Pro Plasma.

I'm not sure why you would recommend this to any home user, as the 1080p Pro versions have the same glass as the G20/25 consumer versions, except with a lot less features and a lot higher cost.

Anyway, as was stated earlier, get a Panasonic VT25 if you are looking for the best at this time.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20016466-1.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody;1n

 

[Patranus]

I'm not sure why you would recommend this to any home user, as the 1080p Pro versions have the same glass as the G20/25 consumer versions, except with a lot less features and a lot higher cost.

Anyway, as was stated earlier, get a Panasonic VT25 if you are looking for the best at this time.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20016466-1.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody;1n

Are you sure it has less "features"?
It certainly does not.

Not only does it have significantly more calibration options but if you are using a cable box than get a shitty HTIB and you have a setup that is 10x better.

 

[Drako]

Are you sure it has less "features"?
It certainly does not.

Not only does it have significantly more calibration options but if you are using a cable box than get a shitty HTIB and you have a setup that is 10x better.

Both sets have the same calibration options, you just have to know how to get to the hidden menus on the commercial set. So, setup 10x better not found.

You can get a TC-P50G25 for around $1000.

You can get a TH-50PF20U for around $1400.

The consumer version has built in speakers/tuner/ViearaCast/etc, which you can choose to use or not. So yeah, the TC-P50G25 is the better option for most consumers .

 

[poofyhairguy]

For me I would get a 3D plasma in a heartbeat, in fact I did when I bought a new TV this year.

But for my folks they watch Foxnews and ESPN WAY too much. First time the ESPN logo IRed for a minute on the screen I would be getting nasty phone calls. Plus this is a BRIGHT room, and no telling them to use curtains is out of the question. They aren't gonna change their living habits for a tv.

What about the Sony KDL-55HX800 or KDL-55HX810?

LED, so bright with light. Best interpolation in the business to create that soap opera effect regular people love. Pretty much the perfect size.

I am also considering the Sharp 60LE920UN for the same reasons. Any other big LEDs I am missing out on?

 

[s44]

I assume the "impressing people" part prevents them from getting a Vizio? Look at the LG 55E8500 though, or the 55LX9500 (3D not great but it's there and they can spare the cash).

It's mind-boggling that the largest Sony local dimmer is 52". Wtf...

 

[chucky2]

Samsung 8000 series plasma, biggest they can afford. After the Panasonic blacks rise, it'll be no better - or worse - than the Samsung, except the Samsung won't have the floating black issue. If the Samsung is a 'buzzer', it's likely they wouldn't hear it anyways.

At this point though, it'd be smart to wait for the 2011 model info and hopefully reviews before you/they go off buying. CES 2011 is in a couple weeks I think, wait until the end of that to learn about 2011's offerings.....

Chuck

 

[Narmer]

Samsung 8000 series plasma, biggest they can afford. After the Panasonic blacks rise, it'll be no better - or worse - than the Samsung, except the Samsung won't have the floating black issue. If the Samsung is a 'buzzer', it's likely they wouldn't hear it anyways.

At this point though, it'd be smart to wait for the 2011 model info and hopefully reviews before you/they go off buying. CES 2011 is in a couple weeks I think, wait until the end of that to learn about 2011's offerings.....

Chuck

I think the consensus is that Panasonic > Samsung. Also, why wait for CES when TVs announced at CES come out months later if not half a year later?

 

[Emulex]

Pick a 60" or 65" - trust me. i just ditched a 42" because it was not enough to enjoy 1080p (or more) .

 

[JackBurton]

I think the consensus is that Panasonic > Samsung. Also, why wait for CES when TVs announced at CES come out months later if not half a year later?

The census is Panasonic = Samsung. You basically pick your poison going with one or the other.

But I thought we were talking about "BEST 50-60 inch TV period" here? So when are you ordering the Runco OP?

 

[chucky2]

The census is Panasonic = Samsung. You basically pick your poison going with one or the other.

Yep.

The Samsung's were cheaper last I checked and the word on the forums is that the Samsung's handle scaling better (for things like SD being fed to the TV).

Chuck

 

[chucky2]

I think the consensus is that Panasonic > Samsung.

See above.

Also, why wait for CES when TVs announced at CES come out months later if not half a year later?

Because if Samsang, Panasonic, LG, whoever is going to release early in 2011, knowing what 2011 is bringing and waiting a short 3 months (do the grandparents really need it right now (maybe they do)?) and then buying a 2011 may be a better move.

Chuck

 

[EliteRetard]

I wonder if a bigger TV would add more wow factor...like an 82" DLP or maybe a high end 100" projector and screen.

Maybe a 72" LED LCD?
http://hothardware.com/News/LG-Announces-72-LZ9700-LEDBacklit-3D-Television/

 

[GTaudiophile]

Am greatly enjoying my Panny TC-P50G25. Brilliant value.

50 inches is perfect given my current living arrangement.