budget = $2000 pretax, what is best value for a plasma or lcd?

[CTrain]

Originally posted by: Maximus96
no go for projector. also no go on anything else besides flat panels. I really want to hang the thing on the wall. I don't think i'll play too much computer games on it but i'm not ruling that out. my pc is old but still good enough for now with A64 and 6800gt. i'm mainly interested in HTPC for viewing movies and other videos from the computer. I also might just use the xbox for that but who knows for now. I started browsing AVSforum and see some complain regarding the 50" vizio. i haven't field thru their 100+ pages but the last few pages were pretty full of complains and threads of returns...

Yeah, there are alot fo complaints but then again these people nitpick like crazy.
When you're spending less than $2K for a 50" plama, it can't be perfect.
LikeI said, I had the 42" Vizio and it was a great plasma for the price.

 

[CTrain]

Originally posted by: MisterServer
ive got the westy, some of the biggest negatives about it:
-viewing angles past ~20 degrees off center begin to look washed out
-remote sucks (but just get a harmony)
-uneven backlighting aka banding in gray/light blue uniform backgrounds (not too noticeable)
-this set has some known problems with 1080p input from the HDMI/DVI2 port in terms of seeing bright sparkles. some people have experienced it/some haven't. my only 1080p source is my pc and i do get sparkles on HDMI but not dvi2. hopefully by the time ps3 comes out they'll have fixed this issue with a firmware update but for now i'm stuck with the dvi/component inputs for 1080p sources
-lack of much aspect ratio control (only has standard 1:1 pixel map mode and a fill mode resulting in heavy 10% overscan)

despite the negatives i'm keeping it cuz of
a) 1920x1080p resolution from my pc gives amazing picture quality
b) hd broadcasts look very nice
c) i don't think there is a better value for this resolution/size of monitor

if you decide to get one, make sure it has firmware 1.19 or 1.00 (the latest) as they fix a power lockup issue. check out avsforum for tons of info

I'm keeping my Westinghouse for the same reason.
It is awesome as a PC monitor.
Its even better when you're playing computer games on 1920x1080

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: CTrain

Originally posted by: MisterServer
ive got the westy, some of the biggest negatives about it:
-viewing angles past ~20 degrees off center begin to look washed out
-remote sucks (but just get a harmony)
-uneven backlighting aka banding in gray/light blue uniform backgrounds (not too noticeable)
-this set has some known problems with 1080p input from the HDMI/DVI2 port in terms of seeing bright sparkles. some people have experienced it/some haven't. my only 1080p source is my pc and i do get sparkles on HDMI but not dvi2. hopefully by the time ps3 comes out they'll have fixed this issue with a firmware update but for now i'm stuck with the dvi/component inputs for 1080p sources
-lack of much aspect ratio control (only has standard 1:1 pixel map mode and a fill mode resulting in heavy 10% overscan)

despite the negatives i'm keeping it cuz of
a) 1920x1080p resolution from my pc gives amazing picture quality
b) hd broadcasts look very nice
c) i don't think there is a better value for this resolution/size of monitor

if you decide to get one, make sure it has firmware 1.19 or 1.00 (the latest) as they fix a power lockup issue. check out avsforum for tons of info

I'm keeping my Westinghouse for the same reason.
It is awesome as a PC monitor.
Its even better when you're playing computer games on 1920x1080

can you comfortably read the text on webpages or forums when sitting say 7-10' away from the screen at 1080p?