Buying a new tv, need some advice

[ryema22]

Thinking of buying a new 42" or so tv, would like to stay under 1200. My only other HDTV is a 51" Sony rear projection set that does 1080i (although the highest signal my cable company sends is 720p I believe)

Having never watched 1080p before, I don't know if it's worth the money to step up to that level. At a 10ft viewing distance would I notice a difference between that and 720p if I were to pick up an hddvd/blu-ray player?

Plasma or Lcd? Brand/model recommendations? While I obviously don't want to invest in crap, this isn't going to be my primary HT display, so I'm more concerned with the budget than with getting the absolute best display.

 

[montypythizzle]

Personally, after seeing the to-my-eyes horrible contrast ratio of Vizio LCDs (might have been a dynamic contrast control, but would have turned if off during simple calibration), I would probably get a large digital CRT RPTV. IDK it's sort of a toss-up though.

 

[SLCentral]

Panasonic 42PX75U. Best set at that price range.

/thread.

 

[ryema22]

After looking at a bunch of 42" plasmas in person I did exactly that. Wow. The other panels in that price range weren't even close - the colors weren't accurate and they all looked over saturated. I threw in a couple of dvd's last night and I'm very pleased... now I just need to get an HD FiOS box for it.

Is an upconverting DVD player worth it for now or should I just wait for the high def war to play itself out/come down in price

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: ryema22
After looking at a bunch of 42" plasmas in person I did exactly that. Wow. The other panels in that price range weren't even close - the colors weren't accurate and they all looked over saturated. I threw in a couple of dvd's last night and I'm very pleased... now I just need to get an HD FiOS box for it.

Is an upconverting DVD player worth it for now or should I just wait for the high def war to play itself out/come down in price

Wait, so which one did you get?

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: ryema22
After looking at a bunch of 42" plasmas in person I did exactly that. Wow. The other panels in that price range weren't even close - the colors weren't accurate and they all looked over saturated.

Stores generally have their TVs set this way, though. Hard to tell how it'll look when decently calibrated.

 

[ryema22]

I bought a Panasonic 42PX75U. The other sets I was looking at were an LG and a Samsung, both also 42" - the Panasonic was noticeably better. It could have been a calibration issue, but the guy I was talking to seemed to know his stuff and said they had all been calibrated when I asked if I could use the remote to play with the settings on a couple of them.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: ryema22
I bought a Panasonic 42PX75U. The other sets I was looking at were an LG and a Samsung, both also 42" - the Panasonic was noticeably better. It could have been a calibration issue, but the guy I was talking to seemed to know his stuff and said they had all been calibrated when I asked if I could use the remote to play with the settings on a couple of them.

Regardless of the calibration, you definitely chose the best set for the money. Congrats on the purchase!

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: ryema22
I bought a Panasonic 42PX75U. The other sets I was looking at were an LG and a Samsung, both also 42" - the Panasonic was noticeably better. It could have been a calibration issue, but the guy I was talking to seemed to know his stuff and said they had all been calibrated when I asked if I could use the remote to play with the settings on a couple of them.

:thumbsup:. For the money, it's the best TV out there. Glad to know you took my advice, or at least that my advice agreed with what you saw!