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Help me pick out 2 HDTVs....

Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Here's my situation.... I'm poor and buying a house this week, so I'll be really poor after dropping a ton of cash on the downpayment of the house.

I'm wanting to buy 2 new HDTVs for the house to mount on the wall. One for the bedroom 37"-46" and one for the living room 46"-55"

My last TV is from 1999 and is actually a huge computer monitor (princeton graphics 27" CRT), so whatever I get, I'll probably keep at least 5-6 years.

I've looked at many floor models and have actually found for the money, you can't be Plasma screens. Typically, I never thought I'd be interested in plasmas due to brightness and burn-in issues I've heard about. The technology has been around long enough, that I think most of those issues can be dealt with.

I've been eyeing the Samsung PN50B450
I can get this screen online for under $800 shipped. Locally, it's about $50 more after tax. I compared this at a few stores with other plasmas and LCDs and have found that the colors are better than Panasonic and the price is lower. The screen looks nice too and it has decent black levels. For a 50", it seems like an excellent deal. I seriously couldn't tell a difference between this and a 1080p model that was sitting right next to it for $400 more.

For the smaller screen, I'm looking at another Plasma by Panasonic (42" TC-P42X1 through Dell.com or a 37"-40" Bravia 60hz 720p-1080p LCD.

I want to buy the smaller screen through Dell because I have a $200 dell gift certificate I'd like to use to drop the price to the $300-400 range.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm trying to get the best quality for the least amount of money. It'll be a few years before I bite on an LED even though they have a really nice bright picture. The LCDs are still a little distorted to me compared to plasmas. The more I look at them, the more I'm disappointed with their picture unless the content has been polished up for HD. Plasmas appear to be better for sports.
 
My thoughts: For the 50", I'd personally get 1080p, and did. While you may say you don't want it now, if you're spending that much money I'd personally get the best I can, knowing I won't upgrade. Its also hard to decide on picture quality by instore setup, as B&M stores often don't have it correct. With that said, the Samsung is a good choice - I was deciding between Samsung and Panny and chose the Panny. I'd agree with you on the plasma vs. lcd.

How soon are you looking to purchase these tvs, and what is your budget?
 
I close on my house this Friday. I'm going to be installing hardwood floors and tile in the next week or two before I move my stuff in. I want to see about getting wiring for everything installed while I'm at it.

I'm assuming I'll have my TVs purchased by the first of November. I know what you're saying about buy the best. What's getting me is the difference between a 50" 720p and 1080p cost-wise. It's about $400 more to upgrade to 1080p...which is 50% more for not that much better resolution. If I were using these displays for HTPC connections, it might make a difference. I don't care much about blueray and don't expect to buy into anything more than HD DirecTV content.

My budget needs to be responsible on this simply because I'm going to be saving up for a new roof on the house. I don't mind getting a 1080p on the smaller screen since it'll likely be watched more frequently (bedroom tv).
 
You can get the 50" 1080 for $1,000.00 fairly easily. Both the P50S1 and PN550B have been at that amount, and quite a bit under that as well. The smaller the tv, the less difference the 1080P will make. If you won't make any use of having the 1080p, by all means don't get it. I wanted it as I have a PS3. Congrats on the house!
 
In my opinion...... that Samsung is the best HDTV buy out there, unless glare is going to be an issue. Color and contrast are much more important. The 720p on that Samsung has a picture that is better than many 1080p sets that I have seen. The legendary Pioneer Kuro plasmas were almost exclusively 720p and you don't hear people clamouring to replace them with a 1080p. 1080p is probably the most over-hyped feature out there. Broadcast television isn't regularly available in 1080p and the little amount that is advertised as 1080p is mostly just a play on specs and used as a marketing tool. The only way to get a true 1080p picture is with a Blu-Ray disc, so if you don't have any plans for a Blu-Ray player, don't bother. Even then, only a handful of video freaks sitting too close to a 50"+ screen could tell the difference, anyway. I will admit, though, Wall-E in true 1080p=AWESOME.
 
I have the Panasonic 50" 720P plasma (about 2 years old now) and this years model 42" plasma (the one you're looking at). I'm VERY happy with both sets. Unless you have $3000 to spend on an LCD you're not going to get a better picture and even then the plasmas still might be better.

I agree with you on the 720p issue. I don't think I could tell the difference on a 50" set from my normal viewing distance. I just watched a couple of 1080P HD movies from DirecTv on my 50" of course it was in 720P. It looked fantastic. Only a side by side comparison would reveal and differences if they even exist at 50".

Gene
 
Thanks smitbret and gar655.

I'll figure things out as soon as my wife gives me the go-ahead. If things don't change in the next week or two, I'll probably end up picking up the 450 series plasma. 😀

I'm still trying to decide on the TV for the bedroom, but am still planning on getting it from Dell...depending on what deals they have come up in November.
 
I know its not exactly what you're looking for now, but amazon has the PN50B550 (1080p) with a blu ray player for $1,059.00.
 
It seems that in the 42" range the Panasonics probably give a slightly better picture, but the Samsung 450 series plasma is a great buy. You should be able to get either for a little under $700. The Samsung 50" 450 Series is running between $799 and $849 locally. Not a bad pair for a total investment that comes in under $1500. Good luck, let us know wghat you decide.
 
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