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My Sony Bravia crapped out - need new TV

JTsyo

JTsyo

Lifer
Background:
I bought a 52" Sony Bravia back in the summer of 09 from Costco. The TV started having issues early this year and it got worse. Costco only offers 2 yr protection (Sony also had a 2yr warranty) but since I bought it with AmEx I got an extra year. They told me to have a repair guy look at it and send in the estimate. The repair guy looked the TV and said he'll speak on Sony and give me the estimate. The estimate turned out to be ~$600 for replacing the T-Con board. This seems to be a common problem for Sony TVs based on my internet search. He said that there was still the chance it was the panel. I faxed in the estimate to AmEx letting them know what the technician said and they gave me the $600. The board was repair but that day itself there was still the issue. I got the price for a panel repair from the tech, it was 150% the cost of the TV :\ , and have faxed it to AmEx. Now to see if they still cover it. There's no way I'm replacing the panel though.

Actual thread:
I was looking at TVs at Costco and noticed they didn't carry Sony anymore. What i had my eyes on was a Samsung 55" with 3D capability and SmartTV for about $2k. There were also another Samsung 55" with no 3D for $1600 and same for a Sharp 55". If I get about $1K from AmEx I'll probably spring for the 3D TV. Anyone else have it or research it already? reviews at Amazon were favorable.
 
JackBurton said:
I would recommend Sony's 55" HX929 WAY over any Samsung. MUCH better TV and seems to be right around your price range.
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That's $500 more and w/o the pair of 3D glasses.

Nx720, seems to offer 90% but at a lower price. Not sure if it's worth not buying from Costco though. :hmm:
 
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Real men go rear projection. 😎

On a more serious note, if you're not hanging it and wouldn't mind a larger TV, then have you considered DLP? The 82" latest model is only ~$1800 (link). It may not be your cup of tea, but I think it's certainly worth looking into if you meet the previously mentioned criteria.
 
Aikouka said:
Real men go rear projection. 😎

On a more serious note, if you're not hanging it and wouldn't mind a larger TV, then have you considered DLP? The 82" latest model is only ~$1800 (link). It may not be your cup of tea, but I think it's certainly worth looking into if you meet the previously mentioned criteria.
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nah, it's going on the wall where the old one used to be. Hoping I can use the same mount.
 
JTsyo said:
That's $500 more and w/o the pair of 3D glasses.

Nx720, seems to offer 90% but at a lower price. Not sure if it's worth not buying from Costco though. :hmm:
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It's the same price. Amazon has the HX929 for ~$2300. The Samsung you are looking at is $2049, now add tax to that. In the end, you are looking at two VERY similarly priced TVs with one being a MUCH better set (HX929). And no, the HX929 is a much better set than the NX720. The NX720 is a nice TV, but definitely not in the same league as the HX929. And IMO, an extra pair of glass is a poor incentive for something you are planning to keep for years to come.
 
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JTsyo said:
For plasmas, are Panasonic Plasma Viera, considered the better than Samsung?
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If you are going for a plasma, get the Panasonic VT30. Panasonic will be releasing their new line of plasmas this year (50 series), so you should be able to pick up a 55" VT30 plasma for under $2K. And if you are not familiar with the VT series, it is the highest quality plasma Panasonic has to offer.

And yes, I rate the Panasonic VT series over any Samsung plasma. It's close, but I give the edge to Panasonic.
 
JackBurton said:
If you are going for a plasma, get the Panasonic VT30. Panasonic will be releasing their new line of plasmas this year (50 series), so you should be able to pick up a 55" VT30 plasma for under $2K. And if you are not familiar with the VT series, it is the highest quality plasma Panasonic has to offer.

And yes, I rate the Panasonic VT series over any Samsung plasma. It's close, but I give the edge to Panasonic.
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This! I was getting ready to post this.

Just echoing, the VT is Panny's top of the line Plasma. Another great Panasonic would be the ST if you are short on funds but you should really consider springing for the VT. I have a 42" Panasonic Plasma I bought two years ago and I love the thing. Outstanding picture. I was thinking about moving it into my bedroom and upgrading to the VT30 for our living room.

Burn in problems are a thing of the past. All the newer Plasma techs have fixed those issues. After going Plasma I'll never go to a LED/LCD flat panel. They just can reproduce the colors and blacks like the plasmas can. Then there is also the viewing angle that plasmas are good at.

Until OLED becomes a reality I'll stick with plasmas for all my future TV needs. Just my .02¢.
 
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frowertr said:
This! I was getting ready to post this.

Just echoing, the VT is Panny's top of the line Plasma. Another great Panasonic would be the ST if you are short on funds but you should really consider springing for the VT. I have a 42" Panasonic Plasma I bought two years ago and I love the thing. Outstanding picture. I was thinking about moving it into my bedroom and upgrading to the VT30 for our living room.

Burn in problems are a thing of the past. All the newer Plasma techs have fixed those issues. After going Plasma I'll never go to a LED/LCD flat panel. They just can reproduce the colors and blacks like the plasmas can. Then there is also the viewing angle that plasmas are good at.

Until OLED becomes a reality I'll stick with plasmas for all my future TV needs. Just my .02¢.
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Burn in, maybe. IR, not so much. Samsung plasmas are still prone to IR.

As for color and black reproduction, take a look at Sharp's Elite LCD. Absolutely trumps all plasmas on the market now in all categories, except viewing angles. If the viewing angles don't bother you, the thing is an absolute beauty! It comes with an absolutely beautiful price tag too though. 😉
 
JackBurton said:
Burn in, maybe. IR, not so much. Samsung plasmas are still prone to IR.

As for color and black reproduction, take a look at Sharp's Elite LCD. Absolutely trumps all plasmas on the market now in all categories, except viewing angles. If the viewing angles don't bother you, the thing is an absolute beauty! It comes with an absolutely beautiful price tag too though. 😉
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Yikes! Those prices are ridiculous. I'll stick with the Plasmas for now! It's hard to justify spending over $3K for a 60" TV nowadays. Especially with the VT30 hovering at that price range.

Panasonic is supposed to release their 2012 VT lineup this year. They are also coming out with a 70" plasma in the VT line. I'm excited to see what "upgrades" come down the pipe from them in the next few months.
 
2012 plasmas should start shipping in a few weeks the ST will be the first ones out, expected to see GT series in April/may and VT in June. the 70in VT is still a giant rumor
 
I recommend the Sony HX929 as well as I have the 55" that I bought off of Amazon. My brother-in-law has a 55" Samsung D8000 and we've placed them side-by-side to compare and agree that the Sony is a better set...albeit a bit more expensive.
 
frowertr said:
Yeah, this is being hotly debated over on AVS.

/fingers crossed
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Given that Panasonic is listing a 65" VT50 on their website, a 70" model is highly unlikely. I would think if they were working on a larger display, it would be a 75" or 85" given that they already have an 85" professional model.
 
frowertr said:
The ST30 gives the best bang for the buck right now if you can't afford the VT30.
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opps looks like I was looking at the 65 for the VT30. Amazon doesn't seem to have the 55 VT30 but looking else it seems to be under $2K.

The differences between VT, GT and ST; is it picture quality or other features too? What's a good source for comparing the different models?

Features, I'm shooting for:

-streaming from other sources
-web browser
-built in wifi

Split screen would be a bonus but that seems to have only been in DLPs. PnP also doesn't seem to be popular with LCDs.
 
PnP is basically a dead feature. Its would be very hard to find a set with it these days.

Also, unless space is an issue I wouldn't put too much emphasis on getting a TV with built-in wifi/streaming/etc. if it means spending considerably more. Many blu-ray players have all those features built-in or you could always get a streaming box like a Roku or something. To me this is a better solution and it might save you a few bucks.
 
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