Need a suggestion on a new LCD 1080p TV plus comments on room design

[TangoJuliet]

I posted this thread over at AVS forums and havent gotten a response yet. Was hoping the people of ATOT could help out

My wife and I just purchased a condo this past August and we have decided that with our tax return money we would purchase a new TV. I had been to many of my local electronics stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc) and narrowed my search down to these TVs.

Westinghouse 47" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HD Monitor - Silver/Black
Model: LVM-47W1

Sony BRAVIA 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL46XBR2

Sony BRAVIA XBR 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL40XBR2

Samsung 40" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LN-S4095D

Sharp AQUOS 46" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LC46D62U


We came to the conclusion that the Sony Bravia KDL40XBR2 40" LCD TV had the best picture and the glass bezel really put it over the top compared to the other TVs. Not that it matters or anything but we already had a Sony Home Theater system (DAV-FR1) so atleast the TV will match the surround system.

From there we designed our living room with the TV in mind and picked out furniture that would best suited. We hired a home decorator to help us out as well.

This is the floor plan design

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/LivingRoom.jpg

This is how it currently looks. Our furniture has arrived but our custom made area carpet is not. So we are just waiting on that before we have the furniture delivered. As you can see we have a 30" Sony CRT HDTV that does 720p/1080i, etc but it really takes up a lot of space. With the addition of the LCD we can wall mount it and free up some more space.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1922.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1926.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1925.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1923.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1924.jpg

Excuse the mess but we just moved the old stuff out and our electrician is coming on Wednesday. We need to move the cable outlet from the one wall to the larger wall. The people we had bought the condo from had a Samsung LCD (not sure on the size) wall mounted on the opposite wall. We decided to put it against the longer wall.

Here was their setup:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0937.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0410.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0409.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0411.jpg

One of my concerns was the size of the wall and location of the love seat and sofa. I thought that maybe the 40" would look very tiny on such a large wall but did some research and people said with the glass bezel it actually made the TV look like it was 46" so that seems to be about the perfect size.

Now that you heard my background I stumpled upon the issues with the XBR2/XBR3 TVs - uneven backlighting and the cloudiness on the dark screens. Is there anything out there that is better then the Sony XBR series TVs? I listed a few earlier that I was interested in but I decided on the Sony instead. Is there anything coming out in the near future (next 2 months) that is wowing people?

When we purchase the TV we are also going to have it professionally installed as well. I had stopped by Magnolia and Circuit City's Firedog and got their quotes as well as doing it online with Crutchfield. It seems that it is going to cost about $800 to have the TV wall mounted, the 5.1 speaker system hooked up and all the wires hidden. Once the TV is wall mounted we wanted to have a little piece of furniture below the TV so that the Wii, cablebox and home theater system could be stored. Similar to what the previous owners had here:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0409.jpg

and similar to this (from Magnolia's website...sorry it is so small but it was all I could find)
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/MAG_installroom.jpg

Can anybody recommend a piece of furniture as well as a place to purchase it.

Sorry for all the questions but this is going to be a pretty big purchase and is the centerpiece to our living room. It is basically the first thing you will see when you come up the stairs and we would like for it to wow people.

Thanks!!

 

[Rufus12]

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK
I posted this thread over at AVS forums and havent gotten a response yet. Was hoping the people of ATOT could help out

My wife and I just purchased a condo this past August and we have decided that with our tax return money we would purchase a new TV. I had been to many of my local electronics stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc) and narrowed my search down to these TVs.

Westinghouse 47" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HD Monitor - Silver/Black
Model: LVM-47W1

Sony BRAVIA 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL46XBR2

Sony BRAVIA XBR 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Model: KDL40XBR2

Samsung 40" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LN-S4095D

Sharp AQUOS 46" 1080p LCD HDTV
Model: LC46D62U


We came to the conclusion that the Sony Bravia KDL40XBR2 40" LCD TV had the best picture and the glass bezel really put it over the top compared to the other TVs. Not that it matters or anything but we already had a Sony Home Theater system (DAV-FR1) so atleast the TV will match the surround system.

From there we designed our living room with the TV in mind and picked out furniture that would best suited. We hired a home decorator to help us out as well.

This is the floor plan design

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/LivingRoom.jpg

This is how it currently looks. Our furniture has arrived but our custom made area carpet is not. So we are just waiting on that before we have the furniture delivered. As you can see we have a 30" Sony CRT HDTV that does 720p/1080i, etc but it really takes up a lot of space. With the addition of the LCD we can wall mount it and free up some more space.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1922.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1926.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1925.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1923.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_1924.jpg

Excuse the mess but we just moved the old stuff out and our electrician is coming on Wednesday. We need to move the cable outlet from the one wall to the larger wall. The people we had bought the condo from had a Samsung LCD (not sure on the size) wall mounted on the opposite wall. We decided to put it against the longer wall.

Here was their setup:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0937.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0410.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0409.jpg
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0411.jpg

One of my concerns was the size of the wall and location of the love seat and sofa. I thought that maybe the 40" would look very tiny on such a large wall but did some research and people said with the glass bezel it actually made the TV look like it was 46" so that seems to be about the perfect size.

Now that you heard my background I stumpled upon the issues with the XBR2/XBR3 TVs - uneven backlighting and the cloudiness on the dark screens. Is there anything out there that is better then the Sony XBR series TVs? I listed a few earlier that I was interested in but I decided on the Sony instead. Is there anything coming out in the near future (next 2 months) that is wowing people?

When we purchase the TV we are also going to have it professionally installed as well. I had stopped by Magnolia and Circuit City's Firedog and got their quotes as well as doing it online with Crutchfield. It seems that it is going to cost about $800 to have the TV wall mounted, the 5.1 speaker system hooked up and all the wires hidden. Once the TV is wall mounted we wanted to have a little piece of furniture below the TV so that the Wii, cablebox and home theater system could be stored. Similar to what the previous owners had here:
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/IMG_0409.jpg

and similar to this (from Magnolia's website...sorry it is so small but it was all I could find)
http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l36/skyynet/MAG_installroom.jpg
Can anybody recommend a piece of furniture as well as a place to purchase it.

Sorry for all the questions but this is going to be a pretty big purchase and is the centerpiece to our living room. It is basically the first thing you will see when you come up the stairs and we would like for it to wow people.

Thanks!!

 

[CTrain]

I can't believe you left such important details out like...
Whos the girl in the picture ??

 

[AdamSnow]

I love my Westinghouse 42" 1080p LCD.

 

[Rage187]

I love my 37" 1080P Westy but would love that 47" even more :heart:

EDIT: WTF don't buy the LCD mount from any brick and mortar store. Go to Monoprice and they are $25 for the same freakin model that Best buy and Circuit city charge $400 for. Installs in 30mins. http://monoprice.com/products/product.a...cs_id=1082801&p_id=2852&seq=1&format=2

Be a man and save your self $775 and mount and hide your own wires. That's rediculous.

 

[dartworth]

$800...damn...

I'm in the wrong business...

 

[CTrain]

First I like to say you are wasting money by focusing on a 1080P from the setup you're trying to create.
By hangin it on the wall, I don't see yuo using the TV as a computer monitor or for video games....just mainly for watching TV.
If thats all you're going to do is watch TV with the setup, get a plasma instead.
All right but thats entirely another subject.

From the list, you're right about the 40" Sony, it looks the best.
You can even make the bezel different color too but that more extra money. LINK
Click on the picture and you will see setups on the wall and it looks really awesome.

Its pricey but if you have the money go for it.
I like the Samsung cause it looks nice and I think I've seen it for $1500 before.

 

[CTrain]

Originally posted by: Rage187
I love my 37" 1080P Westy but would love that 47" even more :heart:

EDIT: WTF don't buy the LCD mount from any brick and mortar store. Go to Monoprice and they are $25 for the same freakin model that Best buy and Circuit city charge $400 for. Installs in 30mins. http://monoprice.com/products/product.a...cs_id=1082801&p_id=2852&seq=1&format=2

Be a man and save your self $775 and mount and hide your own wires. That's rediculous.

I agree $800 is outrageous but I don't know about putting holes in my own house if I don't know what I'm doing.

 

[FreshPrince]

Originally posted by: Rage187
I love my 37" 1080P Westy but would love that 47" even more :heart:

EDIT: WTF don't buy the LCD mount from any brick and mortar store. Go to Monoprice and they are $25 for the same freakin model that Best buy and Circuit city charge $400 for. Installs in 30mins. http://monoprice.com/products/product.a...cs_id=1082801&p_id=2852&seq=1&format=2

Be a man and save your self $775 and mount and hide your own wires. That's rediculous.

awesome, thx

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince

Originally posted by: Rage187
I love my 37" 1080P Westy but would love that 47" even more :heart:

EDIT: WTF don't buy the LCD mount from any brick and mortar store. Go to Monoprice and they are $25 for the same freakin model that Best buy and Circuit city charge $400 for. Installs in 30mins. http://monoprice.com/products/product.a...cs_id=1082801&p_id=2852&seq=1&format=2

Be a man and save your self $775 and mount and hide your own wires. That's rediculous.

awesome, thx

you'll love it, I had mine up quickly and it looks sharp. Best part is it gives 3-4 inches in the back to hook up components.

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: CTrain

Originally posted by: Rage187
I love my 37" 1080P Westy but would love that 47" even more :heart:

EDIT: WTF don't buy the LCD mount from any brick and mortar store. Go to Monoprice and they are $25 for the same freakin model that Best buy and Circuit city charge $400 for. Installs in 30mins. http://monoprice.com/products/product.a...cs_id=1082801&p_id=2852&seq=1&format=2

Be a man and save your self $775 and mount and hide your own wires. That's rediculous.

I agree $800 is outrageous but I don't know about putting holes in my own house if I don't know what I'm doing.

er, you could find this website and these forums but you couldn't Google "How to hide speaker wires". If you can get this far you can spend 5mins and read how to do it. Then it's nothing more than a drill and some fishing wire.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: CTrain
First I like to say you are wasting money by focusing on a 1080P from the setup you're trying to create.
By hangin it on the wall, I don't see yuo using the TV as a computer monitor or for video games....just mainly for watching TV.
If thats all you're going to do is watch TV with the setup, get a plasma instead.
All right but thats entirely another subject.

From the list, you're right about the 40" Sony, it looks the best.
You can even make the bezel different color too but that more extra money. LINK
Click on the picture and you will see setups on the wall and it looks really awesome.

Its pricey but if you have the money go for it.
I like the Samsung cause it looks nice and I think I've seen it for $1500 before.

CTrain....yes the TV is going to be used mainly for watching TV but I will have the Wii hooked up to it as well so there will be some gaming. My 360 will be hooked up in my office to a Westinghouse 37" 1080p monitor.

You suggest getting a plasma...what is the reason for that? Also I didnt see too many 1080p plasmas out there....with the exception being the Pioneer that cost lots of $$$
You also may be saying to yourself....1080p tv is wasteful since broadcast tv is only 1080i....but I will add a bluray/hd-dvd to it when the prices fall some and I would like it to be somewhat futureproof. The Sony did also offer 3 HDMI inputs which was another reason why I chose it over the others.

thanks for the feedback everyone....so to answer some of the other questions.

1. the blonde girl is one of my friends.....she's married to one of my buddies. sorry

2. i installed a 27" westinghouse in my bedroom and I thought it looked nice. I didnt drill any holes in the wall and just hid the wires. I posted the work on here and kinda got some ****** responses from people. hence the reason why i would like a professional to do the work since this is going to be the centerpiece of my living room.

here is that post
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=1966325&enterthread=y

3. Yes, $800 is a ton of money to have it installed but I have budgeted for it and if anything goes wrong I can blame it on them

 

[TangoJuliet]

anyone else?

 

[3NF]

That looks like a lot of work, especially since none of the links work. I can provide you my consultation services at a nominal fee

Sorry, I see the links now

 

[spidey07]

You need a MUCH bigger TV.

How far away will you be sitting? Also, don't mount it high. Put it at eye level.

I can't stand it when I go over to somebody's pad with their nice, new, expensive HT setup and it's a pain to watch anything because...

1) TV is too small
2) It's above eye level

 

[3NF]

Originally posted by: spidey07
You need a MUCH bigger TV.

How far away will you be sitting? Also, don't mount it high. Put it at eye level.

I can't stand it when I go over to somebody's pad with their nice, new, expensive HT setup and it's a pain to watch anything because...

1) TV is too small
2) It's above eye level

Yup, it's too high. Get rid of those candles.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: 3NF

Originally posted by: spidey07
You need a MUCH bigger TV.

How far away will you be sitting? Also, don't mount it high. Put it at eye level.

I can't stand it when I go over to somebody's pad with their nice, new, expensive HT setup and it's a pain to watch anything because...

1) TV is too small
2) It's above eye level

Yup, it's too high. Get rid of those candles.

you may want to re-read the thread.....i dont have it installed yet. that was the previous owners.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: spidey07
You need a MUCH bigger TV.

How far away will you be sitting? Also, don't mount it high. Put it at eye level.

I can't stand it when I go over to somebody's pad with their nice, new, expensive HT setup and it's a pain to watch anything because...

1) TV is too small
2) It's above eye level

how much bigger would you suggest? bigger then my suggestion of 40"? would 46-47" be better or are you saying something like 60"?

Not exactly sure on the distance from the couch(s) to the tv since I dont have the dimensions right in front of me. once we get the area rug put in and the furniture delivered I'll give an exact distance. just eyeballing it...looks like about 8' from the one and about 6' from the other.

 

[spidey07]

I'd also change the floor plan.

Put the TV on the short wall. 65"+. Sit around 10 feet away. This is better for your viewing and acoustics as well.

 

[3NF]

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: 3NF

Originally posted by: spidey07
You need a MUCH bigger TV.

How far away will you be sitting? Also, don't mount it high. Put it at eye level.

I can't stand it when I go over to somebody's pad with their nice, new, expensive HT setup and it's a pain to watch anything because...

1) TV is too small
2) It's above eye level

Yup, it's too high. Get rid of those candles.

you may want to re-read the thread.....i dont have it installed yet. that was the previous owners.

But it's so long?

Me? I'd put the TV on the other wall - I wouldn't want it to be the focal point coming up the steps.

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: 3NF

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK

Originally posted by: 3NF

Originally posted by: spidey07
You need a MUCH bigger TV.

How far away will you be sitting? Also, don't mount it high. Put it at eye level.

I can't stand it when I go over to somebody's pad with their nice, new, expensive HT setup and it's a pain to watch anything because...

1) TV is too small
2) It's above eye level

Yup, it's too high. Get rid of those candles.

you may want to re-read the thread.....i dont have it installed yet. that was the previous owners.

But it's so long?

Me? I'd put the TV on the other wall - I wouldn't want it to be the focal point coming up the steps.

we want it as the focal point....that is the point of the thread!!

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I'd also change the floor plan.

Put the TV on the short wall. 65"+. Sit around 10 feet away. This is better for your viewing and acoustics as well.

its a done deal fellas. the furniture is ordered, etc....no changing any floor plans.

also...dont recommend a DLP - i hate them. if I am having a tough time dropping $3000 on a 46" how much do u think a 65" LCD would cost?

 

[3NF]

Well, if you want it to be the focal point then, get a bigger TV! 40" isn't going to cut it. What are the dimensions of the room, or did I miss that?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: alkohoLiK
its a done deal fellas. the furniture is ordered, etc....no changing any floor plans.

Well then let your viewing distance dictate the size you get.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Get the XBR2. It KILLS any Westinghouse set out there. The 37" was a killer deal, but the XBR2 by far destroys any competition. The 40" is quite small IMO, but maybe that's cuz I own the 46". The 52" is sexy though... REAL SEXY....... Too bad its like $6000 =(