Samsung 720p plasma or lesser brand 1080p LCD?

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
Looking to furnish our new house with a couple of TVs. Main viewing content is kids shows for our toddler, reality shows for wife, and ocassional movies for me when I have the free time. Since we just moved in I don't have the time to spend hours trolling for Black Friday deals or camping outside Best Buy for 2 days to save $100. I'm hoping for a reasonably priced TV that represents good bang for the buck, will give me the least amount of headaches, with features like being able to wirelessly stream shows from my laptop being a bonus.

In my (admittedly brief) amount of research, I've come across a couple of likely candidates; Costco has a Philips 50" 1080p LCD with wireless streaming for ~$560.

Other option I see is are the Samsung E450 series 720P plasma sets, I should be able to get the 51" for under $500 or the 43" for under $400.

Each seem to get reasonably good reviews. I know that similar comparisons have probably been hashed out here ad naseum, but can someone compare the technologies and features for me? I just want get something and move on to unpacking my house so I can stop trying to use a pile of boxes as a diaper changing table. Thanks!
 

cheez

Golden Member
Nov 19, 2010
1,722
69
91
I would stick with a quality 720p (or 768p native) display for today's multimedia stuff. Cable TV stations are crap and can't deliver quality pictures anyway. It will look better with lower res TV's and the pixels will give you better contrast. Maybe 30 or 40 years down the road the TV broadcast stations may up their game to maybe 10%. Heck, even the 480p HDTV will be more than good enough. ;)
 

Vdubchaos

Lifer
Nov 11, 2009
10,411
10
0
I would stick with a quality 720p (or 768p native) display for today's multimedia stuff. Cable TV stations are crap and can't deliver quality pictures anyway. It will look better with lower res TV's and the pixels will give you better contrast. Maybe 30 or 40 years down the road the TV broadcast stations may up their game to maybe 10%. Heck, even the 480p HDTV will be more than good enough. ;)

You realize that even 720p "crappy" feed is AMAZING compared to analog 480i we have been getting for decades right?
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
One yes, the other not so much.

The LCD for the bright room and the Plasma for the dark one.

The plasma will have the overall better picture quality (even with the lower resolution) but will wash out in a bright room.