What HDTV?

five40

Golden Member
Oct 4, 2004
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Ok, so my wife decided that she hates how our tv looks and she wants a plasma tv to hang on the wall. Now I don't want to spend a ton. The max I'd like to spend would be 2000-2300. I've looked around and I can easily get a very nice EDTV for that price but the only HDTV I can get for that price is from costco. It's a maxent (which I've never heard of). Here is the link for the HDTV. As far as viewing distance, it's about 7-10ft. It will be used for mostly normal tv, some movies, and some hd viewing. I would say 65% normal tv, 25% hd, 10% movies. Based on my viewing, use, should I go with a good EDTV and save some money or go with an offbrand HDTV?
 

five40

Golden Member
Oct 4, 2004
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Originally posted by: YankeezXBA
Tell your wife to go make $4,000 and buy one.

haha, I don't think that would fly with her. Anyway...back on topic
 

suse920

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Originally posted by: YankeezXBA
Tell your wife to go make $4,000 and buy one.
:thumbsup:

just get a 51 inch 1080 hd projection for $1600. Unless you want to pony up $4000-$6000.
 

MrScott81

Golden Member
Aug 31, 2001
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be prepared for 4000 different opinions from "experts" in their recommended selections....

personally I would get a DLP...they are very slim, and IMO have a better picture than plasma...

if you absolutely have to have a plasma, you're not going to get a good HDTV for 2-3000...like you mentioned, the majority of choices will be EDTV (480p) which isn't that bad anyways.
 

AMDZen

Lifer
Apr 15, 2004
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Its funny how most people don't know this, but Plasma TV's are Piles of Sh~t. This is a truism. There isn't many on the market now that will last more then a couple years. So I definetely wouldn't go out of my way to get one which is probably even more of a pile.

Seriously, don't plan on it lasting more then 5 years, irregardless of the brand. I would buy a projector instead. At least then you can replace the Bulbs when they go out. With a plasma TV, it just dies and it costs as much to fix it as it does to buy a new one.

Like I said. Its amazing most people don't know this about plasma, but one day you can rest assured that this will bring uproar in the consumer market. Its jut that they aren't popular enough now for people to know about their low quality. And most people haven't owned them even now, for long enough to see how long they will last.
 

MrChad

Lifer
Aug 22, 2001
13,507
3
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Originally posted by: AMDZen
Its funny how most people don't know this, but Plasma TV's are Piles of Sh~t. This is a truism. There isn't many on the market now that will last more then a couple years. So I definetely wouldn't go out of my way to get one which is probably even more of a pile.

Seriously, don't plan on it lasting more then 5 years, irregardless of the brand. I would buy a projector instead. At least then you can replace the Bulbs when they go out. With a plasma TV, it just dies and it costs as much to fix it as it does to buy a new one.

Like I said. Its amazing most people don't know this about plasma, but one day you can rest assured that this will bring uproar in the consumer market. Its jut that they aren't popular enough now for people to know about their low quality. And most people haven't owned them even now, for long enough to see how long they will last.

Do you have any basis for that statement? While its true that first generation plasmas had extremely short half-lives, newer models should last much, much longer.
 

Baked

Lifer
Dec 28, 2004
36,052
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Get a cheap one from costco, return it when something cheaper and better comes out.
 

five40

Golden Member
Oct 4, 2004
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Originally posted by: suse920
Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Originally posted by: YankeezXBA
Tell your wife to go make $4,000 and buy one.
:thumbsup:

just get a 51 inch 1080 hd projection for $1600. Unless you want to pony up $4000-$6000.

No way she'll want a projector hanging from the ceiling. The cords going up to the projector would drive her insane.
 

MrScott81

Golden Member
Aug 31, 2001
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Originally posted by: AMDZen
Its funny how most people don't know this, but Plasma TV's are Piles of Sh~t. This is a truism. There isn't many on the market now that will last more then a couple years. So I definetely wouldn't go out of my way to get one which is probably even more of a pile.

Seriously, don't plan on it lasting more then 5 years, irregardless of the brand. I would buy a projector instead. At least then you can replace the Bulbs when they go out. With a plasma TV, it just dies and it costs as much to fix it as it does to buy a new one.

Like I said. Its amazing most people don't know this about plasma, but one day you can rest assured that this will bring uproar in the consumer market. Its jut that they aren't popular enough now for people to know about their low quality. And most people haven't owned them even now, for long enough to see how long they will last.

And your proof for these idiotic statement would be where? I think it's a common misconception people have that they are all just going to explode in a few years....the thing people don't like is that most of their bulbs only last between 20 and 60 thousand hours, which is a lot more than 5 years of tv watching unless you never shut it off...and in any case, you replace a bulb and it's working fine again.

 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,055
880
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Dont get DLP. The bulbs are gonna cost you a fortune and you will be buying them.
 
Jun 18, 2000
11,198
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Originally posted by: AMDZen
I'm an idiot.
I've said this before, but this is precisely why LCD will eventually win the flat panel market. It's the dumbasses like AMDZen that continue to "educate" the masses with their useless opinion.
 

royaldank

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2001
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I'd personally get a DLP (and did recently). But, if you have to hang it on the wall then your options will be limited in HD sets. I personally wouldn't get an EDTV. They look great now, but wont look as sharp when the new high def DVDs start hitting the market in the coming years.

Plasmas are ok, but they do die. Rear projection LCDs and DLPs can be renewed with a change of the bulb. Looks brand new again. Once plasmas start fading, there isn't anything that can be done. Plasmas, like CRTs, also suffer from possible burn in issues. It's not something most people will do, but it's possible.
 

MrChad

Lifer
Aug 22, 2001
13,507
3
81
Originally posted by: five40
Originally posted by: MrChad
Dell W4200HD - $2999

That's past the budget amount.

That's about as cheap as you're going to find for an HD plasma.

Personally, if you're going to spend $2000 on a TV, I would make it HD. As others have said, DLPs are quite thin and will integrate nicely into your decor. They are also significantly cheaper than similarly-sized plasmas.
 

five40

Golden Member
Oct 4, 2004
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Originally posted by: WiseOldDude
Spend $4,000.00 so that you can watch Morey Povich............. ?

Is he still on TV? I'll watch some sports with it.
 

Led Zeppelin

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 2002
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I couldn't be happier with my Toshiba 51HX83 RP HDTV. Looks better than my buddies 46" DLP. It's almost like I'm sitting in center field when watching Red Sox homes games in High Def.
 

five40

Golden Member
Oct 4, 2004
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Originally posted by: BostonRedSox
I couldn't be happier with my Toshiba 51HX83 RP HDTV. Looks better than my buddies 46" DLP. It's almost like I'm sitting in center field when watching Red Sox homes games in High Def.

To bad it needs to hang on the wall. Basically she wants it to look like a picture frame.
 

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
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Plasma sets are basically plasma gas kept between two sheets of glass. Once the seals start losing their ability to hold the gas in (usually 3 - 5 years), the brightness of the display goes out the window. Unless you get a plasma set that can be re-charged (about $10k set), you are out of luck and will need a new set.
 

five40

Golden Member
Oct 4, 2004
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Originally posted by: spacejamz

Plasma sets are basically plasma gas kept between two sheets of glass. Once the seals start losing their ability to hold the gas in (usually 3 - 5 years), the brightness of the display goes out the window. Unless you get a plasma set that can be re-charged (about $10k set), you are out of luck and will need a new set.

Link? I knew this was true for older plasmas, but newer plasmas are much better.