SteveO

LOL, Circuit City still over charging customers, even though they are supposedly "liquidating" their stock....

Yeah, don't even consider anything less than 120Hz. There is a BIG difference between the 120Hz and the standard 60Hz screens. Check em out side by side in Best Buy or Costco with a HD movie playing. Make sure its an HD movie on a HD player, not an upgrade converter that just upgrades a standard DVD to HD size. There is a difference. In the long run, you'll be glad you spent the few extra hundred bucks for the better picture.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

We went to Video Only last night and compared them side by side. The 120hz was wayyyyyy better.

We also compared Samsung next to LG, and i could not find any noticable difference.

For now, all we have is an upgrade converter DVD player. It was only $100 for a 5 disc, so i will work for now. When I upgrade my surround system, i will get a better DVD player as well.

TurnerR

Not sure where you guys live but around here the only deals at circuit city are the TV's. They have some insane deals... I have a 40" Sony Bravia and love it. Picture is amazing. I don't have blu-ray but the HD channels are mind blowing. I was off work one day while my wife worked and watched all of the discovery planet earth episodes. I have no idea what they said but I couldn't take my eyes off of the screen. lol

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I have the Samsung 1080 46" LCD TV and it rocks. It was the same size as the mirror we replaced it with so that is the size we got. I LOVE watching sports on it when I do watch TV. Awesome unit and since Samsung builds most of the components for all the others' tvs anyway, why not get a Samsung to start with?

We mounted ours over the fireplace with about a 15 degree tilt...perfect angle for sitting on the sectional all stretched out.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

Planet earth is really a great show.

Comcast has added a TON of HD channels, so now we watch all our shows in HD. Its great!

We went with the 47" LG, and after playing with the RealMotion settings, this TV is amazing. No pixilation problems at all, and video games on the Xbox360 look amazing.

425Runner

Hope you enjoy it!!! i recently purchased a 42" LG from video only. Best price, best service, working in retail i was more sold on the service than the price. Read one of your previous post about going into Best Buy to compare TV's. I cant even count the number of times i took my wife in to do this exact same thing, trying to convince her we needed a new TV. Finally it took her constantly changing the channel between HD and standard def. @ our friends house while we were watching a bowl game. Pissed me of cause we missed a lot of the game, but in the end it resulted in me getting a new TV, so all was forgiven.

SteadFast

WARNING- The following are my personal views and opinions. Feel free to discuss or disregard them. I am a ESPA/CEDIA Certified EST, and have been doing home theatre sales and installations for a while.
The Samsung 550 is a great series in any size. I got my parents a 32" for their living room, and have sold and installed countless Samsung models over the years. Like others have said, the speakers are inadequate, but that's what happens when you try to get full sound from compact speakers in inappropriate enclosures.
That being said, LG has made quite a comeback in recent years. I have no complaints with any of the newer one's I've sold to my budget oriented clients. I think you will be very happy with it.

Lightly touching on the refresh rate discussion- Honestly I'm not sold on the NEED for 120hz yet. Maybe once source equipment and cabling becomes more stable I might push it. In my opinion, HDMI has a while to go before I will be sold completely on it as well, sure 1080p is a great picture, but even certified cables have caused me a lot of headaches. I always run a component video pull with an HDMI as a back up, and have had to use it on more occasions than I would like.




As far as Plasma V LCD.. I'm still on the fence. I personally feel they both have their places in the market. Given the economy, LCD might have a slight advantage when it comes to pricing, but realistically, only until about 47". Once you hit that point, prices even out, and most time larger plasmas are less expensive. With more and more consumers in this economy going for smaller sets, sure it looks like LCD is the winner. But pure picture for picture, Plasma wins, hands down, with truer blacks and better contrasts. Plasmas are better suited for dedicated, purpose built rooms for movies or gaming. Given the physical screen materials, LCD's are more flexible when it comes to location in a house as they do not reflect as much light as the glass screens of plasmas do. I can't talk about plasmas with out touching on the "burn" issue that most people throw at plasmas in the con section. My honest opinion, its a moot point, sure they will burn, I will admit that, but only if you leave a static image on them constantly for an absurd amount of time (between 50 and 100 hrs) if you switch channels or sources like normal viewers, there will be no issues. Even with Pioneer ending production, and many installers writing Plasma's off as dead, I don't believe it.

OLED- Love it, but I don't think it will catch on in this economic climate
I'll cut off my rant there, if anyone wants to chime in, feel free, like I said, this is just my personal opinions.

Cliffs- Plasma v LCD, I think both will be around for a while.

End rants, feel free to PM me any questions or comments.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Nicely stated Marc.
I for one do not care if the Samsung speakers are good sounding or not.
I never use stock speakers anyways, unless I am watching TV before I leave for work around 3 am or so.

Other than that, the TV and the stuff hooked up to it are pumping through my external 5.1 system.

I have been pretty happy with my 550 40" TV.

SteveO

If I didn't live a mile high, I'd get the plasma. A sales guy told me the buzzing issue has been taken care of on the "high altitude" plasmas.......coming from a sales guy, that's a big gamble with a couple thousands dollars worth of equipment.

I was recently at a friends house and they had a 50" LCD mounted into a wall, with a picture frame around it. It was very nicely done. One thing I noticed, the screen looked like it was a 42" or maybe a 46", but certainly not a 50" screen. The wall it was mounted into was pretty big.

Our home 52" Sony looks like it fits just right in our 12' wide room. We took a single car garage and converted it to livable space, with wiring put into the walls and all. Its now our TV room for movies and general TV viewing.....really nice setup.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

Is that measured diagonally Steve?

SteveO

Yeah.

We watched a movie last night, and I'm soo pleased with our TV and PS3 blue ray player....simply awesome.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Quantum Of Solace comes out tomorrow, will be getting that in BluRay format.

SteveO

The Bond movie "Casino Royale" was a great movie, but there was one scene in there that really bothered me. In fact, it robbed me of a few nights sleep. I think because I've spent time in war (1st Gulf War), this really affected me. The scene where he was being tortured by the guy smacking his boys with a rope really bothered me. I watched it once, and that was enough for me. I don't know....usually I have a high tolerance for pain, death, killing, but that scene really cut me to the core.