46"-47" led hdtv

[masterswimmer]

Ok folks, I need opinions on the best bang for the buck on a 46" maybe 47" LED HDTV. Just bought and returned an LG 47LM7600. It has four HDMI ports and none of them worked. There was a 'no signal' error message when any of those ports were used.

Soooo, I need to make a decision on another TV.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thnx
Russ

 

[thirty5]

I am partial to Samsung, and would probably not get any other brand. I do have an LG (32") in my kitchen, but I got a great deal on that a long time ago...

When I got my family room tv DLP was the way to go and i have a 65" in my family room.


http://www.pcrichard.com/product/Televisions,_Audio_&_Video/Televisions/Flat_Panel_Televisions/Samsung_UN46EH5300_46_LED_1080p_HDTV_With_Built-In_Wi-Fi/99061

http://www.pcrichard.com/product/Televisions,_Audio_&_Video/Televisions/Flat_Panel_Televisions/Samsung_UN55ES6100_55_LED_1080p_120Hz_HDTV_With_Built-In_Wi-Fi/99074

 

[masterswimmer]

I'm partial to Samsung too. I've had 5 Samsungs and they've been great. It's 99% sure I'll be returning to them. Just want to make the right choice with the model.

I watch a lot of sports, baseball, football, even golf (fast swings and fast traveling ball). Need a real good refresh rate.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Samsung is good as well as Toshiba,Panasonic and Hitachi even though they are not around much. Personally I LOVE my plasma I have had it for 4 years and it's as great as the day I bought it, the picture is incredible. LG is a terrible company and a lot of their electronics are junk. I have had bad experiences w/ several things that were LG especially their phones. I would not trust their TV's.

Hz is important ,that's the thing you need to look out for. The LCD and LED tv's are 120 hz and you are not getting a good picture when something moves fast like a soccer game or action movie the picture will distort. Plasmas are 600hz and no matter how fast the picture mine looks the same and for some reason they are always cheaper. I think it's just because of the LED craze, like with aquarium lighting people just want the newest technology even though it's not the best. LED's are LCD's just with LED's behind the screen which make it brighter so people think it looks better. I'm not up on what models of tv's are the one to buy because they change all the time but technology is the same. Look in the store at the picture and see what you like better. Have them put on something that is fast and see if it distorts. As far as pricing check the flyers like PC's and Best Buy there is always deals.

I just looked in my best buy flyer for you after I typed that and I saw a GREAT DEAL! For 699 they have a 50" Panasonic Class Plasma 1080p w/ a free blue ray. I don't think it gets much better than that lol. I would say definitely go check that one out it's in the flyer on page 7 Model is TC-P50U50, SKU: 4841493. Best of luck buddy.

 

[masterswimmer]

The old school Plasma 'burn in' has always scared me. I tend to leave a movie/show in the middle of watching it, paused on DVR. With Plasma that can lead to burn in problems. I've got the most basic knowledge of plasma TV's and the old adage, 'I'm more dangerous because I've got a little knowledge' is so true.

I'm told the new generation of plasma screens are vastly improved from the initial version, however, the problem of burn in has gotten better, but not eradicated completely.

I'd be willing to consider a plasma if these fears could be put to rest.

R

 

[lfsmarineguy]

LEDs also come in 240hz which if you have watched one, is plenty fast. I personally love my samsung LED and have nothing to complain about and I watch blurays on it all the time. Plasmas are also going to have a bigger draw.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

I have not seen many 240hz advertised let alone in person. Those are the newest TV's and they are 3D but 600 is still more than double 240 any way you look at it. Blue ray has nothing to do with the hz of the tv it only makes a difference when watching a broadcasted signal. It's kind of like how when you watch a movie/video online on your computer or phone and it has to buffer because it's being broadcasted from the internet VS watching a DVD on your computer which will play straight through because the video is coming from your DVD drive.

 

[Gabe]

Samsung is top of the class, but believe me when I tell you that Visio has great quality. Great reviews. Just make a research

 

[Awibrandy]

I'm not at all savvy about these things, but I can say that we have an LG in the living room , Visio in the bedrooms, and have no problems with either.

Russ, like you we did not go with the less priced plasmas because of 1 the burn in issue, and 2 the use of electricity.

 

[thirty5]

This is a hard subject. The picture that a tv is is very subjective. I goto my fathers house and want to puke at the picture on his screen and he tells me that it is good.

So it really comes down to what the viewer sees through their eyes.

I would recommend just going to the store and figure on spending some time there to watch each TV that is on your list. See if they can change the channel to something that you want so that you can really tell.

What is important to one may not be important to others.

Like for me, I wanted a very large screen for my family room, and the 65 was a good choice (DLP). But if you are lying on the floor the image sucks since the viewing angle is horrible from top to bottom.

So if i were to get a new tv i would most likely go with LED. A friend of mine has an LED Samsung and I have watched plenty of sports, for example not much moves faster than a baseball bat, and hard to say if there was any image distortion.

You have to go with what you feel comfortable with, the LED is what I am going to be getting next!!!

 

[masterswimmer]

MR rocks.....you guys are great. Thanx for the insight.

I'm definitely leaning towards the Samsung LED. There are just so many models to choose from, it makes it very confusing. :banghead:

 

[lfsmarineguy]

I've seen the 240hz units and it's almost unsettling how fluid motion is with them. There's definitely a difference between 120 and 240 but beyond that there really isn't going to be much of a noticeable increase since it reaches a point of diminishing returns. It's the same as watching 100 FPS and over 200 FPS in a game, the computer is doing a lot more but visually you aren't going to see much of a difference if any.

 

[E.intheC]

I have a 46inch Samsung LED TV and it's incredible. I'm not sure exactly what the model number is though.

I did a lot of research before we bought the TV and I do remember that plasma TVs are nice (better black color, etc) but they use a TON of power.. Easily double LED (the models I was looking at anyway).

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Russ I know what you mean about the burn in but that's def very old news. My neighbor got a plasma about 6-7 years ago and he had problems with the screen burn which was due to playing a lot of video games which is the main problem with the older models. Mine I got 4 years ago and never had an issue with screen burn. The newer ones only get better. If power consumption is an issue for you than it's an issue. I don't even know how much electric my tv uses but it definitely gets warm. A plus to that is in the winter it makes the room nice and toasty! lol

At the time I had been looking at the Toshiba Regza's 42" it was originally like 1600 then kept coming down bouncing around 1100-1200 so I would always go in and check . It was a little while before circuit city went out of business they said "it was a point where they weren't going to carry certain brands anymore" probably because they were closing or debating it and just didn't want people to know. Needless to say my 50" was originally 2 grand and it was a display model on sale for $759.99 I looked at my fiancee' and said "I'd be a complete idiot if I didn't buy this right now" so I did and I couldn't be happier. Like Eric Mentioned Plasmas definitely have a richer display (whiter whites,blacker blacks) and if you ask someone at a best buy or pc richards who knows what they are talking about especially if you go in there acting like you know what you are talking about they will tell you the same and not bs you into buying a more expensive tv. In the end like I said and Anthony said your best bet is to go int othe store for a little while and check out what's there and compare the picture. It's not easy though especially since they have 100 tvs on the wall next to eachother. Try to focus on 1 at a time then kinda look away and compare. You will be pacing back and forth for a while for sure so have a decent amount of time like an hour or so for each place.

 

[masterswimmer]

Absolutely understand about the plasma and blacker blacks. The higher electric usage is an issue, not because of cost, but because of our carbon footprint. We do try our best to be mindful of our effect on the planet.

The idea of comparing 100 TV's on a wall in a store is daunting. I agree that is the prudent thing to do, but honestly, I've always subscribed to the philosophy that most of the TV's look good, even next to one another. When you take one of them home and have nothing to compare it to side by side, with technology the way it is, they look spectacular. So inquiring with everyone here just helps to narrow the search. And as you can see, the common consensus is that Samsung is definitely a front runner.

I don't really need 3D, so I'll sacrifice that for a faster refresh rate which I believe is a more important specification. Hopefully that'll narrow the choices and make my life a bit easier.

Thnx again for the great detail.

Russ

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Absolutely understand about the plasma and blacker blacks. The higher electric usage is an issue, not because of cost, but because of our carbon footprint. We do try our best to be mindful of our effect on the planet.

The idea of comparing 100 TV's on a wall in a store is daunting. I agree that is the prudent thing to do, but honestly, I've always subscribed to the philosophy that most of the TV's look good, even next to one another. When you take one of them home and have nothing to compare it to side by side, with technology the way it is, they look spectacular. So inquiring with everyone here just helps to narrow the search. And as you can see, the common consensus is that Samsung is definitely a front runner.

I don't really need 3D, so I'll sacrifice that for a faster refresh rate which I believe is a more important specification. Hopefully that'll narrow the choices and make my life a bit easier.

Thnx again for the great detail.

Russ

Yea it's definitely frustrating but it's necessary. I disagree with you on they all look spectacular once you get them home because they don't. My father got a olevia a few years ago the picture is not good and supposedly that is a daughter company of Samsung. My cousin bought a Sony tv going by that old school wisdom from his father of "Sony is the best" and the pictiure is TERRIBLE. If you notice not one person mentioned sony lol. After seeing that he got all new tvs and the biggest in the living room is a 65" plasma,yes a Samsung. You can tell the difference once you look at a few and compare so it gets easier after a little while but the thing is different brands look better than others so not only are you comparing 3 or 4 different technologies but then you are comparing the different brands. As far as carbon footprint, I am all for helping the environment but I don't think running a plasma is killing the earth. We should be more concerned w/ our emissions and other pollution as those are the big issues. The plasmas are the ones w/ the fastest refresh rate of 600hz so I think you might have gotten confused. The LEDs are the ones that the 3d has a higher refresh rate of 240 vs the normal 120hz that the non 3d lcd and leds have but they are still both slower than plasma. Just clearing that up.

I bought my grandmother a tv about 2 years ago she wanted a 32" she had been to pc richards and they were pushing the led on her so she called me up knowing I know about this stuff and I went shopping with her and I told her to act like she didn't know me to see if they would try to take advantage of her. Of course they did! They tried to sell her the newest most expensive tv and then I came over and pointed out that the picture wasn't even that good and then once he knew I was with her his tune changed. I'm not saying someone will take advantage of you but it's definitely good to have an idea about what's what before hand. Needless to say I told her it's probably the last tv she's ever going to get so she might as well enjoy it and go bigger. I was open to look at the other tech even though I am already partial to plasma. After comparing at 3 stores I got her a Panasonic Viera 47" 720p Plasma because she doesn't really watch anything crazy high def anyway lol but the picture is AWESOME. It looked better than most of the 1080p lcds and leds and it was like 549. She is very happy with her new tv and that of course makes me happy. Best of luck on your mission and keep us posted on what you get.

 

[masterswimmer]

Thnx for the guidance. I'll definitely follow up with the end result.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Any time buddy, glad to help.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I have a Samsung Plasma I have for sale here Russ.Cheap:smile:

 

[TimberTDI]

Hey Russ FYI if you have cablevision:

I called Cablevision awhile back and asked about refresh rates. Here's what they told me:

Regular digital programming: 30hz
Most sports programming: 60hz
Recorded DVR:24hz

It also explained why NFL and MLB games look sick on HDTVs and regular programming looked flat.

Steven