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New TV

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Weerez935

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 13, 2012
187
0
Looking to replace my tv so it can be a nice bedroom tv.

I have a 47" Sanyo 720 plasma.

I've been looking at Samsung LEDs, panasonic LEDs and plasmas.
I'm leaning towards this but don't know much about tvs. Please advise.
http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=4841493&pid=1218541224061
 
mankar4

mankar4

macrumors 6502a
Aug 23, 2007
624
0
USA
I have a Samsung smart tv and I love it. The 2d and 3d picture is great, the smart features are handy, and I love the USB ins. The new ones have built in webcams which is awesome. I'm pumped for 4K tvs to become the mainstream!
 
V

Vashti

macrumors member
Dec 24, 2003
95
1
New York, NY
It would be useful if you provided what you like to watch and the environment you watch in. I have helped dozens of friends and relatives buy tVs. I believe that for most people, plasma is the better choice. The picture is more filmic. There is more depth, better black levels, more color accuracy. If buying a plasma, I think the Panasonic line is the best. Depending on what size you want and your budget, I recommend the VT series or the ST series- in that order. The GT series is theoretically in between them - but I don't believe that it's much better than the bottom tier ST and doesn't justify the mark up.

If you watch primarily in the daytime with a window facing your screen, then I would look at LEDs- which are a kind of LCD.

If you're shopping in big box stores like Best Buy, beware the impact of viewing under bright lights. They crank up the brightness settings on all of their TVs because that motivates people to notice them. It looks catchy under giant fluorescent lights - but not so good at home.

There is a wealth of information at avsforum if you'd like to do some research. Good luck!
 
W

Weerez935

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 13, 2012
187
0
Vashti said:
It would be useful if you provided what you like to watch and the environment you watch in. I have helped dozens of friends and relatives buy tVs. I believe that for most people, plasma is the better choice. The picture is more filmic. There is more depth, better black levels, more color accuracy. If buying a plasma, I think the Panasonic line is the best. Depending on what size you want and your budget, I recommend the VT series or the ST series- in that order. The GT series is theoretically in between them - but I don't believe that it's much better than the bottom tier ST and doesn't justify the mark up.

If you watch primarily in the daytime with a window facing your screen, then I would look at LEDs- which are a kind of LCD.

If you're shopping in big box stores like Best Buy, beware the impact of viewing under bright lights. They crank up the brightness settings on all of their TVs because that motivates people to notice them. It looks catchy under giant fluorescent lights - but not so good at home.

There is a wealth of information at avsforum if you'd like to do some research. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks sorry for not being clear.
I live in an apartment so even during midday the room is dark compared to a house and after work its normally dark anyway. The main reason I'm thinking about upgrading is because I have a lot of 1080 devices: blu ray, Apple TV etc. so I'm probably not pushing them to their full potential.
I'm not sure how much better my blu ray and Apple TV will look but I'd assume it'd be an improvement. I will say my current tv (720 plasma) looks good to me at least.

I don't want to downgrade but here is my dilemma. The tv in our bedroom is 19" and you can barely see it while laying down so I've been looking at either a new 32" TV for in there or a 50-60 " to replace the current one and put the 47 in there.

I want the best picture quality for the price. I would like to not spend over 1200 but if I could get a feature poor tv with a really nice picture at a lower cost that would be fine. I don't need to sign into Facebook to watch tv. We mainly watch movies, news, the walking dead and she likes some hgtv, a&e, and tlc shows.

Must haves:
Improve picture quality from what I have.
Preferably bigger 50-60"
Plasma or led/ LCD
2 or more hdmi ports

Stuff I won't use:
Smart features
3D
Etc

Would like but not must have:
iPhone control compatibility.


Edit:
Also I'm not in a hurry. We will be moving in 5 months so if its before or after the move is not a huge deal.
 
Last edited:
js81

js81

macrumors 65816
Dec 31, 2008
1,199
16
KY
durruti said:
Plasma uses too much electricity for my tastes.

LED.

LG.

Or Samsung.
Click to expand...

Disagree completely. Plasma DOES use much more electricity, but when you divide it out over the course of a year, most average TV watchers are looking at around $20 or so difference FOR THE YEAR. To me, the far better picture quality of plasma is worth every dime. I do, however, agree on the Samsung suggestion - just not an LED.

This, of course, is my opinion - that and 2 cents is worth, well, 2 cents. :D

And if he/she coming from a plasma, I doubt the OP would be happy with any LCD.
 
V

Vashti

macrumors member
Dec 24, 2003
95
1
New York, NY
Weerez935 said:
Thanks sorry for not being clear.
I live in an apartment so even during midday the room is dark compared to a house and after work its normally dark anyway. The main reason I'm thinking about upgrading is because I have a lot of 1080 devices: blu ray, Apple TV etc. so I'm probably not pushing them to their full potential.
I'm not sure how much better my blu ray and Apple TV will look but I'd assume it'd be an improvement. I will say my current tv (720 plasma) looks good to me at least.

I don't want to downgrade but here is my dilemma. The tv in our bedroom is 19" and you can barely see it while laying down so I've been looking at either a new 32" TV for in there or a 50-60 " to replace the current one and put the 47 in there.

I want the best picture quality for the price. I would like to not spend over 1200 but if I could get a feature poor tv with a really nice picture at a lower cost that would be fine. I don't need to sign into Facebook to watch tv. We mainly watch movies, news, the walking dead and she likes some hgtv, a&e, and tlc shows.

Must haves:
Improve picture quality from what I have.
Preferably bigger 50-60"
Plasma or led/ LCD
2 or more hdmi ports

Stuff I won't use:
Smart features
3D
Etc

Would like but not must have:
iPhone control compatibility.


Edit:
Also I'm not in a hurry. We will be moving in 5 months so if its before or after the move is not a huge deal.
Click to expand...

You are a perfect candidate for a plasma. For your situation, I would highly recommend the Panasonic ST50. You can get the 55" version for $1200 or the 50" version for just south of $1000 right now. I'm not sure of their product cycle - but I'm guessing if you wait a few months, the price may go down even more. If you want to use their 3D capabilities, you need to spring for glasses as well. Panasonic is by far my favorite plasma. If you want some interesting reading, Value Electronics does an annual shootout of all the best plasmas and LCDs. Panasonic won this year - winning both the panel of experts award and the general attendees vote. That was the ST's high end big brother, the VT line. Go to their website and they'll give you lots of great food for thought.
 
W

Weerez935

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 13, 2012
187
0
Thank you for that.
What is the difference in picture quality in the st and vt lines? Is it 1000$ worth of difference?
I don't mind saving more for something superior if its worth it.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,137
15,600
California
Weerez935 said:
Thank you for that.
What is the difference in picture quality in the st and vt lines? Is it 1000$ worth of difference?
I don't mind saving more for something superior if its worth it.
Click to expand...

+1 on the Panasonic ST50. Read this over. I'm normally not a fan of anything CNet, but David Katzmaier is very well respected in AV circles.

Personally, I don't think the extra price for the VT line is worth the price bump. Little better blacks and contrast ratio and a less reflective screen, but an incremental improvement only IMO.

Panasonic, like most other CE companies, announced new products at CES last week, but those sets won't be in stores typically until mid-year.
 
W

Weerez935

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 13, 2012
187
0
Thanks for all of the info.

I found a 50" st50 for 1000 and a 50" gt50 for 1049.

Would it be worth the extra 50$? I'm not sure what's different.
 
W

Weerez935

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 13, 2012
187
0
It's a few years old lol.
I got it on clearance a few years ago to replace a Sony wega lol.
 
W

Weerez935

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 13, 2012
187
0
I think so too.

Both have viera connect but the gt has wireless viera connect and thx mode.

I'm not sure what either of those do persay googling was more or less useless when it came to looking those up.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,137
15,600
California
Weerez935 said:
I think so too.

Both have viera connect but the gt has wireless viera connect and thx mode.

I'm not sure what either of those do persay googling was more or less useless when it came to looking those up.
Click to expand...

THX mode is a video mode that was certified by THX to meet certain color accuracy and other video standards. You can just set it to THX movie mode and tweak the colors a bit to your liking and have a pretty accurate image.
 
V

Vashti

macrumors member
Dec 24, 2003
95
1
New York, NY
Weerez935 said:
Thank you for that.
What is the difference in picture quality in the st and vt lines? Is it 1000$ worth of difference?
I don't mind saving more for something superior if its worth it.
Click to expand...

That is certainly subjective. You might try going to a store and comparing them - but stores aren't always useful either. Their settings are often wonky. For me, it would be worth the extra money. The better black levels give the picture more depth and the colors more saturation. Sadly, I watch enough television to care about stuff like that. I also watch a lot of movies where those things make a big difference. I believe you will be really pleased with the ST, GT, or VT sets. The longer you tend to keep your television, the more I would recommend springing for the top of the line - since you said you're open to it. Come back and tell us what you got. I'm on the edge of my seat. ;)
 
F

fiddlestyx

macrumors 6502
Sep 9, 2009
339
44
Minnesota
js81 said:
Disagree completely. Plasma DOES use much more electricity, but when you divide it out over the course of a year, most average TV watchers are looking at around $20 or so difference FOR THE YEAR. To me, the far better picture quality of plasma is worth every dime. I do, however, agree on the Samsung suggestion - just not an LED.

This, of course, is my opinion - that and 2 cents is worth, well, 2 cents. :D

And if he/she coming from a plasma, I doubt the OP would be happy with any LCD.
Click to expand...

Plasmas really get a bad rap. The whole energy consumption is not a big difference unless your TV is on 24/7, which I really hope its not. So as mentioned above, the energy cost is minimal through the lifetime of the TV and worth it since they give the best picture quality and best refresh rate at a great price.

The price difference for an LED vs a plasma more than makes up the minimal difference in energy cost.
 
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