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Okay, so what is it you think you'll be getting for those prices on those TVs that the 60" ST60 can't give you at $1500?

probably not much of anything. those are just some of the ones i was checking out and i really don't wanna spend that much. the 60 inch panny seems good. i just haven't had a plasma in a long while and i'm afraid of a few things. i'm afraid of burn-in, brightness, and reflection.
 
only thing with that plasma is it only has 2 hdmi ports. is there a good HDMI switch that you could recommend? if i go through with everything looks like i will have cable, blu ray, and atv 3 to hook up. i would like 4 if possible.

Are you going to get a receiver? If so, you only need one HDMI on the TV itself.
 
probably not much of anything. those are just some of the ones i was checking out and i really don't wanna spend that much. the 60 inch panny seems good. i just haven't had a plasma in a long while and i'm afraid of a few things. i'm afraid of burn-in, brightness, and reflection.

Alright. Here's the skinny on the concerns you've got (don't take my word for it. Ask any of the guys and gals here, go to AVS forums and ask the pros there).

Burn-in - I am a VERY careful man. I babied my Pioneer for the first 60-90 days (all programming and inputs set to full screen to avoid pillarboxing or letter boxing, set on movie mode, and varying up my content.) If my sons played a few hours of Mario Kart on the Wii, I'd play some full-screen TV content to help make sure the GUI didn't become persistent. I've not had the first minute's issue with any sort of image retention. We abuse the set now, with no concerns. The precautions we took were worth it.

Brightness - Only an issue if you're putting the TV in the brightest room in the house, AND if the times you're watching produce reflection on the TV. Then, I'd consider an LED-LCD.

Reflection - One great thing about tier-one PDPs like the Panasonic is that they've got anti-glare filters on the glass that really do help minimize reflections. Top-tier LED-LCDs do not. Those sets, paradoxically, have a higher-reflective screen than plasmas now. The trade-off is the higher brightness on the LED-LCD.

Make sense?
 
:D
Alright. Here's the skinny on the concerns you've got (don't take my word for it. Ask any of the guys and gals here, go to AVS forums and ask the pros there).

Burn-in - I am a VERY careful man. I babied my Pioneer for the first 60-90 days (all programming and inputs set to full screen to avoid pillarboxing or letter boxing, set on movie mode, and varying up my content.) If my sons played a few hours of Mario Kart on the Wii, I'd play some full-screen TV content to help make sure the GUI didn't become persistent. I've not had the first minute's issue with any sort of image retention. We abuse the set now, with no concerns. The precautions we took were worth it.

Brightness - Only an issue if you're putting the TV in the brightest room in the house, AND if the times you're watching produce reflection on the TV. Then, I'd consider an LED-LCD.

Reflection - One great thing about tier-one PDPs like the Panasonic is that they've got anti-glare filters on the glass that really do help minimize reflections. Top-tier LED-LCDs do not. Those sets, paradoxically, have a higher-reflective screen than plasmas now. The trade-off is the higher brightness on the LED-LCD.

Make sense?

yeah i think i'm more worried about the first month or so. i have a 3 yr old that likes to watch Disney channel and they have that logo on there all the time. my wife is at home with her right now and i doubt it would even cross her mind about the burn-in, etc.

i'm also worried a little about the brightness as we are used to LED/LCD. we used to have a Sammy and it was really bright and we didn't notice a lot of glare but that may be b/c it was so bright.

my wife feels that a 55 is plenty big, but i would like to get a 60-65
 
no at the most i will have a sound bar. i don't really want to get a receiver and speakers for an apartment setup.

I have a full 5.2 speaker setup in an apartment. So much more you can do compared to a sound bar. They are ok, but won't come close to the sound of 5 individual speakers.
 
My setup for the past 4-5 years has been:

Early 2009 Mac mini (2.0Ghz, 6GB RAM)
2TB & 1TB external FW800 hard drives (800~ movies, 110 TV shows)
51" Samsung 3D Plasma (recently bought to replace a dead rear projection 51" Sony)
Sony 5 Disc DVD changer & 5.1 surround sound receiver
Apple TV 2 (first gen black box)
21" LCD TV
21.5" Late 2009 iMac

The Mac mini acts as our main TV, running Plex, Sickbeard, Couchpotato and Sabnzbd. It is connected directly to the 51" Samsung via mini-display port to HDMI and to the Sony receiver via 3.5mm to RCA. I typically use VNC to control this machine when doing something involved but typical TV operation is done via an Apple BT keyboard or mini Visiontek keyboard/trackpad.

The 21" TV is in our bathroom with the jailbroken Apple TV connected to it, pulling content via Plex. The 21.5" iMac is our bedroom TV, pulling content from Plex.

All has worked well for years with little interaction required from us. The only change I see in the near'ish future is upgrading to one of the native HDMI Mac minis for our main TV and sorting out proper 5.1 audio.
 
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2008 24" iMac (3.06 GHz 4GB RAM)
4TB WD HDD with 700+ movies, 9,700 songs in iTunes
60" Sharp TV
Onkyo HT-S5400 7.1-Channel Home Theater System
AppleTV 2
Sony Blu-ray player
Xbox 360/Wii
 
I have a full 5.2 speaker setup in an apartment. So much more you can do compared to a sound bar. They are ok, but won't come close to the sound of 5 individual speakers.

main reason i wouldn't do a total surround sound system is b/c i know that i will want to turn it up way to loud. i don't want to be that neighbor.:p

----------

2008 24" iMac (3.06 GHz 4GB RAM)
4TB WD HDD with 700+ movies, 9,700 songs in iTunes
60" Sharp TV
Onkyo HT-S5400 7.1-Channel Home Theater System
AppleTV 2
Sony Blu-ray player
Xbox 360/Wii

the 700 + movies that you have on the 4tb HDD, are they HD movies or SD? just trying to figure out how you can get so many movies on it.
 
40" LG LCD TV
Marantz NR-1603
Apple TV 3
Focal Chorus 716V fronts

If you like music, put your money on a good receiver and speakers. This will translate nicely for video. Calibrate your TV for best picture quality. The THX app on the iPhone is a great little app to calibrate a TV. We have FiOS, and the picture quality is greatly improved over the prior service provider and a calibration of the TV.
 
yeah i saw that one also. i'm trying to talk my wife into it. she wants no larger than a 55 but i really like the size and price.

I have a 50" and even that feels smaller now, especially with movies that have black bars at the top and bottom. Go for the 65" and don't look back.
 
I have a 50" and even that feels smaller now, especially with movies that have black bars at the top and bottom. Go for the 65" and don't look back.

yeah that is what i'm thinking. we will see how far that goes with the wife:p
 
yeah that is what i'm thinking. we will see how far that goes with the wife:p

The thing that kills me is people pay $2500 for a 55" lcd that has terrible motion performance and uneven backlighting, when a 65" plasma can be had for $1000 less and has better picture quality.
 
My setup:
Plasma: Panasonic 42VT50 (AWESOME TV!!). If you're on a budget, you could go with the ST model that has full HD and 3D, but lower price.
5.1 Speakers: Boston Acoustics Soundware S 5.1
5.1 Receiver: Yamaha RX-473
Console: PlayStation 3 (old fat one)
Media Player: WD TV Play (has Netflix and plays all my ripped DVD's and Bluray's in mkv format from an external 2TB drive)

Works amazing for my needs! Also, the receiver has AirPlay, so it's easy to stream music from my Macs or iPhone/iPad.
 
The thing that kills me is people pay $2500 for a 55" lcd that has terrible motion performance and uneven backlighting, when a 65" plasma can be had for $1000 less and has better picture quality.

yeah i found a 65 plasma panny for $1499. it doesn't have all the bells and whissles, but from the sounds of it has great pictures. i can get the 3d model for the same price but it will be a 60 inch.
 
The thing that kills me is people pay $2500 for a 55" lcd that has terrible motion performance and uneven backlighting, when a 65" plasma can be had for $1000 less and has better picture quality.

Or a mitsubishi dlp 60" for $500
 
50" Philips LCD TV - $600
Sony 5.1 Home Theater with Blu-Ray - $350
Apple TV - $100
Motorola DVR - by AT&T (U-Verse)
Logitech Harmony Remote - $60

Works great for me.
 
Or a mitsubishi dlp 60" for $500

The problem with DLP is poor viewing angles and bulb replacements. Not to mention they're huge. The picture doesn't look as crisp as a good plasma either. Frankly, $1400 for a 65" Panasonic plasma in this day and age is a steal.
 
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