TeeVee Envy
 

I was at Costco today on my lunch hour (how thrilling, I can hear you now)

But I saw this and fell in love. Thank God I have no money to play with....but it sure as hell does not stop me from lusting.

What is the diff between LCD and Plasma and which one is the one to buy?

Big TV - worth every penny for movie lovers.

is that considered a 'good' price for such a thing? yes its a serious question. I havent seriously looked at new TV's in about a decade.

LCD is better because it doesn't involve any gases which will need to be replaced in 5 years, however, I've also heard that Plasma is better for large screens, and that it gives a smoother picture with less eye strain because the plasma takes longer to go dark when the signal dies, so it bridges the gap between frames cleaner, making for a smooth image.

Personally, I'd go with the LCD!

I paid 1599 for my 44 inch LCD, but it isn't flat panel like that. I haven't priced them since i purchased - I don't want to know how much lower it is now than what I paid, you know?

LCD can look grainy, and you will have to replace the bulb every couple of years (300 or so). Mine came with two free bulb replacements. Plasma can't take altitude changes, from what I understand. It's pressured and if the atmospheric pressure changes too much it won't work. Plasma must also be recharged, but I'm not sure how long it lasts from purchase to recharging.

Plasma will have a much better picture, but my LCD HD works just fine for me.

I've got a 61" DLP HDTV. Plasma was too expensive for me (and I haven't seen any Plasmas that look good after 5 years - though the new ones might be better). The major difference between LCD and DLP is that LCD is a truly flat set, and you are looking at every pixel - skinny tv = good, but a dead pixel stays dead forever, and DLP uses a Texas Instruments chip with "millions of mirrors" to project what is basically an LCD image onto your screen. A little bulkier, but cheaper and more forgiving. (are you sure you don't have DLP, scaeagles?)

One thing to beware when buying: Costco models might seem cheaper, but you need to check all of the specs. For example, the TV I bought (Toshiba) was almost $400 cheaper at CostCo, but the CostCo model had only one HDMI jack, while the one I bought at onecall.com has two. I already use both jacks (for my digital cable and my upscaling DVD player), so it was well worth the price difference.

Oopos....yes. DLP.

Wow! 61inches! Now that IS TeeVee envy!

Okay, your post, sceagles and Morgoon's do clarify for me a bit. It's not that I will buy at Costco, I just ran into it and was dumbstruck at the quality.

I already looked at Best Buy online and the price was better for a 42inch model and more hookups as MP wisely pointed out. This is something to shoot for once I get a little more fiscally stable.

It will be awesome to see some DVDs on this! I had a Philips CRT television in VA and I sold it off to a friend. Should have brought it with me, my roomie's tv is a poor substitute, same size, but nothing like the Philips!

RPTV's tend the give the best picture, for HD. For SD or even some lower HD pictures, Plasma's do a formidable job. Plasma's are nice cause they are flat and hang on the wall. LCD's are ok. They are bright, but picture quality generally is not as strong as the other two.

Plasma's do not need to be recharged. They are good for about 60,000 hours I believe. DLP's need to have their bulbs replaced far more often to the tune of $300 or so a bulb. Basically...there is no "Best". I'm in the market right now. Trying to decide between the Samsung plasma or the Sony SXRD RPTV. Looking at 50" for the plasma or 50-55" for the RPTV. They are all quite reasonable now. Both can be had for around $3,000.

Do you have an Ultimate Electronics near you? That's where we purchased ours, and the guy who helped us knew really knew his stuff. Cheaper than Best Buy - or so it was for us.