Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler What would you do?

I have the 37 inch version of the Samsung, 58 inch suggested earlier, the LN58B550, and it has a problem with too narrow of a viewing angle for optimum PQ. I would suggest going plasma even if it cost a little extra more.

Jay,

+1 - you really can't get a TV that's too big. I am sitting 13' from a 58" Panny plasma and it works great.

As far as your BluRay solution, the Oppo or PS3 will work well. I love the PS3 and you might be able to score some savings. SonyStyle usually has some type of promotion going on (Sign up for their Sony Visa and get $$$ in credit on your account after your first qualifying purchase).

Instant approval, buy the PS3 on their site, your next (or second) charge bill shows up with a credit on it. Works great.

Currently, the credit is $50 on a $249 (or more) purchase. I got $100 2 years ago and I've seen $150. It varies. Plus free shipping.

Just a thought.

Just got back and managed to get the Panny 58" S1 for $1998 also picked up a Samsung BDP1600 for $98 including a 3' HDMI cable(monster brand!!!) I tried to get them to keep the cable and give me an extra $10 off, all well at least I know it will work. Now I just have to get my truck back to pick up the TV!!

Now just to save up for the Oppo.....The BDP1600 will end up in the bedroom with the 40" Sammy I already have.

Thanks for all the help.

Excellent display. I didn't speak up too much during the thread, because of my plasma bias--but how could not not be bias toward a better technology?

I've always wanted/liked Plasma's more than LCD and in this store I wasn't able to do side by side comparing which actually made it easier to decide. I couldn't pick apart each displays shortcomings to each other.

Showrooms are really lousy for side by side comparison. I didn't notice the problems with mine until after I got it home. But it isn't so bad that I wanted to take the time to take it back.

I honestly canot stand LCDs for TV viewing, and much prefer Plasmas and DLPs. As far as showroom viewing, just make sure everything is set to defaults across the board to level the playing field. You would be surprised to see how they jack up brightness and color on sets they want to move.

Excellent choice on the TV. Where did you get it?

Even the defaults are not how one would want to judge a set. Manufacturers jack up the brightness and color temp out of the box. Bright and blue looks good under glaring florescents, but not in a living room. If you do want to try to compare sets on a showroom floor, the your best bet is to set them to "Movie" and "Warm", but even that isn't going to have the black and white levels set correctly.

Really, side-by-side compares on the fly can't be done to gather enough info to reliably pick one set over another in a showroom. It's best to read up on actual benchmarks tests online (preferably done by the same reviewer/site), and pick out the display which meets most of your wants, and has the least misses on things which you think will bug you (because no set is perfect).

I remember my next to last visit to a BB Magnolia showroom. The panasonic V10 plasma was adjusted to look just horrible, but the panasonic Z1 plasma looked like the best one there. At about double or triple the price of the V10. Interresting.