Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Flat panel TV help.

I have a buddy who is having a new house built. He and his wife want to buy a flat panel TV. Their current TV is a 27" CRT Sony.. non HD TV.

They would like to spend no more than 700$, and My buddy wants it to last at least 10 years.

I told him that i though a plasma would be a good idea, however i do not know how long plasma's usually last? I think LED/LCD last longer? With LCD tv's not having as nice of a picture as a plasma.

They were also told by a sales person at Best Buy that they will want external speakers, the sales guy recommended a center channel speaker array thing, that was not super expensive but would get the job done.


My buddy is not big into HT, as you may guess from the 27" CRT non HD tv... So i would like to be able to give him a realistic product to look at, however i don't know much about what is available with flat panel Tv's. I am hoping that some of you guys can help me help my buddy.


Thanks!

P.S. he is hoping to buy a TV on Friday when he thinks he might be able to get the best deal at Best Buy. I know Amazon sells a lot of TV's if there is an online retailer that you guys recommend i think he would be ok with that.

If glare for windows or lights may pose a problem they may consider LCD or led.

My plasma for the bedroom is rated at 100,000 hours. That's easily more than 10 years of viewing.

I think there should be several tvs in the 46- 50" range under $700. My dad just bought a 40 or 42" Samsung led from sams for $499.

how does he like the Samsung? My buddy brought up sam's... I thought that i had heard that sam's some times has questionable products with regards to their TV's like B stock sold as A stock, or used and not advertising it as used.

I would look at Target (or where-ever) that has Visio LCD's for $700. They have better off angle viewing that most LCD's. But, I doubt if any of them would last 10 years. 5 would be more realistic.

The 'center channel speaker array thing' you mentioned is a sound bar. Some come with a seperate subwoofer. Not being into HT it's probably a good idea for his use. Most of todays TV's have very small speakers on the bottom. Listening to the news they might sound OK, but he will want something better for movies. They vary greatly in price.

GTZ, is there any brand to look for. Either good or bad?

Alex

Alex, in the December issue Consumer Reports has their latest TV tests. The top-rated plasma in his price range would be the Panasonic TC-P46S30, which, for example is available from Amazon for $727 with no tax and free shipping.

As to improved sound, I don't really like the idea of an intermediate step such as a sound bar, as compared with a relatively simple setup with an inexpensive receiver and small separate speakers.

Thanks John, i just e-mailed him your response. While i agree about the sound bar, he just wants something simple.. They aren't that much into TV.. or HT for that matter... They want something as simple as possible.

I would agree with the idea of better speakers, far too many of the flat panels out there have very poor SQ. I have only listened to a very few sound bars and to me they sound a bit bloated, muddy but certainly better than the stock speakers of the TVs they were paired with.

My dad just Bought the Samsung and I don't thing he has even booked it up yet. While the panel life is rated at 100,000 hours on my plasma in sure something else will go out on it before the 100,000 are up... (or it will be outdated).