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Buying a tv help

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p-oskier
Posts: 1407 - Karma: 58
Newschoolers I need your help. I am looking into buying a new tv this summer for my new apartment but I know nothing about tvs. I wanna spend a max of about 500$ so tell me what I should buy or look for.
Jun 6 2012 11:06PM
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TimRiley
Posts: 1873 - Karma: 1,327

What are you going to use it for? Games, movies, sports, who cares cheap but big?

Jun 6 2012 11:09PM
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p-oskier
Posts: 1407 - Karma: 58
Mostly for movies and i'm looking for a 38in more or less
Jun 6 2012 11:13PM
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Maximili420
Posts: 565 - Karma: 59
you want an LED 1080p 240 hz refresh rate. you will be pleased as for brands just go with the big names like sony samsung or lg, if you want a big tv for the same price go vizio.
Jun 6 2012 11:18PM
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45.
Posts: 3164 - Karma: 170
Now a days you can pick up a used plasma for pretty cheap... Meaning you can get an older high end plasma in your price range that would be pretty large.
Jun 6 2012 11:18PM
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45.
Posts: 3164 - Karma: 170
Good luck getting one of these for $500....
Jun 6 2012 11:20PM
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TimRiley
Posts: 1873 - Karma: 1,327
As long as you have an HD DVD player you can go with a plasma since your not a gamer. you just need HD cables to hook up your DVD player. Check out stores like best buy for open box options or last years models. cheap with good warranites.
Jun 6 2012 11:20PM
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ryano
Posts: 4465 - Karma: 1,535
SAMSUNG LED.

all you need to know.
Jun 6 2012 11:21PM
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45.
Posts: 3164 - Karma: 170
Same here. 55" panasonic plasma, never had any issues. the colors and blacks it produce blow LED's out of the water. Only down side is they run a little hot
Jun 6 2012 11:21PM
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BrewskiJr
Posts: 5738 - Karma: 1,478
I have a perfect TV for you. I've had one for a while and its awesome. Its 720p, but its damn near impossible to see the difference between 720 and 1080 on a 42" inch screen. (Still big but not huge like a projector).

http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/9748831/insignia-42-class-plasma-720p-600hz-hdtv-reviews/reviews.htm

Jun 6 2012 11:23PM
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Gator
Posts: 35 - Karma: 11
40" Westinghouse LED

Jun 6 2012 11:32PM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,364
plasma is the way to go for gaming though. i got a 50inch panasonic a year and half ago and its pretty much designed for video games.
Jun 6 2012 11:47PM
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Spic-N-SpaN
Posts: 2002 - Karma: 1,465
Low ball everyone on craigslist, they say no, you bug them everyday about it and eventually they say "look I can go to xxx and NO LOWER stop bothering me" then then you tell them okay cool
Jun 6 2012 11:48PM
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Gmart
Posts: 1634 - Karma: 273
costco open box vizio led have had mine for at least 6 years now and it's great
Jun 6 2012 11:50PM
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Spic-N-SpaN
Posts: 2002 - Karma: 1,465
ah your looking for brands and stuff. Well don't go VISIO unless you can get a good deal on it. Our family has one down stairs and when we play xbox on it periodically the picture cuts out. All you have do is turn it off and back on and it works again but its still annoying.

So there you go.
Jun 6 2012 11:53PM
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volvotom
Posts: 2045 - Karma: 712
Plasma here too, better contrast and black than any LCD on the market. Don't buy into the 240Hz buzz, it's useless
Jun 7 2012 1:52AM
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JakeAssBeatClap
Posts: 6673 - Karma: 2,537
The soap opera effect makes me want to rip my eyeballs out of my face.
Jun 7 2012 2:26AM
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Spic-N-SpaN
Posts: 2002 - Karma: 1,465
explain the soap opera affect
Jun 7 2012 2:56AM
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p-oskier
Posts: 1407 - Karma: 58
Thanks for all the advice, i'm looking, hope I see a good deal. Are stores like wal mart a good place to buy a tv for cheaper or should I only buy one in an electronic store?
Jun 7 2012 8:34AM
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japanada
Posts: 13784 - Karma: 1,957
Walmart has great deals on Visios and other cheaper models from companies like sony and samsung.

Plasma is a great choice for affordability and great picture quality. The only downsides are the possibility of an image getting burnt in, and the fact that if the TV is going to see a lot of midday sun, it can be hard to see the screen b/c of the reflection of the sun off the glass of the TV. They also cost more to run per year than a LCD/LED TV. Plasmas have some of the blackest blacks and whitest whites of any TV though.
Jun 7 2012 8:50AM
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bdarb207
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 438
They are probably going to have some of the most competitive prices. We've always got samsungs and the plasma treats us well. 37 in for 320 I think? No complaints.
Jun 7 2012 9:03AM
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45.
Posts: 3164 - Karma: 170
The average yearly cost to run is $38 vs $17.

That should be one of the last things to consider when buying his TV. So many other more valuable differences.
Jun 7 2012 9:29AM
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JAHpow
Posts: 7282 - Karma: 17,175
An somewhat underrated brand that I would recommend would be Insignia. I have a 42" LCD Insignia that works great.
Jun 7 2012 9:35AM
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JAHpow
Posts: 7282 - Karma: 17,175
Also they're relatively inexpensive.
Jun 7 2012 9:36AM
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bdarb207
Posts: 3057 - Karma: 438
The image being burnt in is a reasonable worry though especially if you're playing any older video game systems. Other than that just don't leave it on pause and it's fine while playing games or movies.
Jun 7 2012 9:37AM
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CSpruit
Posts: 368 - Karma: 55
We have a couple insignia TVs that I really like. Go with something like this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insignia%26%23153%3B+-+46%26%2334%3B+Class+/+LCD+/+1080p+/+60Hz+/+HDTV/4039115.p;jsessionid=67B1E52D08F5F34156B8FE5C92A43F73.bbolsp-app02-57?id=1218450210236&skuId=4039115
Jun 7 2012 9:39AM
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Maximili420
Posts: 565 - Karma: 59
bull shit i just got a 24' sony led 1080p 240hz refresh rate, and it has the cleanest movement ever, and it was only $300
Jun 7 2012 2:42PM
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twin-tip-hero
Posts: 2896 - Karma: 277
I picked up a 42'' LCD 1080p flatscreen for $187.00 last month. It's an Avol. people say they are shitty quality, but I had a smaller avol that I had for about a year till I found this sweet deal.
Jun 7 2012 2:51PM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
60 Hz looks awful, especially if you watch sports a lot. I think you might be talking about the effect the new super expensive Samsung "smart" TVs have. They end up looking terrible and very distracting with their 3Dish-super sharp-auto motion whatever stuff. It's not specifically refresh rate, but I'm not sure what it is that they do to make it look so bad. I know you can turn it off to return the picture to a more traditional look too. A girl I know has one and she has it to factory settings, it's so bad I can't even concentrate on the movie.


To the OP:

Especially for your price range, I'd suggest plasma. They have a bad rap because 10 years ago they all kinds of issues. The new ones are fantastic and look much better than a comparable LED.

I have a 52" 1080p plasma samsung that I bought new for $600. Also, the best refresh rate you'll see on an LED is 240 Hz and you'll pay accordingly. Plasma are standard at 600 Hz, the colors are awesome, and the picture is sharp from any angle in the room. I've also noticed that mine doesn't produce much glare at all even with strong sun filling the room, and the screen on a plasma tv is durable, thick glass. All my friends have more expensive LED's that look very nice, but I always get compliments on my setup and choose not to tell them that I paid 1/3 what they did.
Jun 7 2012 3:17PM
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pmsnow
Posts: 992 - Karma: 87
So I'm no TV expert but I bought a 40" Coby from K-Mart (pretty ghetto) for $400. It is 1080P and works great. Keep in mind that it isn't as nice as say a Vizo or something more expensive. My room mate bought last years model of a 32" Vizio from Sam's Club for $200. So try looking for sales when the new product comes in.
Jun 7 2012 3:22PM
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volvotom
Posts: 2045 - Karma: 712
Refresh rate is the number of times the pixels can change color and thus image in a second.

The issue with soap opera effect has to do with frame rate. Film movies are shot at 24 frames per second, whereas most Television and other media are shot at 30frames (actually 29.97 but that's another story). The issue with 60Hz televisions is that 60 is not a clean multiple of 24. Most of these televisions use a system called 3:2 pulldown that essentially "makes up" the missing frames. This creates a judder effect many people hate.

120Hz/240Hz televisions are able to display each of the original frames from 24 frames and 30 frames for the same amount of time eliminating the need for 3:2 pulldown.

Plasma's have a native refresh rate of 600Hz, however only very high end sets offer 24p cinematic playback.

The highest end TVs are plasmas, Pioneer Kuro's still go for $20k+

Go plasma, LCD quality per price is not nearly as good
Jun 7 2012 4:29PM
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JeremyB
Posts: 629 - Karma: 30
LED Samsung or Sony.
Jun 7 2012 4:42PM
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Maximili420
Posts: 565 - Karma: 59
personally i hate plasma, the fuzzienes of it is what draws me away, although i have heard that plasma is the option for 3d
Jun 7 2012 4:51PM
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