<p>I need a tv. I’m looking at a 32 inch. Which is better?</p>
<p>How have your experiences been with either kind of tv?</p>
<p>We have (over my dead body, of course, but I gotta admit it is a thing of beauty) a 46" LCD. It’s the 1080-whatever p-whatever. DH and DS, the technophiles in residence, chose it. It is excellent. It’s in a well lit (daylight floods in) room, but there is no problem of glare interfering with the picture (note: the windows are not directly facing the TV). You can see it beautifully from any angle.</p>
<p>More and more programs are broadcast in HD - more than we expected. Occasionally, a program is on in both HD and regular on two different channels - switching between the two really highlights how fabulous HD actually is.</p>
<p>DH bought a Samsung - somewhat based on research, somewhat in-store experience and advice at Fry’s. We know two other folks who independently bought Samsung and are also quite happy. He found it to be $several hundred to $1000 cheaper than the equivalent Sony or Mitsubishi.</p>
<p>dstark: I googled plasma tv problems and came up with an abundance of info. on both types. It would pay to do so.</p>
<p>We have a 2+ yr. old 52" DLP HD TV that we absolutely love. DLP is great because it will not allow burn in and can be seen from wide angles with no problems. It is also cheaper than the other choices. However it is about 18 inches wide. When we bought it they even had a deal where if the same set was being sold cheaper by the store anytime in the next year we could get the difference in cash. We did this with no problem ($400).
My husbands only regret is that I wouldn’t let him buy the 62". He’s been complaining about those 10 inches ever since.</p>
<p>Didn’t really answer your question but thought you should know. Also buying any tv on line can save you big bucks.</p>
<p>Our flat panel is in a room where we really wanted the slim profile. But if you have a cabinet or bookcase or whatever where you can build it in - and the flat panel (not to be confused with flat screen) isn’t important to you, I think the type sax has is as good a viewing experience as ours. And you save $$$ by not needing the slim profile.</p>
<p>So I’ve been told. And so my technophiles-in-residence believe.</p>
<p>I have heard DH say that several (many?) of the problems with plasma have been solved. However, he didn’t buy one.</p>
<p>I just want to plug it in, hook up the cable and find that it works.</p>
<p>I do want HDTV capabilities.</p>
<p>I’m not going to hang it.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about the slimness.</p>
<p>I will not buy a Sony. I’m very disappointed in my last Sony, which is why I need a tv.</p>
<p>
Hah! Then be sure NOT to get the surround sound (it was already built into our ceilings) paraphernalia, which involved a separate receiver, a bajillion different acoustic and video cables, a sub-woofer and I don’t know what-all. I call it our 3-engineer system. It took DH (MSEE), DS (ECE student) and DS’ best friend (another Engineering student) forever to set it up right. Then every day when we turned it on, it was a finger-crossing moment as to whether it would all work right. Much cabling and re-cabling, fiddling with set-up menus, remotes and whatever. Sheesh.</p>
<p><em>just my rant, probably won’t happen to you</em></p>
<p>I read some great advice online somewhere. I don’t have a lot of time right now, but the summary is:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If this is your first HDTV purchase, stop worrying about details. It’s going to be so much better than your current TV that you will be amazed. (This is true.)</p></li>
<li><p>Plasma vs LCD is six of one and half-dozen of another. Don’t worry about it. (Although at 32" you will probably end up with LCD.)</p></li>
<li><p>Expect to own this for 5-6 years. Television technology is changing so fast that it is not a 20-year purchase any more. </p></li>
<li><p>Pick your size and features, then shop for price. Ignore name brands. If you are going to buy another one in five years, the ultimate “quality” just doesn’t make much difference. Besides, most brands are reselling products made by a handful of contract manufacturers in Asia. If it says “Sony” on the front, you still won’t know who really made it.</p></li>
<li><p>“p” is better than “i”. A 720p looks better than 720i. (My opinion is that 720p is the current sweet spot of quality vs money.)</p></li>
<li><p>Shop non-traditional sources. (I bought an Oleivia 37" LCD for $700 from newegg.com, which is a large computer retailer online. I’d never heard of the brand, and never bought a television online before. It was delivered UPS and I am in love with it. It’s cheap enough that I will be thrilled if it lasts five years. My last television lasted 19 years, but cost about $2,500 in today’s dollars. No competition.)</p></li>
<li><p>(Beware of hidden costs. Our large collection of VHS movies looked really awful on the new teevee, so we tossed them and spent $300 replacing a lot of our favorites on DVD. See? Hidden cost. I’m not quite willing to pop for HD-DVD yet, but I suppose the costs will be down enough in another couple of years.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>jmmmom, it has already happened to me. I still haven’t figured out how to work one of my tvs. :)</p>
<p>The new one, my wife is going to watch. It better work easily and immediately. :)</p>
<p>Washdad, sax and jmmom, thanks.</p>
<p>So Washdad, were you able to just take the tv out of the box, plug it in and watch?</p>
<p>My vhs collection is toast.
I didn’t buy a dvd collection because now I realize that would just become toast too.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It took me a half-hour or so to get all the cable coax, DVD player, VCR and camcorder cables hooked up, but, yeah, it was plug-and-play. I was fortunate that the stand for the old Mitsubishi held the new teevee without any problems.</p>
<p>Ok. Sounds good. I’m going to shop around but I like newegg.com’s prices so far.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I misread and understood that you were worried that if you bought a dvd collection, YOU would become toast–or at least superfluous.:(</p>
<p>If I could get my H. on CC, he would post a lengthy sermon on this topic. I am down now to the one tv in the house that is 15 years old – it’s the only one I know how to work. I just want an on/off button and channels—is that too much??? When I do watch his latest purchase with him, I will admit the picture is great–but all I know is that it is flat is HD and takes 4 remotes to get the sound on, the satellite, the tv and something else?</p>
<p>I’m already superfluous. I don’t want to become toast for a very, very long time. :)</p>
<p>mkm56, you sound like my wife.</p>
<p>"jmmmom, it has already happened to me. I still haven’t figured out how to work one of my tvs. "</p>
<p>It’s happened to us too and even worse. When we built this house, widescreens weren’t out yet and certainly not wall hung tvs… so we have this beautiful built-in maple cabinet that has a custom opening for an 55" old-style Mitsubishi flat screen tv. The Mitsubishi is 9 years old and still going strong; but the techie hubby wants a new tv so bad, he’s beside himself. But if we replace it, I’ll have to have the cabinetry reconfigured in a major way and I don’t know if they would be able to match the stain… and it just doesn’t seem worth it.</p>
<p>As far as operating the mess goes; on our worst days, we get the tv sound outside, but not inside and were left standing without a clue…STILL, to this day. It’s like the whole system has a mind of it’s own.</p>
<p>I also have an Olevia 37" LCD which is great and has brilliant color.</p>
<p>When I was TV shopping, I found that the plasma TVs have that shiny glare to them and are difficult to watch if you’re not sitting directly in front of the TV.</p>
<p>Somebody pm’d me and mentioned that some tvs are great in hd but not great otherwise.</p>
<p>So I am assuming when somebody says their tv is great, it is great in all ways.</p>
<p>The Olevia 37 looks good on everything except bad VHS tapes and some of the fuzzier cable channels. It’s much better than our old teevee on everything. On good sources, like DVD movies, it roolz!!3! When I got mine it was $700, which was cheaper than most of the 32" sets. It would be kind of nice to have a second HDMI input, but I’ve learned to get over that disappointment by remembering that the money I saved is now a new easy chair in the family room. I have no idea what prices are like now, three months later.</p>
<p>After discussing this for a year, we recently bought an LCD HDTV 46". We needed a slim TV and so considered the plasma and LCD’s. I am not sure why, but my husband preferred the LCD over the plasma. (I didn’t interject myself into this process after nixing a 50" rear projection TV that he wanted to buy. I gave him the requirements of a 42"-ish TV and slim line and then left the rest to him.) Anyway, it is terrific and we love it. We then got a Philips 32" LCD HDTV for my father-in-law for his birthday and the picture looks great too. I think the current generation of LCD’s are very good. </p>
<p>I did hear that LCD’s weigh substantially less than plasma’s, so if you ever have to move it, it would be easier with an LCD. Supposedly, plasma’s have a better viewing angle, if you are sitting on the side, but I found that our LCD is fine from the side.</p>
<p>You probably can’t go wrong either way.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about TV’s, but I am looking for a flat-panel because I want to hang (mount?) it on the wall of a smallish room. I want to spend as little as possible, but I do want to be able to play DVD’s on it. Any ideas?</p>
<p>The cabinet thing can be a problem. A few years ago, we nearly ordered a custom made cabinet that would hold our old huge 35" TV. We never got around to it, luckily, so while we were considering a new TV, I went ahead and bought a new slender media cabinet. Subsequently, we got the new TV and everything worked out fine. We could have mounted the new TV on the wall, but I chose not to do so. I think it looks great on the stand.</p>