Lcd Flat Screen Tv's ???

[HALEY]

Ok we got our taxes done, getting a good sum back, Mike wants a flat screen tv for the living room, he's been working good and his Birthday is coming up and we will have a little extra money for this, plus i can put some in the savings acct also.
i been researching LCD flat screen tv's and am very confused as to what to get. never owned a flat screen before.
What is a good one to get?? last years consumer reports say Samsung was #1.
what kind do you own? And what do you like about it and dislike about it?
Maybe this will help me decide which one to get.
I might run down circuit city next week before they go out of business and look at them.

[Ponyup]

My husband & I own 3 Samsung flat screen LCD t.v.s . We really like them & haven't had any problems. We got the 3 year waranty because the crystals can bust & then you get this liquid streak that won't go away. If you get the extended warranty they will replace it if that happens. I believe that's something that can happen with any LCD.

[HALEY]

If i get it at circuit city i can't get the extended warrenty cause there going out of businesss around my area,, they have a great sale going on right now...
How is the sound on those tv's good?

[Janet]

We have a 42" Plasma Toshisba. We bought it 1/27/07 and it went out on Monday. Trying to find someone to fix it. My husband doesn't like getting extended warranties....guess this should convince him otherwise. About the performance...we love this TV, great picture and sound. Don't know what caused it to go out. We have sound now, but now picture.

[Ponyup]

If i get it at circuit city i can't get the extended warrenty cause there going out of businesss around my area,, they have a great sale going on right now...
How is the sound on those tv's good?

I think sound is good. The one in the living room we never have up over half way & it's plenty loud. We have a small one out in our 3 season room & we have that one turned up about 3/4 of the way to get over the jets of the hot tub.

[HALEY]

We have a 42" Plasma Toshisba. We bought it 1/27/07 and it went out on Monday. Trying to find someone to fix it. My husband doesn't like getting extended warranties....guess this should convince him otherwise. About the performance...we love this TV, great picture and sound. Don't know what caused it to go out. We have sound now, but now picture.

i love the picture on plasma tv's very crisp and clear, but there life span is not that great, i was researching those, my husband said no way...
Janet i never get extended warranties .. i think there a waste of money, the luck i had with them when i use to get them years ago and everytime something went in my house the warranty was expired anyways, that's why i don't bother with them anymore...

[Tiramisu]

Our Circuit City is closing and you can still get a warranty there because the warranty isn't with the store, it's through a different vendor. It depends on the price of the item and the price of the warranty, if we buy or not (i.e., we paid $18 for a warranty on the kids' Wii, but wouldn't pay $89 for a warranty on my $400 dishwasher).

We bought an RCA LCD (Summer of 2007). I especially like the HD picture now! If I remember right, ours is 1080i and the latest version is 1080p. Hubby got us the 19" LCD for our bedroom and I honestly think it's harder to see than the 19" box that was in there.

[DianaB]

We have a Samsung. We got it last year at Christmas. The sound isn't overly loud because I think that most people hook up surround sound with their sets but we didn't.

[Blueyes]

We got a 52 inch Samsung LCD last summer and I love it!!

[HALEY]

were going to check out the samsungs, i'm going to try and find a tv with 4 speakers for our football games. just so confused on what to get, were going to get a 47 inch for the living room, and i like to do reseach on items that high in price before i purchase them, the warrenty will be up to Mike to get or not, i don't like extended warranties just think there a waste of money, but we will see..
Thanks ladies for your imput...

[Janet]

Good luck finding a good long lasting TV Haley...their out there.

[HALEY]

Good luck finding a good long lasting TV Haley...their out there.

Thanks Janet, i'm going to try like hell, and you can't beat the prices right now, just have to wait 6 weeks for my tax refund so i'll have lots of time to compare them, hopefully i hit a really good sale, but i do want to run to circuit city before they go out of business, maybe i could charge it and pay it off when my refund comes in.. we'll see what Mike wants to do. The samsung 47" is on sale right now at best buys, were also going to need a wall mount. and i'm going to have to switch our cable i guess to HD.. i have digital cable do i still have to switch to HD digital ?? humm have to call the cable company on that one...

[judy]

I was checking them out this fall and from my research, Samsung is still #1.

My ex husband works for PC Richards, an electronics store. He says extended warranties are a big ripoff, and to never get one. The manufacturer warranties the product for the first year, and I honestly don't remember why he said it was a scam, but it made a lot of sense at the time.

Good luck with Circuit City! You can get great buys now.

[Janet]

I just wanted to let you know Haley that I talked with our TV repairman. He hasn't come yet, but will be here Monday. I told him I found out that Plasma's don't last long and he said that wasn't true. He's been working on TV's for over 25 years and said that in his career he works on just as many LCD's as Plasma. That he really couldn't recommend one over the other. He did say when plasma's first came out he wouldn't recommend them to anyone, but that is not the case now. I forgot to ask him which brand of TV he thought was best and worked on less. I'll try to remember to ask him on Monday.

He use to be the repairman for h.h. gregg and another company, but went out on his own.

[HALEY]

I just wanted to let you know Haley that I talked with our TV repairman. He hasn't come yet, but will be here Monday. I told him I found out that Plasma's don't last long and he said that wasn't true. He's been working on TV's for over 25 years and said that in his career he works on just as many LCD's as Plasma. That he really couldn't recommend one over the other. He did say when plasma's first came out he wouldn't recommend them to anyone, but that is not the case now. I forgot to ask him which brand of TV he thought was best and worked on less. I'll try to remember to ask him on Monday.

He use to be the repairman for h.h. gregg and another company, but went out on his own.

Thanks Janet, that is good to know, i love the pictures of the plasma tv's. i will do a comparison when i go back on bestbuys.. i have to order all of Micahs stuff today for his birthday party...

[HALEY]

I was checking them out this fall and from my research, Samsung is still #1.

My ex husband works for PC Richards, an electronics store. He says extended warranties are a big ripoff, and to never get one. The manufacturer warranties the product for the first year, and I honestly don't remember why he said it was a scam, but it made a lot of sense at the time.

Good luck with Circuit City! You can get great buys now.

Thanks Judy i am leaning towards the Samsungs, but one thing i didn't understand, they say that there not "digital ready" i have to find out what that means, i think its that you don't need the cable box, i have to ask that question.

[Janet]

Thanks Janet, that is good to know, i love the pictures of the plasma tv's. i will do a comparison when i go back on bestbuys.. i have to order all of Micahs stuff today for his birthday party...

Well I didn't want to contradict anyone, but I thought...who better to ask than someone who works on them. Plus the added fact that he doesn't work for a company...he works for himself repairing TV's. So I just wanted to share what he told me. I'm hoping he can come today and then I will ask him some other questions....like what brand does he work on less than any others.

[HALEY]

Well I didn't want to contradict anyone, but I thought...who better to ask than someone who works on them. Plus the added fact that he doesn't work for a company...he works for himself repairing TV's. So I just wanted to share what he told me. I'm hoping he can come today and then I will ask him some other questions....like what brand does he work on less than any others.

Oh ask him lots of questions.. thank you !!
ask him what digital ready tv's are? and why some of them aren't digital ready?
I know whem plasma's first came out they didn't last that long, but like you said they must of improved on the life span... i just love the pictures on plasma tv's.. so nice !!!!!

[Janet]

He still hasn't called yet, but I will ask him your question.

[HALEY]

He still hasn't called yet, but I will ask him your question.

Thank you Janet, i just don't understand why tv's today aren't digital cable ready... i just don't understand this high tech crap!!!! I told Mike how many times to look at these tv's and decide what he wants to get. oh well.. his 1/2 of the tax refund is whatever he wants to do with it,, my 1/2 is going in my safe... just in case we need it....

[Janet]

Sorry Haley...forgot to ask about the digital ready part, but he did say that Samsung and Panasonic are the best...fewer repairs.

We paid $1457.00 for our TV 2 years ago. It's going to cost a little over $500 to fix it, IF we decide to fix it. He said that some of the TV's (ours included) need fans in the back to keep them cool otherwise they will over heat one of the computer boards and they will go out. Said it could happen again. He also said it would probably help if we had a fan blowing at the back of the TV and I asked if he was serious and he said "yes."

Sorry I didn't get the digital question answered, but I was so much in shock over how much it will cost to fix this TV that everything else went out of my brain. I told my husband it may be better to toss this one and buy a smaller one for the same amount it would cost to fix this one.

I did call Toshiba and tell them I was really disappointed in their product and asked if they could give me a discount on the computer board (serviceman said some companies will) , but Toshiba said no. I told them where they could go and hung up. I'd like to take the TV and the jerk I talked to out back and blow them both up. I hate it when a company won't stand behind their products.

[HALEY]

Janet that is what i have in my living room right now is a Toshiba, and its garbage its only not even 5 years old and the color is going in it.. i am going to try and get it fixed when we get our new tv, and put that one in the basement for us to watch, never in the basement but Mike goes down there alot... i can't believe there not even giving you a discount, i'll never buy that product again..
As for the $500.00 with tv prices so low, you minds well get a new one, i would..
do you have a circuit city around you? the tv's right now are all 30% off..

[Janet]

I'm with you that I will not buy another one of their products...Toshiba or h.h. gregg. They do not stay behind the products they make or sell. I don't like the idea of paying that much to fix this one when it will probably happen again. Not sure what my husband wants to do, but I'm leaving it up to him. We have three other TV's in this house so don't know why we even need another one. He'll have to come up with the money out of his 'stash' because the household fund doesn't have it.

[Gina]

Haley we are going to puchase a LCD soon too. My husband takes his time investigating lol and he says the prices will continue to drop.. I am learning myself so all this input is great.. I noticed that Walmart has good prices so check them out to.... Good luck!

[Marilyn]

We just bought (end of Dec.) a new Samsung LED DLP TV to replace our 2005 Sony Wega LCD rear projection that had a light engine failure ($1,400 to $1,800 to fix). Hubby did a lot of research, and it was significantly lower in cost than plasma. It has no bulb to burn out like some do. It has a 5 year warranty ($75.00 extra). We got a 67" for $1,800. It is much more energy efficient than the plasma TV's, doesn't get as hot. The heating up of the plasma TV's uses energy then you have the energy needed to cool the room down. DLP has an expected life of 16 years, over 10,000 hours, comparable to the old tube TV's. DLP technology has been around for quite a while, developed by Texas Instruments. It is being phased out by many of the manufacturers, so the guys at places like Bestbuy are not pushing it anymore. The LED is new technology, and this TV is a combination of both. The LED feature replaces the bulb that was the most frequently replaced component in DLP TV's of the past.

It normally listed for $2,400, but was on sale. They carry them at Bestbuy, but we purchased ours online from Abe's of Maine and got free shipping and no sales tax.

The picture quality and clarity are truely amazing!!!! It's very close to a plasma (we were comparing it to a Pioneer plasma) for a much lower purchase price, and lower cost to operate. The biggest drawback is that the sound while not bad, is not the best without a surround sound system, but I'm not sure any of the newer thinner TV's have great speakers on them. I do run the Wii through the TV speakers, and it sounds okay.

Several manufacturers make the DLP's. Sony is phasing them out replacing them with plasmas. We looked at the Mitsubishi DLP, but I just didn't think it had as good a picture as the Samsung. The MItsubishi looked a little grainy.

Be sure you get 1080p. It makes a difference in the clarity of the picture.

Hope this has been of some help. After our experience with the Sony Wega lasting only 3 years, we wanted the best bang for our buck that will last & the Samsung LED DLP seemed to us to be the best option.

Here's a link to the one we have: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=dlptv&model_cd=HL67A750A1FXZA

The LCD TV's have a very nice picture for the price, but if you go with one of these, do the research to find out how they hold up. Good luck in your quest!!!!

[Janet]

Rick decided to have this one fixed....sure hope he knows what he's doing. I'm just tired of making all the decisions around here. It's time he stepped up. One less thing for me to worry about.

[judy]

I looked up "digital ready" for you Haley. Good luck in doing your research.

"The key phrase is "digital ready". Is that what the Owner's Manual for your TV calls it? A "digital ready" set does not have a digital tuner. It can't tune any digital signals on it's own without an external tuner (cable box, satellite receiver, external ATSC tuner). You need to verify this.

Check the owner's manual or Google the model number of your set. What you are looking for is if the set has an ATSC tuner. That is the North American standard for Over The Air digital TV. If your set has one, you can watch digital TV with an antenna. If your set has a QAM tuner, you can watch digital cable without a cable box. You will still need a cable box for premium channels, though."

[HALEY]

I looked up "digital ready" for you Haley. Good luck in doing your research.

"The key phrase is "digital ready". Is that what the Owner's Manual for your TV calls it? A "digital ready" set does not have a digital tuner. It can't tune any digital signals on it's own without an external tuner (cable box, satellite receiver, external ATSC tuner). You need to verify this.

Check the owner's manual or Google the model number of your set. What you are looking for is if the set has an ATSC tuner. That is the North American standard for Over The Air digital TV. If your set has one, you can watch digital TV with an antenna. If your set has a QAM tuner, you can watch digital cable without a cable box. You will still need a cable box for premium channels, though."

Thanks Judy, good info..

[Janet]

The repairman ordered the part. Now we just have to wait until it comes in and then the service call. Probably sometime this week, but who knows.