I really can't see buying a 1080p for 42" unless you're maybe playing games and sitting right on top of it.

As for anti-glare screens, they work somewhat for what they're supposed to do, and if you really have little choice for lighting in your room (i.e. outside sunlight getting in, or you have to leave bright lights on in the room for some reason), then I guess it's the way to go. I found that I slightly preferred the regular screen - the antiglare screen took away a tad bit of clarity/brightness from the picture. This was in a store and it's possible there was some other variable. YMMV.

I did get a 1080p in my 50" TV. I figure
a) with Blu-Ray I might sit a little closer and get a better experience
b) if I sell the TV in a year or 2, this one would be easier to sell because whether it's actually noticeable or not, people will usually want it.

Try to get to a store where they have Blu-Ray demos running. It's usually noticably better. 42" was smaller than I was shopping for, and I'm not sure how far away you're sitting, so I'm not sure how much of a difference you'd notice.

Could someone comment on the following set? It seems the more I research the less sure I am about what I should purchase. This is my first plasma purchase and I'm looking for the best performance in a reasonably priced plasma which will be used for a little bit of everything - watch sports/360/movies... etc...

The following Samsung is available at Costco...

Pros/Cons? The price is $1599 Cdn. Are there similar models that offer better value/performance?

Samsung HP-T5034X/XAC
50-in. Plasma HDTV

Even in brightly lit rooms, Samsung’s 50-in. HP-T5034X boasts a dazzling picture, thanks to its new FilterBright™ anti-reflection filter. And with Samsung’s powerful anti-burn-in technology, screen-aging is a thing of the past. Every image is rendered in brilliant colour and with the fine shadings of a 15,000:1 contrast ratio.



Features:

Resolution: 1365 x 768

Aspect ratio: 16:9

Screen size: 50 in.

HDTV ready – 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i

Brightness: 1300 cd/m2

Contrast: 15,000:1

Picture-in-picture (PIP)

AV connections:

2 x HDMI inputs

1 x PC input (D-sub)

2 x component video inputs (Y, Pb, Pr)

2 x S-Video inputs

2 x composite video inputs

1 x ATSC/NTSC TV tuner

1 x headphone jack

Viewing angles: 175° (H), 175° (V)

Sleep timer

Audio:

Output: RMS 20 W total

Included Accessories:

Remote control

Battery

User manual

Tabletop stand

Specifications:

Dimensions with stand (L x W x H):
122.7 cm x 34 cm x 84.7 cm
(48.3 in. x 13.4 in. x 33.3 in.)

Weight: 47.5 kg (107.7 lb.)

Warranty:

1 year

Sharp Aquos 1080p 52" LCD HDTV** 2400$(LC52D64U)

Sony Bravia 40" 120Hz Flat-Panel LCD HDTV** $1400 (KDL40D3000)

Sony Bravia 46" 1080p LCD HDTV** (KDL46V3000) $1900

Samsung 40" Widescreen LCD HDTV** (LNT4042H) $1200

Can you guys pick me one of those to watch the hoceky games/masters on. Thanks

I wouldn't buy the Sony's. There are great picture quality, but way overpriced for what you get. Is there a reason you don't want a plasma? Second, any reason you don't have a bigger Samsung's on there. They are by far the best bang for the buck with LCD's. I would take the Samsung or a bigger one over any of these.

I have lcds and not plasma due to floor to ceiling windows on the 10th floor with east exposure. I went on the bestbuy website and picked out 4 tvs in about 45 seconds and posted it here. I really know nothing about them and there was no real reason why i picjked them. I just tried to picjk a few different brands/sizes.

Samsung 1080p 46" Widescreen LCD HDTV** (LNT4661F) $1800

Samsung 1080p 52" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV** (LN52A530) $2800

I think im going to answer my own question here, as i doubt the extra 6 inches is worth $1k to me. Hopefully the store has it in stock for tonight

Scotty: For something you'll likely own for a long time and use a lot, I think it's better to splurge on something if the quality is that much more. I just upgraded from a 50" 720p rear-projection LCD to a 58" 1080p plasma and I the extra size and picture quality so much, even if I did spend 4 grand on it.

Hey guys, I'm just looking for a quick recommendation since I'm in way over my head here.

I'm getting the Panasonic TH-50PZ700U soon (thanks Full Tilt), and I'm trying to find a complete home theater system to hook up to it. Only necessities are 2 HDMI audio inputs for my Xbox 360 and PS3. I'd like to have pretty decent sound quality, but nothing extravagant since I'm not an audiophile. I was expecting to spend around $500 if I can get something decent for that price.

Anyone have any suggestions? I don't even know what brands I should be looking at. Thanks.

foreword, just wanted to say I do not know much about audio and browsing avsforum audio section is just confusing the hell out of me, could someone help me out?


.there's a home theater in a box i was looking at, specifically this. i think this is the one that everyone recommands and is not overly costly but it is still very nice from a brand name.

anyways, i've been told that it does NOT do audio over HDMI and i would have to use optical or whatever for my components, and that does not equal TrueHD sound or whatever. should this be a big concern to me? I just want better speakers because the one on my TV sucks, but if there's a better value i obviously want it. I can afford the HTIB, or should I wait and get some more money and get a more expensive onkyo HTIB. I can do like $600 today, maybe spending $1k in a couple months. Or for the last option, i guess buying everything seperately? I am looking at stuff at onecall.com for my choices because I have gift certificates there, so I would like to buy everything from there.


My current setup is a 61" Samsung LED in a not too big living room, and I would want to connect HD cable box, xbox 360, HD-DVD standalone (not a big concern) and a ps3. please let me know your opinion, it would be greatly appreciated.

I know many people are looking for a sound system (goofyballer, guy above me) so hopefully we can all figure this out together.

regards,

Chesskid1

Chesskid1,

I'm no audiophile but I have that exact HTIB and it sounds great to me. Easy to setup/use, I'm quite happy with it.

calibration article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/te...f9e&ei=5087%0A

Folks,

I'll be leaving to pick this up shortly:
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/d...XZA&fullspec=F

How can I know whether or not that will upconvert standard DVD signals coming from a standard DVD player? I'm sure I can't get a good deal at Sears/Best Buy/whatever on them, so I'll probably order one of the ~$70 upconverting players on Newegg.com if necessary.

Thanks if you can give me a pointer!

If it helps,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...800GTS%2b320MB

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...800GTS%2b320MB

would likely be my DVD player set-up (via my PC) if I were to just not even buy anything at all. I'm not really sure how this would work wiring-wise to be honest but I'm sure I could hook these items together.

like other sets, it will convert signals to its native resolution. its native resolution is 1080p, while dvd is only 480p. the decision about upconverting players mostly comes down to whether or not you think they do a better job than your tv's scaler. it's plausible that a newer, better player could have higher-quality output than what you're already using even if you don't upconvert, though. i wouldn't sweat it unless your set is known to suck at conversion per reviews/avsforum or you're in the market for a better dvd player in general.

So I get to Sears yesterday to pick up the TV I had reserved. After waiting forever for the guy to look for it, he came out to tell me that even though he'd written my name on it, someone had sold it. He apparently remembered very well that I had driven to DE from Connecticut to save on sales tax, but forgot that I had specifically been concerned about whether or not I could get a raincheck on the sale price + 10% rebate for Sears card if they didn't have it when I got there. He asked me to stick around (maybe he only gets his commission for sales, not rainchecks), and then got a manager to approve the following deal:

Instead of getting the 40" LCD 1080p Samsung model LN40A530, $1199.99, on sale for $1080, plus $108 instant rebate, I got the next model up..

40" LCD 1080p Samsung model LN40550, $1499.00, marked down to $1080 to match the price of the one I reserved, plus $108 instant rebate! No sales tax, so I got a 1500 dollar TV for under a grand.

Reviews and newegg price below (they have it for $1299). Of the 7, the only one who gave it 3 stars gave it criticism because his CABLE remote didn't work right with it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16889102202





Thinking I'll use one of these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...on=indoor+HDTV

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...ds=indoor+HDTV

with my HDTV tuner card on my PC and not have to pay extra monthly fees for the HD DVR...the only thing I would DVR that I couldn't download would be the football game broadcast on free over-the-air signals anyway.

In fact, I might cancel cable altogether once baseball season is over, as I'll only be watching the Eagles, How I met your mother, 24, and the office, all of which are available over the air. Cable is pretty much only going to be used for the Phillies, as far as I can tell.

grats, and from what i've read your silver sensor clone antenna choice is a good one. i believe the terks are supposed to have much better build quality than the philips, fwiw.

Hey guys, I dont know much about HDTV and Im looking into buying a new TV. I am going to watch sports and movies on it mostly, so I guess I should go with plasma ? Also, where should I buy the TV, at a local store or somewhere on the Internet.

Finally, what do you guys think of this deal:
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...gon=&langid=EN


Thank you !

My current set up:

Samsung HLN-5065W 720p DLP
Harman Kardon AVR 330
Some Samsung HD Receiver
Xbox 360
Front Speakers: Polk RT1000i
Center Speaker: Polk RT7
Surround Speakers: Polk RT800i
Subwoofer: Outlaw LFM-2





My old speaker set up (now selling):

Acoustic Research Hi-Res Series

Hey All,

My bro is interested in purchasing a new TV. He's thinking of spending $1K to $1300. Any recommendations? I still see great prices for 1080P DLP's, is this a good call or not? The room it would be going in isn't dark.


This is kind of what I am looking at.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1202649765525

I have the Philips Silver Sensor. Build quality is complete crap. It falls apart if it gets moved abruptly. But it does what it is supposed to do--receive digital TV signals. I had a powered Terk (not on any the links), and it's reception quality was terrible.

i believe terk makes antennas that are not also silver sensor clones, so they're presumably not all created equally. as a personal anecdote, my powered antenna picks up 0 channels while receiving power. i thought i was hosed, but tried unplugging it and it works like magic. maybe yours would have been better with less or no power too? just playing devil's advocate here, my antenna is a radio shack too not a terk.

hey guys-

are there any pure wireless HTIB's on the market that are good solid products? barring that, which Onkyo is considered best bang for buck these days?

Wireless HTiB's are normally not very good b/c of the seperate amp required to push the rear speakers.

cool. ended up getting the sony 7200dh as the smaller speaker size fit my needs the best. it also has HDMI audio processing which is apparently important.

DirecTV will start broadcasting HD movies in 1080p later this year:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=134302

Not quite Blu-Ray quality, but should be interesting.

EDITed to add that DISH will also start broadcasting 1080p movies.