cmdridq Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I am going to be replacing my old junker TV and want to get a nice LCD TV in the 42" or less range. I've got a Denon A/V Receiver and may use it to setup a low level theatre system with my 3IIs and a sub, but that is another project. Where I can look for good info on the current models and buying advice, etc.? I get the idea that most folks here are into much larger systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Good info on C NET or I also like Crutchfield. com site. I have the Samsung LN46B350 Model. I like this very much. Also check out the AVS Form.............. Basically boils down to Budget, Model and availability . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBXeRo Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Heres some info that may help There is a difference between LED backlit and LED sidelit, the new slim samsungs are side LED lit not backlit like the sony HDNA models. You want to get something that is 120hz minimum for an LCD, newer models are bolstering a 240hz refresh rate, the higher, the more smoothe the picture is, its actually almost surreal, it looks almost unnatural at first. 240hz seems to only be available in 40" sets and larger. Remember, 1080p is your friend . My personal preference in tv's has been Sony, Smasung and now LG (but with only certain models). Sony and Samsung overall seem to blow the doors off competitors IMO and are two of the highest quality brands you can buy TV wise. Specsd are nice to see in the internet, best thing you can do is go out, see whats available and what you like, write the models down, do your homework, compare to other models and seek out those models. Things can look nice on paper and not in person. As said above, cnet is good for reviews as is crutchfield, just type in like Sony Bravia S1009 Reviews or whatever the actually model number is and see what pops up. People are idiots, alot of reviews are done by people who don't know what they are doing so at times, take the reviews with a grain of salt. If you see alot of similar reviews be warey of it. I'm sure you know all this already, just wanted to throw it out there . I have a 32" LG in my bedroom right now, great size, 1080p, 120hz, like 5 HDMI connectors, RCA connectors, good coloration, not LED backlit, still has CCFLs in them but thats ok. I have heard that some of the larger LG LED panels arent doin so hott, this is per reviews, but then again, they just released those. Go out and see what appeals to you! Also, HDMI cables are a rip off to a degree, i bought mine at parts-express.com, big selection, make sure its the most up to date version of HDMI, if you dont know what i am talking about, do a little research of HDMI cables. I bought a cable, 20bux with shipping for 10foot this one tobe exact http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=181-776 Its ATC certified and what not. Ilike Dayton, they seem to release alot of specs on their cables, alot of other brands dont. Up to about 33ft, there is no loss of audio/video quality. If you are running longer lengths than that, considering an HDMI with larger gauge wires and better shielding in it. There is alot of debate on what the degridation is and how bad it is. I would honestly say, most people would never notice a difference, there really isnt any reason to buy an HDMI cord that is over $50 ever, especially if its for like 20 feet or 30 feet. Just my opinion on it . I hope i helped. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmdridq Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 So LED sidelit is better tan LED backlit? Can you see any real difference? I'm only going to be about 12 ft from the set, so I don't need a huge screen or long cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBXeRo Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 The led side lit is ok, it doesnt allow for local dimming to produce deeper blacks when the image changes. I believe the Sony HDNA is the one that has local dimming since its backlit. The advantage to Samsungs side lit LEDs is that you can have an ultra thin panel as they have so done and introduced to the market. Personally, it hink the sidelit is a waste of money unless u need and ultra thin panel. LED Backlit, way better since you can get your local dimming, backlit is also more expensive since there are more LEDs included. At that point, if price is a concern, i would go with a flat panel that has CCFL's and completely skip sidelit LED lcd's, but then again, this is my opinion. Go to the sotre and see the difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Sub, Don't know if you caught it.........but the LED is the Newest on the Market. You can still get LCD TV's at a much Lower Price. As stated get the 120 or 240 HZ . Price wise I have found that Sony's are generally more expensive than any other brand except Pioneer........... JMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 In the Chicago area you should at least look at Best Buy and Microcenter. Wm McD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBXeRo Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 o yes, well aware, i was just saying that of the technologies including LEDs, backlit va sidelit, backlit is better. There was a great article on it in on of my recent issues of sound and vision. Now is a better time to buy actually since alot of new products will be out for the holidays, the old stock needs to move. I have always been a huge fan of LEDs, i have been playing with them for about 8 years now, put them in my car and what not. Anything LED oritentated immediately catches my attention! I am just hoping the OLED thing catches on and more mfg's produce and refine the technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triaxtremec Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 The LED LCD's are only worth a crap if they have local dimming, if not don't waste the money on them. As mentioned before Sony and Samsung are your two top competitors in the LCD market. I sell TV's and Home Audio for a living and would recommend the Samsung B630 and above models with the exception of the B6000 and B7000, Sony's W5100, Z5100, and XBR9. These models will be more expension than others yes, but offer the best picture quality to really give you the HD experience.The best LCD on the market is Samsungs LED with local dimming is 55B8500, this is the closest an LCD has come to betting a plasma when it comes to black levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmdridq Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Are these things pretty solid? What would a 40" set weigh? I'm wondering whether I need to make it 'cat proof?' . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBXeRo Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 the tv's usually weigh, in the 40" and up range at about 40lbs and up. Cat proofing, well, i would mount it to the wall if thats a huge concern, some of the mounts these tv's come with arent always the best, certainly not cat proof in my eyes. Aside from drilling holes in the tv stand and screwing it down to your cabinet or mounting it on the wall, i dont know how you could really cat proof it. i have 3 kitties but my lcd is wall mounted and my crt sony weighs like 300 pounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmdridq Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 If it's around 40#, I would not trust it to a center stand. That could be knocked around pretty easily. Wall mount or screw down would be needed. With cats, if there's a way to screw something up, they will definitely find it before you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 We were at Sams Club the other night. I looked the wall of TVs over and there was one LED among at least a doz. LCDs. My wife walked up and I asked her to pick out the best picture of all those sets. She looked them over carefully and picked the LED. It was a Sharp or similar brand with Sonys and Samsungs in the mix. I don't know if the LED was backlit or sidelit but it was a noticably brighter/warmer picture than than any of the LCDs regardless of brand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I would say LED produces a more correct color resolution since it does not have to deal with the lower kelvin (yellow) glow of a ccfl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBXeRo Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Personally, i wouldnt buy an LED pnael right now, the technology is too new and the prices will start to crash in about a year or so when other competitors start releasing their LED panels. If you are looking to buy now, get one with a CCFL backlit panel, you will get your best bang for your buck in that department. TBH, its a huge improvement over "the junker". I have been very satisfied with mine, my HD is absolutely amazing, SD signal isnt bad either, it just all depends on what you really want to do. I will say this though, if you do get ANY lcd panel, make sure to get a 240hz refresh rate, these are usually in 40" and up but they are able to keep up with the faster motions found in movies. This is really the only thing worth putting your money into, to couple that with LED would be a really expensive set. I was looking at the sony sets with 240hz motionflow technology and io was looking at 46" and they are about 1500 retail on the sony site. Wait for black friday, hit the town, get some great deals, but go out preapred, find the models you like, whittle them down, and hit the road jack and dont ya come back no more no more no more no more no more....without an LCD that is. Just remember, everything we say here can be taken and translated to sound way better or way worse than things really are. The best thing you can do is go out armed with this collaboration we are doing here as well as your other research and be able to evaluate the panels themselves on your own. Just do your homework. If you go to bestbuy, make sure to get the 4 year geeksquad protection plan too! Keep us aprised of your situation, i'll keep following this thread, keep asking questions if you got em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I have the samsung ln4081 which was the first model led that came from samsung. Its a 40 inch led lcd with lights that turn off to the dark part of the screen. I got a great at the time discount because the new model came out and they had a clearance which was the same price as the other 40 inch samsung lcds. The model is only 60 hertz but I have experience no ghosting or motion problems at all and I use this tv as my computer screen as well (fast action games etc) anything beyond 120 hertz is unnoticable imho. Also I say get led because the color rendition is spot on. The lcd screen that I used to use now is dull and yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I got a Samsumg 46" LCD (LN46B650) with 120 Hz update. I am sorry but I consider that feature worthless. No one that has come to my house can the difference when I turn the feature on or off and it cost about $125 more to get the 120Hz update feature. Of course we use NASCAR races and other fast moving sports but still you can't tell at all. Overall the TV is excellent and a few who have been over have purchased Samsungs as well. The HD is fantastic. The only complaint is the audio. It comes out the back and we have the TV in a corner. It does not sound as good on the floor in the livingroom as it does whne you go upstairs and look over the balcony. We constantly play with the volume control as well because of this. We had a limited space to fill and I never considered the speakers in the back. Watch out for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmdridq Posted October 28, 2009 Author Share Posted October 28, 2009 The model is only 60 hertz but I have experience no ghosting or motion problems at all and I use this tv as my computer screen as well (fast action games etc) anything beyond 120 hertz is unnoticable imho. Also I say get led because the color rendition is spot on. The lcd screen that I used to use now is dull and yellow. Do you use this TV as your main computer monitor, or just for games? I'm thinking about getting a new computer system also and was wondering whether it is a good idea to try to combine to the two monitors/systems? Are there any drawbacks to doing this? Can you have the TV picture running in a window so you can flip back and forth, etc., or how is it setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Do you use this TV as your main computer monitor, or just for games? I'm thinking about getting a new computer system also and was wondering whether it is a good idea to try to combine to the two monitors/systems? Are there any drawbacks to doing this? Can you have the TV picture running in a window so you can flip back and forth, etc., or how is it setup? surprisingly well. Originally I was going to keep the lcd computer monitor as the computer monitor and the led tv as a tv. The led tv is now my permanent computer screen/tv. I watch honestly little tv and usually watch movies and tv shows from my computer anyways. I have the screen about 3 feet away from me and its pretty sharp and not blurry at all. I use it like an oversized monitor, infact I am spoiled when i use other computers. Oh its 1080p.I can have the tv do computer and pip with the tv running if I want but I rarely use it as I just don't watch too much tv. You can do it but I just do not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I got a Samsumg 46" LCD (LN46B650) with 120 Hz update. I am sorry but I consider that feature worthless. No one that has come to my house can the difference when I turn the feature on or off and it cost about $125 more to get the 120Hz update feature. I would bet if you have a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player that will feed your TV a 24fps signal you'll be able to see the difference. That is, as long as your TV can correctly perform a 5:5 pulldown of a 24fps signal. 120Hz doesn't really help with regular TV broadcasts. My best friend has a Sony Bravia XBR4 and if you're watching a Blu-Ray disc you won't believe how smooth camera pans are, it looks unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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