I'm content with my 3 Toshiba LCDs. Not as good as the Sony or Samsung, but a step above the Vizio's, Sharp's, Philips, etc... And priced just right. You should be able to find a XV545U series for cheaper than Sony/Samsung since Toshiba just announced their '09 model lineup. The XV545U series is 120hz with 5:5 pulldown and has an excellent scaler so SD content looks as good as pobbile.

 

I have a 37 inch LG 37LG30. Looks great on both HD and SD programming, easy to use menus. I was skeptical of LG at first because my uncle had issues with his LG Plasma a few years back, but I was impressed by the in-home service they performed and the quality of the picture. No other LCD in the price range looked as good to me. Right now it's the living room TV in my apartment, but will probably wind up in the bedroom when I get a house.

I picked it up from a local family store for $799 when it was on sale at Circuit City. They HATED me for making them match that price.

 

Panasonic says that their Plasmas are rated for 100,000 hours. Bought it at Circuit City for 1350 about a month ago...hope I don't need to bring it back!! Something about watching sports on a 50" screen with no blur........yeah baby!



Goose

 

We just bought a Sony 52" HDTV 120 hz. It is awesome. My vote is for Sony!

IMO LCD is better than plasma. The screen on the LCD has no glare, where the plasma has a lot of glare.

As for Circuit City, their prices have been jacked up for the liquidation. It just bought a HP laptop yesterday at Office Max, for $549.00 on sale, the exact same one at CC was $749.00 on sale. Don't be fooled with their "sale" prices.

 

I have a 42" Dell Plasma that is about six years old. I have had no problems with it yet. (Hope saying that does not jinx that!) Gret TV, however Dell quit selling them cause they just couldn't compete on price.

I stopped by Circuit City yesterday and they raised there prices and only giving 10% off so far.

 

Not to get into a pizzing contest about LCD vs Plasma (Geeks at the HD forums do enough of that) but no glare at all on my plasmer To be fair older plasmas had a problem with this and unless you are in a greenhouse you should be fine(if going plasma route)




Goose

 

I kinda like my 32" Vizio, bigger doesn't fit at my place.

 

for anyone trying to shop at CC, don't do it. Our store liquidated and was gone before x-mas. You could say ours was a "test" store for closing down (one of the first 150 to go).

When the liquidators take over they jack the prices up and then make it look like you are getting money off. By the time the percentage is decent and you are saving money all of the chumps have already went in and got anything worthwhile. Didn't help that our CC was one of the smallest I had ever seen, service was horrible, and it was literally right next door to best buy. Their parking lots were connected...

my theory for this, is for everyone in the world, and would only work if everybody does it. If a store i closing (it's already planned out and going down), or if it's an after x-mas sale, don't go run over and buy something, wait it out. Then the prices will come down more, then save some real money. Obviously this will NEVER work. But still..

 

We have a Samsung DLP that has a great picture quality, and Samsung is known for best performance for the price, Big HOWEVER, when the sound went out intermittently and we looked into warranty service, no one within 200 miles would service them anymore due to alledged payment problems from Samsung and other issues. The sound came back on its own, but as soon as it breaks for good we are going with the best Sony available. So if you decide on Samsung check service availability carefully first (and actually call the service technician and ask about Samsung service).

 

I dont know a heck of alot about TV's especially the HD variety... What i do know is that when we went to buy ours we were on a budget and we wanted the best bang for the buck... We shopped around and found that best buy has a brand called insignia, (the wal mart brand of best buy) They also had White Westinghouse... I wanted a 46 or larger so we ended up going with a 46 inch 1080P LCD Insignia... I love the TV! My best friend who had less of a "budget" than we did, picked up the comparable VIZIO or off brand Sony... Aside from the tv speakers on his being a little better (and removable), the menu screens are exactly the same, as are the remotes... Mine just says Insignia and his says VIZIO... They must have the same insides because outside of the name on the TV they are identical in picture and quality. Here is the kicker... He paid 1300 and i paid 899.. Oh and mine has 2 HDMI ports and his only has 1... I think i made the right choice for my budget... I would have gone with the Westinghouse but a friend of mine works for geeksquad and said that the westinghouses had a recall for catching on fire... that made it easier to make my decision...

My advice is the check out all the features of the "cheapo's" before you spend big bucks on the "name brand" because the cheapo might be name brand wrapped in cheapo clothing..