quiltbuddy

My son sells TVs at Best Buy. I'll to to get him to answer your questions whenever he is available. He is into TVs like we are into quilting.

jitkaau

LCD screens are less fragile than the Plasma and are lighter in weight and use less energy.

ssgramma

We have a 7 y.o. plasma that is still doing fine but my main plasma objections are that they are HOT an heavy. An LCD is much lighter and does not put out the heat of a plasma. That heat is probably why they use more energy!

When it is time the plasma will be replaced with an LCD or LED.

alleyoop1

Do a lot of research online, then go to a store that sells all brands and types and ask questions. That way, as an informed buyer, you will make the right decision.

sandpat

I think you will get many personal opinions as you've already seen. Its just a personal preference as to whether you go plasma/LCD- depends on price, quality of picture you want, etc.

The issues discussed above on the plasma are no longer true. We bought a plasma last year after thouroughly researching all of them. You can see it from the side and it IS very clear. Ours will last 1100 hours...at that rate..my DH can watch it for 11 years. Believe me, something else will break before that goes out.

The 720p, 1080p, etc. does refer to the pixels. The more, the more clear the pic. Most broadcasts are NOT in 1080 though~ only the movies that you get on DVDs are. If you don't subscribe to HD from you cable co/satellite co., then you will not even get 720p, it doesn't matter what your tv can do.

The mHz rating has to do with how fast the tv will "refresh" its picture. This has to do with the blurriness when watching action on the screen...like if you watch car races....how much blur you will see on the cars racing by. My old eyes can't tell much difference though...I'm just not that sophisticated a tv watcher :lol:

If you can't afford to gamble with the cost of replacing the tv if something should happen to it, then by all means, buy the protection plan. We never buy it...didn't on our new tv. Over the years, we've saved way more than enough to repair or replace a stroke of bad luck. But...thats just us. You have to do whats right for you.

alleyoop is right...do your homework, then go to the store, ask questions and then decide what is best for YOU>

stitchofclass2

My advice is to go with an LED rather than an LCD. We have a Samsung LCD (3 years). We just had to have it repaired. All of our TV's are Samsung. The LED is just amazing. Good luck!

sewcrafty

An Aquos is a type of LED made by Sharp. That's what I have, very nice tv.

amazon

We have 4 Vizios from Walmart, bought at different times, one is 4 yrs old , knock on wood we have never had any issues with them. We bought one last week , the frame around the edge is smaller and it is considerably lighter(by about 15 lbs) (To decide your viewing size)there is a formula for the distance of the screen in relation to where it is going to be viewed the most.We wanted a 42 inch but the recommended size was a 32 inch to a 37 inch. Ask a sales person, We were steered away from plasma too.

maryb119

I used to work for Radio Shack and we sold TV's (we were independently owned). I would avoid a plasma TV. They don't last as long as LCD or LED TV's. The difference between LCD and LED is the lighting in the screen. With LCD, if a light bulb goes out, it will affect the picture on your TV. With LED (the type I bought and love it), the screen has thousands of tiny lightbulbs and if 1 goes out, you will never know. It does not affect the picture at all. LED may be more expensive but it will use less elecricity and runs cooler, too. It is amazing how much heat those TV's can put out. The store where I used to work sold many more LED than LCD TV's because of the energy factor. Also, the higher the number of pixels, the better the picture. 1080P has a brighter, clearer picturte than a 720P TV does. I hope this helps.

quiltbuddy

My son said that if you have a medium to dark room go with plasma. Medium to bright LED, LCD for bright during day and dark at night. Name brands are better than off brands. Buy protection plan if not over 20% cost of TV. Ask what the process is with the protection plan if something goes wrong. Even though you don't want a 3d, the best 2d pictures are on 3d tvs. Ask about having it calibrated as an option. Do not buy expensive HDMI cables, medium to cheap are fine, go with middle of the road for cables, not expensive or cheap. Get a surge protecter that will do clean power at 50 to 100 which will give you a clean picture on tv. He spoke, I dictated, not too good at this.