Yet another flat panel question. . .
 

The time has come to donate our Sony KD-XBR32 to someone who can carry 400 lbs of tube HDTV and join the flat panel revolution.

I'm looking at this Samsung 40" LED Flat Panel.

Don't want to go larger than 40" or over $2,000. Are there any obvious problems with this choice? Due diligence says not, but there is a bewildering array of devices out there. . .

Thanks!

I personally think Samsung is making some of the best panels out there besides maybe say panasonic....as you can see by the link below...most of their units come highly recommended

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_46otftxun8_b

avsforum will likely have threads about most models out there.

I got a 42-inch Panasonic plasma for the bedroom, figuring that was enough.

Wish it was 50-inch or even bigger.

I read an article saying that no one ever complained about too large a screen, but plenty of people wish they had gone on size larger.
Maybe not 100% accurate, but it is generally wize to buy up one size.

Samsung makes some great sets - I have had a 50" DLP set since 2004.

However, most of the forums (AVS, HDTVoice) have a lot of comments about back ordered parts for repair. When I bought a new set last week, I choose a Panasonic plasma because of the reported Samsung parts issues.

And, now that I have a 20 inch LCD in the bedroom, a 26 inch LCD in the kitchen, a 50" DLP in the basement/workout area, and a 50" plasma in the living room, DON'T go to small. We sit approximately 8-10 feet from the tv in the living room and 50" is just right.

Either go with the 46" Samsung or this 47" LG:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1218084410226

Spend some time with the remotes of both units to ensure that you feel good about the ergonomics of the unit you choose - people forget about this aspect of the TV and yet once you purchase the set, all your activity will be through the remote!

LED sets are cool and energy-efficient; most plasmas still generate enough heat to raise the temp of the room a couple of degrees when on.

I agree with others: We tend to size a bit small in our minds. Go one size larger than you think is right and you will be patting yourself on the back for years.

I was surprised to find a row of fans on top of some plasma sets. Reading thru some specs, they can take 700-800 watts!!! It's terrible.

+1

How is your room lit? I got a LG 47" because I have large windows on 2 walls of the room and didn't want to see my reflection in the glossy screen

I don't about going one larger. I have a 5 year old 42" plasma in my family room that doesn't seem too small and don't have any regrets about (well, maybe wishing it had hdmi ports instead of dvi ports). I also have 65" Sharp Aquos (spelling?) LCD for my home theater in the basement and while it looks fine there, I would never want something that big in the family room.

My cousin just moved into a new condo and bought a huge (I'm guessing well over 60") Panasonic Elite. It's way too large for the room, I feel like it's right on your head. Your sitting so close that the picture looks horrible, and plus just looks really tacky to have something that huge in such a small room.

Two suggestions:

About two years ago, I surprised the Mrs. with a 40+ inch for Christmas. Did my homework by going to cnet.com and they have a series of articles explaining all the tekky stuff, what to look for, etc. etc. Do a search and it will be worth the investment in time. There is a science to picking a model/size/etc. depending on where you plan to put the set, lighting, etc. etc.

When I did buy, ended up at Costco after viewing sets at Best Buy and other electronic stores. Two reasons: they had a good price, plus a 90 days no-questions-asked refund policy.

We ended up with a Panasonic 740 dp set, great buy and we loved it. Guess what the Mrs. did? On the 89th day of the purchase, while I was away, she and my son packed it up, returned it to Costco and got the same exact model but in 1080 format for $100 less - Costco did the refund/new purchase, no questions asked!

This year's Samsung entry level LED backlit TV's (including the model referenced by the OP) have edge backlighting, which allows for a slimmer profile but not for local dimming, which was the feature that gave LED TV's such impressive black levels. Personally I would rather have the more even backlighting of thicker conventional model (including Samsung's excellent mid-grade 2009 CCFL lineup) than an edge backlit superslim one.

However, this model (and most of Samsung '09 lineup) does have substantially lower power consumption than last year's, which is all the buzz in East Asia, especially Japan, nowadays.

This isn't really true - the majority of people with a HDTV will be using it through a cable or satellite STB, which is the remote that will be used. I only use my TV remote to change between inputs.

Wow, Thamks for all the good advice. We're moving up from a 34" to a 40" so I don;t think we'll feel deprived. ;)

I assume you're not changing screen aspect ratio and staying with 16:9?

Only other consideration, is if you ever plan to hook up a PC to the HDTV, is if you plan to use VGA or HDMI. Not all HDTVs will allow VGA to display the full native resolution.

Most PCs today have DVI output directly or via docking station as in the case for laptops. There are DVI-HDMI adapters or cables to make this connection.

Windows XP Media Center Edition or Vista have facility to output 720p or 1080p thru the DVI port. Windows XP (non MCE) has much more difficulties in getting the correct resolution in the monitor profile.

Silly me - you're right and I didn't even think about this until I sat down this evening to turn on my DISH.

If you are using OTA, though, play with the remotes.

you might check the prices at buy.com. buy.com is a listing broker. i bought a samsung dlp a couple years ago. it was air freighted from ca warehouse to md. arrived in 3 days.

looked to me like it was direct shipped from the samsung warehouse to my house.

only bought a 55" wish i had purchased the 65"

yes to many posts
head over to avsforum for details and reviews, do a little of the research there and you will make a better purchase

depending on how far you are from the tv, say more tha 6' away, you can CERTAINLY go up a size to I would say at least 46" You can probably do it for not too much more. You can find the tv you want, THEN find the deal. If you want tips on deal finding for TV's pm me.

If you get 40" and all that, in three months you'll want 46" so start there first.

The head of our bed is a good 20' from the flat panel Vizio mounted over the mantle of the fireplace. Even the couch between is a good 10' from the TV.

Bigger is better! .....And my wife's late night computer bridge games in her office have opened to me all sorts of hitherto "Do we have to watch that?" unviewable sports, many in HD. While from the couch I can see how much tape the linemen have used on the fingers, from the bed, a big screen and HD have elevated football to a new plane.

Samsung is great have one. I'd shop around before purchasing. Depending on where you live, BB will price match as well.

A few ideas: 1) Sears... usually ridiculously expensive - but price match at 110%. If you buy online (sears.com) and do in-store pickup you can match internet prices. You can also buy via onepass, bing, fatwallet, etc., for additional miles, cash, whatever.

2) Onepass merchandise (haven't done this, but did price out a couple of Samsung panels last year. You have to call to figure out which model is which, but once in a while they have Samsung panels at substantial savings vs. whatever else is around (and it's only 100 op miles).

3) make sure wherever you purchase you can return for any reason, or they have a reasonable dead pixel policy.

Thanks for all the advice. I did go with the Samsung, on sale last week at BB.

I'm quite please with it. Loaded a few hundred travel pics on a thumb drive, plugged it in and now I have a great electronic photo frame. :)

+1, and they extend the manufacture warranty to 2 yrs. I am in the market for one right now, and I am hopping Costco carry some Series 7 LCD in the near future.

I tried to buy my Samsung at Costco because of 2 year warranty vs. standard 1 year. But BB had the best price (buy the week of a Holiday / sale) and I was able to get extra 1 year (2 year total) by using my VISA card which doubles Manufactures Warranty ... :cool:

Another HDTV you should be considering according to your two conditions is the
Panasonic Viera TC P42G10 42 Plasma TV. This one has been well received and is a popular consumer choice. It has many quality reviews on Amazon. In addition, it can be received at well under $2,000. I suggest checking it out unless you have a problem with getting a Panasonic TV or getting a plasma.

As mentioned before, I have a problem with plasmas because they're relative energy hogs and in many cases, mini-space heaters in the room.

standard rule of the thumb on buying a flat panel as told to me by my home theatre profesional at a professional store (not BEST BUY) is:

1) measure the distance from where you are planning to watch the tv to the tv set.

2) multiply by 2 to get your screen size.

for example:

When I built my new house, I talked to the guy with my blueprints in hand. All he said was that my den is 38ft long (wall to wall), so therefore I will need a 76in TV screen. I settled for a 70in 1080p XBR Sony rear LCD projection and have loved every minute of using it !!!

By the logic of "standard rules of thumb" for screen size, most movie theatre screens would be about 10% of the size they are. Now that we have 1080p resolution, you can sit closer to screens and not see individual lines of resolution. If I want to emulate a theatre experience, I want a screen that engages most of my field of vision. That means bigger.

Two other points:

--If you den is 38 feet long, you're either filthy rich or you have a room that's longer than most houses are.

--If you apply your "standard rule of thumb" to a normal-sized room, say, 12 feet...you'd be buying a 24" set.