$550 budget recommendation

[rivan]

I've got about $550 to spend at Amazon and want to get a new HDTV.

It'll be my primary TV. I'm looking at 42-46", will be used primarily for TV and xbox gaming. Some HTPC stuff and netflix streaming (I don't need the TV networked).

If there's something WAY better that's a little (10&#37 outside the budget, I can probably work it out, but I'd prefer to stay in.

Things I don't really know about:

• How big a deal is 120 hz?
• How big a deal is LED backlight?
• Should I just have some patience and wait until BF or Xmas and get a way better deal (I'm locked into Amazon)?

Edit:
• Also - are any major brands to be totally avoided? Seems like LG has a couple sets in the budget...

 

[Gintaras]

-60 or 120 Hz? no one will see difference unless someone has Bird vision....
-LED Backlit but NOT LED Edgelit
-Why Amazon? a gift card? Maybe to sell that giftcard and look for some TV @ Newegg, like this one:

LG 42" 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV 42LK530 - $550 - Free shipping/no tax...

 

[mshan]

Wait till all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are up, if you can.

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

 

[s44]

120hz = better (no-judder) Blu-ray playback of film; frame interpolation may make Xbox motion smoother if you enable it; otherwise, no big
LED = lower power draw, no image quality effect at all at this screen size
patience = eh, there's always a reason to wait a few more months... depends if you really need 50" or not
brands = LG is actually good

 

[Pardus]

I've got about $550 to spend at Amazon and want to get a new HDTV.

It'll be my primary TV. I'm looking at 42-46", will be used primarily for TV and xbox gaming. Some HTPC stuff and netflix streaming (I don't need the TV networked).

If there's something WAY better that's a little (10%) outside the budget, I can probably work it out, but I'd prefer to stay in.

Things I don't really know about:

• How big a deal is 120 hz?
• How big a deal is LED backlight?
• Should I just have some patience and wait until BF or Xmas and get a way better deal (I'm locked into Amazon)?

Edit:
• Also - are any major brands to be totally avoided? Seems like LG has a couple sets in the budget...

Amazon has the LG Infinia 42LV5500 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED-LCD HDTV with Smart TV for $699. And the non-smart version for $595.

Avoid 240hz and 480hz LED tv's, marketing gimmicks mostly. I know everyone is waiting for Black Friday deals, if you check Black Friday 2010, they were low end or no-name brands offered.

The absolute best time to buy a tv is February during Super Bowl. i got my TV though Dell, added $100 off coupon and 3% off DPA, price was incredible.

TV's to Avoid:
Advent
AOC
Coby
Digital Lifestyles
Dynex
Element
Honeywell
Insignia
Konka
Magnavox
Memorex
Olevia
Polariod
Philips
Pyle
ProScan
RCA
Sansui
Sanyo
Sceptre
Viore
Westinghouse

 

[smitbret]

Amazon has the LG Infinia 42LV5500 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED-LCD HDTV with Smart TV for $699. And the non-smart version for $595.

Avoid 240hz and 480hz LED tv's, marketing gimmicks mostly. I know everyone is waiting for Black Friday deals, if you check Black Friday 2010, they were low end or no-name brands offered.

The absolute best time to buy a tv is February during Super Bowl. i got my TV though Dell, added $100 off coupon and 3% off DPA, price was incredible.

TV's to Avoid:
Advent
AOC
Coby
Digital Lifestyles
Dynex
Element
Honeywell
Insignia
Konka
Magnavox
Memorex
Olevia
Polariod
Philips
Pyle
ProScan
RCA
Sansui
Sanyo
Sceptre
Viore
Westinghouse

To there credit, Insignia can be a very good buy.... it's just a crapshoot and you'd better research each particular model. Don't depend on the BB staff to give you any good or even true answers.

 

[smitbret]

Oh, and I'm gonna be that guy that says it....

Why not a 42" or even 50" plasma?

Try this one for just about that $550 + 10%

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Don't have to worry about PQ, 120Hz or LED lighting. Get the best picture on a big TV. The lack of 1080p will make about 0.3% difference for the uses you have listed.

If you really think you need 1080p, go with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIE...4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319036350&sr=1-4

 

[wirednuts]

has phillips gotten worse or something? i bought a 42" from walmart about 3 years ago and its still one of the best looking tv's that anyone i know has. phillips is still pushing out firmware updates for it too, which i have done 3 times now (never made any noticeable difference tho). just a great tv overall... the picture on it is awesome.

my two cents though- LED backlit is more important then 120hz.. the LED backlit tvs draw less power, and that can add up to tankfuls of gas per year.

and 1080p is a must. who knows if this tv will be your computer monitor someday!

 

[JackBurton]

has phillips gotten worse or something? i bought a 42" from walmart about 3 years ago and its still one of the best looking tv's that anyone i know has. phillips is still pushing out firmware updates for it too, which i have done 3 times now (never made any noticeable difference tho). just a great tv overall... the picture on it is awesome.

my two cents though- LED backlit is more important then 120hz.. the LED backlit tvs draw less power, and that can add up to tankfuls of gas per year.

and 1080p is a must. who knows if this tv will be your computer monitor someday!

How many people do you know?

 

[rivan]

-Why Amazon? a gift card?

A combination of Amex points (almost all of it) and an Amazon GC. The points are easy to spend on Amazon, and they price match Newegg (and others) if you can find the same model.

Amazon has the LG Infinia 42LV5500 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED-LCD HDTV with Smart TV for $699. And the non-smart version for $595.

I was looking at those, among others. The non-smart one you linked doesn't have LED backlight, but the one that does (42LV3500) isn't much more, so I looked into getting a PM on that one.

Oh, and I'm gonna be that guy that says it....

Why not a 42" or even 50" plasma?

The size is driven by my entertainment center, and I do want 1080p on the off chance I ever and as for plasma vs lcd? When I was sorting by price, plasma was just plain more expensive. The panny there was in the running.

Thanks for your help, everyone - I ordered this and got it price matched to Newegg's $587.

 

[Fallen Kell]

-60 or 120 Hz? no one will see difference unless someone has Bird vision....

Someone here doesn't know why 120Hz exists. It isn't a marketing thing or even a human eye refresh rate thing. It is a video format thing. There are 3 distinct video frame rate formats in the USA, 24 frames/sec (film movies), 30 frames/sec (NTSC TV video), and 60 frames/sec (HD video). While a 60Hz TV is ok for both the 30 frames/sec and 60 frames/sec NTSC and HD video formats, it can not properly display 24 frames/sec film format at it's proper and intended pacing. Tricks are used to try and keep the pacing correct, by showing certain frames twice as long and other frames just once (3:2 pulldown), this causes stuttering of the film which can be seen on smooth transformation scenes where something is moving across the screen at a set speed/pace, it will micro-hop along.

Using 120Hz processing and display means that all 3 video formats are fully supported without needing to do anything strange to the output video. A 30 frames/sec format will simply get each frame displayed on the screen 4 times before it changes to the next frame, thus turning 30 frames/sec into 120 frames/sec. A 60 frames/sec video will have each frame displayed 2 times, thus doubling it to 120 frames/sec, and a 24 frames/sec file will have each frame displayed 5 times, thus giving a 120 frames/sec image. All of these conversions keep the correct pacing and speed of the video formats. That is why you want a 120Hz display.

 

[lurkmoar]

Someone here doesn't know why 120Hz exists. It isn't a marketing thing or even a human eye refresh rate thing. It is a video format thing. There are 3 distinct video frame rate formats in the USA, 24 frames/sec (film movies), 30 frames/sec (NTSC TV video), and 60 frames/sec (HD video). While a 60Hz TV is ok for both the 30 frames/sec and 60 frames/sec NTSC and HD video formats, it can not properly display 24 frames/sec film format at it's proper and intended pacing. Tricks are used to try and keep the pacing correct, by showing certain frames twice as long and other frames just once (3:2 pulldown), this causes stuttering of the film which can be seen on smooth transformation scenes where something is moving across the screen at a set speed/pace, it will micro-hop along.

Using 120Hz processing and display means that all 3 video formats are fully supported without needing to do anything strange to the output video. A 30 frames/sec format will simply get each frame displayed on the screen 4 times before it changes to the next frame, thus turning 30 frames/sec into 120 frames/sec. A 60 frames/sec video will have each frame displayed 2 times, thus doubling it to 120 frames/sec, and a 24 frames/sec file will have each frame displayed 5 times, thus giving a 120 frames/sec image. All of these conversions keep the correct pacing and speed of the video formats. That is why you want a 120Hz display.

So your reason for wanting 120Hz is for 1/3 of its potential applications? Lets get this into a real world example, what you're saying is this:

30f/s=tv
60f/s=bluray (hd tv?)
24f/s=VHS? DVDs?

so basically, i need 120hz. but oh yeah, all it does is optimize my dvd experience. Not to sound rude, but your point/argument didn't really explain why I "want" 120hz. BTW I have no experience/hardly any knowledge on the subject

 

[s44]

So your reason for wanting 120Hz is for 1/3 of its potential applications? Lets get this into a real world example, what you're saying is this:

30f/s=tv
60f/s=bluray (hd tv?)
24f/s=VHS? DVDs?

Wrong.

TV = 30 or 60
24 = every Blu-Ray, some properly streamed movies

 

[velillen]

The absolute best time to buy a tv is February during Super Bowl. i got my TV though Dell, added $100 off coupon and 3% off DPA, price was incredible.

TV's to Avoid:
Advent
AOC
Coby
Digital Lifestyles
Dynex
Element
Honeywell
Insignia
Konka
Magnavox
Memorex
Olevia
Polariod
Philips
Pyle
ProScan
RCA
Sansui
Sanyo
Sceptre
Viore
Westinghouse

I wouldnt avoid those tv's just because they are on the list. They arent anything special thats for sure. But for what they are they work decently. my mom picked up a 32" magnavox lcd for like 120 almost a year ago. Put it in the work room/office where it doesnt get used very often at all. Works just fine in there for the once or twice a month it gets used. Now for everyday viewing i wouldnt go for any of those.


As for black friday...one thing i have noticed is that during black friday its often the crappy/cheap sets that go on sale. But during Sept/Oct the other tv's seem to often go on sale. I got my panny c2 last year late Sept for almost 200 bucks off which was a pretty dang good deal. This year i got my 60" ST30 for 400 off normal price on sale. Right now you can get the 55" St30 for 1100 (normally 1350 on amazon) with 2 free 3d glasses (~100 value) from sears. But yeah superbowl and the two months before black friday seem to be the better deals.


And keep an eye out on deals. You just missed a 42" ST30 for 500 (normally more in the 700-800 range). if you can wait watch on slickdeals or similar sites for tvs to go on sale. Fry's for example seems ot be offloading LG's at the moment

 

[lurkmoar]

Wrong.

TV = 30 or 60
24 = every Blu-Ray, some properly streamed movies

okay, I just was pulling numbers from his post.

So tv=30/60

ALL blurays =24

what about dvds...., 30/60 as well?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video#Frame_size_and_frame_rate

 

[s44]

Almost all DVDs are at 30/60 because there wasn't a 24p playback standard at the time. But the original film source is still 24, and some Blu-Ray players -- including I believe all Panasonics -- will output DVDs at 24p as well.

 

[ultimatebob]

Wait till all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are up, if you can.

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Actually, I'd wait until after Black Friday to go TV shopping. I found several 50" TV deals a week or two before Christmas last year that were $50 cheaper than the Black Friday prices, plus the people who got those didn't need to wake up at 4 AM and wait in line for two hours to get one.