Plasma or Lcd flat screen tv?

i'm looking for a new tv and i've been doing research on which is better and i still can't figure it out, i'm looking for a 40 to 42 inch flat screen, any recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.

Plasma works better for dark images, but LCDs are much ligher, and the good brands ($800+) are almost comparable to ancient CRT technology.

LCD uses less electricity too. And run cooler.

Avoid brands like Vizio, Westinghouse, et al. People on epinions, amazon, et al, say they keep dying after a year or two... (40,000 hour lifespan is BS)

LG is ok.

Samsung and Sony are the good names to trust.

And get the extended warranty.

32" is just fine if you're going to be less than 12 feet away from it. 42" is nice, but they use more electricity... plus, Sony and Samsung include decent filters to remove mpeg2 and other forms of video noise.

Also, all LCD TVs upconvert on their own. You do not need a DVD player that upconverts.

...it also doubles as a computer monitor, connected to the desk top with a wireless keyboard. I love it for streaming youtube and other video.

My friend got a plasma just about the same time, and it's also pretty great. I can see a difference, and I think it's more a personal preference. Both have good and bad points.

Even cheaper is DLP (digital light projection). It's supposed to not look as good as the other 2, but my friends have one and it's perfectly fine. It does have a wider back than a flat screen, so you can't keep it flush against the wall. But the quality is fine.

It looks great.

We got a hell of a deal on it at Fry's during a Grand Opening sale.

For now, we have the regular old normal boxy types.. :shrug:

:headbang:

and a former neighbor of mine had a projector ( there's a name for these things, but it escapes me now ) and the picture was excellent...I wanted one as soon as I started watching movies on them. It's like having your own theater at home.

we installed one and a stereo system too for playing movies in the basement, it's the cutest little theater. We only use it like once a week though because I can watch the news upstairs, but it's fun to relax down there with a dvd sometimes.

I was so excited about playing the cats' video down there, the one with the birds and the fish, But the cats didn't care, I think it was just too big on the wall for them to even look at what it was :(

somehow....I don't know how you do that, but they had just about every channel

It wasn't just for viewing DVDs

Ours is hooked up that way (my husband went all crazy installing it a few years ago) but we don't watch much tv.. well he watches HBO stuff down there sometimes, and I used it for those Planet Earth shows- nature shows are the best on it :headbang:

;) hehe!

It's old so I try to keep up with what is available in case it needs to be replaced quickly. I'd opt for LCD over plasma. Just my two cents.....

Go for Samsung LCD

apparently, Plasmas burn out in about 4-5 years, and the set is gone...and I have a friend who purchased one ( for a great price- $499.00 ) and his did just that.

While you have it, the picture quality is AWESOME, but I wouldn't invest money in something that can't get past five years of use....shit, I'm STILL using my 27" Zenith, and it suits me just fine.

They now are rated at something in the neighborhood of lasting between 12 and 20 years.

after reading CR and this thread i'm still no closer to picking one, it seems like there are many good choices, too many in fact, it would easier if there were like 3 to choose from and that was it.

in CR, although I haven't had the chance to talk to him since the date it was supposed to be delivered (this past Friday or Saturday). I did look at several 42" models at Best Buy this weekend, and thought that the Panasonic plasma had a standout picture, and it was pretty reasonably priced in comparison with the other plasma and LCD sets of that size. The model with the fewest bells & whistles was only around $1250 - got me thinking seriously of replacing my 15-year-old Mitsubishi 27" CRT!

from five years...which, in my opinion is inexcusable

Plasma quality is very good, as I have had the opportunity to watch many DVDs on it, and I would own one ( but I didn't know they improved on that flaw )

We had an RCA DLP projection HD 50" that went to shit on us after a year and a couple months. Luckily we bought the insurance policy (mainly because it covered bulbs which I expected we would need one of in 3 years) so they gave us 1300 for a replacement. We finally decided to put that toward a 47" Toshiba LCD. We decided against plasma because of the burn in and the "needs to be kinda dark" issue. Also, we have some windows near the tv spot and thought the plastic LCD screen would reflect less glare than the glass plasma screen. The Toshiba has 1080p HD (which we would have had to pay a lot more for in plasma) and, I shit you not, it is awesome. I'm watching ESPN HD right now (through an HDMI cable) waiting for SportsCenter and it looks like I am wathcing the Nevada game through a window and that is only broadcast in 1080i not 1080p. I am lobbying my wife to get a HD DVD player for Christmas but I want the HD vs Blue Ray battle to be over before we buy so that we aren't stuck with the beta-max of the 2000s.

in the different bedrooms in our house,my SO insists on keeping her 1980 RCA console in the living room.

I am constantly making jokes about it, as it has only the green guns left to show the image, she seems to take a perverse pride in having a 27 year old television that still plays.

Eventually I hope to wear her down, and replace it with a nice big LCD, but so far, she is resisting change.

:rofl: :dilemma:

one is in theater room..LCD...supposed to be better for movies..the guy who put them in said..but damn if i can tell the difference!!

both beautiful pix though..

fly