Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Halo on December 31, 2006, 04:59:11 PM
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A friend's wife called and wants me to select a good big-screen high definition TV for her to buy her 80-year-old husband. She mentioned plasma but is open to suggestions.
I have a 42-inch Sony LCD projection HDTV which her husband likes and which has served my wife and I perfectly for two years. I'm tempted to recommend a similar set for him, but want to make sure I'm not missing anything new.
I read the Consumer Reports December issue which includes an excellent HD for the Holidays special section. CR picks LCD rear projection TVs as Most Bang for the Buck, always my main criterion.
His viewing distance probably will be six to eight feet, same as for my 42-inch Sony. So I doubt if he would want a larger size, but might if distance is more like eight to 12 feet.
My inclination is to recommend a Toshiba, Samsung, or Sony 42-inch or slightly larger rear-projection LCD as preferred by Consumer Reports. What do you think about those possibilities? Any other suggestions?
Will also need to recommend a good 5:1 surround system speaker system. My present sound system is fine but a hodgepodge over the years. Do any of you have a favorite 5:1 surround sound system to recommend that would mesh nicely with the type of HDTV discussed above? Plus a DVD player.
I'm leaning toward buying from Best Buy and having them set up the whole system. My friend's wife is VERY picky and I don't want to get in the middle of any setup dilemmas; it's challenging enough being asked to recommend a system.
What do you think? Remember, it's for an 80-year-old guy who is the nicest guy in the whole world with a really picky but well-intentioned wife.
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is his wife 24 years old and a bikini model?
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If I were to purchase a new HDTV, I'd be most interested in a DLP projection TV, there are some that are almost as thin as plasma/LCDs, and the picture quality is fantastic. Prices are good, and they take up less space than the projection monster I have now.
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I'll concur with chairboy. DLP will definately give you the most bang for buck. I personally think they have a better picture than either plasma or LCD. They have a much better black level and a very film-like quality. I have a 50' RCA and love it.
As far as a sound system goes, how tech savvy are these eighty year old people? Your best bet might be for a HTIB or one of thos Bose (yuck) systems. Otherwise go for an Onkyo reciever with HDMI switching and Paradigm speakers. For a DVD player you want to get an upconverting player. You will see the difference with an HDMI cable. I would stay away from blu ray or HD DVD until they figure out which one (if either) will be the standard.
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The main problem I have with profections is unless your looking at it dead on straight ahead the picture looks screwed up.
You cant look a the things at an angle and get a great picture.
Least I havent seen any that you can
so unless you have your living/family room set up like a movie theater
And most people including myself dont
I dont see. for me personally a rear projection as an option
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How big is his living room? You would not want to buy a very large TV for your small living room.
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
The main problem I have with profections is unless your looking at it dead on straight ahead the picture looks screwed up.
You cant look a the things at an angle and get a great picture.
Least I havent seen any that you can
so unless you have your living/family room set up like a movie theater
And most people including myself dont
I dont see. for me personally a rear projection as an option
While that was a problem with older units, they seem to have corrected most of it with the newer models. I can sit at nearly a fifty degree angle to my set and still see the picture fine. And talk about bright... wow.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c80/skilless/0084604205130_215X215.jpg)
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Halo, Santa brought my wife a new Samsung DLP.
It is simply amazing and I cannot imagine it wouldn't satisfy the pickiest wife.
Contrast is 10,000 to 1 which makes for eye-popping color. It has the lastes DLP chip from TI, 1080 progressive resolution, a new color wheel setup, etc., etc., etc..
They are even about $200 less than when I bought mine two weeks ago due to the post-season sales. They are, IMO, the very best bang for the buck right now.
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Originally posted by Toad
Halo, Santa brought my wife a new Samsung DLP.
It is simply amazing and I cannot imagine it wouldn't satisfy the pickiest wife.
Contrast is 10,000 to 1 which makes for eye-popping color. It has the lastes DLP chip from TI, 1080 progressive resolution, a new color wheel setup, etc., etc., etc..
They are even about $200 less than when I bought mine two weeks ago due to the post-season sales. They are, IMO, the very best bang for the buck right now.
Yup, mine is now $600 less than I paid for it less than a year ago...
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Hey. anyone know exactly when the HD standard for all broadcasts is supposed to go into effect?
In short or perhaps I should say more specific.
When exactly are all our regular TVs going ot be completely obsolete tot he point where they cant be used?
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Hey. anyone know exactly when the HD standard for all broadcasts is supposed to go into effect?
In short or perhaps I should say more specific.
When exactly are all our regular TVs going ot be completely obsolete tot he point where they cant be used?
It might be this year or 2008.
If you have an analog TV, you will have to...
1. Buy a new TV of your dreams
2. Keep that old TV and buy a receiver that will convert digital signals to analog signals.
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Is he asking for 5.1? The reason I ask is thinking about my own father who is nearly 80. His hearing is not what it used to be, and finds my surround sound system frustrating...specifically, he finds that if the sub is on at all that the sound is muddy for him. Turning the trebble all the up helps but then does not sound as good as the tv's speakers alone.
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Hey. anyone know exactly when the HD standard for all broadcasts is supposed to go into effect?
In short or perhaps I should say more specific.
When exactly are all our regular TVs going ot be completely obsolete tot he point where they cant be used?
Here in the U.S., Congress has passed a law marking Feb. 17, 2009 as the cutoff date for analog broadcast television. As long as you have a cable or satelite box analog TV's will still work.
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Yeah, the cut-off date only affects people who still use rabbit ear antennas and over-the-air broadcast.
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Get a 50 inch Panasonic Plasma. Best bang for the buck. I own 2 of them. Great tv's.
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I'm not wild about Plasma because they burn out pretty quickly compared to other technologies out there. Also, they burn-in images easily (we have a bunch at the office with burned in images) and their brightness goes down as time passes and they need to be recharged (if that's even available).
DLP doesn't burn in, and the only main part that can degrade is the lightbulb. When it goes dead, the replacement is relatively cheap.
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The Panasonic screen life is more than I will ever need.
They only burn in if you leave the same thing displayed on them for weeks. You can leave a televison station on and it will never burn it as the picture constantly changes.
Nothing is brighter than plasma. Plasma can be viewed from any angle. Plasma has the fastest response so you don't get that blurred action that DLP gives you. LCD has nowhere near the contrast or sharpness of Plasma.
The latest generation of Plasma is simply amazing and the price is fantastic. My TV's would have cost over 14k two years agon. Now they are around 3k.
I replace my things like computers every 4 years or so. I will probably not replace the TVs for at least double that. None of the issues you mention will be a factor for my sets. Only downside to Plasma is that they use more energy and produce more heat than LCD or DLP.
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Go with the Samsung DLP 1080P. I bought my 56" for $1800 and love it.
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Thank you all for your insight and counsel. She wound up at Circuit City buying a 58-inch Panasonic plasma with no extra speakers and the basic Direct-TV hookup. With all that expense, it was still tough persuading her to include the quality cables she needed for optimum picture.
It's a well-deserved reward for her hard-working STILL-working husband on his 80th birthday in February.
As an aside, and reacting to various electronics buying articles, obtaining a TV is almost like buying a car with all the various spiffs touted. I reluctantly go along with high quality cables but don't bite on pinstripes or undercoating.
My personal favorite on the quick quest was a much less pricey 58-inch Samsung 1080 DLP rear projection at Best Buy. But I think she made a fine choice for her husband's needs, which included wall mounting. Good news is, like motor vehicles, there are many fine systems out there.
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Quality cables? Errm, details please.
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Just use the HDMI cables. They only cost about 30 dollars now at Costco but well worth it. If you have a home theater hook up for the sound use the optical cable for it.
Great choice of TV. You cannot lose if you chose plasma get Panasonic.
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Originally posted by Chairboy
I'm not wild about Plasma because they burn out pretty quickly compared to other technologies out there. Also, they burn-in images easily (we have a bunch at the office with burned in images) and their brightness goes down as time passes and they need to be recharged (if that's even available).
DLP doesn't burn in, and the only main part that can degrade is the lightbulb. When it goes dead, the replacement is relatively cheap.
Plasmas built today are fine.
Consumers Reports is the last thing you want to read concerning Home Theater. Pick up a Copy of Home Theater Buyer's Guide, or Sound & Vision's Buyer's Guide.
I don't like Sony's because they have too Red of a picture on flesh tones. They have had this issue for almost 7 years now, and there is no sign of it letting up.
JVC's H-ILA images have a better contrast ratio and picture than DLP or LCD (which both have a screen door effect). Go JVC, Pioneer, Mitsubishi, Panny, and Samsung (in that order).
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Originally posted by Chairboy
Yeah, the cut-off date only affects people who still use rabbit ear antennas and over-the-air broadcast.
Including handheld LCD TVs. I still see these for sale and think why would someone buy this if it will be useless in two years?
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http://www.monoprice.com
6' HDMI cable @ $10 shipped to your door.
They have all kinds of cables.