Plasma / LCD Ehich Make is best? ADVICE PLEASE

ed2712

I'm wanting to buy a good quality plasma or LCD TV, 40" ish give or take to watch films, football and play WII games. Could someone PLEASE give me some advice as to which is the best LCD or PLASMA as I've heard some can burn images onto the screen but this isn't as common now and that some manufacturers have stopped producing Plasmas and just make LCD. Also which makes are the best to buy. Im finding this a bit of a mine field so advice would be great.

Thanks for reading.

motorguy

I;m a fan of samsung, we've several varying in size from 19 inch to 40 inch LCD. Highly recommended

Blacksheep1979

Sony X series if you want LCD or pioneer if you want plasma

Inactive

A waste of time question to be honest, you will get different opinions, about different makes/models.

Go to a good quality TV Shop, check with your own eyes and ears.;)

edna_clouds

I agree with Inactive.. You'll have a lot of mine's better than yours and not much else. It's all down to personnel preference. I've got a Sammy 40" LCD and very happy with it but I wouldn't say it's the best. There are probably a lot better TV's out there, LCD and plasma's but it's what your happy with.
I would also recommend going to a few shops to look at these TV's as some shops just take them out of their boxes and plug them in with no set up.. So a xxxx 40" TV may look awful in one shop but brilliant in another..

It's a bit like asking "which security software should I use on my computer" that's asked weekly here. :rolleyes:

It's all down to what your happy with.. Also read reviews on the TV before you buy it.. Avforms and HDTV are both good for this..:)

penrhyn

OP dose not say whether they will be using an HD source (SKY/Virgin or Blue Ray) with their proposed purchase.
Standard definition / freeview often does not look very good on LCD/Plasma.
There is no substitute for looking at a number of sets, and seeing how they perform with SD and HD.
The Wii is only capable of standard definition.

totalsolutions

Over 40" Plasma, you will not regret it. Plasma do burn an image after a short while but goes away. Do not leave your game in pause mode. Plasma has deeper blacks as to LCD grey tones. Plasma is brighter more colourful and will be as time goes on, LCD backlight will dim.
Panasonic are good, lots of options in the menu, too many to mention. There is also a PIN number if it is stolen but is too heavy too carry!
As already mentioned look and listen to them all, its your eyes and ears that matter not to mention its your money. Its an investment into your movie watching/leisure time so make the most of it as you will spend more time in front of it. Make the most of a small room by placing the TV in a corner and sit diagonally opposite.

You will need a wall bracket or cabinet/stand.
Get a hdmi cable or too thrown into the deal, but if you purchase, a cheapy cable is just as good.

Delivery in crucial, the box MUST NOT be placed on to its back/side but kept upright, the weight will damage the panel.

Blacksheep1979

erm if you burn an image into a plasma it won't go away and traditionally it's plasmas that fade with age (less so now though).

ed2712

OK thanks for your replies, and yes I have pressed all the thanks buttons, I understand what you are all saying, I should of asked, what features should I look for when buying a 40" plasma or LCD.

Pinzy

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/askjack/2005/09/plasma_or_lcd_tv.html has turned out to be very helpful.

I guess you have to figure out what's important to you in order to know which features you should be looking out for. i.e. if you like to watch news channels or play a lot of gaming, or it seems watch any channel with a still image (think channel logos) for more than an hour plasma is bad, but if you want orgasmic eyeballs due to amazing colours and contrast, plasma is good.
Plasma seem to have less lifetime than LCD (though 40000 hours does work out to 14 years at 8 hours a day!).
Another point is that plasma uses a helluva lot more electricity than LCD.
Go into many shops and look at lots of screens, from many angles. OH is planning to take his laptop with him, so he can plug that in and see how it works with that.

Personally, having just spent an hour reading multiple reviews, I think I'm better off with my CRT. Hopefully somebody will produce one that's HD compatible - apparently Samsung do one that's HD ready but has no HDMI input.
I wouldn't touch plasma with a bargepole - I like to relax and watch my tv, not worry about being on the same channel too long.

superscaper

Pinzy wrote: »

Plasma seem to have less lifetime than LCD (though 40000 hours does work out to 14 years at 8 hours a day!).
Another point is that plasma uses a helluva lot more electricity than LCD.
Go into many shops and look at lots of screens, from many angles. OH is planning to take his laptop with him, so he can plug that in and see how it works with that.

That's an old article. Current plasmas work out nearer to 40 years. As for the electricity claim, that's very over simplified. Plasma in average circumstances use more but I wouldn't describe it as a "helluva lot more". For a start LCD drains a constant power because the main component is the backscreen light which is on all the time while the TV is switched on whereas a plasma's power usage is variable depending on the lighting and colours on screen at any time and so is never at maximum power usage (unless you like watching a bright white screen all the time).