Alright Poosies, its time we talk televisions

[Lloyd Blankfein]

Welp, I'm in the market for a big ol television screen. Here's the deal, I don't give a shit what model it is. I rarely watch the damn thing but when I do, I can't stand squinting at it. Weirdly, I usually work on paperwork while it's on and I can somewhat watch tv out of my peripherals while looking at the paperwork so it has to be kinda large.


I give zero fucks about most things people care about, that being hardcore graphics, etc. I have a blueray ps3 which we do use, so I guess the screen would have to be clear but I'm not paying 3k for some fancy triple threat mirror reflector moonbeam aqua picture or whatever it is. I play video games about once every 3 months, when I do, I get down on the fucking thing. I only own one video game and it is Formula 1 racing. Everything else is for vaginal blood farts.

I have no sound system, nor do I care to buy one. Cranking the shit out of the shitty television speakers is good for me. My fiance and I watch those lot lizard hooker shows like real housewives and whatever else bravo shows. I used to watch jersey shore, now it's over so most of the television viewing will be done by her. I own the sex and the city boxset, I watch it religiously (no homo).

Lets see what else, that's pretty much it. What should I be looking at?

I found a 50" Philips lcd with 1080p 60hz HDTV for $400. Is this a good deal?

I'm not above white trash vizios. If those are cool, then I'll go that route.

[Lloyd Blankfein]

Just re-read and saw my Avatar. Put them together, win.

[ShaneV]

All of my TVs are Samsungs. I like them 1080p is pretty much standard now so I wouldn't count that as a selling point.

[madryan]

If you're gonna be viewing it in a largely dark room a plasma is good. If it's a brighter room you want an LED. 1080P is the min I'd get these days since you have a blu-ray. Samsung is tough to beat for quality-per-dollar ratio and IIRC, they're actually developing alot of the technology instead of just snagging last weeks breakthrough and subbing it out to China.

[sleewell]

We have a big Samsung and its really nice

[ovid9]

My 6 year old Sony had the IR reciever crap out after 1 year (and out of warranty). I have no idea about current Sony's but I will NOT be buying one again.

That's all I got.

[PurpleTrails]

I'll add to the chorus and advise buying a Samsung. Maybe 1080p with 120 Hz. I have a 55" I bought a couple of years ago for around $1200 at costco, and you can get bigger/better for less these days. From word of mouth I would probably pass on a vizeo; they've been noted to not necessarily last.

As someone said, Samsung actually manufactures the LCD/LED panels not only for their own sets but also Sony and a few other brands. I think you are better off getting it from the OEM.

[ShaneV]

My 6 year old Sony had the IR reciever crap out after 1 year (and out of warranty). I have no idea about current Sony's but I will NOT be buying one again.

That's all I got.

I had a Sony Blu Ray player for a few years and based on its NUMEROUS failures (first the disk reader, then the wifi so it eventually could not watch disks OR netflix) and similar experiences friends havehad with Sony stuff I will pretty much never be buying any of their stuff again any time soon.

[Lloyd Blankfein]

So we know we want to stick with a samsung now. Just sizing and pricing is what it comes down to.

Right?

[madryan]

So we know we want to stick with a samsung now. Just sizing and pricing is what it comes down to.

Right?

If you get a relatively "stripped" model, ie, no smart TV option, no built in WiFi, etc and just go with the size and resolution that fits your needs you can get pretty good deals. TV's can be as feature packed as you want them to be but the price will reflect it. Kinda like buying the stripped down pickup with a manual and no carpet to work on the ranch vs. the pimped out one with power everything and Rimz... Sure, both do the same job, but one costs alot less, and you can hose it out every so often if you need to

[clipless bumper]

So we know we want to stick with a samsung now. Just sizing and pricing is what it comes down to.

Right?

If you get a relatively "stripped" model, ie, no smart TV option, no built in WiFi, etc and just go with the size and resolution that fits your needs you can get pretty good deals. TV's can be as feature packed as you want them to be but the price will reflect it. Kinda like buying the stripped down pickup with a manual and no carpet to work on the ranch vs. the pimped out one with power everything and Rimz... Sure, both do the same job, but one costs alot less, and you can hose it out every so often if you need to

wait - I can hose out my cheap-ass TV??!?!?!?

[GuitarBilly]

I have 3 Vizios, 55" in the living room, 42" in the bedroom and I think 40" in my son's room (could be another 42" I am not sure). Bought them for no other reason than the price was right for the size we wanted.

They work fine. As in, I turn them on and get sound+picture. Good enough for me. Don't care about any bells and whistles when it comes to TV sets tbh.

[The Anomaly]

We bought a Vizio 60"-cher earlier this year. I like it.

[Ostinato Rubato]

My interest in TV is so small that I don't have cable or even HD antenna running into my TV. I had like an 18" box tv for the longest and my wife's family bought us a decent sized budget flat screen for our living room. We only run a DVD player into it. We might eventually hook up a Netflix receiver dealie into it and stream some seasons of some tv shows, instead of ordering them by disc through netflix, but I could honestly give 1/2 a shit about regular and cable television programming. Haven't watched it in years and my life is all around a little better because of it.

Plus, there's no commercials in my house for kids snack foods and toys and shit and I never have to hear, "daddy! I want that toy!" or daddy "I want that cereal!!!"

[~Abstract~]

Me and my folks have had good luck with Toshibas.

I've got a 55 and a 40 or 42...and my pops has a 40something he's had for like probably 6-8 years. Still going strong.

They don't have all the bells and whistles...they're just a 1080p TV. But they're cheap and have a good enough picture for me.


Also...most of the big cable companies max out at 1080i or 720p for HD programming...so you'll end up watching in 720 anyway.

Movies and games are where you get to utilize the really high quality resolution. ime

[Noah]

I had a 46 inch Sony LCD and the panel went bad after five years.

So far so good on the 40 inch Samsung led I bought t o replace it. I like the 120 Hz but you have to be willing to tweak the settings a little when you first get it. Some people hate the way 120 Hz looks and prefer everything in 60. I am happy with the downsized screen. Just looks better to me and is easier to watch and doesn't take over the room. One annoyance is that there are no buttons on the tv so you need the remote for everything.

[Lloyd Blankfein]

I got a vizio. I think 40" for a little over $300.

Watching it right now.

[Crunchtime]

My white trash Vizio 43 looks good to me.

[indienoise]

Perfectly happy with my white Trash Vizio. Also had pretty good success with Best-Buy house brand TV's, Dynex. Have a 32" one at home, and use the bigger ones for lobby monitors & overflow viewing at church. Sound quality is not that great on them, and limited ability to adjust color and all, but not the sort of thing you sound like you'd be picky about. Picture is good on them though. I've noticed that some of the really low-dollar philips and RCA and those type TV's have a really inferior picture, I don't know that I'd buy one of them just to save 50 or 100 bucks over a different low-tier TV.

Having said that, as tempting as it is to buy whatever Tiger Direct or Newegg has on sale, I just really can't justify purchasing a TV online, because if you go into Best Buy and look at their offerings, you can really see how widely the picture quality varies from model to model, even in comparable price ranges. It's kinda like buying an acoustic, IMO. Do it in person, spend a few more bucks if necessary, and make sure it's REALLY the one you want, even if it is a cheapie.

[nightflameauto]

Two Vizios in our house. Pro-tip, on the salesfloor they'll often fuck with the color and contrast so that the higher dollar TVs look "better" right next to the low dollar sets. Bought my first Vizio when I asked the salesdouche for the remote and screwed with the settings until it looked exactly the same as the Sony sitting next to it that he was desperate to tell me was a much, MUCH better set (Sony, pshaw). Bought the second one when our old living room set finally ate it. They've been going for years now without issue.

Father in law has a Samsung that's been trouble free too.

Agree with the consesus you should always avoid Sony if possible.