Post-Olympics flatscreen TV purchase recommendations?

[Denis]

Everybody who believes advertising needs a new TV for watching the Olympics...

so...

... when the Olympics are over, there should be a glut of unsold TVs.

Mrs Denis and I have decided to buy a flatscreen TV after the Olympics, since our current TV (a Philips bottle) no longer keeps up with the HD resolution of our satellite receiver..

Any recommendations?

I personally couldn't care less (if I watch one hour of TV a week other than news and weather reports, that was a TV-heavy week for me), but Mrs Denis is a fan, and wants to get the best available, so I'm on the hook for selecting one as the resident geek.

I thought I remembered a "which TV?" post by Chris, but it turns out that was computer monitors.

[Denis]

I've done TV posts too, the last of which was on someone elses home theater thread a few months back.

'Morning, Chris. Thanks!

Which again proves that the search function sucks dead bunnies. I'll Google it, but any pointers?

[Denis]

Progress. I found the home theatre speaker recommendations thread, but no TV recommendations.

An aside on speakers- the seller of our new house left two 1970's Bang & Olufsen model M speakers fixed to the rafters, since they were too lazy to climb a ladder to get the boxes down. Wohoo... free speakers!

[mekender]

I thought I remembered a "which TV?" post by Chris, but it turns out that was computer monitors.

He should update that, it is a tad outdated...

[rightisright]

Denis, there is a ton of info here: http://www.avsforum.com/

I don't know the retail situation where you are, but I chose to buy my big screen from Costco because of their liberal return policy (they also double the manufacturer's warranty). I brought back two TVs without penalty before I finally settled on my Panasonic plasma. There is a huge difference in the viewing experience in a large warehouse and your own living room.

[Denis]

Denis, there is a ton of info here: http://www.avsforum.com/

I don't know the retail situation where you are, but I chose to buy my big screen from Costco because of their liberal return policy (they also double the manufacturer's warranty). I brought back two TVs without penalty before I finally settled on my Panasonic plasma. There is a huge difference in the viewing experience in a large warehouse and your own living room.

Thanks! We don't have Costco here, and I can't think of a place with a "satisfied or money back" guarantee for TVs. I intend to buy online, so that guarantees me (under EU trading rules) the right to return the merchandise within a certain period (30 days?), but usually against credit and minus a restocking fee. I'm hoping to narrow down the choices a bit, then go somewhere and look at the contenders.

You bought a plasma screen? I thought LCD had won out by now...

[Denis]

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=18100

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=10494

Thanks! I had found the audio, but not the video thread...

[rightisright]

You bought a plasma screen? I thought LCD had won out by now...

I bought mine a few years ago. Motion blur was the reason I chose plasma over LCD. I mainly watch sports and the blur was noticeable even on the 2 high-end LCDs I tried out. It didn't seem to bother other people, but it really irritated me. I understand LCDs have improved in that aspect in the past few years.

[Greg]

You bought a plasma screen? I thought LCD had won out by now...

Plasma has [strike]won[/strike]lost in everything under 52 inches. 52" and above and they're still in the mix; as they generally have a much better cost to performance ratio than large LCD panels (which have a VERY POOR yield ratio, and thus are much more expensive as they get larger).

I bought a 60" plasma last year (a Samsung "smart TV") that handily outperforms my very high end Sharp 52" LCD, at literally half the price.

FTFY.

[Greg]

Plasma has [strike]won[/strike]lost in everything under 52 inches. 52" and above and they're still in the mix; as they generally have a much better cost to performance ratio than large LCD panels (which have a VERY POOR yield ratio, and thus are much more expensive as they get larger).

I bought a 60" plasma last year (a Samsung "smart TV") that handily outperforms my very high end Sharp 52" LCD, at literally half the price.

FTFY.

Oopsie... I started out writing "LCD has won" then decided to reframe it as Plasma and forgot to change the operator.

Heh, I do that sort of thing all the time. Start writing something, then midway through decide to say it differently but don't quite make all the right edits. Then I wind up looking incoherent. You just got a sign wrong.