[maxwalrath]

Any ideas?  I won 2 fantasy football leagues and can swing a TV upgrade. 

Budget of up to about $1200, 42" would be ideal, and something I can get at Best Buy (I have a 10% off coupon and $100 Best Buy gift card) would be more ideal.  Are the Insignia's OK?  Anyone compare them to Vizios?  How high of a Contrast Ratio should I look for?

Thanks.

[woodsyi]

How about this one at Amazon for sale and free shipping?  Too big?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000MXYD2Q/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Best Buy has the same TV for $1950. 

[maxwalrath]

42 would be a slightly better match for my current room, but 47 wouldn't be too over the top.  I'll probably be somewhere with a bigger livingroom someday anyway... 

With the Best Buy discount on the Insignia it would end up at about $800.  $400 isn't worth it to me for the bigger size, but if the quality was noticably better it would be.  It's kinda hard to find any useful reviews for either...

This is the best buy model.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8463076&type=product&id=1184767921005

[woodsyi]

Insignia unit looks OK.  Here is a discussion on Insignia dependability.  http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26460

At least you will have a place to go to return/exchange if you need to.  I don't know what Amazon or other on line only places do for repair/exchange. 

Here is a Sharp Aquos 1080p 42" for  $1090. http://www.gobuydigital.com/productdetail.asp?ProductID=3154
It appears to have free 10-14 day shipping.  Enticing price but I don't know anything about the outfit.

[Audiovista]

I bought this one ($700-800)
http://www.olevia.com/products/specs.aspx?pid=242v
about a month ago. Very happy so far, I was most impressed when changed setting from "showroom" to "home" viewing and run test DVD - not a single thing needed to be changed!!! The TV runs on average 6-7hrs a day so it has ~200 hrs by now.

The Sharp linked in the post above also seems like a good deal, although the listed price is for the higher level model D64U series (which is a great TV according to my limited research). Circuit City sells the LC42D64U for $1,500, Best Buy for $1,620....-10%-$100, in your case.....

Good luck,
Boris

[GerryD]

The 42" Vizio 1080P is a solid choice.  Personally, I'd stay away from anything with the Insignia name.

[Zero]

If you have $1200 to drop, add another $100 and get a Panasonic 42" plasma. LCD's aren't all they are cracked up to be.

[Audiovista]

Just last night at a friend's house I saw an amazing 50" Panasonic plasma TV..... gorgeous picture. I bought an LCD TV though, mainly for lower power consumption...kids have it on almost always.....

[zybar]

If you are going to buy LCD, go look at the Samsung models.

Out of the LCD's, they have the best blacks and a very good picture.

I bought the upper end 32" for my music room (I like to watch the Yankees and listen to music) and I love it.

George

[nonoise]

I might be putting my head on the chopping block but from what I've read,
save your money and go for 720P and forget about the 1080p. If your set is
under 50", you'll not realize the difference unless you're less than 4' from the
set. Experts cannot tell the difference and in a double blind test, those tested
couldn't tell the difference either. The only sources for 1080p are the PS3,
Blue-Ray and HD-DVD players. Cable and satellite beam in at 720P and 1080i
only and even then, the signal is compressed and never comes out as it should.
Over the air HD signals are far better. If you are lucky enough to have Verizon
as your local phone carrier, go for the FIOS. Its fibre optic lines are hands
down the best. For some reason, its much easier to down convert to 720P than
to up convert to 1080i or 1080P so you shouldn't need to download any firmware
to 'fix' your brand new TV. I was all for the best set with the best specs until I
came across this info at cnet.com and lcdtybuyingguide.com. They even go so
far as to say that when the experts review a set, the first thing to look for is
proper color (saturation, tone, hue), then contrast, then brightness and number
of pixels comes in 4th, in order of importance.
I now have my 'eye' on the Samsung LN-T3753h for just those reasons.
Hope this helps.

nonoise

[woodsyi]

What TV did you end up with?

I just ordered a 40" Samsung unit for $1488.01 shipped.
http://www.projectorexport.com/productdetail.asp?level=&catid=0&productid=7515
This is by far the best price for this 40" 120Hz 1080P unit with 25000/1 dynamic contrast ratio.  I don't know anything about the reliability of this store.  I hope they come through. I bet they will want me to call in and they will make a pitch for extended warranty.

[carusoracer]

I bought this one ($700-800)
http://www.olevia.com/products/specs.aspx?pid=242v
about a month ago. Very happy so far, I was most impressed when changed setting from "showroom" to "home" viewing and run test DVD - not a single thing needed to be changed!!! The TV runs on average 6-7hrs a day so it has ~200 hrs by now.

The Sharp linked in the post above also seems like a good deal, although the listed price is for the higher level model D64U series (which is a great TV according to my limited research). Circuit City sells the LC42D64U for $1,500, Best Buy for $1,620....-10%-$100, in your case.....

Good luck,
Boris

Boris,

Which set did you get? I checked website and the link is for the whole line of sets...Where did you purchase?

Cheers,Mark

[maxwalrath]

What TV did you end up with?

I just ordered a 40" Samsung unit for $1488.01 shipped.
http://www.projectorexport.com/productdetail.asp?level=&catid=0&productid=7515
This is by far the best price for this 40" 120Hz 1080P unit with 25000/1 dynamic contrast ratio.  I don't know anything about the reliability of this store.  I hope they come through. I bet they will want me to call in and they will make a pitch for extended warranty.

I still haven't made the plunge  .

That's a really high dynamic contrast ratio, isn't it....aren't they usually under 5000? 

[woodsyi]

That's a really high dynamic contrast ratio, isn't it....aren't they usually under 5000? 

It's suppose to be one of the better LCD panels -- Samsung and Sony XBR4 use the same panel from a shared factory.  There is a 584 page thread at AVS forum on this set.  http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=893827
It's got some minor quirks that should be fixed with a new firmware.  But at this price, I will take the chance.  Some are claiming that this set looks better than Pioneer Kuro plasma. 

[lonewolfny42]

What TV did you end up with?

I just ordered a 40" Samsung unit for $1488.01 shipped.
http://www.projectorexport.com/productdetail.asp?level=&catid=0&productid=7515
This is by far the best price for this 40" 120Hz 1080P unit with 25000/1 dynamic contrast ratio.  I don't know anything about the reliability of this store.  I hope they come through. I bet they will want me to call in and they will make a pitch for extended warranty.

Rim.....Found this.....

Also DBA....FiveStarPlasma.com....Link.....same phone number.

Good luck.....

[woodsyi]

What TV did you end up with?

I just ordered a 40" Samsung unit for $1488.01 shipped.
http://www.projectorexport.com/productdetail.asp?level=&catid=0&productid=7515
This is by far the best price for this 40" 120Hz 1080P unit with 25000/1 dynamic contrast ratio.  I don't know anything about the reliability of this store.  I hope they come through. I bet they will want me to call in and they will make a pitch for extended warranty.

Rim.....Found this.....

Also DBA....FiveStarPlasma.com....Link.....same phone number.

Good luck.....

Ouch!  I got an email to call in for confirmation.  I will call them at 10 when they open and see what they say.   

[jasonc]

Samsung and Sony for LCD
Pioneer and Panasonic for Plasma

If you can increase your price point 500.00 you can get a lot more TV if you go plasma.  In the 42 range Plasma is not only a lot cheaper than LCD but they simply offer a better overall picture (when comparing top brands). 
The Panasonic TH-42PZ700U is flat out the best 42 TV made under 2500.00 and if you time it right you can find one for 1600.00 - as I was able to 4 months ago at Best Buy. 
Of course, if glare is a major concern and you do a lot of viewing during the day in a position that gets unavoidable direct sunlight than you should probably stick with LCD.

[saisunil]

We just got 42" Panasonic TH42PX75U Plasma for $899 - $200 rebate
http://www.pcrichard.com/catalog/product.jsp?modelNo=TH42PX75U

Here is rebate $200 info:
http://www.jr.com/images/pdf/rebates/PAN3_20080131.pdf

Fianal price $699 + tax + ship + install - still less than $1k

Cheers
Sunil

[woodsyi]

Ouch!  I got an email to call in for confirmation.  I will call them at 10 when they open and see what they say.   

Ha, ha.  I am quoting myself. 

I called and they tell me that this unit is back-ordered and that he will call me in 3 weeks when they get it in stock.  So, I move on.  C'est la vie.  I am intrigued by their xx81 model which uses LED which is supposed to make LCD better -- whopping 50000/1 dynamic contrast ratio.  I will have to check and see if price drops after the Super Bowl.