Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners LCD TV owners...seeking input

OK, wife said the other day..."maybe we should look at getting a flat panel TV for our living room upstairs?" So guys, I need to jump on this one before she changes her mind.

I've done a little research reading consumer reports, and shopping around at the local retail stores and wally world. I know some of you have done your home work on brands, reviews, etc. Just seeking a little help on what you would recommend. Also, have a few questions on installation.

1) What brands would you recommend in an LCD 1080p TV around 50"? (not including Toshiba, long story) Right now I'm considering Samsung, Panasonic, and Phillips. Probably need to stay under $1500 at the max. Something with 120hz and a high contrast rating would be nice.

2) This will be going upstairs in our living room. So we would be getting rid of our nice oak entertainment center and placing the TV on the wall. I have two walls in this room with RG6 Coax prerun to the wall and an electrical outlet. However, I'm guessing to make a nice finished/clean look, I will have to somehow route cables through the walls for HDMI, speakers, etc. so I don't have ugly cables running from the TV down the wall to the receiver. I'll probably use my Denon from down in the HT, and get something else for down there.

She said that wall mounted speakers would be best, , so I'm thinking I could go up in the attic and somehow route wires down between the framing, this could be a interesting project?

Any help, ideas, questions, would be appreciated....

Randy

Randy, a year or so ago, when I was shopping for my first LCD TV, I narrowed it down to Sharp, Samsung, and Sony. Didn't like the Toshibas due to a greenish tinge (went to a couple different stores to confirm). I felt the picture of the Samsungs and Sonys were slightly better than the Sharps. In the end, I chose the Sony--even though they are not my favorite company, but they seem to do TVs correctly.

I'm sure things have changed since I looked at TVs. Never really had a chance to see Panasonic or Phillips. I did have an older Panasonic CRT and I loved the picture on that guy. I ended up giving it to my best friend and he still uses it in an upstairs soon-to-be game room.

Really, I spent a few hours standing in stores simply just staring at screens. Ones that caught my eye I'd delve into the settings and see what kind of tweaking I could do and what improvements I could detect.

Get a Sharp

I have a LG lcd and have been very pleased. It is not the best television on the market but for $1299 it is pretty darn good. What attracted me to LG is that they offer a 2 year (parts and labour) warranty on their LCD tv's. I also know the expert mode password:) for my particular tv so I can tweak to my hearts content:).

Hmmmm, I just checked out some of the newer models on the LG line and they only offer a 1 year warranty now?

Some people hate the way 120hz looks on certain t.v's so when you are looking at a 120hz t.v, disable the 120hz and view it at 60hz and see if the difference in pitcure quality is worth it.

Good point Doc. Wid, how did I know you were going to recommend Sharp.

Randy, I threw out the issue, but there was a test of an LCD in this month's Home Theater mag that used local dimming control and had incredible black levels...second only to pioneer's best Kuro line. I don't remember pricing or even brand (it's not on HT's website), but it might be worth picking up the magazine or at least browsing it at a news stand to see what the model and price were....

Randy, I'm not sure if you will be able to find a 50" or over LCD for under $1500.00, but this 46" Samsung is Consumer reports top rated at a great price. Samsung LN-46A550 LCD

That looks nice. I've used OneCall for a few purchases, including my Denon 3808. They had a sale on it.

I have a Samsung series 6 52", I love it. Full 1080P,it has plenty of bells and whistles, upgradable firmware via usb key. Picture quality is excellent imho.