Cheap big screen tv

[sabot]

My uncle has been bothering me about what is the best tv to get. He wants to spend less than 2.2k. I am having trouble finding any good tvs. He wants to have a tv that is bigger than 60", 70" would be preferable. He has sent me lots of used plasma tvs, but I think led is a must along with 120hz refresh rates. There was a deal on woot for a little while that was a sharp 70in for 1249 refurbished, but it is long gone. If anyone has any suggestions on a good tv to get, please tell me. Personally I think he should wait till 4k is more affordable, but he can not wait! The tv can be refurbished. Thanks in advance for any help.

[dalekphalm]

My uncle has been bothering me about what is the best tv to get. He wants to spend less than 2.2k. I am having trouble finding any good tvs. He wants to have a tv that is bigger than 60", 70" would be preferable. He has sent me lots of used plasma tvs, but I think led is a must along with 120hz refresh rates. There was a deal on woot for a little while that was a sharp 70in for 1249 refurbished, but it is long gone. If anyone has any suggestions on a good tv to get, please tell me. Personally I think he should wait till 4k is more affordable, but he can not wait! The tv can be refurbished. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

 

Tell him the disadvantages of plasma and the risk of burn in's explaining that led is just as good these day's oke maybe slightly worse but you won't really notice.

I don't think its the right time yet to buy 4k TV anyway not this year or next year.

 

i personaly would buy my self a good 3dtv instead.

 

Plasma burn-in is essentially a non-issue (and has been for the last 4-5 generations of Plasma TV's).

 

LED is not just as good as Plasma's. Some of the top end (Read: Most expensive) LED's come somewhat close in overall quality to plasma's, but there are some areas in which LED will not beat (Mostly due to limitations of LED technology - You'll need to wait until OLED for that, which is a completely different technology).

 

Plasma TV's have the unbeatable black levels. This doesn't sound like much, but man, having true deep blacks is a total game changer in your viewing experience. Plasma also offers way better viewing angle (Especially compared to LED), superior motion playback (Any of the 120Hz/240Hz TV's generally introduce artifacts when used in those modes), and superior colour reproduction.

 

There are 3 downsides to Plasma TV's though:

1) Power consumption. Not a biggie for most people, but depends on your electricity rates. Will consume more power then LED/LCD panels.

2) Weight/thickness. Because Plasma TV's must have a glass screen, it does add weight, and they aren't as thin as LED (particularly edge lit). However, to me, this doesn't matter one bit. My 50" Plasma is still plenty thin (Thinner then my old 32" LCD).

3) Screen brightness is lower than LCD/LED. This is only a big issue in rooms with no light control. If you can throw the blinds shut, then it shouldn't cause any problems.

 

Videophiles will still tell you: Plasma is the better image quality.

 

With that in mind: OLED TV's are coming, especially in 4K resolutions. They have the technological potential to de-crown Plasma's as the best quality HDTV.

 

Coming from someone who did a lot of research when I bought my new HDTV, and demoed quite a few models/types, the Plasma's just blew me away. So awesome for watching Blu-Ray's. When I watched Star Trek (2009) the first night I got the tv home, the experience was just mind blowing.

[Ace]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20092238-1/is-plasma-hdtv-burn-in-a-problem/

 

Explains some of problems of plasma

honestly for this reason i would't ever consider plasma unless only and i mean only movies, in that case only panasonic.

 

but honestly their very good led tv's out now not any worse really least won't notice.

 

anyway sugest doing some research on plasma before going with plasma eitherway then decide.

Sorry but that article is already outdated. To be honest LED and Plasma are nearly on par with each other but picking one for your needs is different. If you have a well lit room and only using it for daily TV viewing the LED is the way to go for sports, late night viewing and movies Plasmas have truer blacks that makes all the difference. It's completely up to the individual.

[Ace]

Any TV's bigger than 60 inch are going to have a noticeable loss of quality as 1080p is best fitted to a 50 to 60 inch TV. I would just advise your Uncle to sit on his money til the new 4k TV's come out then buy a 60 inch LED or Plasma with 1080p quality when the prices drop.

[Ace]

wanted to buy plasma my self then got told to do research, then got told plasma is oke for movies only any static images is bad not even games tough that i think should't be problem.

but tv channels for example often come with lot static images.

but if all you do is watch movies only then plasma is fine i guess.

 

 

article is from 2011 updated in 2012 how can be outdated ?

yes plasma has burn in protection but perhaps should do research on that asswell.

 

Technology changes every year. Even though it has been updated the core of the article still hasn't changed. They may have just changed one sentence who knows. I will admit Plasma's will stain but not burn anymore all you need to do is have it held on a solid bright colour for 2 minutes and all that staining will fade. I own both LED and Plasma displays and both have their pros and cons. There is no need to hate on Plasma display.

[sabot]

Any TV's bigger than 60 inch are going to have a noticeable loss of quality as 1080p is best fitted to a 50 to 60 inch TV. I would just advise your Uncle to sit on his money til the new 4k TV's come out then buy a 60 inch LED or Plasma with 1080p quality when the prices drop.

This is exactly what I have been telling him, but he won't listen! He has his sights set on a huge 1080p tv :( Currently there are some 4k tvs that are sub $10,000. If I were him I would get a cheaper 55in tv and use it until 4k became cheap. Then relocated the smaller tv and put in a big 4k tv. 

Thanks to everyone so far for the great answers and amazing help!

[Nirmal]

Get a seiki 4k tv or wait for better/bigger 4k tvs. Imo 1920x1080 is kind of pointless at any size over 32in.

[dalekphalm]

Get a seiki 4k tv or wait for better/bigger 4k tvs. Imo 1920x1080 is kind of pointless at any size over 32in.

I'd stay away from the Seiki 4K TV - It's been panned pretty much universally by reviews. If he wants to go 4K, he should wait for at least another year (or maybe Christmas season) for newer, better priced models to come out from actual reputable manufacturers.

 

The Seiki tv has crap colours and mediocre 1080p performance, and since 99% of content right now is 1080p or lower, then the viewing experience will be crap. Heck, spending the same amount on a 1080p HDTV will get you a much better TV, despite having the lower resolution.

 

I would disagree with you on 1080p being pointless over 32" though. You are sitting farther away, and thus can't perceive the pixels individually as easily at that distance, compared to, for example, sitting at a computer desk. Obviously, higher resolution would be quite a bit better, but I think trading quality just to get 4k resolution is a big mistake.

[Nirmal]

I'd stay away from the Seiki 4K TV - It's been panned pretty much universally by reviews. If he wants to go 4K, he should wait for at least another year (or maybe Christmas season) for newer, better priced models to come out from actual reputable manufacturers.

 

The Seiki tv has crap colours and mediocre 1080p performance, and since 99% of content right now is 1080p or lower, then the viewing experience will be crap. Heck, spending the same amount on a 1080p HDTV will get you a much better TV, despite having the lower resolution.

 

I would disagree with you on 1080p being pointless over 32" though. You are sitting farther away, and thus can't perceive the pixels individually as easily at that distance, compared to, for example, sitting at a computer desk. Obviously, higher resolution would be quite a bit better, but I think trading quality just to get 4k resolution is a big mistake.

All true but I think that it is important that the TV looks nice when up close as well as far away, but that is just my opinion. If he never views it up close then 1080p would be perfectly fine. 

[ERSCreeper]

I have a 50" Plasma and it burned-in in like 5 weeks. I would get anything LED or LCD.

[sabot]

I have a 50" Plasma and it burned-in in like 5 weeks. I would get anything LED or LCD.

Yeah that is my worry with going plasma, I do no that they made advancements and it has better colors, but I think led is the way to go for my uncles situation. Now it is just a matter of finding a reasonably priced tv!

[sabot]

or anything with static images or potentialy static images then avoid it like a plague.

I could see situations were pictures could be on the tv for a extended periods of time, so I will avoid plasma. Any things that I should look for in an led tv. Since he wants to spend sub 2.2k I was telling him to get 120hz refresh rate and that there is really no need for 3d unless he had some major want for it.