The time has come to replace my Syntax Olevia 32″ LCD. My decisions so far:
- I’ll either get a 42″ plasma or a 45-47″ LCD. My rationale is that the room I’m currently in could fit below 50″ reasonably, anything else would be awkwardly big. No reason to go smaller than 42.
- I’m open to either a plasma or LCD, as neither provide a conclusively better picture than the other for the content I watch (HD from my DVR, some SD hockey games, and Xbox).
- My budget is under $2000, as I have seen enough screens in person to state, without a doubt in my mind, that anything more than that is a waste of money. The marginal returns on the more expensive set are exactly that: marginal.
- I will not buy a Sony, specifically due to the poor experience I had with the Vaio VGN-SZ460N, the worst laptop I’ve ever used. Incidentally, I apologize for leaving this out of so many recent posts, I don’t know what came over me.
- I’d prefer to buy a model that’s been on the market for less than 6 months, since I anticipate a less-than-one-year cycle until it’s outdated.
- On the techie side, I want 2+ HDMI inputs and 1080p max resolution. I don’t need any other inputs than those since my Pioneer receiver handles video crossover itself. And while I know there’s virtually no content available at 1080p today, it seems silly to save a few hundred bucks and not be more future-ready (since future-proof isn’t possible, I’d at least like to be close).
I was at Best buy yesterday taking a look at a few sets in person. The ones I liked were a 46″ Sharp Aquos LCD, a 47″ Samsung LCD, and a 42″ Panasonic Plasma.
It really amazes me the challenge it is to make such a decision. I’ve researched and it appears there’s two types of advice: outdated (even worse) and/or too much irrelevant details. I tried getting help from CNET, but they categorized into 44-57 inches, which didn’t help me much (although they otherwise have great advice on the topic). I’m browsing through Amazon’s search results, but I literally need to weed through 120 sets that technically meet my needs since they don’t offer quite enough criteria. The other site I like for this is Wize, which I’m still browsing.
So if anyone has any specific advice to help eliminate a few units or consider more, would love to hear them. I’m also debating between buying online vs Costco, as online is convenient, but Costco has amazing return policies…