Hi All,

Looking at getting a new TV reasonably soon, currently using a 24 inch dell and its not quite cutting it. Looking online however, it appears that Sony is currently migrating to new models, as a lot of shops are only stocking 1 or 2 Sonys at most. Looking at something like:

LCD TV
40-46 "
100hz
1080p
HDMI / DVI ports
Reliability and picture quality
Looking to spend under 2500
Mainly for HTPC, 360 and PS3 (which I haven't got yet, so if anyone knows if Sony is going to do another deal please tell)

I'm about to start researching, but thought I would see if anyone else had any opinions about the latest batch of models, or whether anyone knows whether its worth waiting a month or 2 for the new bravias to come out and drop the prices around the board.

Thoughts greatly appreciated.

a) sony are increasing prices across the board in the next few weeks
b) wtf sony?
c) wtf sony?
d) why lcd? is it going to be in a well lit place?
e) get a pana plasma (for $2500 u will get a 50" pz800) or samsung lcd (46" 650 3yr warranty)

last edited by Anono at 11:29:38 15/Nov/08

I'm not too fond of the bravias... for me, their image processing is over the top and makes all images seem airbrushed to hell. Others will no doubt disagree. But definitely do some in-store comparing on that point to see if it'll be an issue for you.

fyi, sony tvs are awesome, dont listen to anono, you could say his advice is a no no (Lolz)

yeah they are decent tvs u just pay an extra $1k to have sony badge on it. that is just stupid.

ALdi.

in store comparisons are the WORST way to make a decision when buying a LCD/plasma. they use different connections and sources to move stock all the time in every store.

last edited by eighty-eight at 14:16:58 15/Nov/08

Just out of curiosity, what's the best tv for watching movies in the average lounge room plasma or lcd? No console/computer will ever touch this TV.

n store comparisons are the WORST way to make a decision when buying a LCD/plasma. they use different connections and sources to move stock all the time in every store.

Also the store will probably be twice as bright as your house. When I got my LCD home it felt like it was burning the images into my retinas but in store it was fine.

last edited by whoop at 14:22:23 15/Nov/08

Also looking at a TV, around the $1000-$1500 mark. Thinking samsung LCD atm..

sony make the f***ing s***test panels ever, I can't believe that even a f***wit as retarded as spook likes them.

First get a plasma, 2nd get a pioneer. It is the best panel you can current get and it is not a question of opinion it is fact.

in store comparisons are the WORST way to make a decision when buying a LCD/plasma. they use different connections and sources to move stock all the time in every store.

True, but what's the alternative? Buy all of them, take them home and then decide?

Just out of curiosity, what's the best tv for watching movies in the average lounge room plasma or lcd? No console/computer will ever touch this TV.

There's no simple answer to this. Do a quick search through old threads to see the endless opinions. Read some reviews and articles on the LCD vs Plasma vs Size angle and then go look at them in store and then make a decision on what you think looks best. The next step is the most important though - be sure to defend your decision from all those who mock your choice, in order to safeguard your ego.

I just got a 40" Samsung Series 6 LCD for $2100 from Good Guys the other week. Came with a free bluray.

Ross ... pioneer ... nice but do you really have so much money that you can randomly burn it ?

oh ross, you silly!
i hope you're not still angry at me for calling your car a homo poofter mobile

also, plasma lolz

last edited by Spook at 15:43:57 15/Nov/08

i just bought 52" Sharp LCD its amazing... i did my research and they were the best LCD... LCD FTW if the place you are putting your TV is quite bright...

I wouldn't buy a PS3 until after Christmas, if prices haven't come down by a big margin by then I wouldn't bother with the console at all since it will become the next Dreamcast.

Even if Sony do another deal with TV + console you'd still be better off buying a Samsung LCD/Panasonic Plasma now and the PS3 when the price drops rather then throwing your money on the ground, dousing it in petrol and setting it alight.

Bought my 40" Sony Bravia 1080P W series LCD for 1900 with the free ps3 deal.

Sold the ps3 for $600 at the time, effectively purchasing the a FULL HD SONY TV for $1300.

oh plus $150 for 5 year warranty.

So far been very happy.

last edited by GuessWhosBackAgain at 17:42:29 15/Nov/08

Shady's back, tell a friend

guess whos back

guess whos back

guess whos back

guess whos back

In 6 months the US dollar will tank and Aussie Imports will be dirt cheap.

Just out of curiosity, what's the best tv for watching movies in the average lounge room plasma or lcd? No console/computer will ever touch this TV.

All evidence suggests Plasma, by a large margin. There are few reasons to pick an LCD. The only thing I can think of would be slightly lower power consumption with an LCD. Especially if it has an LED backlight.

LCD's use a constant amount of power to light their backlight, while plasma's use a different amount of power depending on how much of the screen is turned on.

Anyone seen a brand called "Hisense"? Had a wander past the pretty TVs at JB and this one popped out as a pretty cheap unit that packs quite a bit into it.

Hisense is basically Teac I believe.

Purchase at your own risk.

if i try plugging my old n64 into any of these tv's itll still work right?

It will still work. Picture quality suffers from lack of resolution, but it still looks ok.

Pioneer plasma at high end, otherwise pick whatever deal you can get on a Panasonic or Samsung.

oh ross you just keep moving up the douche bag list

sony and samsung are the way

looking at a 32" sony V series (Y)

the sony's are nice, have an xbr myself. Its good if you are willing to spend the cash, though I wouldnt mind getting the Z etc, new sony range has some nice features like ethernet port for straight DLNA (maybe internet streams too if we can catch up the US) and the XMB (previous Sony menu isnt as nice thats for sure), for the size you want you might not find a good sony in that price range though. i wouldnt go for anything less than full HD.

OP: Haven't you really answered your own question with the specs you want?

Samsung 6 Series
Sony X Series

Done.

I got the 50" Panasonic 850A plasma a couple of weeks ago. All I can say is awesome, yes the pioneers do look slightly better (but not by as much as they used to). I use mine only on the HTPC, but will hook up the xbox360 and wii at some stage for gaming. I haven't used the internal tuner so can't comment on that but it is an awesome TV. Had zero image retention issues but I've got the contrast turned down at the moment until its run in a bit. Everything from the HTPC looks awesome, upscales all my DivX and DVD stuff really well and the blu-ray/HD DVD content looks amazing.

This is my first big flat screen as I was loathed to give up my Sony HD CRT. PQ isn't as good as the CRT (but we all know that anyway) but the overall experience is much better.

I paid $3000 including 5yr warranty from DSE.

Well worth the $$

i got a samsung 50 inch plasma not full hd but meh. had a little burn in once from too much cod4/guitar hero on xbox, but the burn in fixer got it all good again :)

do it properly imo

60" baby

http://unix.org.au/~brett/sydney/newpad/smalltv.jpg

So ended up getting it, quoted a random price (1900$) from Myers in the CBD (havent been to Myers in 3 years) for the 6 series 40" and they went with it, so fairly happy, 650$ off advertised, so free ps3.

Bought my 40" Sony Bravia 1080P W series LCD for 1900 with the free ps3 deal.

haha i did this also =) very happy

I already had a 60gb ps3 so i sold the new 40gb ps3 + my old tv for 1k, so my 40" cost me $1000 :)

u pay extra for the samsungs cause they have a sexy black gloss on them.

simul dont they normally ring up the store to find out if the quote is legit or not?

so free ps3

not really... but nice try

I was at DSE today and they had a Sony Bravia 1080HD LCD alongside a Panasonic 1080HD Plasma. My 2 cents is that both had a very clear crisp picture but the Plasma s***s all over the LCD for fluid, onscreen motion.

The LCD was just to jerky and pixelated when there was movement on the screen.

woah dude, don't knock the Sony's dude - YOU CAN'T KNOCK SONY MANG - SONY IS DA BOMB

what mongie says, also my tv istn pixelated or jerky

I own both a plasma and an lcd so I think I make a reasonable comparison. I have always been pro-plasma, however:

I have been very impressed with our Samsung 5 Series, much better than I was expecting. Clearly better than the plasma, the colours etc are that much more vibrant. And the motion blur/pixalation is near non-existant (this model is NOT 100hz either), although I haven't watched any sport etc on it. 360 is better than on the plasma, again the colour etc is superior.

One downside is the patchy blacks, but you only really notice that on a full black screen. I don't tend to watch full black screens very often. Also if you stand too close it looks like s***, LCD's need a bit of distance to look their best.

You still can't beat the value of some of the plasma's however (the models less than say $2k) as the cheaper LCD's are pretty crap. Our 32" LCD was the same price as our 42" plasma.

I think the 42" Panasonic's still represent great value at around $1,200, a 40" Series 5 LCD is about $2k. I wouldn't pay $800 more for the LCD and still have less screen space. The difference isn't big enough to warrant that.

However if I was spending over 2k I suspect as LCD would get the nod (based on my experiences with both at home).

last edited by mission at 10:44:44 20/Nov/08

last edited by mission at 10:45:48 20/Nov/08

:)

how old is the pana plasma? what model, cause if its not an 8 series then its not really a very good comparison.

Current model. 8A.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great tele for the price and I'd buy another one.

Maybe I don't have it set-up the best? There is so many damn options :(

simul dont they normally ring up the store to find out if the quote is legit or not?

apparently not.

Misson, I'd love to know how you have your plasma set up.

As far as colour brightness goes, this can vary dramatically with the picture settings you have selected. On my TH-42PX60A, Dynamic is almost too colourful to look at, while cinema is reasonably dull.

Your comments pretty much go against anything I've ever read (reviews etc). I've NEVER heard someone say that an LCD has better colour than a Plasma, and when you look at the underlying technologies, it makes even less sense however since I don't have an LCD, I guess at this point you're in a better position to comment than me.

No mongie you are in a better position

no hes not:

considering mission was staunchly anti lcd before he bought one, id say the truth has triumphed

i may not agree with ross on plasma (much prefer LCD)

but i can tell you, sony are not the brand they once were, their name is worth mud, and any build quality and better tech they once had, went out the window about 5 years ago. its all cheap crap and not worth the extra 20% to have a inferior badge.

there are 2 main choices in tv's (at the top end) Samsung or panasonic.

in the mid range (bang for buck), i have no idea, but why spend that much and not get the best. silly.

last edited by giririsss at 12:22:02 20/Nov/08

I still say most LCD's make movies look like a stage show shot with a s*** camera and not a movie. Hard to explain, but it's s***.

My Sony 40" is now 1 year old, no problems as all :) love it.

^ Same, Still loving my 40" Sony :D

Its fairly irrelevent as to whether "you're loving your sony". Mainly because its what you're used to.

I'm sure the same applies to me... but I am still waiting for someone to provide some

evidence

as to why your LCD's are better than my plasma. I think I've tried to explain my opinion on a million occasions, but generally only get a "My sony looks awesome" in response.

my sony does look awesome hey

...

haha