LCD: Buy small or wait and buy big?

[DrunkenSano]

For a few months, I've been looking at the LN40A550 but found that the 5-series wasn't 120hz so the LN40A650 was the new choice. At the moment it is sitting at just under $1400. My plan was to wait until Black Friday or something before pulling the trigger on that TV or a similar 120hz TV since at that time, the prices will hopefully drop a bit more.

My friend is trying to convince me to buy a smaller, 32" 720p TV for my 360 and not to worry about a bigger TV until later (half a year to a year). His thinking is that by that time, the top of the line TVs now would drop their prices by a good amount and also Blue-Ray will hopefully be cheaper too.

What's everyone else's view on this? Thanks.


Edit Add: At first I was reluctant to go with my friend's strategy since I prefer to buy a high end TV and not worry about a new one for years, plus I only buy one TV, not two. But 120hz might not drop their price for a while so a 32" 720p now sounds rather enticing.

 

[erwos]

Buy a DLP and get big now? I mean, is there some reason it NEEDS to be an LCD?

 

[Rio Rebel]

I can't see spending that kind of money to get 120hz on a 40 inch display. I bought the 46" version of the one you were first considering - the LN46A550, and I love it. I didn't see much difference with 120hz on the 650 series, and that's at 46 inches...at 40 inches, it seems to me you are shooting for perfection in a display that is small enough that the value just isn't there.

Of course, that's one person's opinion, and I don't use my tv for gaming (which I understand takes better advantage of the 120hz benefit). But I am rather convinced that for the overwhelming majority of people, the larger display adds much more than the benefits of 120hz.

 

[spidey07]

Key question here is how far away are you going to be sitting?

 

[techwanabe]

As many people say, what ever size you get, you will probably wish you had bigger.

I'm sure the 550 series are very good TV's. I splurged and got the 120hz 50k:1 contrast ratio 650 series. It's teh 46-inch and sometimes I wish I had a 52, but 46 is plenty big in my smaller apartment. In a few days maybe that will become my bedroom TV and I'll get a bigger one for the living room.

 

[DrunkenSano]

Sitting distance will probably depend on the size of the TV I decide to buy. The reason why I'm thinking of 120hz is because if I'm going to buy a 1080p, I might as well buy the better one so I don't need to replace it anytime soon (soon being in a year or two). 120hz supposedly works really well on stuff like Football games due to quick movement by the camera. I see your point on why go for 40" with 120hz when it would work better for a bigger TV.

As for the DLP suggestion, I had assumed that DLPs are being phased out now and LCD/Plasmas are in. LCD more for gaming and Plasma more for watching.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: DrunkenSano
As for the DLP suggestion, I had assumed that DLPs are being phased out now and LCD/Plasmas are in. LCD more for gaming and Plasma more for watching.

Nope. DLPs are very much in production. LED DLPs, in fact, are pretty excellent values, and don't have the problems that plagued earlier DLPs. Mitsubishi is also pursuing laser DLPs, which should be amazingly competitive with the best of the best LCDs and plasmas.

I have a Sony KDS-55A3000 SXRD, one of the last that Sony made. SXRD technology (which is basically like DLP in many ways) did get phased out, but where else are you going to find a 55" HDTV with amazing image quality and top-end features (120hz, XvYCC, Deep Color, etc.) for $1200? This is the TV that many calibrators considered to be right up there with the Kuro in terms of color reproduction!

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: DrunkenSano
As for the DLP suggestion, I had assumed that DLPs are being phased out now and LCD/Plasmas are in. LCD more for gaming and Plasma more for watching.

Nope. DLPs are very much in production. LED DLPs, in fact, are pretty excellent values, and don't have the problems that plagued earlier DLPs. Mitsubishi is also pursuing laser DLPs, which should be amazingly competitive with the best of the best LCDs and plasmas.

I have a Sony KDS-55A3000 SXRD, one of the last that Sony made. SXRD technology (which is basically like DLP in many ways) did get phased out, but where else are you going to find a 55" HDTV with amazing image quality and top-end features (120hz, XvYCC, Deep Color, etc.) for $1200? This is the TV that many calibrators considered to be right up there with the Kuro in terms of color reproduction!

I second the SXRD suggestion. Great, great sets.

 

[Whitedog]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: DrunkenSano
As for the DLP suggestion, I had assumed that DLPs are being phased out now and LCD/Plasmas are in. LCD more for gaming and Plasma more for watching.

Nope. DLPs are very much in production. LED DLPs, in fact, are pretty excellent values, and don't have the problems that plagued earlier DLPs. Mitsubishi is also pursuing laser DLPs, which should be amazingly competitive with the best of the best LCDs and plasmas.

I have a Sony KDS-55A3000 SXRD, one of the last that Sony made. SXRD technology (which is basically like DLP in many ways) did get phased out, but where else are you going to find a 55" HDTV with amazing image quality and top-end features (120hz, XvYCC, Deep Color, etc.) for $1200? This is the TV that many calibrators considered to be right up there with the Kuro in terms of color reproduction!

Projection TV's will Never have the viewing angle or evenness of backlite LCD's or Plasmas. Ever. Don't kid yourself.

 

[vi edit]

I'd just wait till you have a few more bucks saved up and get the bigger screen. No point in dropping $1400 in set you quickly grow to hate for it's size.

You can get the A630 (mix between a550 and a650...120hz and matte screen) in the 46" size for around $1800.

 

[SlickSnake]

I will give you fair warning. I would be really surprised if the prices of HDTVs falls anymore before or on BF or even after it. Since the economies in the crappier and and the HDTV countdown is going to fall on February I think you will see prices rise on HDTVs in the 40 and above size range, especially if you want 1080p and 120hz and all the bells and whistles added.

I would buy now, or you may be looking at buying this years models next year as closeouts if there are any left then, if you want a good deal. And those closeouts will be 60hz models mostly. I think the supply will dry up on quality HDTVs as the window closes on SDTV broadcasts. The quality manufacturers won't be able to keep up with demand in a few months. My HDTV 120hz 46" Sammy was made less than 3 weeks before I bought it about 2 months ago, and the Sears warehouse was out of stock on it. I got the last one at that time in the store in the box.

Good luck waiting until BF if you want a quality LCD brand, so get it now or be sorry and wait a long time for one cheap.

 

[DrunkenSano]

Thanks a ton for all the advice. I will be buying a smaller LCD HDTV for my bedroom right now and wait a while, most likely after moving to a bigger place, before buying a large plasma TV for the living room. The TV I'll be poking around for is the Samsung LN32A450, $650 at Amazon.com, will be pulling the trigger if the Labor Day Weekend sales don't have anything spectacular.

 

[JackBurton]

For me, I'd rather wait and get something I REALLY wanted, rather than getting something now and settling. That's just me though.

 

[SlickSnake]

I don't think he is settling for less, he just wants one in his bedroom anyhow, and he's saving the cash now and betting on cheaper prices later for a bigger living room tv.

 

[manimal]

Prices may rise as well as fuel surcharges hit the margins which are already fairly low. The recent shut down of most of china's industrial production-to clean the air for the olympics-will impact what you see on the shelves and in the stores quite dramatically over the next quarter so there will be no reason to lower prices so low on BF and after Xmas. OP should consider DLP, plasma among may great deal out right now. The lull in demand for plasmas and dlp's has most B&M retailers hurting for margin especially in the wake of back to school as earlier noted.

Check pricing on the samsung 61DLP sets, saw one for 1k at a BB recently.....Saw a 42 1080P panny for 1200 and a 46 480hz panny for 1400ish as well.

 

[Oyeve]

I am very happy with my Samsung LN32A330. Its this years model and while its only 32" I think it looks great. I dont watch too much tv and primarily use it for my 360 gaming and PC. I sit about 6' away and am perfectly happy with it. Got it for 500 bucks too.