New TV TIME?

[fallacy]

It feels like it's time for an upgrade. Bought one of the first 60 inch DLP HD Soney TV back in 2002. Complete with 1 HDMI port; that was a bonus no one new what HDMI was back then. Still works great and never had any issue with it and never had any desire to buy a new set. I have been noticing it getting dimer if I try to watch it during the day. It could be because of the bulb i remember reading that the bub was expected to go out after 4 years and it has been 10 years and it is still working. Time for a super bright super clear LCD TV. I have limited down to these 3.

Panasonic TC-LE60 57.5 inch http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-l58e60/4505-6482_7-35583319.html. Why? it caught my eye at BestBuy, it seems to have better black levels then all other LCD at this price range not sure why there are not more reviews on it.

Samsung UNF6300 60 inch http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-un60f6300/4505-6482_7-35650468.html. Why? It also caught my eye at Walmart, Side angle viewing and brightness stood out from all other TV's on the wall. Good black levels maybe not quite as good as Panasonic.

VIZIO E701i-A3 70-inch http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/vizio-e701i-a3/4505-6482_7-35477664.html. Why? Black levels side angle viewing not the best. But it is 70' fr-ken inches for a great price. Plus this serious of Vizo comes with a cool remote that has a keyboard on the other side, which I think all smart TV's should have. also all the apps are suppose to work well with movies. I here that Samsung has problems even working with netflix

[Howard_Casto]

These are all too expensive.  You can get a decent 60 inch for around 700 bucks now.  1000 is the maximum you should pay.  Why?  The newer tvs don't last nearly as long as the ones that were released circa early 2000.  Even really expensive ones MIGHT last you 5 years before you'll have issues. 

I can vouch for the samsumg and vizio they are both nice tvs... but don't expect them to last long.

[ed12]

u might want to do a few reviews
samsung and vizo-lg will be the olny mfgs at the end of the year
sony/pasosonic/sanyo/toshiba
all gave there ppl pink slips
and are shutting the plants down

ed

[fallacy]

There are no 60 inch for 700. Vizio is the closest for 850 - 900

[ed12]

my point was not towards price
it was more towards the very fact them mfg's are shutting there plants down
service parts for sony and toshiba are all but gone :un-less: u got to after market
suppiler..which usaly says junk
u will soon find normal easy to get parts are going >nla<

ed

[ark_ader]

Get a cheap Sanyo projector and buy some cheap bulbs.  Four will do.

[Howard_Casto]

There are no 60 inch for 700. Vizio is the closest for 850 - 900

I saw a similar model vizio 60 incher at walmart for 699 just three days ago. 

[knave]

In the end get the TV you want, but I agree with Howard.

$699 60" Visio at walmart (Refurb)

$648 60" LG (Plasma) at walmart
 

This is what I found with a one minute search...At $800 there are several more choices. But I say again, get a TV you feel good about staring at for the next few years.

Personally, I've been reconsidering my facination with "smart" TVs. All my devices already have connectivity...why do I need another device that can do netflix. 
But they are still really cool!

[fallacy]

I have seen refurb Viso at Walmart for 600 actually. I would not get a refurb Visio they seem to have enough issues buying them new, would not want any complications with warranty if the screen goes bad after 2 months. LG,  Toshiba is not an option, their LED screen quality is bad; plasma I want something brighter. I would rather replace the bulb on my DLP for a better picture, better side viewing, no input lag when playing games plus no ghosting or uniformity issues.

Personally, I've been reconsidering my facination with "smart" TVs. All my devices already have connectivity...why do I need another device that can do netflix. 
But they are still really cool!

Convince

[Howard_Casto]

The ones I was looking at weren't refurbs, but it doesn't matter... they went off sale.  You can still find them in the 800 dollar range though.

I'll convince you right now.  The vizio in my bedroom is a smart tv.  It was one of the early ones that use yahoo widgets.  Well guess what?  Yahoo widgets are pretty much defunct now.  So while the widgets that came with the tv still work, I'll never be getting new ones worth mentioning. 

Buying a smart tv is sort of like buying a tv with a vcr built in... it's a good idea until the vcr unit dies or dvds are invented. 

Get yourself a chromecast and save some money. 

[fallacy]

ya i just purchased it. The price went from 900 to 800 just today. Stopped at a different BestBuy on my way home from work just to make sure I was not buying an inferior screen at at this BestBuy all the TVs on display almost looked the same to me. Also bought flush wall mount it should be sweet.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OCY3RY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-E601i-A3-60-inch-1080p-120Hz/dp/B009H8JOZS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1387757872&sr=8-2&keywords=vizo

[pbj]

Yeah, I can't really tell a difference from the screens, either, and I've looked at a LOT of TVs over the last few years.

Only really had issues with one, and it was some random "iSymphony" brand.  Really a Samsung panel and Viore electronics.  I finally fixed it by taking a heat gun to the power supply and reflowing all the surface mount junk (it was randomly shutting off).  Meh $220 shipped for a 42" LED 2 years ago.  Can't ---smurfette--- too much, works fine now.

Short of a cracked screen, the repairs on these things should really be within the grasp of any of us.  Parts are widely available on the secondary market.  The circuits are all physically isolated from each other on separate boards.

 

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I've repaired the power supplies on these puppies before.  It isn't hard at all, as a matter of fact the procedure is almost identical to doing a cap kit.  The only issue is ignoring the inferior cap problem, the power supplies are often poorly designed. 

I've done one magnavox twice.... no big deal, the whole thing takes maybe an hour and costs maybe 20 bucks in parts.  The third time though it didn't work... all of the stress of running at weird resistances finally did the entire power supply in, and it was now a dinosaur and not worth fixing.  I mean it was pay 160 bucks for a new PS or just get a new tv that I don't have to monkey with anymore.

The thing to remember with modern tvs is that the "old gate" of tv manufacturers don't have a clue and make an inferior product.  You look to guys that traditionally made computer monitors as that is what tvs are now days.  So LG, Vizio, guys like that.  Even Sony seems to be having a hard time making a decent set....  I have a few friends very upset that their "top of the line" Sony garbage they bought last year isn't working anymore. 

That one you bought is a good one.  It's a newer version of the one my living room and it's been going strong for a few years now.   

[ed12]

yup
i just replace all the caps with low esr type now
and never look back..
with lcds that is
with dpd >plasma< u need to hope u get a unit that uses fets on the final
y-substain board..and away u go
the 1's with the nasty solder down ic under the heat sink :lg/samsung: are a 40.00 pain in the.....

ed

[Grasshopper]

Personally, I've been reconsidering my facination with "smart" TVs. All my devices already have connectivity...why do I need another device that can do netflix. 
But they are still really cool!

Personally, I would base the purchasing decision purely on the quality of the display, and possibly the sound (assuming you're not going to use external speakers), and ignore all the "smart TV" crap.

I recently bought an LG TV with lots of "smart" features which looked absolutely amazing on paper. However, the software has all sorts of extremely irritating hidden limitations not mentioned in the marketing blurb. For example, everything you record is locked down with DRM, even the free to air stuff. Also, you can't record to a FAT/NTFS formatted drive. You first have to reformat the entire drive to some obfuscated Linux format. Presumably this is just a ploy to make it harder to remove the DRM from the files you've saved. But it makes the recording feature totally useless to me. Unbelievably, The TV also sends usage statistics back to LG's servers without your permission! After a lot of bad publicity, LG have promised to fix this "feature" with a future firmware update. But I'm not taking any chances. That TV is going nowhere near my network.

Anyway, the moral of this story is that you're far better off buying an external no name brand Android or Linux based box for your smart features. They're dirt cheap, will play almost any video format, and won't come with all the DRM nonsense that the big name brands try to force on you. This is one situation where it's actually a disadvantage to buy a branded product.