Plasma or LCD selection

[clouso]

I am so glad you are happy.............. lets see how long your heater lasts.

Wow triple posting. Opps Edit 4 straight posts. I think everyone knows now your love for a heater/TV j/k

I bet it keeps you feet warm too. just leave it on all winter to heat the house. You can afford the electric bill. I am a poor old Cowboy from Texas, what do I know.

Hey I liked my Plasma picture....... but it lasted only a year.and I have a 4 ton AC and had a pair of 6" fans blowing on it.

I am so Glad I moved on to a larger(non plasma) 55" with extened warranty so a year or two when this one craps out I will replace it too. None of these falt screens will last as long as CRT did back in day. I have Sony CRT in shop that is 20 years old. No way a plasma or a LCD will last that long.

And you remind me of my self..when i got the regza i tought it was the best hdtv in the world..but enjoy it untill you know you were wrong...

 

[LAB3]

All of the above are right.....and im planning to get a bigger plasma cause i love the movie picture like......not a fake and cartoonish picture that led gave me...just saying....oh and i told you before the ''blooming issue'' is far away behind me now....triple posting or no..what ever...i replied to some posts...ppfftt...wanna keep arguing?...

Argue??????? you got me all wrong. Ok you have the Best TV the best AC and the warmest feet of any Good Ole Boy from Canada I have every heard from. I must be a "Blooming" blind person to have a fake, cartoon TV. I have a idea, purchase 3 more HUGE plasma TV. One for each wall.... let me know and I will send sun screen. j/k son. It seems you are a bit "Thin Skinned" lately. Must be the heat getting to you. I did not knock the the picture quality of your Plasma, or the one I had that burned up, just stated the trurh. And as I told you........ none of the new flatt screens will last 20 years like a crt would. WORD

 

[clouso]

Argue??????? you got me all wrong. Ok you have the Best TV the best AC and the warmest feet of any Good Ole Boy from Canada I have every heard from. I must be a "Blooming" blind person to have a fake, cartoon TV. I have a idea, purchase 3 more HUGE plasma TV. One for each wall.... let me know and I will send sun screen. j/k son. It seems you are a bit "Thin Skinned" lately. Must be the heat getting to you. I did not knock the the picture quality of your Plasma, or the one I had that burned up, just stated the trurh. And as I told you........ none of the new flatt screens will last 20 years like a crt would. WORD

No thin skin here and you were the one stating that led lcd's are way better in what ever categories..lol.... i was saying the truth also about the difference and about the other hdtv's i owned...(yeah cause i did owned more then one)....have a good day.

 

[LAB3]

No thin skin here and you were the one stating that led lcd's are way better in what ever categories..lol.... i was saying the truth also about the difference and about the other hdtv's i owned...(yeah cause i did owned more then one)....have a good day.

I beg to differ... I said they ran hot.... the truth..... another member posted a list about other things. I also posted I liked my plasma picture. And Good day to you too.

 

[psbfan9]

Extended warranty???

Okay, I need some help. Yeah, big surprise right?

I pulled the trigger on a LG 47LD650 LCD tv. I can get an extended 3 year warranty for $80.97. Is this a no brainer, or should think about it? I have 30 days to decide.

Again, all suggestions and thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks.
Barry

 

[HexOmega]

Read through the terms of the warranty carefully. If it sounds reasonable, then go for it.

Where did you purchase the TV from?

 

[psbfan9]

Read through the terms of the warranty carefully. If it sounds reasonable, then go for it.

Where did you purchase the TV from?

I got the tv from a local company called Sights and Sounds and not BBuy or HHGregg. The company that handles LG's warranty service is Service Net Retail Solutions, LLC, they seem to have a sketchy record at best.

This will need some more thought.

 

[LAB3]

What ever and where sver you purchase from get the longest service warranty you can get. My Onkyp AVR (new2008) just fried again warranty was 2 years.. On second flat screen from warranty on first Plasma I liked but burned up, Samsung Warranty gave Conn's Apliance (local chain) full store credit(cheeper then to repair) so I add a few hundred get different(larger) make and model and new 4 year warranty. See them in a year or two. All my AVR is on 16 hours a day. I read that LG makes the screens for a lot of different brands. It's all a crap shoot. life is about "Upgrades"

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

You guys aren't convincing me to get an HDTV if I have to buy an extended warranty. I never bought one from my tube TVs and they've lasted for decades. Are you saying these new-fangled things don't last?

 

[LAB3]

Shadow I have my Flat screen and AVR on all day from early in the morning until late at night, every day. I use fans and have everything vented but one YEAR of my use is like 3 years for a normal person that is NOT retired. So far about 5 years(my use) on a 55" flatt screen LED will be a norm.Plasma even less as they run so hot like my Onkyo amps I liked so much ran hotter then other brands with same 7.2 specs. I could be wrong but it seems to me the old CRT would out live several flatt screens that is on all day like I use one. Winter time more so then summer.. I am sure there are some with better service life then I have had.....just saying what has happened to me in the last few years.

 

[BMXTRIX]

You guys aren't convincing me to get an HDTV if I have to buy an extended warranty. I never bought one from my tube TVs and they've lasted for decades. Are you saying these new-fangled things don't last?

It really depends on the make and model. How about you buy a RCA CRT television? They have a horrible reliability record and terrible build quality!

If you go with lower quality brands including the likes of Westinghouse, Insignia, LG, Samsung and others, then you run a much higher risk of having a display which will crap out early on you.

On the other hand, most display manufacturers have product which will last for years without issue.

STORY TIME....
I did an installation about 5 years ago for a commercial operation that ran 24/7. The displays in the room were Panasonics or maybe Pioneers. They had been on for the last 5 years and they decided that it was time to replace the displays.

TEN DISPLAYS!

Out of those ten displays which had been on continuously for the last 40,000 hours plus there were TWO which had an image which I didn't find acceptable. The other EIGHT still had an image that looked good enough that I would have been pretty happy with it in my home. No, not as good as my Pioneer display looks now, but still, very good.

These displays were manufactured around 2000 or so, and that was pretty early on in the time of plasma displays. Lower life span ratings than todays displays. Yet, those displays had seen the equivalent of THIRTY YEARS of use at 4 hours of use every single day.

I personally own a Sampo (POS) display which has not had issues and I've had it for 7 years.

Really, if I were to buy, entirely based upon reliability, I would likely get a Panasonic plasma.

On the other hand, if I were after the best possible image quality I could get, I would make sure to get a Panasonic plasma.

HUH!?! How about that! The most reliable display on the market is also the one that is producing the best image currently.

I think that for LCDs, Sony probably makes the most reliable product on the market, but for affordability combined with a reasonable amount of life expectation for a TYPICAL display, then I would go with a Samsung.

On a budget, if I wanted reliability, I would go with Vizio.

I have a very high avoidance factor for LG products. I think their build quality is shoddy and their reliability is about the worst in the industry so if you can get a 5 year+ warranty on their product, I would DEFINITELY get it and I would expect that you may need to use it.

I would feel better about Samsung... or Sharp.

I would feel pretty good not getting a warranty on Panasonic, Sony, or Vizio.

I currently own displays from Sampo, Olevia, Sharp, Pioneer, and RevolutionHD. I've installed about all the major brands, and my go-to flat panel is actually Samsung (LED/LCD) and Panasonic (plasma/quality).

While plasma looks better, it is not appropriate for all situations, so I switch between technologies happily depending on the situation. I hate when people talk up one technology like it actually is appropriate for everyone. It simply isn't the case and the reality is that usage and the space is what should determine a display, not the opinion of others who are biased towards what they bought.

That is, every review says that plasma provides the best image quality, yet plasma isn't right for everyone, so even if you really WANT plasma, it still may not be right for all spaces.

 

[Nestor]

It really depends on the make and model. How about you buy a RCA CRT television? They have a horrible reliability record and terrible build quality!

If you go with lower quality brands including the likes of Westinghouse, Insignia, LG, Samsung and others, then you run a much higher risk of having a display which will crap out early on you.

On the other hand, most display manufacturers have product which will last for years without issue.

STORY TIME....
I did an installation about 5 years ago for a commercial operation that ran 24/7. The displays in the room were Panasonics or maybe Pioneers. They had been on for the last 5 years and they decided that it was time to replace the displays.

TEN DISPLAYS!

Out of those ten displays which had been on continuously for the last 40,000 hours plus there were TWO which had an image which I didn't find acceptable. The other EIGHT still had an image that looked good enough that I would have been pretty happy with it in my home. No, not as good as my Pioneer display looks now, but still, very good.

These displays were manufactured around 2000 or so, and that was pretty early on in the time of plasma displays. Lower life span ratings than todays displays. Yet, those displays had seen the equivalent of THIRTY YEARS of use at 4 hours of use every single day.

I personally own a Sampo (POS) display which has not had issues and I've had it for 7 years.

Really, if I were to buy, entirely based upon reliability, I would likely get a Panasonic plasma.

On the other hand, if I were after the best possible image quality I could get, I would make sure to get a Panasonic plasma.

HUH!?! How about that! The most reliable display on the market is also the one that is producing the best image currently.

I think that for LCDs, Sony probably makes the most reliable product on the market, but for affordability combined with a reasonable amount of life expectation for a TYPICAL display, then I would go with a Samsung.

On a budget, if I wanted reliability, I would go with Vizio.

I have a very high avoidance factor for LG products. I think their build quality is shoddy and their reliability is about the worst in the industry so if you can get a 5 year+ warranty on their product, I would DEFINITELY get it and I would expect that you may need to use it.

I would feel better about Samsung... or Sharp.

I would feel pretty good not getting a warranty on Panasonic, Sony, or Vizio.

I currently own displays from Sampo, Olevia, Sharp, Pioneer, and RevolutionHD. I've installed about all the major brands, and my go-to flat panel is actually Samsung (LED/LCD) and Panasonic (plasma/quality).

While plasma looks better, it is not appropriate for all situations, so I switch between technologies happily depending on the situation. I hate when people talk up one technology like it actually is appropriate for everyone. It simply isn't the case and the reality is that usage and the space is what should determine a display, not the opinion of others who are biased towards what they bought.

That is, every review says that plasma provides the best image quality, yet plasma isn't right for everyone, so even if you really WANT plasma, it still may not be right for all spaces.

With a few exceptions, most are about the same for reliability.

According to Consumer Reports, the brands you listed range from 2% to 4% for repairs and serious problems for LCD/LED TV's. They consider a difference of less than 3 percentage points to not be meaningful. The exceptions are Oleiva (not listed) and Westinghouse (8%). The other two significantly less reliable were Polaroid (10%) and Mitsubishi (12%)

For Plasma, they had listed only Panasonic (3%), Samsung (5%) and LG (6%)

 

[BMXTRIX]

With a few exceptions, most are about the same for reliability.

According to Consumer Reports, the brands you listed range from 2% to 4% for repairs and serious problems for LCD/LED TV's. They consider a difference of less than 3 percentage points to not be meaningful. The exceptions are Oleiva (not listed) and Westinghouse (8%). The other two significantly less reliable were Polaroid (10%) and Mitsubishi (12%)

For Plasma, they had listed only Panasonic (3%), Samsung (5%) and LG (6%)

Electronics in general have about a 3% failure rate, so Panasonic is in line with that. LG at TWICE the typical rate is a pretty significant drop in quality, which is in line with my experience of their product. Good to have some numbers to go along with some brands.

Mits, notably, is one of the only manufacturers of DLP projectors still on the market, and without knowing if lamp failure or projector engine failure is taken into account (or is it flat panels only?) it is hard to get a good read on their product.

Never read the report - but from my day-to-day experience in the business, it seems like it kind of matches up with what Consumer Reports has found.

 

[Nestor]

Electronics in general have about a 3% failure rate, so Panasonic is in line with that. LG at TWICE the typical rate is a pretty significant drop in quality, which is in line with my experience of their product. Good to have some numbers to go along with some brands.

Mits, notably, is one of the only manufacturers of DLP projectors still on the market, and without knowing if lamp failure or projector engine failure is taken into account (or is it flat panels only?) it is hard to get a good read on their product.

Never read the report - but from my day-to-day experience in the business, it seems like it kind of matches up with what Consumer Reports has found.

As CR stated, a less than three percentage point difference is not meaningful. In the case between LG and Panasonic, there is a difference, but barely significant. The info I supplied does not support your personal experiences. It's to point out that according to CR most brands have similar failure rates.

 

[BMXTRIX]

As CR stated, a less than three percentage point difference is not meaningful. In the case between LG and Panasonic, there is a difference, but barely significant. The info I supplied does not support your personal experiences. It's to point out that according to CR most brands have similar failure rates.

It's good information from CR, but a jump from 3% to 5% or 6% equates to a 66% to 100% increase in failure for these displays.

Obviously, CR is not pulling from a lot of different resources to get their numbers, so they back away from being overly firm with their statements, but after hanging out on forums enough hearing people complain about certain brands - over and over and over - it starts becoming more and more clear which manufacturers actually have better build quality for most of their models.

I do believe that some models from some manufacturers actually have far better build quality than others, but I find that leaning towards avoidance of the companies with higher failure rates is always best policy for concerned consumers.

 

[highfigh]

You guys aren't convincing me to get an HDTV if I have to buy an extended warranty. I never bought one from my tube TVs and they've lasted for decades. Are you saying these new-fangled things don't last?

Your tube TV had one tube, and that was for the display itself. Even if it had more, it would still be reliable. OTOH, as of 2010, it has been about 100 years since tubes were first made and LCD/Plasma displays have only been around for 20-25 years, so they're relatively new. They're also a heck of a lot more expensive than CRT TVs were, generally. Since flat panel TV manufacturers aren't in business to sell parts, the core charge for a flat display is really, really high and this is one reason an extended warranty can be a good thing. If the TV has a 1 or 2 year warranty and it goes bad a month outside of this, you would be replacing it without the extension. With it, you may be without a TV for a while, but it's not going to cost you much.

"It sometimes takes a while before new-fangled" things have the bugs worked out.

 

[Nestor]

It's good information from CR, but a jump from 3% to 5% or 6% equates to a 66% to 100% increase in failure for these displays.

Obviously, CR is not pulling from a lot of different resources to get their numbers, so they back away from being overly firm with their statements, but after hanging out on forums enough hearing people complain about certain brands - over and over and over - it starts becoming more and more clear which manufacturers actually have better build quality for most of their models.

I do believe that some models from some manufacturers actually have far better build quality than others, but I find that leaning towards avoidance of the companies with higher failure rates is always best policy for concerned consumers.

First you latch on to the data I provided as supporting evidence for your claim, then you downplay the credibility of the data. Which is it?

Pointing out the 100% increase is correct. Using it to support your claim, even when CR has put it in proper context is dishonest.

I'm sure it's been beat to death in these forums, but forum complaints about a manufacturer have to be taken with a grain of salt, as far more people post to complain than they do to praise. I'm sure you know this.

 

[BMXTRIX]

First you latch on to the data I provided as supporting evidence for your claim, then you downplay the credibility of the data. Which is it?

It is both. CR has received limited data so they refuse to 'swear' by their numbers, but the numbers that they have received support my decade of experience (almost from the start) with flat panels in the consumer marketplace. Since I don't have privy to the exact information which Consumer Reports used to generate their analysis, it means that it is 'general' support of claims of certain manufacturers having higher failure rates. Which is all I ever said.

Pointing out the 100% increase is correct. Using it to support your claim, even when CR has put it in proper context is dishonest.

If you say so. But, I have no idea what experience you personally have beyond CR. I'm just using the information you provided with the numbers you provided to indicate support for the experience I have.

I'm sure it's been beat to death in these forums, but forum complaints about a manufacturer have to be taken with a grain of salt, as far more people post to complain than they do to praise. I'm sure you know this.

Panasonic is one of the top flat panel manufacturers in the world, as is Vizio, as is Sony. Why is it that far more complaints pop up about certain flat panels? I mean Insignia and some other brands is more or less to be expected, but it should not be the case with major manufacturers such as LG or Samsung. Most are power-supply related issues.

The one thing I can say is that I've actually had pretty good luck with LG myself when they have ended up on projects that they've turned up for me. But, I've been very disappointed in their image quality and viewing angles. We have issues with the unit in our office, and the guys I work with are always critical of them having failure issues out of the box.

So, I would personally avoid them and recommend people avoid them based upon this combination of years of hearing higher than average complaints, seeing more real use failures, and being uninspired by their actual image quality. Now, combine that with CR actually putting a number on it, with their 'disclaimer' that is just something which all consumers SHOULD keep in mind.

Take that how you will, but I'm not sure why you would defend such numbers as being meaningless. If CR wanted them to be meaningless, then they should have put all numbers at 3% and then made the claim of a 3% margin of error. They didn't. They actually have numbers which support 3% for Panasonic, 5% for Samsung, and 6% for LG. That they can't publish it without the margin of error doesn't mean those aren't the numbers they put into print does it?

From my point of view - I won't buy LG, I won't recommend LG. They DO have reliability issues and in a pretty major purchase, with other very good alternatives, I would just avoid them. The first time it broke, even if it were under warranty, I would wish I had just bought from a more reliable manufacturer.

Of course, there are still millions of happy LG owners out there, and I sure don't begrudge them their happiness and I am thrilled they got a solid product. It's not like they are in the minority.

 

[theshade]

While plasma looks better, it is not appropriate for all situations, so I switch between technologies happily depending on the situation. I hate when people talk up one technology like it actually is appropriate for everyone. It simply isn't the case and the reality is that usage and the space is what should determine a display, not the opinion of others who are biased towards what they bought.

That is, every review says that plasma provides the best image quality, yet plasma isn't right for everyone, so even if you really WANT plasma, it still may not be right for all spaces.

Can you give examples where the usage of plasma or lcd is more appropriate? For which situations should we prefer one over the other.

In my case I am currently using my old crt display as follows:

1. display for ps3 games - 50% of the time
2. display for pc (mostly internet browsing, reading comics, streaming, sometimes work) - 30% of the time
3. display for movies - 20% of the time

I sit about 8 feet away. Windowless room with artificial lighting. My usage is only on weekends but usually reaches 18 hours straight or more.

What is more appropriate for my usage? Should I get a plasma or an lcd or a front projection system?