Buying a 52 inch LCD

[FALCONSEYE]

Hi,
Circuitcity has some great deals on LCD tvs. So, I figure it's a perfect time to finish up my gaming room and upgrade my tvs
The question I have is what do you think about Samsung LN52A630? They have LN52A650,750, and 850. All have 120Hz refresh rate with HDMI 1.3 and similar contrast ratios. How do you justify the price variations? Also, how does this tv compare to an xbr6? I saw a samsung ln52 next to a sony xbr. To me, the images on samsung looked much clearer. I am not sure if sony wasn't calibrated good enough.
Also, I am also looking to purchase a Samsung 56 inch DLP Tv (HL56A650, strictly for gaming). What do you think about the DLP tv?
thanks in advance.

 

[EJ1]

I recently purchased the LN52A650 and I love it! When looking at the displays, the Kuro is the only thing that looked better to me, but I couldn't justify the price. I purchased the display through Newegg with a 5-year extended warranty.

 

[annunaki]

I would suggest a 750 series or above to get better black levels/native contrast ratios. The Sony XBRs are pretty decent as well. I would not consider LCD though unless it used a localized dimming capable backlight.

I would stick with Plasma (Panasonic TH-50PZ85 or TH-50PZ800) until the Local dimming LCD sets come down in price. That is if you really want an LCD.

Either one will offer as good or better performance at a similar or lower price point.

 

[gus6464]

I would suggest a 750 series or above to get better black levels/native contrast ratios. The Sony XBRs are pretty decent as well. I would not consider LCD though unless it used a localized dimming capable backlight.

I would stick with Plasma (Panasonic TH-50PZ85 or TH-50PZ800) until the Local dimming LCD sets come down in price. That is if you really want an LCD.

Either one will offer as good or better performance at a similar or lower price point.

The 750 has severe issues with clouding whereas the 650 and 850 do not. You can buy the 52A850 right now for $2400 at best buy and IMO it has better blacks than the PZ85 and very close to the PZ800.

 

[FALCONSEYE]

The room I will put this tv is really bright during day time. The plasmas have a bad reflection issue on top of the burn-in problems. Therefore, I don't want to purchase a plasma tv. What's the difference between the 850 and 650? thanks

 

[FALCONSEYE]

seems like 650 is better than 750:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1023197

 

[annunaki]

The room I will put this tv is really bright during day time. The plasmas have a bad reflection issue on top of the burn-in problems. Therefore, I don't want to purchase a plasma tv. What's the difference between the 850 and 650? thanks

Burn in is over hyped and more or less a non-issue with Panasonic & Pioneer sets.

The reflection issue does still remain, but remember that most of the Samsungs now use a glossy screen to enhance their contrast to keep up with plasma.

How often are you watching televison during the day?

 

[annunaki]

The room I will put this tv is really bright during day time. The plasmas have a bad reflection issue on top of the burn-in problems. Therefore, I don't want to purchase a plasma tv. What's the difference between the 850 and 650? thanks

The 850 is extremely thin. Other than that I am not sure, I have not looked into it real heavily. The 750 reviewed on audioholics received quite high marks for an LCD. I do not believe any clouding issues(??) were mentioned in that review.

 

[FALCONSEYE]

I don't even know what "clouding issue" means. This tv will go to my main room on the first floor to replace my old Sony 60 projection lcd. Weekends are the only times that I watch tv in the mornings. Mostly, it's couple hours in the evenings. Plasmas still seem to have higher costs, especially compared to my list of tvs.

 

[FALCONSEYE]

So, I was at Circuit City last night. Ended up buying a Samsung LN52A850 LCD tv and a Samsung HL56A650 DLP tv. I was there to look at LN52A650 but somehow ended up getting the 850. It was $200 more than 650. I must say it's slick, only 1.9 inches deep and has some features that you will use once every 2 years such as games, and a built in slide show. The cool thing is it has an ethernet port. You can easily hook it up to your home network and view videos, pictures or play mp3 on your pc while you are entertaining your guests. It also has 4 hdmi 1.3 connections. The lcd goes to the family room and the dlp will be an addition to my gaming HQ in the basement.

Anyway, I didn't do much research on the 850 but I keep seeing posts about ppl complaining about some clouding issues with the tv. Is this still an ongoing problem? If so, is there a way to fix this? or Do I have to return the tv?

 

[EJ1]

The 850 for only $200 more seems like a great deal! Congrats!

Here's an owners' thread for you: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1063783
And calibration thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1063915

 

[Shrimpman]

Fyi

Got the 46 & 52 860. Picture is surreal out of box. haven't played with settings much yet, but these are really terrific sets! Got mine at US Appliance for less than best deal at BB for 850. Free ship, no tax, came in about 10 days and good shape. Saved enough to buy the Panny bd35 Blue Ray from them as well. They did give me an additional $100 off for "bundle". I only have SD dvd's and so far it's unreal. Now if I can only get my Universal RF package to work it all I will be in bliss. What a pain that is. But for $80 I can toss it if they can;t dial in the correct codes. More hype than good so far.

 

[FALCONSEYE]

hey, what's the difference between 860 and 850? Does your tv interfere with cable/satellite box? I have been reading a lot of complaints about this issue.

 

[sholling]

Sweet looking aren't they. I bought an 850 Saturday from Sears. They had them on sale pretty reasonable.