Televisions?

[DCJenn]

So the Beast finally kicked it. (The TV my parents bought right before my first wedding in 1993.)

I've read the consumer reports articles and am now looking for real life recommendations.

Here's our stuff- we have NO 'gaming' equipment- the Beast couldn't support it and we just don't have the time. We have one wall- about 40 inches across that we could hang a wall-mounted TV from- the rest are exterior walls and are brick and cement. We would be watching from angles within the room, there's no one dead-centered place. (Room was built 60 ish years before TV) There are two other viable non-wall mounted options that are available- one is 55" and the other is 56.5". The Beast currently inhabits the 56.5" space.

We're painting the room (Behr's Melted Butter) and hanging a very cool steam rolled print by our friend and neighbor Katie Pell- then we will have to tackle the TV thing. Personally, I wouldn't really care if we ever replaced it- but it's a deal for the Boys.

Opinions?

J/

I replaced our broken TV and my efforts weren't appreciated. I went to Costco and bought the TV that would fit in the cart and in our cabinet.

[Sheherezade]

I'm sold on projection units. That doesn't help at all does it? We have the wall mount plasma in the living room that DH bought after training. It doesn't get a ton of use. The purchase was orgasmic for him. I think electronics hold a special place in the hearts of some men. The projection unit was ceiling mounted in our kid "lounge". It is connected to the computer and to a gaming system located inside a cabinet elsewhere in the room. The screen is movie sized and the unit is not obvious up there on the ceiling. It cost a quarter the amount of the plasma. Obviously, we have a blank wall with a screen mount. If I was setting something up, I'd look at that option as well for your 40'' wall.

Easiest solution is to just buy a new Beast for the same spot.

[Deebs]

Can't say enough about Visio. We have way more TVs than I'd like (and probably more than I'm willing to admit). We have Samsung, Sony, Phillips, and Visio. The Visio easily has as good a picture as any of the others, looks great, and had a really good price for what it was. And, I have to admit that I really like their corporate practices. Part of the way they keep costs down is by minimal advertising, as well as they only released their TVs to select stores until they could afford large scale production. So, they control costs somewhat rather than just pushing them off on consumers. We got ours at Costco. I would measure one that you think you want, and template it to see how much space it will fill. You can wall mount on a swing arm (this is what we have in our bedroom and, although I was very opposed to it, I have to admit it's really nice), or place it in or on furniture. Good luck!

We've got a Samsung LCD (it's opposite a bay of 5 windows, and plasmas glare more) and have been very happy with it. It's got a good picture and is easy to switch between uses (game / dvd / cable). I hate it when TV can make me feel stupid.

I've also heard / seen good things about the Visio that Deebs mentioned. SueC bought one -- it was cheap (her main requirement) -- but the picture has been great.

You may run into trouble with wall mounting (trouble meaning, you won't be able to hide the cables). We originally planned to wall mount, but realized that the house basically has to have been wired for that, or you have the cables sticking out underneath the TV all the way down to the floor.

[SuzySunshine]

We also have a Vizio that we love - its a smaller one and its the version they sale at Wal-Mart only (not Sam's, etc.) but it works great and the HD picture is great.

Vizio-- that is what we have. The main complaint was that I didn't get the next size up, not with the TV. It was the least expensive of similar size and type TVs at Costco. So far, so good!

[Momo]

We have a Vizo, Polaroid, and Emerson. I think the Polaroid has the best pic, followed by the Vizio and then the Emerson.

[scarlett09]

Ditto on everyone's sentiments about Vizio. DF's parents gave us theirs when they decided to buy a larger Vizio. I believe ours came from Costco. We love it, the picture is great. We have a friend who has a much more expensive flat-screen TV (don't know which type it is, I am horrible on all of the different types of TVs) and his picture is crap. Apparently what type of TV you choose has a lot to do with how you are going to be viewing it (the angles, etc.)

Good luck on finding a replacement for the Beast!

[Vishenka69]

We have a Samsung LCD and it's great at an angle as well as straight ahead. We haven't tried wall mounting it yet, as haven't found a final place for it in the house. Bought it a year ago at Sears. I have to say I'm not too crazy about how it switches between modes (cable, DVD, Wii, etc.).