Televisions Thread: Almost cheaper to build your house out of TVs than wood

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Televisions Thread: Almost cheaper to build your house out of TVs than wood

geera: May 20, 2003

My wife and I recently moved in to a new house and would like to replace our 7 year old 42" 720p Samsung plasma (don't know the model number, sorry) with a 50" screen, probably LED. The plasma is getting kicked upstairs to my office. I really like the Samsung's screen, so I'd like to stick with that brand. Best Buy had UN50EH5000's on sale for like $750 a few days before Christmas and I'm kicking myself for not picking one up then since the price has gone up about $150. I'd like to spend $900 or less for our new TV -- is that model about the best Samsung I can get in that price range, or are there better options in that price range and size? Am I being dumb for only really looking at Samsung?

edit: I don't really care about 3D, and I have an ATV3 and Boxee Box so I don't really need my TV to be smart, either.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2013 19:02

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:10

geera: May 20, 2003

Don Lapre posted:

Amazon warehouse has LIKE NEW for $775

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0078LSTRK/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

Sears outlet has them openbox starting at $582

http://www.searsoutlet.com/d/product_details.jsp?pid=97973&mode=buyUsedOnly&sid=IDx20110411x000008&ci_sku=U99197973&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}

Thanks for the links, but I have a (probably irrational) aversion to open box/used TVs. I'm not really married to that particular model, I'm basically wondering if that's the best I could get in my price range from Samsung. I've also been looking at Vizio TVs on Amazon, mainly due to the price difference, but I don't know enough about Vizio as a brand to know how they stack up vs. Samsung. They're definitely cheaper!

# ¿ Jan 3, 2013 19:21

geera: May 20, 2003

LaserWash posted:

I went ahead and bought this at Best Buy for $900.

http://tinyurl.com/byvsfch

Then I wake up this morning and WalMart has it on sale for $800. I guess that means I'll be headed to Best Buy for pricematch today, as this thing is on my wall or shall I say, IS my wall in our living room at me and my wife's house.

3D, True Motion 120 Hz, 1080p, Super slim, LED, 55" LG screen for $800? Is there some slavery in Korea going on that I need to know about? That's just insane.

Just wanted to say thanks for posting this. I went to Best Buy today and picked one of these up for the Walmart sale price. Enjoying it so far, but I'm wondering if there's a good way to calibrate the screen? I turned the lamp and brightness up a bit but I'm noticing a tiny bit of backlight bleeding in one of the corners when the screen is black or very dark. Could that be from turning the lamp up?

# ¿ Jan 6, 2013 05:59

geera: May 20, 2003

samurai slowdown posted:

Turning up the back light and brightness settings will make it more noticeable but it won't cause it. There's really no way to get perfect screen uniformity out of anything back lit or in this case, edge lit. As long as it isn't bad enough to be distracting in bright scenes your TV is normal. The built in picture wizard is supposed to be ok but a lot of people use discs like DVE or Disney's WOW. A few people have posted their personal settings in this thread on the AVS forums.

Awesome, thanks for the link. I bookmarked that thread for reference later.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2013 00:07

geera: May 20, 2003

Comfortador posted:

I'm looking for an opinion or three about the choice between this: (LG 55" Led/Lcd 3d (passive) 120hz model: 55LM4600)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/LG+-+55%22+Class+-+LED+-+1080p+-+120Hz+-+3D+-+HDTV/7135343.p?id=1218831022736&skuId=7135343&st=LG

I can't comment about the Panasonic, but I bought this TV last Saturday and have enjoyed it so far. I don't think I have it calibrated quite as good as it could be, but the picture is pretty nice anyway. I don't have any 3D movies so I've only played around a bit with the 2D->3D mode, which is kind of funky and not something I'd use full-time on regular TV shows. There are also only 3 HDMI ports if that's a concern for you.

That's kind of a generic answer so if you have any specific questions I can try to answer those.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2013 21:23

geera: May 20, 2003

Comfortador posted:

Right now I'm running an optical audio cable from my TV to my Receiver and all the HDMIs are plugging into the TV.

I'm sure I could make do.

FWIW this is what I do now, my receiver basically just processes audio that it receives from the TV at this point, everything else goes HDMI and component directly to the TV. This setup works fine with the LG TV you're looking at.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2013 22:18

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 08:10

geera: May 20, 2003

FLX posted:

Hey HDTV thread, I just got an LG 47LM660S (or T, or LM6600 in some countries I think), because I read good reviews on the trusted sites in the OP. It seemed to have exactly what I wanted in terms of Rec 709 picture performance and passive 3D quality and on first glance this seems to be absolutely the case. The bad thing however, which no review mentioned, is that it has extreme clouding/flashlights around the edges and very visible vertical bandings (I sit about 3m away from the screen). Now, the clouding got better after it sat at home for two days and it's now acceptable. The bandings are still there though. I will return it for a new model anyway, because the TV's stand is also skewed, but I'm wondering if I should even bother and rather search for a different model.

What do you guys think about this?

I think it's pretty safe to say that very visible vertical lines and a broken stand are not normal and not indicative of what you can expect from every LG television. For what it's worth, I bought the 55" version of your TV a few weeks ago and experienced some minor clouding around the edges, which also went away after a day or two. Mine doesn't have any vertical lines and the stand is in fine shape.

Sounds like yours was probably dropped during shipping and should be easy to swap out for a replacement.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2013 22:13

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Televisions Thread: Almost cheaper to build your house out of TVs than wood