We went to Costco again yesterday, not to buy anything but food items for the holidays. Spent a bit of time looking at the TVs.
Son of a gun! I did not see that much difference in picture quality between the cheaper ones and the expensive ones.
That may not be your sensory acuity failing. The recent (11/12)
Consumer Report article on HDTVs (link below) noted that, "
All .... TVs in the Ratings (which include 3D sets) are recommended models with excellent or very good picture quality." So for us [-]peons[/-] non-videophiles there may be little/no noticeable difference, especially in that kind of less-than-optimal environment.
That said, we did make a decision and purchase, and for anyone who may be interested, here's an outline of our process, with some observations.
1. While we consulted a LOT of sources (first two pages of Google search) most were of little/no help, and/or were eliminated due to bad/biased/incomplete information. The main sources we wound up finding most helpful and useful were (in no specific order/preference,
NAYY):
A. Consumer Reports -- their article & ratings are for lay consumers rather than techno-geeks, with excellent info. & advice. In their ratings, in several cases, they rated same models of different sizes differently, which didn't make sense -- the guts are the same within a model family.
B. CNET -- Excellent techno-geek stuff that admits their biases, but still provides objective information understandable by tyros like myself. Very in-depth reviews.
C. Digital Trends -- A lot like CNET; also has excellent reviews, useful for confirmation and differing POVs.
D. AVS Forum -- While a good site, much of the information they had on specific reviews/recommendations was woefully out of date (going back 2-3 years in some cases), and bias was rampant (not necessarily a bad thing -- there were definitely nuggets to be mined).
E. Amazon --
Only for customer ratings when representative of a large sample (over 100) of customers.
2. After reading the buying guides (informational articles) and deciding on which specific size and type (Plasma or LED), we accumulated several "Recommended/Best of" lists, and compiled the information on a spreadsheet, noting models, ratings, and making notes. This way we could easily spot models that were recommended by multiple sources. We also noted the ratings on Amazon if/when they constituted a large sample of customers. This compiling allowed us to pare an initial list of 50+ models down to a final list of ~10.
3. Then we read the reviews on specific models on CNET, Digital Trends, and AVS Forum (if they had one) to become familiar with features, pros/cons. By then, we had it down to 2 or 3 mfrs, and 2 or 3 models each.
4. Then we went out to
SEE each model (which in the long run means more than any review/specs.) and "A-B'd" brands and models, noting prices at various outlets and online.
5. We went home, evaluated our data, and made a list of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th choices (in case of availability problems), and....
6. Went shopping.
In our case (YMMV) we didn't bother with online prices, because we weren't comfortable with having such an item shipped to find out it was damaged, and have to go through the hassle of exchanging/returning. We also like to shop local whenever possible.
BTW -- I noticed someone posted back in Nov. '12 that Best Buy included online prices in their price guarantee. That is not what it states on their
website (online prices are specifically
excluded) and they didn't go for it in person either. It may have been a temporary policy that didn't work out for them. N.B. Read price guarantees, warrantees, etc. carefully.
Our new set is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
(XX)
Tyro