Less expensive 46" - 50" HDTV

[modhatter]

I am reluctantly forced to have to purchase a HDTV for my living room in a house I own in Florida. It is a small place where I used to live, but have moved to another state and decided to keep for a few years in hope of market improving. While vacant, house was broken into and among other things, they stole my very high end Panasonic 55" Plasma off of my wall and broke my console.

I am planning on trying to rent this place furnished to winter visitors (Jan-March_ to help defray costs of upkeep. This requires furnishing Cable, internet, etc. Normally for this expenditure I would not be so concerned about cost and buy what I wanted. In this case, the TV will probably stay with the house along with all the furnishings when I sell, so I am not looking to spend a lot. I was never a fan on Visio's, but they do seem to offer the most bang for the buck. Costco has a 47" LCD/LED for $599. that I was considering as it has been rated as having better viewing angles than most. Though I realize a Plasma is my best option here, and viewing angle is an important consideration due to furniture placement in this room.

Anyone have any comments on the Visio or any other not so expensive but decent TV. The one draw back that I have read about the Visio is that it has no way to access setup on the tv, so if you lose your remote (easy with renters) universal remotes often have a hard time accessing setup on a lot of TV's and as I am on the other coast line now, I don't want unnecessary hassles. I did look on line on Craigs List, but people seemed to be asking ridiculous amounts for their used TV's (near what you can buy a newer one for) There lots of cheaper 32"-42" TV's out there, but that would just be too small for the room.

 

[REWahoo]

Costco has a 47" LCD/LED for $599. that I was considering as it has been rated as having better viewing angles than most. Though I realize a Plasma is my best option here, and viewing angle is an important consideration due to furniture placement in this room.

Keep looking. Plasma prices are now often lower than a similar sized LCD/LED. I paid under $600 for a 60" LG plasma in January.

 

[pb4uski]

We have three LCD Visios. When I bought our first one they were very highly rated by Consumer Reports. I think they still are.

I can't find a date on mine but I think I bought them around 2007-2008. We have never had a problem with any of them in the 6-7 years we have owned them, the price was good and the picture and sound quality are also good. Very good purchase IMO.

I can access all the set up using the buttons on the side of our tvs. I do it all the time to change the video source, picture size, etc. I also program our Dish TV remotes to control the tv, so in your situation the remote was lost I'm sure a universal remote could be bought and programmed to control the tv.

We have our biggest one mounted on the wall with a swivel mount, so we can watch from our couches or change the angle and watch it from the dining area table. While I think the viewing angle is good it is a cinch to adjust it.

 

[Mulligan]

I have a 60 inch Panasonic plasma downstairs in man cave away from the light. But upstairs I just bought a month ago a 47 inch LG LED for $399 at Best Buy (on line). It has a 60hz refresh which I thought would not be fast enough compared to my plasma of 600, but I can't tell the difference and NHL hockey is my favorite "show" to watch. Flat screens have abysmal volume speakers as you know, but LG makes the best of the worst. No sound bar is really needed for it. I would search the net to find a better deal. I didn't have to look to hard to find this one when I needed one.


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[modhatter]

I have a 60 inch Panasonic plasma downstairs in man cave away from the light. But upstairs I just bought a month ago a 47 inch LG LED for $399 at Best Buy (on line). It has a 60hz refresh which I thought would not be fast enough compared to my plasma of 600, but I can't tell the difference and NHL hockey is my favorite "show" to watch. Flat screens have abysmal volume speakers as you know, but LG makes the best of the worst. No sound bar is really needed for it. I would search the net to find a better deal. I didn't have to look to hard to find this one when I needed one.


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Yes, I do prefer Plasma myself. Especially since I usually only watch TV in the Living room at night when I want to see something special with my son or on a DVD I got, and at night the Plasma shines. I have another 32" wall mounted Sony in my bedroom for bedtime falling asleep viewing.

I was hoping to be able to find one of the better Panasonic's since they stopped making them, but no such luck. Been checking the deal websites daily, but it has been mostly refurbished and off brand units. I had read that April would bring some good deals when new models were introduced, but so far nada. LG's seem to be popular and some I have looked at had nice pictures. I have always been a fan of Panasonic, Sony and Samsung, but would consider an LG as well.

Yes, I know about the sound on the newer flat screen TV's. The exception to this was the Sony's I bought for the bedroom. It was top of the line when I bought it, and would be ashamed to tell you what I paid for it. But as well as a great picture, it has wonderful sound (large front speaker area).

Good to hear about the Vizio Pb4uski. The one I was looking at is the VIZIO M471i-A2 47-Inch 1080p 120Hz , which has some good write ups from the TV tech guys.

 

[bUU]

It never ceases to amaze me the conflicting "information" about television quality and reliability. I recall tiring of the back and forth on various forums between those relying on their own personal satisfaction and others relying on actual quality and reliability data. I haven't needed to do the research myself for years, but I highly suggest, if quality and reliability matter, to seek out the most trustworthy industry-wide data you can find and use that. We all have perfect televisions, until something goes wrong.

 

[donheff]

I have owned several Vizios and been happy with them. I just picked up a 50"er to replace a dead Sharp. Years back when I researched them I learned that the "glass" was made by LG and the devices were as good as high priced competitors. Costco is the Ben and Jerry's of retail: their buyers go for good quality, good price - sort of the one level down from the high end sweet spot many of us look for in PCs.

 

[jerome len]

Visio from Costo is best bet that I have found. Never had a problem.....every one still works great.

 

[Mulligan]

It never ceases to amaze me the conflicting "information" about television quality and reliability. I recall tiring of the back and forth on various forums between those relying on their own personal satisfaction and others relying on actual quality and reliability data. I haven't needed to do the research myself for years, but I highly suggest, if quality and reliability matter, to seek out the most trustworthy industry-wide data you can find and use that. We all have perfect televisions, until something goes wrong.

That last sentence is true. It all boils down to the reliability of your purchased one not the collective group. My GF bought one 5 years ago and was defective from the start. Returned for the exact same model and it has been a perfect workhorse for 5 years now. Just last week on vacation at a pool I heard a rather loud lady complaining about her Trailblazer vehicle and wanting to sue with the Lemon law. I have owned a Trailblazer for 10 years and it has never had one problem. I also assume price/quality matter differently to people also. If my then priced $1400 plasma threw craps this year being 3 years old, I would be royally ticked. But in 3 years if my $399 47in LG LED broke down, I would just throw it away, get another one and not be bothered in the slightest.


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[calmloki]

Have had two Visio sets and am pleased with them. I would skip the "smart" function next time in favor of a Roku3 or the like. Head to head we much prefer the features and speed of the Roku vs. the built in "smart" functions. Also allows the Roku and it's streaming features to be upgraded every couple years while the "smart" function just stays only as smart as it was when we bought it.

 

[Karloff]

Another plasma lover here, and currently a proud owner of a 65VT60 (previously, a 65V10). To the thread starter, I'm really, truly sorry to hear about the break-in! As you know, Panasonic plasmas are extremely difficult to find right now. Those would be my very first recommendation, though. An ST60 or S60 model would be ideal (excellent black levels for the price, all the smart TV features you could possibly need, no BS), if you ever come across them. If not, Samsung plasmas are still very much available through the usual channels, but they are over-priced.

If LCD is an option, I am also a fan of Vizo in the "bang for your buck" category. You may want to hold on until the 2014 M series is available (should be any moment now). They are supposedly better and cheaper than last year's models, with faster processing and ac wi-fi (and NO 3D, which I personally am very happy to bid adieu to!). Vizio offers the crazy-affordable E series, the nicer M series, and this year they are releasing the P series (4K res, which as of now is pointless) and RS (4K, but with 10-bit color, built-in soundbar, and image quality that is said to rival or surpass plasma's). Between that and OLED tv's, it's looking up to be an interesting year for us videophiles!

 

[rodi]

We have a visio from Costco that we purchased in 2008 when our granny flat was completed. It's still going strong. It was under VERY heavy use when my in-laws were living in the granny flat since FIL spent the entire day watching old movies from his wheelchair. It was literally on for 12-14 hours a day for a few years.

I wouldn't hesitate to make a similar purchase again.

 

[bUU]

My GF bought one 5 years ago and was defective from the start. Returned for the exact same model and it has been a perfect workhorse for 5 years now.

Reliability statistics measures, among other things, what portion of the units of a specific manufacturer are akin to the first unit your GF bought.

But in 3 years if my $399 47in LG LED broke down, I would just throw it away, get another one and not be bothered in the slightest.

That should be factored into the calculus regarding the purchase: If you're like Mulligan, you're probably going to low-price brands to be winners. The folks who are most often disappointed are those who buy based on price but expect low-price brands to perform as well as the market leaders in quality and reliability, anyway, expecting with 100% confidence that what they bought will last for a half dozen years or more without compromise.

 

[Tadpole]

A recurrent theme is that, if you buy Vizio, use Costco. I would like to put my emphasis on this. I have found that Vizio does not have good customer service and, when I bought mine, I called Costco if there was a problem and always got results. The warrantee period was extended by Costco too.

 

[Mulligan]

Reliability statistics measures, among other things, what portion of the units of a specific manufacturer are akin to the first unit your GF bought.



That should be factored into the calculus regarding the purchase: If you're like Mulligan, you're probably going to low-price brands to be winners. The folks who are most often disappointed are those who buy based on price but expect low-price brands to perform as well as the market leaders in quality and reliability, anyway, expecting with 100% confidence that what they bought will last for a half dozen years or more without compromise.

Very true, but many people appear oblivious to this process. It is the same way with hotels. It is amazing how many reviews from people on Trip Advisor will pound a hotel they got for $50 a night about the lack of amenities it has. They want 5 star treatment at a 2 star price.


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[pb4uski]

A recurrent theme is that, if you buy Vizio, use Costco. I would like to put my emphasis on this. I have found that Vizio does not have good customer service and, when I bought mine, I called Costco if there was a problem and always got results. The warrantee period was extended by Costco too.

And some major credit cards double the manufacturer's warranty so keep that in mind as well when paying for major purchases.

I got a $600+ check back from Discover last year on some refrigerator repairs that were after the warranty had expired but within double the manufacturer's warranty.