units, and I picked up the 60" for $1800. My neighbor paid $4500 2 years ago.
They also offer a 50" & 55."
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John in VA
'74 tii "Juanita"
'85 325e "Ol' Blue"
'86 535i "M-POSSTR"
'00 328i "Fern"

they threw in a Blue-Ray player. This is the middle of the line for Sony, doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the XBR models, but the picture knocks your eyes out.

CNET ranked this generation of Sony LCD's as best available now. I'm using FiOS and can't wait for the 130 channels of HDTV they're promising

Good luck!

John N

Hey Jack! Megan and I are in the same boat - she wants 37-40 and I want 46+. I think we've narrowed it down to a 42-46" because of size and cost, etc.

Her parents just got a 56" and we shopped with them quite a bit. We were told at the stores that 1080 does not really matter until you get up over 50" but now with blueray they say it does make a difference. I have no idea about refresh rates. The Sharp Aquos is a nice TV, We are looking at Samsung because Megan likes the blue light at the bottom of the TV.

Have you decided on LCD vs Plasma? Price range? Once you decide on size and LCD/Plasma (Plasma is so heavy you should not mount it on a wall) then things will fall into place. You'll end up with about 5-6 TVs that are virtually all the same (in my uneducated opinion).

Let us know which one you went with, sorry I can't be of more help!

Have you started to think about the yellow car yet or has the turbo and airplanes taken over all of your attention?
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BMW-Yachtsport
'07 Accord DD
'83 e21 - DD (work in progress)
2574356 - sleeping in need of restoration

I was in the same boat a couple months ago, it can get really confusing! What does all that means and what is the difference???

This is what I learned:

The worst today is better than the best 3 years ago

720 vs 1080... it is hard to tell the difference

Plasma, lcd, dlp, today, they are all good, pluses and minus each

HDMI cables are the only ones you should use

If you choose lcd or dlp you must buy a backup battery, otherwise the lamp will not be cooled down during a power outage, and you can kiss it good bye! Even plasma needs a good surge protector, these things are filled with delicate electronics.

You can't go by numbers alone, I wouldn't choose a car like that, why would I a TV??

I ended up buying a 50" plasma Panasonic at Sears only 720, HDTV looks awesome, I couldn't be happier with it. Even the sound is pretty good.

I think the difference between better and best is minimal. Good Luck
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72 tii A4, 72 tii Alpina, 98 M3 coupe

Don't argue with anyone that will not consider the possibility of being wrong...
the future is a dream, the present infinitesimally brief, but the memories are forever...

I've decided to go LCD. The family room has a sky-light and many windows and the reflective glass on a plasma makes it not work for my space. Price...to soon to tell. As for the resolution I'm going to go 1080p at the 1900x? picture. I spend to damned much time in front of it and as I said, I'll take slightly smaller at high quality than larger and fewer features. I'm building the cabinet to hold it and won't buy until it is finished. A pretty pleasant project actually. So far I have created a vast quanitiy of kindling, saw dust and wood chips.

I visited Matt and the guys today. I took the sales mgr from one of the lines I represent. He loved it. While Matt and Jim talked with me, the other guys were showing him how to "do things". Matt's shop just puts out a good vibe. The turbo is to get paint as soon as the paint booth frees up. Went over a couple of the details today. Carpet, drivers seat, 3rd brake lt, Campy refinish, pull the AF gauge, S14 for the 72. How did that get in there...?

The 72 is waiting for me to figure out, and do, the coolant bypass and get the lynx/45 in and it is about ready to go, as long as we don't get anymore salt. My friend Pete came over and I think he figured out the wiper anomoly. More on that later, once it is done.

I think you should buy Meg anything she wants. Tell her, please, that based upon her recommendation that I will check out the blue light models prior to purchase. Look forward to seeing you one of these days.

Consumer Reports just did a review of LCD/Plasma screens. Might want to look at their findings.

Being a cableguy, I see these flat panels all day.

I suggest that you see how they look with the same type of feed that you get at home. Compression ratio and algorithms are different for BluRay, Cable (from providers and distribution) and satellite transmissions. Most showrooms play BluRay so get them to show you the image off another input - one that closely matches your setup..

I really see no difference between component cable (red/green/blue for video and red/white for audio) and HDMI ( both cheap and expensive gold plated ones...). HDMI is an evolving protocol and we are seeing connectivity issues between TVs, audio/master receivers and set top boxes.

Also seeing some Copyright infringement issues - right up F1's alley every now and then. There is some sort of protection system that blocks out the video solely on HDMI to stop you to record record to external sources (at least here in Canada). Seems to pop up at times between set top boxes and TVs when there is no recording going on. Rare but I've seen it. Reboot of box and TV fixes that... Not sure how that works with TIVO.

I think its Samsung that just released a 240Hz refresh LCD. Biggest complaint with LCD is blurry images when watching images that move somewhat fast. Faster refresh rate to me is more important than 720/1080.

Ask yourself what do you watch the most. Most set top boxes put out in 720P and 1080i. Not sure about sat receivers. 1080p is pretty well for PS3, Xbox and HD dvds.

Make sure there are enough inputs of the type your devices require.

I really like the Panasonic higher end Viera line and Pioneer Elite lines. If I had a grand or 3 more, I'd look hard at Ronco.

Play with the TV remote. See if the controls fit your thumbing pattern.

If you wall mount it, get a 3 way adjustable arm, not the tilt only one. Your cableguy will thank you as will your eyes when its sunny!

Good Shooping!

Pierre
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More power!