lol.. I don't blame ya for wanting to try and future-proof your TV a little bit by picking up a 1080p.. heck, for $1500 the 50" Samsung is hard to beat, unless your willing to go with a 720p for $500 less, which then I would recommend the Panasonic..

The debate could generally go on all day, but I'll try to sum it up.. for your price range, the plasma will definately get you more bang for your buck..

Plasmas have a higher color saturation, generally 3x higher than LCD, which means more vivid colors and blacker blacks.. plasmas are generally better for fast-moving images, such as sports, video games, and etc.. but aren't as good for static images like LCDs (hence why LCDs are used for computer monitors)

Plasmas last just as long as LCDs, if not longer, the difference is that Plasma TVs just "fade" when their time comes, but with LCDs, you have to replace the backlight (which by the time that happens, it would be cheaper to replace the tv) There generally aren't any issues with burn-ins on Plasma TVs nowadays, considering most Plasma TVs have multiple anti-burn in features.. you would have just as much of an issue with dead pixels in a LCD, which is also very rare..

Here's some more online literature that breaks it down a little more from the pros .. check it out
http://reviews.cnet.com/4351-12658_7-6583301.html

Here's my setup that sits in my living room.. 50" LG 720p plasma

 

Well, I think I'm sold on the Plasma idea.

Back when I was looking, the whole "burn in" issue was really being played up and the bulb replacement on the LCD was supposedly gonna be a huge life saver. As things always do, especially in electronics, things change.

I was totally planning on doing the whole Black Friday thing for this purchase. But after looking through the ads...which are posted on www.bfads.net by the way, no one really has any super deals on a tv thats 50" or larger. And now that i've moved into the Plasma realm, it looks like ill be getting savings that way instead of freezing my ace off standing in line with a bunch of morons at 4:00 am to by a tv. This way I can go to the store, by a tv, and get up at 4:00 am on black friday and throw snowballs at all the poor souls in line waiting to by a 2GB flash drive for $4...YIPPIE.

So, now that ive decided on a 50" Plasma, I just need to decide on which one. And so it begins again!

 

I know you have decided to go with the plasma and Im not trying to change that. But, I play use my LCD for about 90% video games and the rest movies. And it is great!!

 

Please check out this video. Plasma's have changed from when they were first introduced. Screen burn-in is almost a thing of the past.

http://www.crutchfield.com/Learn/lea...hop_video.html

 

^ Not a bad vid. Since I first found out yesterday from you guys that plasmas have gotten much better in the past few years, everything I've read has proved that point.

Thanks for all your help so far and im now scrounging around the web to find the best deal on the best TV. Ill keep you posted as to what I buy, then you can all come over for beers and watch football on my new tv

 

Hey krusedisc, I just wanted to thank you for bringing this up, it got me looking around and I showed my wife this and it's now on order for my Christmas present.

 

Nice! I should show my girlfriend this thread and maybe I too can get a new tv out of it.

 

No problem man. Did you see that on bfads.net? I saw that on there today...what a GREAT deal. Im just so bound a determined to get at least a 50" and the more I look, the more it seems like I could almost get TWO 42" 1080p lcds for the price of one big one.

Anyway, I went to a little local TV and appliance shop over lunch just to see what they had. Well, I fell in love with this...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00142JKSG

So we started talking price (which you gotta do at the local places, right?)
I told him that if he could get that or something similar close to $1300, Id buy it. He did his thing at the computer and said he'd sell me the Panasonic for $1350 before tax. WOW, ill do that!!!

 

Yeah that was on bfads.net. I'm glad you found the tv you want.

 

Check these out just to compare I am a plasma guy myself but to each his own. Congrats on the new house and happy T.V. hunting

50" samsung 1080P plasma $1408.xx with free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16889102181

52" Samsung 1080p LCD $1579.xx with free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16889102204

They also have a 58" samsung OPEN BOX for $1812.xx check them out great prices and lots of stuff with free shipping.

 

^ Thanks and good finds on the tv's!

 

Amen to that man!

the last 5 or 6 movies the wife and I have gotten were returned to the store unwatched casue we started them after the boy was asleep and then we both fell asleep watching the movie.

 

no problem I rarely find lower prices then them and I research electronics a lot (average probably 2 hours a day)

 

Look at www.compusa.com for deals.
I see several good choices under $1,500.00.
My wife and I just bought a 32" Toshiba LCD for my son and his new wife. We paid $530 plus $1.99 for shipping. No sales tax for delivery to SC.

UPDATE: I ordered the TV at 5PM EST on Monday, 11-17-08. I am in CA. It delivered to my son's door in SC at 10AM EST on Thursday, 11-20-08. Less than 72 hours from start to finish and Coast to Coast. I am very impressed with CompUSA service.

Congrats on the new house. Nothing better than being your own landlord ;-).

 

I've had my 46" 60hz 1080P JVC LCD for about 2 years now. I absolutely love it. The only problem was, when I bought it, I was watching it from a 9ft viewing distance. Sure, it looked BIG ! .....but because of the 1080P, you were still plenty far enough to not see any pixelation, or jagged edges on anything.
......then, I moved to a much larger place, and my viewing distance suddenly jumped up to about 13 ft. Talk about the "incredible shrinking TV" :-( Sure, a 52" would be better, but honestly a 60" wouldn't be too big.

I'm not sure what your viewing distance is, but I bet you would be amazed at what the "optimum size", per viewing distance really is ! I know I was.
http://www.cnet.com/1990-7874_1-5108...ag=hdtv;hdtv_l

Scroll to the bottom chart for the wide screen...... and don't be too bummed that your 52" will be good for a "maximum" of less than 13ft. You can doubt this, or try to argue it...... but my personal experience has shown this chart to be "absolutely correct" ! What they are basically saying is, any further (or any smaller a screen) than they are recommending here, and you will basically be losing any benefits of HD, because you will be too far away for your eyes to discern the extra detail. {I know I lost a TON of detail going from 9ft to 13ft :-(}

My point is: Knowing what I know now, if I were to buy another flatscreen, I'd wait as long, and save as much as I had to, to get as big a screen as I needed, to stay inside of the max viewing distance, listed on this chart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LCD vs. plasma.

{btw, I'm absolutely rediculous about analyzing, and over-analyzing to 10th degree, large purchases such as a flat screen. I studied them, and hung out on a flat panel TV forum for litterally 6 months before my purchase}

LCD pros:

*non-glare screen
*lighter, and less subject to damage during transport
*use about 40% less electricity for equal screen size, and as a dirrect result, tend to put off much less heat.
*brighter picture, better for daytime viewing

LCD cons:

*blacks are not "as black" (not as high of contrast)
*cost more than plasmas for equal screen size

Anyway, if I had to do it again, I would get another LCD for sure..... However, I wouldn't even consider less than a 60", which would still not be too big for my 13ft viewing distance, but would be acceptable, should I ever move to a place with a greater viewing distance yet.

Hope this helps,
Peace,
Fish