Don't tell Ken but I have 2 actual Sony Watchman's

One black and white with a 2 1/2 " screen
and
a colour one with 1.5" screen.

They were great for atending Football and Hockey Games..to see replay's.

 

To go shop! There is no way I will ever do that. I could't beleive that I got up at 4:30. I did enough of that in the Army; although those monthly retirement checks help cloud the memmory of all those early mornings.

*wonders what jgz2521 did on buying a new TV & hopes he posts it*

 

Sorry but, Phillips is not an American company....

http://www.philips.com/about/company/index.page

 

we just wanted a new 32 inch as well,but my wife Heather kinda went crazy, and we came home with a 52 inch lg and a 1000 watt sony surround sound theater. never try to out barter with Heather.lol

 

Lots of things to consider before you pick a make of TV....lcd or plasma. In a room with lots of light, an lcd will out perform any plasma no matter the make......but for a home theater room in your basement an plasma will shine. Both in general are too close in performance to really favor one or the other except for the lighting.

I personally went with the sharp aquos lcd for it was one of the few acually still built in japan and performance ratings where excellent. I have done a ton of research on all the makes of TV's out there and I thought the extra money I spent on the sharp was well worth it...although the westinghouse lcd was another excellent TV I was considering.

Here's is what i found in many months of reading and looking at TV's before I found the one that served me best:

Sharp Aquos
Pros
-excellent HD picture and extremely bright
-blacks are among the best for lcd's
-assembled in japan (although that could have changed)
-full 1080p compatible (all models)

Cons
-expensive
-remote sucks
-anolog source has poor picture
-banding problems with some models

Samsung LCD
Pros
-excellent menu layout
-great picture even when running anolog cable
-price

Cons
-blacks are not as good
-picture can be grainy

Westinghouse LCD
Pros
-price, the best out of all
-picture was at par with sharp
-very good blacks
-easy to use remote and menu features

Cons
-ugly cosmetics (no piano type finish)
-hard to find (in Canada that is)
-not all have full 1080p capability

I have looked at other models like LG and Sony and found they are not up snuff with the other models I posted...especially with the Sony, way overpriced for the performance.

As for Plasma TV's, I will only consider Panasonic and Pioneer. Nothing can touch the Panasonic for price and performance combined....the Pioneer had the best picture I have ever seen except it costed a small fortune.

 

What size Aquos do you have...I'm considering a 42"...last years model on sale at BJs for $1500...current model on sale at Circuit City/Best Buy for $1800. Would love a Sony Bravia XBR...but I think they are way over priced.

 

I'd bet side by side, any LG or Sony would out perform any westinghouse

 

I have the 42 inch only because the 46 doesn't fit in my den. get the 46 if you can, the contrast ratios are 15k:1 compared to my 10k:1 with the 42.

Either way, you are going to be extremely happy with the Aquos. Tell me some info on the Sharp that is for sale...is it the d62u model? Ask the sales guy when it was manufactured, I know up to march of 07 they are still built in Japan. That might have changed though in the past few months so follow up on some research.

 

I'll take that bet. Sony and LG make a good TV, but the westinghouse really is a performer for the price. Take my word and google it, or when you visit best buy anytime, get the sales guy to hook up a decent HD source to the TV instead of one of their splitter feeds they usually put in their cheaper TV's. Perferable a HD dvd player and you will see for yourself.

 

BJs is a c42u...Best Buy and Circuit City are both d64u. I'd like a 46"...but it's probably too large for my space...I sit approximately 6'-7' from the screen. I'll check out the country of origin...does it really make a big difference??

 

I finally got tired of looking at the lines across the top and the compressed screen on my 14 year-old 32" Toshiba. It was a good tv for 10 years, but one too many surges on the coax pretty much made it a pain to watch. I initially went shopping for another 32" 4:3. I found a 36" Sony that looked pretty good and almost pulled the trigger. But I swore my next tv would be a flat screen when the time came.

I picked up a 50" Panasonic Plasma two weeks ago when Sears had a Sunday night VIP special. I heard slightly better prices reported for black Friday here and there in other regions, but I didn't really see anything that could compare locally or from the big chains. Bottom line, if you missed a TV yesterday, it's not the end of the world. There are scattered deals out there, and you don't have to get into a fist fight over the last one. Go to fatwallet.com or slickdeals.net hot deals forums and poke around for a few days.

 

I've been doing a little more research on pricing...I found the Sharp Aquos LC-42D64U on amazon for $1392...appears to be free shipping also. At that price...I may have to get out the plastic...that way I don't have to actually pay for it until next year...better than layaway...I can have it now!!! Tempting..very tempting!!!

 

I love my 42 inch panasonic plasma. Bought it last year on Black Friday for a really good price. Got in line at 0330 and had to go to two places, but that's a different story.

Check out www.slickdeals.net for good deals on TVs. You might have to search around a little, but there's a ton of good deals on there.

If you buy from Circuit City, you can sign up for 10% off from AAA even if you're not a AAA member.

I love my plasma and it's even upstairs in a room with tons of windows. If you set it up right, glare should be minimal.

Mike

 

Ha, desided not to go shopipn friday... mom calls at 6 thank morning and wakes me up... long story short could go back to sleep so went shopping.

finds
-craftsman 350 piece for $350 usually ~600
-craftsman toolbox ball bearing, roller bottom and chest top ~300
- Sony Bravio 32" 720p

TV is awesome especially compared to my old tv (crazy color tubes and ghosts)
got it for ~700 usually around a 1300 tv

Good thing is i was i used my scholarship money so can i say sweeet!

 

I checked out slickdeals and the link is to Circuit City for the Aquos 42d64u at $1799