Wall Mounted Plasma TV
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,674
Likes: 10
From: Myrtle Beach, SC
Wall Mounted Plasma TV
We're getting one. Who has one, how much research did you do in finding it, which brand would you recommend and why? And where did you buy it? I'll be looking for around 50".
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 45,856
Likes: 8,355
From: Mish-she-gan
Why so small? At the latest Electronic show in Vegas they had two companies that produced 102" and 103" sets (Thats 8-1/2 ft folks)!
One the problems with these new sets is they are obsolete within 6 months. They are already talking about much higher resolution sets, etc. My wife said she thought for sure a new big tv would show up at our house from Santa but I still think the industry is in a big state of change and can't see spending thousands until it settles down.
One the problems with these new sets is they are obsolete within 6 months. They are already talking about much higher resolution sets, etc. My wife said she thought for sure a new big tv would show up at our house from Santa but I still think the industry is in a big state of change and can't see spending thousands until it settles down.
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 34,131
Likes: 126
From: Canton, MA
I don't have one yet. Between Plasma and LCD, flat panel and projection, dlp and well, I forget what the other thing is...I just get confused. I don't need the space so if I ever do pull the trigger, it will probably be a projection set. The LCD projection pictures are great.
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 34,131
Likes: 126
From: Canton, MA
Oh, one more thing. there is a magazine on the subject. I can't remember the name right now, but when I was serious about this I found the magazine and found it very helpful. It was something like Video and Home Entertainment.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 10,478
Likes: 0
You might want to hold off on purchasing one for a few months. The price on flat panels - plasma, LCD, etc. is going to be dropping substantially this year.
Also, high def. DVD players are just now hitting the market which is going to affect the cost of TVs that are not capable of producing 1080P resolution.
Also, high def. DVD players are just now hitting the market which is going to affect the cost of TVs that are not capable of producing 1080P resolution.
Trending Topics
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,871
Likes: 0
From: Scottsdale
The new Consumer Reports has a big article on HDTV and the coming advances and expected price drops. The long and short of it is - they recommend waiting until the summer to buy as they expect prices to drop at least several hundred dollars between now and then.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 48,203
Likes: 10
From: Lewisville, TX
Mark directed me here... hope I can shed some light.
If you didn't buy one by now, I'd agree with others and hold off. The stuff debuted at CES will be hitting the market throughout the year. I do not, however, sweat that a monitor will be obsolete in 6 months. We're not talking about a computer.
No matter how great a set is, it can only display what it is fed. 1080p material just isn't readily available and won't be for some time to come. That said, I'd still look into sets that are 1080p capable. This will ensure that you will not be disappointed with your picture for years to come. An example would be that I spent a few dollars more than my original budget four years ago for a 53" Pioneer RP HDTV(non-Elite) that was 1080i capable. When I sold it before getting my plasma, it still produced excellent high definition picture!
The problem with the older stuff was that it didn't handle standard definition programming very well. 
For years I longed for increased HD programming. Only now is such programming beginning to take hold.
Before purchasing, you must ask yourself what purpose will the set serve. Will its primary purpose be for watching movies or the occasional gathering to watch a sporting event? Will it be used for gaming? Will it be the main, everyday set? Is the room in which this set will be place beaming with ambient light or will the room be void of sunlight? What's the size of the room? What will you do for sound- use the sets speakers or a dedicated sound system?
If you'll take the time to answer those questions, I will give you my opinion based on a ton of reading and direct you to the main source of such material(www.avsforum.com). For the record, I went outside my budget(imagine that
) because I plan to have the set as our home theater monitor for 3-5 years before placing it elsewhere in the home. I wanted something that would continue to provide a great picture along with increased connectivity. 
If you didn't buy one by now, I'd agree with others and hold off. The stuff debuted at CES will be hitting the market throughout the year. I do not, however, sweat that a monitor will be obsolete in 6 months. We're not talking about a computer.
No matter how great a set is, it can only display what it is fed. 1080p material just isn't readily available and won't be for some time to come. That said, I'd still look into sets that are 1080p capable. This will ensure that you will not be disappointed with your picture for years to come. An example would be that I spent a few dollars more than my original budget four years ago for a 53" Pioneer RP HDTV(non-Elite) that was 1080i capable. When I sold it before getting my plasma, it still produced excellent high definition picture!
The problem with the older stuff was that it didn't handle standard definition programming very well. For years I longed for increased HD programming. Only now is such programming beginning to take hold.Before purchasing, you must ask yourself what purpose will the set serve. Will its primary purpose be for watching movies or the occasional gathering to watch a sporting event? Will it be used for gaming? Will it be the main, everyday set? Is the room in which this set will be place beaming with ambient light or will the room be void of sunlight? What's the size of the room? What will you do for sound- use the sets speakers or a dedicated sound system?
If you'll take the time to answer those questions, I will give you my opinion based on a ton of reading and direct you to the main source of such material(www.avsforum.com). For the record, I went outside my budget(imagine that
) because I plan to have the set as our home theater monitor for 3-5 years before placing it elsewhere in the home. I wanted something that would continue to provide a great picture along with increased connectivity.
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,674
Likes: 10
From: Myrtle Beach, SC
Thanks Skip. Answers as follows:
We already have a Home Theatre room set up with Dolby Digital surround, yadda, yadda, yadda. The speaker system is Klipsch, the Home Theatre Amp/Receiver is a Yamaha and it is all fed from DirecTV. We're moving and I'm having the basement finished in the new place. Rather than bringing over the old Toshiba 55" (~9 years old) I thought now might be the right time to upgrade to the plasma and go HDTV. It's purpose will be for movies, sporting events and ocassionally going downstairs to get away from a screaming 6 month old.
It will not be the everyday set. Having said that, I don't watch a whole lot of TV anyway (who would with all the crap programming on now). As far as gaming...not really although my son may throw the PS2 on there from time to time. It is a walkout basement so there is a sliding door that will be opposite the TV and off to the right (not really in this room...but this room opens up to a pool table room There is also a window in the pool table room. I plan to use room darkening curtains/blinds or whatever to reduce the ambient light. Size wise the room is 16' deep by 13' wide. Fire away your wisdom. P.S. Why is everyone suggesting I wait? Why the impending price reduction? Is there some new technology on the horizon that will make the current sets "old"? If it's merely a matter of "hold off, prices are coming down"...well, you can say that forever. I'm one of those guys who paid $1,000 back in the day so I could get a VCR early.
We already have a Home Theatre room set up with Dolby Digital surround, yadda, yadda, yadda. The speaker system is Klipsch, the Home Theatre Amp/Receiver is a Yamaha and it is all fed from DirecTV. We're moving and I'm having the basement finished in the new place. Rather than bringing over the old Toshiba 55" (~9 years old) I thought now might be the right time to upgrade to the plasma and go HDTV. It's purpose will be for movies, sporting events and ocassionally going downstairs to get away from a screaming 6 month old.
It will not be the everyday set. Having said that, I don't watch a whole lot of TV anyway (who would with all the crap programming on now). As far as gaming...not really although my son may throw the PS2 on there from time to time. It is a walkout basement so there is a sliding door that will be opposite the TV and off to the right (not really in this room...but this room opens up to a pool table room There is also a window in the pool table room. I plan to use room darkening curtains/blinds or whatever to reduce the ambient light. Size wise the room is 16' deep by 13' wide. Fire away your wisdom. P.S. Why is everyone suggesting I wait? Why the impending price reduction? Is there some new technology on the horizon that will make the current sets "old"? If it's merely a matter of "hold off, prices are coming down"...well, you can say that forever. I'm one of those guys who paid $1,000 back in the day so I could get a VCR early.