HDTV?

I was hoping someone could help me out a bit here.

Basically, my family wants to get a HDTV for the main living room, and so they've sent me off to do some research on them. I'm not really sure what I should get, but I know that I want to go with either Samsung or LG.

I heard that plasma's are only good if you are going to get 50" or higher, and that LCD are probably a lot better for something that's around 42". 50" plasma's are ranging from around 5,000AUD and upwards, so I'm thinking that 42" LCD's will be the way to go as it's half the price of the plasma.

I also do want to get built-in HDTV, but not many other features interest me as I have a sound system and DVD-players; all of that stuff.

Anyways, can anyone help in what I should be getting? I have never looked into these things before.

Be sure it's got HDMI (some of the cheaper models don't), and optimally, you should get one that supports 1080p. I personally wouldn't bother with a 50" monster. High 30s would be enough for me.

That's basically all I've got to say about that topic.

Get Samsung. That's all you need to know.

Umm... Toshiba.

Or even better! Go to a retailer and see which one has better quality. You can read all you want, but the only thing that matters in the end is you watching it.

A one month subscription to Consumer Reports online is around $4. I usually buy this whenever I plan on buying any big ticket items to narrow down my search.

Thanks guys. :)

But what are your opinions on plasma vs. lcd?

My general opinion is that LCDs are getting good enough to replace plasma as a technology for large screens.

Plasma screens are capable of getting a larger screen than LCDs without having to worry about things like warping. That's where the advantages end though. You can't lie a plasma screen down without the risk of ruining it; you get a glare off of the glass panel which isn't there on LCDs; you can't put a still picture on them because they get very bad screen burn, etc.

You want to take into account the size of the room and the distance you'll be sitting from the T.V. when choosing a size. There are a lot of different formulae out there - the one that works best for me is to say the viewing distance should be roughly 1.5 - 2 times the diagonal measurement of the screen.

The only brand you should be considering right now is a Samsung. Put it this way: Sony Bravias use Samsung panels. You could pay through the nose for one of those, or get a Samsung of equal or better quality for between half and two thirds the price.

Thanks guys. LCD it is. :)