Which are the best tv brands, I'm buying new tv?

Question

I'm looking to buy a new TV. I have some questions & concerns I need to ask someone with experience. I am replacing an old Sharp 25 inch ancient tv, so I want something comparable or larger. I do not want the extremely wide screen ones, like for movies, and I do not want a projector screen. I guess I'm looking at Plasma or LCD. Preferably under $1000. I need one that will last a while, so something with some longevity. I need to know which companies are good, and which are not. The other question is about stability and screen texture. I have a cat and a dog. If the cat were to go touch the screen, will the screen pop? Is it like an lcd computer monitor screen? or different? Also the dog is medium size, are the tv's stable enough to not fall over when the dog runs through the house? The old TV I'm replacing is extra thick & sturdy, so Ive never had this issue before. Are any brands better or worse than others? I can't go replacing this one in 2 years, it's gotta last

Answer 1

Let me break it down for you...

The Best LCD Brands: (in decending order) Sony, Samsung,Sharp,Toshiba,LG,Philips,Mitsubi...

Panasonic, Hitachi

Sony and Samsung are the best by FAR!

LCD Brands to avoid: Westinghouse, Vizio, Magnavox, Olevia, Insignia

Currently the best LCD out there is the LN-52A650 by Samsung.... it looks INCREDIBLE with the 360/PS3 and Blueray! and pretty much anything else...

Cnet.com just gave the 52 inch version an 8.0 ratingmaking it their best rated LCD tv!! The picture quality is amazing!

It has 1080p, 120hz, 50:000:1 Contrast ratio, 4ms Response time, Game/movie/sports modes.. pretty much all the latest goodies to look for in an LCD

Other top of the line LCDs include:

Sony KDL-40XBR4 ,5,6,7, and 8

Sony KDL-40Z4100

Samsung LN-T4081F

Currently THE absolute best PLASMA is the "Pioneer KURU elite" (INCREDIBLE picture quality)

Other top of the line plasmas include:

Pioneer KURU

Panasonic TH-50PZ800U

Samsung PN-50A650

Best Plasma Brands: Pioneer, Panasonic,Samsung, and LG

Check out info on all the models i told you about on sites like Amazon.com,Crutchfield.com,Yahoo shopping, Cnet.com, Sears.com, and their official websites and read User Reviews

I highly suggest you check out the Samsung LN-46A650

Hope this answered a few questions!

Answer 2

The Best LCD television is any Samsung 7 series.  The best plasma is Pioneer, either Elite or Kuro, either model beats all others.  The best Projo is Mitsubishi.

Answer 3

If you want a reliable brand go for Panasonic or Sony. Not the cheapest but you get what you pay for.

Flat screen TV's can also be wall mounted out of reach of your pets

Answer 4

I'm sure you have a lot more questions than the ones you listed.  I really would suggest you head to Best Buy and talk to someone from the Home Theater department.  We're not on commission so we will answer your questions truthfully and get you exactly what you want and need.  It really helps to actually have the television in front of you, for you to touch and actually see it to help you with your stability question.  Just tell them you aren't buying today, and are shopping around and they will be more than happy to answer every single question you have.

Answer 5

Sony and Panasonic are my favorites, but Samsung, Pioneer, Toshiba and Sharp all produce good TVs. Just avoid the generic brands that nobody has ever heard of before or brands that are known to just stick their badge on a low budget unit.

You can fix almost all LCD and Plasma TVs to the wall using a standard wall mount if you are worried about stability. They are a lot lighter that the equivalent crt tv but they are fairly stable. They are not so fragile that they will break if you touch them but you do need to treat them with respect, as you would, say, a computer.

They are pretty much as reliable as the old crts ( if you buy a good brand).

One thing that is worth considering is that lcd tvs have a less reflective screen than plasma. so you don't tend to get so many problems with sunny windows etc with an lcd model.

The modern standard for tv screen aspect ratios is 16:9. I would avoid anything other than this aspect ratio. (4:3 is the old tv aspect and is being superseded in the UK at least)

Answer 6

I would go with a plasma screen tv. The screen as more protection than an LCD. Just bang your hand on the screen at the store too see the difference. The plasma also has more viewing hours than LCD. Picture wise plasma will bring out the dark colors and LCD the bright colors. However im unsure how small of a plasma you can get. The smallest i have seen is only a 30 inch. and there in a chance of a burn for plasma but that is only if you leave the same picture on ur screen for hours ( ex. paused game)

as for brands for the tv's:

        LCD: Sony, and Sharp are the best (Sharp created    LCD whereas Sony has best consumer reports)

        Plasma: Pioneer or Panasonic (Pioneer is best but really expense and Panasonic is awesome i actually own their 46 inch plasma)

Either way both options are great but if i were you i would buy plasma. Good Luck in your TV adventure :P

Answer 7

Well, take all these questions and head out to Best Buy or Circuit City.  They have trained professionals to answer all these concerns.

But the short answer to your question from my experience is SONY.