Wanting to buy a new 42" Flat TV. Which one is better?

Question

I needed a new 42" flat TV. I prefer LCD than Plasma. My budget is SG$2.5K - 3.5K

I think LCD has strong advantage:
-Reflection on Plasma glass screen make LCD a big plus.
-Plasma consume more energy and has Burn-in effect.

But dis-advantage of LCD :
- LCD is more expensive than Plasma.
- Plasma image is brighter and more lively colors than LCD.

I went to a few shops and found these:

1) Mega Discount (United Sq).
a) Philips Pixel Plus Plasma 42PF732 (42")
-SG$2750.
-852x480 (but it claims HD ready??)
-3-year warranty by Philips.

2) Gain City (AMK)
a) Toshiba 42WL66E/A/T/R, 42" LCD
-SG$3699.
-1366x768
-1year +1 warranty.

b) Paliumoe (Korea Brand) 42" LCD,
-SG$2399
-1366x768
-But picture and colour quality is terrible compare to others.

3) Harvey Norman
-ViewSonic 40" LCD, 1360x768
-SG$2399
-no idea about its quality.

====

-Which should I buy?
-What other good deals have I miss out?
-Should I wait till Comex Exh 31Aug for better deals?

Thanks for all the answers!! Are there any other deals such as Sony, LG, Sharp, Hitachi or Samsung that you think is worth checking out?

Hi daddysboicub, where did u get your Mitsubishi from? Is it a LCD or a Plamsa?

Thanks for the helps!!

Answer 1

Hi, I'm from SG too.

From what u said "Reflection on Plasma glass screen make LCD a big plus", that doesn't really consider as an advantage. =) Plasma screen are gloss surface, which WILL produce better visual quality than those non-gloss screens. Most of the LCD tvs are gloss surface too as this makes the graphic better. =)

And yes plasma consume more power than LCD, but this is definitely worth it. The more u paid, the more u gained(I believe plasma is better than LCD). =)

To make it as short as possible, I have been doing research on Plasma and LCD over the year. the only advantage the lcd has over plasma is the screen-burn immunity. however, new generations of plasma has already imrpoved on this aspect. Therefore u can almost say that lcd now has NO advantage over plasma[maybe there's one, plasma color fades over time. however, the process is REALLY VERY slow]... even for the price. Since this year, the price of lcd has been dropping alot, but still for a same resolution and screen size plasma n lcd, the lcd will be much more expensive. Advantages of plasma over lcd: Contrast Ratio, grey scaling(black levels), much lesser motion artifacts and much more cheaper. If u wish to know more about them and HDTVs, u can purchase a "What Video" magazine, it's simply an amazing mag with over 25 years of tv reviews with their own lab n unique equpiments to test the "TRUE" specification of the HDTV! If u wan totally future-proof LCD/plasma, Panasonic PV60 series is your choice, it support 1080p(it has a built-in recorder too!) and is definitly one of the best plasma brand out there besides Pioneer(another plasma leading brand). DO NOT listen to what the saleman recommend, they only promote those TV sets with more comission for them to u. Buy a decent HDTV mag n start reading! =) I will only consider to have a LCD TV if i want a small screen for my room.

O btw don't just look on the specification of the HDTV, many brands boast their specification just to attrach consumers. From "What Video" u can see a Samsung 10,000:1 contrast ratio plasma TV loses out to a Panasonic Veria plasma TV(3000:1) when they test their specification. Serously speaking, look for the brand name than the specification. Pioneer n Panasonic are always in the top league of Plasma TV. Their Plasma are always ranked top among so many other brands n models. If u still prefer LCD tv, look ONLY for Sony Bravia series or Panasonic LX50 or LX60. They are the only brands that produce high quality of LCD Tv. They can easily win any brands n models or LCD tv.

Singapore will not be bboardcasting HD siganls within 3-4 years. Therefore u may consider to buy a 854x480 resolution tv if u doesn't play console like xbox360 or PS3 where they are in HD. Keep in mind that if u buy a 854x480 tv, u will lose 96 lines of details as SG PAL signals has 576 lines of details (NTSC has 480lines of details). This is lead to slightly blur image quality. However, if u buy a 1280x768 tv, the tv will need to do 192lines more upscaling to fit the tv resolution which will make a nice smooth curve line on a tv looks rough(edges will appear all over the smooth line). However, u will not lose any lines of detail compare to 854x480. But of course 1280x768 will be much more expensive.

Answer 2

If you are going to go with one or the other go with LCD. Plasma would not even be an option as this is the poorest idea I have seen yet in TV design. Make sure you buy the extended warranty. How about DLP this is the best of all 3 as far as after warranty repair...

Answer 3

Id go with the toshiba. Ive always had toshiba tvs , and one for about 10 years.

It appears to be a bit over what you wanted to spend, but you appear very wealthy so the f ew hundred shouldnt be a issue.

Get a extended warranty for the extra few hundred. GET IT,,,,, many people return lcd tvs once or twice before they get one to keep. (minor problems, dead pixels)

I would avoid mail order, and get one you can walk in for, and walk out with. This will also simplify things if you need to return it.

Answer 4

I would recommend the Toshiba or Phillips. Leave Viewsonic and Pailumoe alone. They are going to be nothing but trouble. The prices you quoted aren't bad either, so give it a shot.

Answer 5

I love my 52" plasma. Flat screen rear projection suck because you lose viewing area if you are at an angle. you have to be right in front for best picture.

Answer 6

not sure about the 42". we just got a 62" mitsubishi and it is awesome. it was on sale, we only paid $1600.00 usd.

Answer 7

I think you should get both!

Save some brain cells..