I'm looking for an affordable 47" (approx.) plasma 1080p TV - any recommendations?

Question

Hi, I'm looking for a good but affordable 1080p plasma TV, around 47". I think 42" is slightly too small for my room, but 50" and more start to get stupidly expensive.

Actually, I did find the Toshiba 47WLT66, which was the right size, right resolution and right price, but it's LCD. I've been led to believe that plasma is better for this size. Anyone able to comment intelligently on that?

Thanks.

kp

Answer 1

First, the LCD TV you are looking at, Toshiba 47WLT66 is NOT 1080p! It is 1080i.

Also, although I have not found any retailers, the smallest 1080p plasma sets starts at 50 inches. They appear to be very expensive.

Your best bet for affordable 1080p is LCD.

Answer 2

Since no one really answered your question and offered a lot of opinion let me give it my best shot. First, if you want a true 1080P plasma you have two options right now: 50" Pioneer Elite or 65" Panasonic...they will both run you about $10,000 and are larger than you are looking for. Apparently Panasonic will have a wider 1080P offering next model year, probably the -700 series. Hitachi's Director's Series uses a line doubler to try to generate an image using 1920x1080 lines of resolution but its not a true 1080p plasma display. As an owner of both a plasma and an LCD I feel like I can speak relatively well on both. IN MY OPINION at larger sizes plasmas are better looking TVs, right now, then LCDs largely because they have less video noise than the LCDs. With that being said if you go with a larger LCD I personally like the Sony XBR series a little more then Sharp's new 1080 series. The XBR probably doesn't meet the price requirement and requires ISF calibration for it to be worth the additional cost. Toshiba has a good reputation for quality so you can take comfort in that fact should you decide to go that way. All things considered what you need to do before buying is consider why you want a 1080P set. Make sure you completely understand that for TVs smaller then 50" 1080p doesn't add a lot of value...unless you're sitting five feet from the TV. Moreover blu-ray players, PS3 and some HD-DVDs are your only sources of true 1080P content currently; with that said, 1080i content, in theory should look better (although the difference may in fact be marginal), that you'll see on CBS, HDNet, ABC and others (in general ESPN and Fox use 720). Good luck with your purchase. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful.

Answer 3

I think the plasma/lcd differences are pretty much gone now. Before, LCD was just prohibitively expensive in larger TVs; plasma was the only choice. But plasma TVs didn't have a very long life -- they could burn out after 3-5 years' of use.
Now, they've fixed the life on plasma, and LCD technology has come down.
I think people have other ideas, but if the price, resolution, and size are right (and you've seen a sample image so that you know that the picture is what you like) then go for it!

Answer 4

You aren't going to find a plasma with full HD resolution at that size. they just don't exist.

The LCD vs Plasma debate is never ending, but as someone who works in the industry, I'd have to say LCD edges the plasma out by a narrow margin. If you're determined to have 1080p, go for an LCD. The Sharp XD1E range is good, and cheaper than the Toshiba WLT66.

http://www.cramptonandmoore.co.uk/s.do?itemType=1&keywords=xd1e&x=0&y=0

Answer 5

Hi,

There's always been debate about Plasma v LCD. As already said LCD used to be a lot more expensive and the viewing angle was terrible. Plasma's were said to degrade after a couple of years. Most issues with both have been sorted now and for instance Sony is now moving solely towards LCD and away from Plasma.

I'm currently looking at replacing my current TV and am going LCD (42" will do me). That's just my preference.

I could copy and paste information in and rabbit on, but have a read of the links below, I found them quite useful and they helped remove some of the myths, etc...

Non-name brands can have lesser quality technology behind them and suffer more from pixelation. I would stick with a named brand.

HTH

PS Was doing some more research for myself, bonus day at work ;) The second link below goes into more detail on 1080p, 720p and 1080i.

Answer 6

Well, its all a matter of opinion, no one has had a plasma or LCD TV long enough to see when they burn out. I would not buy a name brand TV because they have the same picture quality as an off brand TV for much more.




BJHS

Answer 7

Plasma tv's use around 5 times more electricity than LCD Tvs.

Enjoy your electricity bills. Can cost £1000 a year for lecky if you use plasma tv alot.

Answer 8

its going to be tough to find anything at a decent price in that size, b/c all the competition is at 42" and 50" for plasma.

Answer 9

Try Richer Sounds:

http://www.richersounds.com/

Answer 10

Plan on spending at least 2,000 dollars for a good set. I recommend DLP