Comments on: The Pitfalls of Black Friday: What You Should Know

By: travesti

travesti — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:00:37 +0000

Then I saw the Samsung very vibrant and colorful. I immediately put down the cheap tv and decided to spend an extra $200 on my second TV. Absolutely no problems and am very happy with the overall look of the tv, the more expensive brands also Ã¢â‚¬ËœlookÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ nicer, and seem to be built better and more modern. Wow, $600 today could almost get you that 50in 720p tv going around this black friday. No matter what brand that makes a 720p 50in, the picture has to be crap. That is way too big to not have 1080p.

By: Lunasdude

Lunasdude — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:45:08 +0000

@DavidB I often find that your correct, in that stores will more often than not degrade any brand their not interested in selling.
I rarely find that BM stores will take the time to properly calibrate ANY of their sets.
I personally watched a BB employee get quite irate when I ran across a remote to a TV I was interested in (while helping a friend buy a set) and proceeded to change the settings to more closely match the surrounding sets.
HE got real pissed and said that I should not mess with the settings that the sets are “calibrated” to look that way!
I asked him if he really thought a TV is “calibrated” to look bad and that maybe it was just to make sure the higher $$ set next to it looked great!
He said something under his breath and walks away.
I have a Vizio 55″ led backlit TV and believe that this brand is the sleeper of the industry.
Time will tell.

By: DavidB

DavidB — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:15:49 +0000

@Greg:
Your “600Hz plasma” doesn’t need any different cable feeding it than the 120/240Hz LCD’s Guru mentions. All that Hz increasing takes place (as he said) IN THE TV.

@Brett:
Congratulations for falling for an old marketing trick. Make a cheap on sale TV look like crap on the display model that’s right beside a more expensive model, and a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE will go buy the more expensive one (thus more profit for said sellor). Not speaking to the merits of either TV, but if you made your buying decision solely as described, could I interest you in some beautiful Florida waterfront property?

By: Tanya

Tanya — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:29:31 +0000

Thanks for the great info. I’m interested in the self-test surge protectors. I’m not finding anything online that distinguishes them as such. So i’m not sure exactly what i’m looking for. Please point me in the right direction. Thanks so much.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:03:31 +0000

Thank You HD Guru. I failed to mention this in my original post, but I am asking in reference to a TC-P42S1 which I just purchased last night (based on your review, of course…thanks!). Does any of the advice you gave me change with acknowledgement that this is a 600Hz plasma? I assume the original question you answered in this article was in reference to 120Hz/240Hz LCD HDTVs.

Please correct me/clarify if I am wrong.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:51:17 +0000

I’m still not clear on the HDMI cable issue. In fact, it’s the most confusing part of this entry for me. If I get a blu-ray for x-mas, will the amazon cable you linked to suffice? If not, what specs should I look for when getting an HDMI cable for a blu-ray hookup?

I got the impression that you’re saying the amazon HDMI cables would suffice for most circumstances, with the exception of blu-ray.

Can anyone help?

Every 2 meter HDMI cable I have used over the years functioned perfectly with all sources and all signals up to and including Blu-ray 1080p/60.

Long length cables require heavier gauge wires to pass the signal. I have never tested long length cables so I can not vouch for one brand over another. However, if you have a picture that is clear and continuous (no black outs) than the cable you chose is perfect.

Bottom line, you do not have to spend big bucks to get perfectly good HDMI cables. Don’t spend $50 or more on a 2 meter HDMI cable, buy one on Amazon for far less, it will provide perfect results.

HD Guru

By: Philip

Philip — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:33:14 +0000

Bought a 42″ Westinghouse in 2007 for $800, which means it was around half as much as the next lcd tv.

Even though image is not as good as that of some more expensive brands it is still more than good enough for anyone not watching a black and white david lynch movie and the tv itself has been trouble-free.

By: Jigolo

Jigolo — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:11:21 +0000

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By: Online Full Free

Online Full Free — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:10:36 +0000

You mention a few blu-ray players which are/arenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t good deals on black Friday. but one you left out was the Insignia blu-ray player at best buy for $99 with 1 movie. How does this rank. It has netflix streaming (and thus an ethernet port).

By: Jigolo

Jigolo — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:33:24 +0000

Does anyone ever take into consideration how much electricity it takes to power these TVs? At least the Westinghouse model states that it is 20% more efficient than Energy Star 3.0 standards.