It's An LG 1080P 240Htz 55" LED LCD HDTV

[Adamski]

Guys,

After 4 weeks of research, investigation, education and consulting the great Wizzard of Budget & Finance; I finally broke down and bought a new TV for the living room. Come follow me now as I walk you through a TV purchase in today's world.

Week 1:
I learned that LED does not mean the TV's display works via Light Emitting Diodes. It does mean that the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is backlit with highly efficient LEDs rather the the old flourescent light system which was last year's hot LCD technology.

Week 2:
I learned that LCD TVs originally came out in 60 htz. These 60 htz TVs were blurry whenever high speed motion was displayed so then they came out with 120 htz TVs. These 120 htz TVs were much better for motion but apparently still not good enough because this year they came out with 240 htz TVs. Basically, the higher the htz the more it hurts your wallet.

Week 3:
I learned about glare. Some brands of LED LCD TVs have glass screens that allow a lot of glare just like the old picture tube TVs had. Whatever was outside your living room window could be seen in the TV's screen. However, some brands of LED LCD TVs have coated, plastic screens that substantially reduce glare. These brands are good for living rooms with a wall of windows like mine has.

Week 4:
I learned that it's very costly and complicated to install today's TV systems. I call it a "system" because I now have a 55" TV, a Receiver/DVR, a BlueRay disc player and a set of Bose speakers all neatly mounted on a rotating stand. Components are connected with HDMI and Fiber Optic cables. It requires programming. It requires someone who knows how to put it all together and is highly paid for doing so.

Week 5:
I hope I haven't turned anyone off from buying a new TV yet because now we're getting to the fun part. My wife and I now sit just 8 feet away from our huge 55" picture and watch Good Morning America. So, this morning she turned to me and said, "Diane Sawyer sure looks older now". You see, we now see a lot more than we could see on our old 37" tube TV. We now see wrinkles, baggy eyes, thinning hair and stained shirts ... all in wonderful High Definition.

[pressandclean]

Larry, did you forget to feed your laundromat security cameras to your TV?

[Adamski]

Larry, did you forget to feed your laundromat security cameras to your TV?

Mike,

No. I was going to do that until I figured out it would cost me another $650 plus I'd then have another computer that I would have to keep updated and virus free. Besides, I need the exercise of walking upstairs to our World Headquarters to view the cams on the office computer. It was a thought though. Maybe someday.

[BCW]

That's very cool, Larry. I went nuts last year and dropped about 15 grand on my 7.1 system. Pioneer quit mfg. Kuros Plasmas, so I grabbed one. Then it just snowballed from there. What the heck, you only go around once! Enjoy. Let me know if you have any questions on equip. or accessories.

Tom

[Bluestreak]

Wow! 15K to watch television? I guess we all got our weaknesses. :-)

We also got a new set this year. I chose a Sony Bravia Eco series in the 40" variety. I'm kinda power conscious at home since we're off grid. Anyway, this thing uses way less power than our old 32" LCD! I have seen it pulling only 75W in a darkened room.

[Duane]

Last year I remodeled our outdated 13 year old home theater. Now it as a 48" LCD 120hz (never blurry) along with two 22" LCD TVs on each side.

Went with a 48" because the room is only 12x12 and anything larger was too big and didn't look good when sitting that close - needed to constantly move your head back and forth.

For comfort we have 4 in-line recliners with transducers attached. Now when I play HALO with my daughters you can feel the rocket launcher's impact under your butt.

It sure is nice to watch the main TV and have the other two on different channels too. Beats picture in a picture. I can watch my store video in the theater, but rarely do.

Duane.

P.S. If you are looking to buy a TV just go out and by a mid to upper range model. And once you buy don't look back, the technology is constantly changing and in 6 months your TV will be out of date anyways. Just buy it now and enjoy it.

[merlin3]

Duane,

What are you feeding the signal to the other televisions with?

[BCW]

Wow! 15K to watch television? I guess we all got our weaknesses. :-)

We also got a new set this year. I chose a Sony Bravia Eco series in the 40" variety. I'm kinda power conscious at home since we're off grid. Anyway, this thing uses way less power than our old 32" LCD! I have seen it pulling only 75W in a darkened room.

I was holding back, Dave. lol

[surfflite]

Heck, and I'm just trying to figure out the proper tin foil configuration for my rabbit ears. :)

[Howard]

OK Duane I will bite, why a pair of smaller tv's next to the big one?

I have some big space, so I don't need the newest flatest TV, just the biggest. We had an old rear projection HD Mitsubishi 65" TV in the family room. Two years ago I replaced that with a 65" Mitsubishi HD DLP TV. The plan was to put the old big one in the kids' rec room where there was a 50" TV - but it was just too big and heavy, so it ended up going in my bedroom.

[STOUT]

Remember bigger is always better.
Except in Government and satellite dishes.

[Duane]

Merlin - Just cable split with a three way.....

Howard - While playing video games with the family we can also watch a couple of other TV shows or a movie. Plus it gives me an edge with my girls when they get distracted with one of the shows playing. I can then hit them with a rocket launcher.....

Duane.

[BCW]

They make tv's now with 3 and 4 hdmi ports. Lot's of room for expansion equip.

Tom

[Sudds]

This is a great thread! Thanks for the posts. I am and have been an audio video enthusiast for a very long time.

All I can say is I love my 60" LCD HDTV and surround sound in my living room. I especially enjoy it even more when I watch the NFL playoffs or the Lakers play on NBATV in HD. :-)

When my girl is busy watching something else on the 60", I can always retreat into the bedroom and peep out the 55" in our bedroom. It's all good because my Xbox 360 is hooked up to that surround sound and all. Life is good. :-)

Next on the list? I picked up a 42" LG LCD tv for the mat just yesterday (the price was too good to pass up). I hope to have that hooked up and running at the mat in time for the big game. :-)

[merlin3]

Merlin - Just cable split with a three way.....
Duane.


So you have to subscribe to three cable boxes then?

[Duane]

No cable boxes needed. We usually only use the large TV for movies or video games that are high def. The two smaller TVs are just hooked up to cable for watching TV.

Its more of a game/theater room than a room for watching TV.

Last night we were playing Halo and our Xbox went 3rrod (3 red rings of death). I now need to tear it apart and fix it. Of course I was winning before it went down.

Duane.

[Remo]

I replaced HD projection with 56" Samsung LCD. First thing I noticed was lots of wrinkles from local news lady who I thought beautiful. Not any more..
But surely I enjoyed NFL games in HD.

Guys,

After 4 weeks of research, investigation, education and consulting the great Wizzard of Budget & Finance; I finally broke down and bought a new TV for the living room. Come follow me now as I walk you through a TV purchase in today's world.

[deleted]

Week 5:
I hope I haven't turned anyone off from buying a new TV yet because now we're getting to the fun part. My wife and I now sit just 8 feet away from our huge 55" picture and watch Good Morning America. So, this morning she turned to me and said, "Diane Sawyer sure looks older now". You see, we now see a lot more than we could see on our old 37" tube TV. We now see wrinkles, baggy eyes, thinning hair and stained shirts ... all in wonderful High Definition.

[Adamski]

Guys,

I have to say, we really enjoyed watching the Daytona 500 yesterday on the new 55" TV. In fact, almost everything we watch is much better now.

We bought this TV on Best Buy's "No interest for 3 years" plan. I thought as long as they want to let me use their money to buy it, why not? I've already made one payment for a whole $30 as required by the contract. I quickly surmised that $30/month will not pay off my $2,900 balance in 36 payments though. In fact, it will take about $85/month to arrive at a zero balance near the end. So that's what I plan to pay each month.

Apparently their scheme is have the customer pay about 1/3rd of what it would take to pay off the contract in the required 36 months. That means about 2/3rds of the contract would be due at the time of the 36th payment. Can't pay that whole amount in one month? No problem. They'll be glad to let it slide with just a small minimum payment but you'll immediately be charged the 3 years of back interest on your "no interest" contract for not fulfilling the contract according to the terms.

So this is just a heads up for anyone who has never used "no interest" financing before. These contracts always require that you pay off the balance in full by the end of the term or your no interest contract will turn into a high interest contract before your next payment is due. Always plan to pay off your balance due within the term to get the full advantage of "no interest" financing. Don't assume that if you make the suggested payment, the contract will zero out at the end of the term. Those days are long gone.

[STOUT]

Its like the old saying says:

"thems that understands interest collects it.
thems that don'ts understands interest pays it."