Zenith TV's

[Plantman]

These guys used to be real popular back in the day.

I went to a circuit city the other day and saw a 50" Flat panel lcd for 1500.00.

IS that insane or what?

It was HDTV and the picture was not all that different from the others.

Thoughts?

[raymr]

I read some reviews that gave it good marks, especially considering the price. Some say its really a rebranded LG product. What is LG anyway?

[Hammertime]

Now this is an area I know a little about...I provide services to the factories where they build this stuff worldwide.... First off $1500 for a 50" LCD is impossible...unless it is a floor model or something...Its probably a HDTV Plasma not LCD...In the past the plasmas got a bad name because they run off a charged gas that leaves burns into the screen element so that little logo for like CBS or FOX would permanently be emblazed into the element forever. Subsequentially the life span for a Plasma is a lot shorter than a LCD. A LCD is basically a BIG computer screen much like the flat screens sold today with computer systems. In fact you could hook your computer up to your LCD and have a large computer monitor if you wanted. For a 50" LCD you are looking around 4-8K usd...but the holidays are coming so expect some bargains to surface. The HDTV thing...well that is an input signal. If you do not have digital cable or a direct TV dish you just will not see the picture as intended. You will know this if you have much better sound and picture through a DVD rather than your TV. Since plasmas introduction the MFR's have addressed the burn in problems and now TI makes a chip that works with tiny microscopic mirrors embedded within their chips so you have the same nice pic but no burn in...If you find a plasma with this technology in it they (the MFR) will offer you a burn in warranty against this problem...I believe Magnavox and RCA offer this to the consumer..... good luck...

Last thing...LG is Lucky Goldstar the Consumer branch of Goldstar and they are the top in LCD technology right after Philips right now. They build everything from toasters to washing machines to TV's to cellphones...They are Korean but as it stands they are no truly american companies building this technology..

[Dee8go]

I've been looking at these TV's for about a year now, and the 720's are dropping like flies as the 1080's (resolution) come out. I suppose the ramping up of demand and production is causing the cost of manufacturing to drop. Whatever the reason, they are really getting affordable.

I hardly ever watch TV, but I jonsin' for a nice 50" LCD TV with surround sound. Crazy, I know, but MAN-O-MAN! are they ever cool-looking!

[John Doe]

I was waiting for takeout at a mexican restaraunt yesterday and sitting at the bar. They had a Zenith flatscreen (plasma, lcd, I don't know) hanging on the wall and gave me the remote. This one was wired to cable, but from handling the remote and sitting about 6 feet away, it seemed very cheap and the picture looked like crap compared to the Panasonic, Sharp and Sony I have ended up with at home.

My new best friend when researching these things is cnet.com. Good reviews and I don't think they are beholden to anyone.

[G-Benz]

Note that prices have gone down dramatically because plasma and LCD technology is now mainstream. Philips pretty much developed plasma and ate the R&D costs (or at least the schmucks that purchased the first generation $10K displays).

The lore regarding plasma burnout is pretty much that. 1st gen plasmas did have those issues, but considering the price point, the statistical ownership sample consisted of businesses that ran them 24/7...equivalent to a 12-year lifespan in an average household.

The 2nd and 3rd gen technology incorporated software that employs more efficient use of the lamps. They are touted as having a 60,00 hr lifespan versus the 30,000 from the 1st gen sets. Again, this works out to about an 18-year lifespan for an average household set...how many early electron gun tubes went THAT long?

LCDs are less pricey than PC monitors of like size, but LCD resolution is still not up to par for PC use. Still it is a good alternative if you have the need for a dual purpose monitor, and don't need the resolution demands of some PC software...