I am looking to buy the wife one for her birthday. I have been doing research on several websites as well as CircuitCity's as I plan to buy it there. Looking for a 42".

Any suggestions, firsthand experience?

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

My advice is to buy a plasma.

Plasmas have better blacks and truer color than LCD.

Plasmas have better off angle viewing. You get an excellent picture from any chair in the room. LCD's picture fades slightly from the sides or slightly above or below.

Plasmas display fast action perfectly. LCD's suffer from motion blur.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

If you are going to get an LCD, make sure the resolution is 1080p (or better).
I would stick with the better known names.

There was a thread about big screen TV's just a few weeks ago - might wanna search and take a look.

fwiw - I just got a Toshiba Regza 42" for xmas. Damn things gets me in trouble as it mesmerizes me with all this "stuff" I didn't/couldn't notice before; and I stay up later than I ought to.

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Most of our stuff is commercial but we have a few home units and have had the best luck with the Sharp Aqous models as far as picture quality is concerned.

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

For plasma stick to Panasonic which would be my recommendation, if you are only interested in LCD check out Viewsonic or Sharp which are the best among its class in terms of color. Don't bother with SONY as Samsung makes all SONY LCD.

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99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

I went to buy an LCD last year, as I didn't like all I heard about plasma; burn-in, picture smear, high price, ect. But after looking, talking and drooling at Circuit City and Best Buy, I came home with a 42" Hewlett Packard Plasma. It was far better to look at than any of the LCD's that I looked at, and the price diff isn't much anymore. They supposedly have the other issues resolved. Here's hoping.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

I'm not sure about off-axis viewing, but the latest generation of LCDs with the 120hz refresh rate have fixed the problem of motion blur considerably.

I'm buying a Sharp Aquos. Add a Bose Lifestyle V20 surround sound system to that, and you'll have a pretty nice TV! (When I was a kid, I watched a 13" B&W TV)

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I can see a perfect picture from anywhere in the room on my Mom's LCD tv.

Plasma TV's burn huge amounts of energy. You might not like that on your power bill.

I wouldn't buy anything from Circuit City since they fired all their employees and hired new ones at less pay.
BASTARDS!!

Danny

__________________
1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

Another thought on LCD TV's, some of our guys are getting the Olevias and having good luck with them. They go to the local trade show and hit up the sales reps for deals on the demo's when it's time to pack them up and take them home. The units are new at the start of the show so they only have about 20 hrs on them in the end.

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Well, from the reading that I've done. Definitely not a Plasma. With the burn in and power issues and the limited life span no way. Alot of the major manufacturers are starting to abandon them also.

Circuit City has a deal right now on Sharp Aquos LCD TVs. You get a Blu-Ray player with a purchase of a TV. One Sharp TV has 1080p resolution and 3 HDMI inputs. From what I've heard the Sharp is the way to go. Circuit City also has 36 months interest free financing!

Going to buy a TV this week.

__________________
'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

My thoughts exactly. That's a tempting offer.

I don't think the burn in thing is an issue on the newer plasma, but don't know about the power consumption. I've always liked the LCDs better, personally.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I bought a 36" Vizio 1080p LCD two years ago and have no complaints. Except that I wish I went with the 42" (but didn't have room at the time).

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Bought a Toshiba Regza LCD about 3 months ago, 720P. I have no complaints at all. Great picture, no blurring, and I can see it from off angle. The angle thing is not a concern for me, I am either watching TV or not. Unless you have a huge room and sit at a 45 degree angle from the TV, I believe that the off angle viewing is not very important. Besides, if your room is that big, a 42" is too small.

There is a formula for sizing the flat panel, keyed to the size of the room and your normal viewing distance. Big screens don't look so great if you're too close, but you should still go as big as the formula recommends.

The store will probably only show HD content. Try to watch a standard broadcast program, since most TV is still 480i (well at least Comcast is), and see how well the set handles it. My Sony Bravia shows great HD, but some standard broadcasts look like old video tape.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

Powerpig will know, there all over his house.

Personally, I like the Sharp Aquis(sp) followed by the Sony then Panasonic.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL