TV Selection: Two Questions

There are no deals at the Circuit City closeout. You will actually pay less if you wait for a best buy sale....or buy from Amazon or other quality internet seller. In fact most HDTV's are now selling for more at the circuit city closeout than they were at circuit city before the closeout. Don't even bother to go there...you will overpay.

at 12' you want a MINIMUM of 52"....at 9' our 52" is too small for sports or nature programs. You can watch sitcoms and news on anything.

Plasma sets run much hotter than LCD's (heat up the room) if that's a concern. Stick with Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and you'll be OK on 52" LCD's....others are almost as good.

I agree that you will want at least a 52" TV. I have a viewing distance of about 8', and the 52" seems "about right". It could even be a little bigger and I would be perfectly happy. At 12' you won't want anything less than 52".

Michael

Thank you everyone. I think I'll get a 50". Not sure yet about LCD vs. Plasma. Will do a bit more research.
As far as Circuit City, they are ridiculous. I did go just because I was nearby. The parking lot was full. No one was buying a thing. The prices were about 30% higher than Amazon prices. Yes, 10% off full list is what they were offering! Crazy.

One last question. I still hear that Plasma has a short life expectancy. Is that accurate?

No, plasma does not have a "short" life expectancy (unless you consider watching it 24 hrs/day at cranked levels for several years short). Even given that, I still tend to advise against plasma - generally higher electrical costs, noticeable screen-door effect (at least for me, including Panny PX TVs) etc. I do like the Pioneers but prefer more for the money.

Truth in advertising - I bought a Samsung RPTV @ CircuitCity this September (tremendous price, plus picture to match). I spent literally months researching but then the deal popped up out of the blue and I acted. My son bought a Samsung LCD - much better IMO for use as a computer monitor, but the RP still works just fine as a 1080 monitor too (except I see a very slight blurring in the remote corners, but I haven't bothered to do extensive calibration yet). The Samsung 120Hz LCDs are noticeably better than other/lesser refresh LCDs at motion (sports, etc.) to both our eyes. The LGs and some other brands are quite decent, too - but I'm hooked on Samsung now.

As far as the plasmas, don't worry about life expectancy - seriously. Do look closely to see if you're bothered by screen door effect (I could not tolerate 720 plasmas because of the effect). Do your research, and you too can wind up with a spreadsheet that shows many plasmas (well, except for the PZ800U) have up to 3X the annual energy cost of a Samsung LN52A650 (and do your own numbers for the LED source models). That LN52A650 is a very fine unit and highly recommended (and what I'd have gotten if the RPTV number that Labor Day weekend wan not quite so spectacular - thank you coupons & cash-back).

Has anyone actually measured power usage of a plasma set with a watt meter? I have with my 50" Pioneer and an APC power conditioner and it doesn't measure much more than my old 32" CRT. With a DVD on standby, Directv receiver and the Pioneer, set to power save 1, operating it reads between 250-300 VA. My electric bill did go up but that was because I watch so much more moronic TV.

And to the OP, I'd get a 42" model unless you want a cinema experience. It will blend with decor a lot better when turned off. My 2 cents.