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Help with a new TV.

Hi everbody,
The girlfriend and I close on our new and smaller condo the 15th of this month. Because it's smaller it has been decided that a wall-mountable, flat panel tv is going to be necessary to make the living room livable. Needless to say, I am all for this, and after a fair amount of research have decided on the following set, keeping in mind our budget is $2500 plus installation. The set in question is the Sharp Aquos 32" LCD HDTV. The picture quality and sound are both excellent, it is fully equipped with all the necessary ins and outs, and seems to have a very good rep for reliability. Sharp says the estimated lifespan is 60,000 hours, at a very high 5 hours per day that means it would last almost 33 years, more than sufficient. Given our budget are we making a wise choice, please keeping in mind we have space constraints that preclude and DLP set. Any alternate ideas would be very much appreciated as would support for the Sharp. Thanks.
128x128jond
semi
649 posts
 
And according to Fujitsu, plasma has less chances of burn in than LCD. Contrary to popular belief, LCD also has burn in issue. If you "tweak" your plasma using Fujitsu's trick, you can minimize burn in on plasma.

AVS Forum has tons of info, but best gauge is your own eyes (like your own ears for stereo).
jond's avatar
jond OP
5,846 posts
 
You guys almost have me convinced, Circuit City is advertising a 43" Panasonic EDTV Plasma for $1799.00 that's looking more and more like a buy. We've decided against the Sharp because the "hidden costs" seemed to escalate, $400 installation, $250 for the wall mount, suddenly a $2500 tv is $3150. Which brings me to a question, CC wants $400 for the installation and $250 to purchase the actual wall-mount bracket. This seems almost exorbitant, how much of it is really necessary? How much of it could we do ourselves, keeping in mind we are neither strong nor particularly handy? Thanks.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Semi- What's the Fujitsu "trick"?
Jond- You can find a bracket for way less than $250.00, but I would be VERY cautious before trying to do an install on a fragile and heavy item like that. The problem will be how to get someone to install the set if they did't sell it to you, etc. AT $1800 plus $650, you are still under budget. If there is a Tweeter nearby, see if they can beat the installed price. And see the CityAdvantage thread re: extended warranties, esp. thru CC.
semi
649 posts
 
Run a white screen at max brightness for a while, I don't recall exactly how long, but if memory served right it was 30 minutes. Basically, you "pre" burn the screen a little to avoid burn in later on. Others have concurred to the trick, but I haven't done that to my NEC. I don't play video game or use the PDP for computer, so chances of burn in is less.
markphd
667 posts
 
Pardon my ignorance here, but what does this $400 installation cost get you? For me, installation means I grab one end, my wife grabs the other end and we lift it on to a stand. I then plug it in and play with the buttons while my wife asks me how much it cost and how are we going to pay for it!

Wall mounts are incredibly expensive for what they are. The margin must be huge. I'll bet some manufacturers make more money on the stand/wall mount than they do on the TV.
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