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Help with a new TV please

Hi everyone,
This is pretty new territory for me, my current version of "home theatre" is a 27" Panasonic tv. That's about to change however, the girlfriend and I are about to close on a new condo, our first as homeowners, and we are downsizing, not unexpectedly. To maximize space we thought a thin, wall mountable tv would be just the ticket, plasma or lcd. Then a thought crossed my mind, what about a projector? So I ask the experts out there, what is our best bet? This is for everyday tv and occasional movie watching. We want hdtv and we want longterm reliability is such a thing exists. Our total budget is $2500 hopefully that buys us a nice tv. Since my current set cost a cool $300 I figure something nice is out there. Our budget should include either wall or ceiling mounting as well as calibration. I eagerly await your advice.
Thanks,
Jon
128x128jond
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Hi Jon- Unfortuately, its going to be pretty tough to do on that budget. Calibration alone will eat up more than 10% of that, I would guess. Wall mount bracket for a typical plasma goes $2-400. For best bang for buck right now, I would say DLP. You will NOT get an HDTV plasma for that; even EDTV (480p) which executed right, is a very good picture, will be right up to your limit if not over. DLP is not quite wall-mountable, but about 12-16" thick, depending on model. If you can find the space, an HD-RPTV will give you very good PQ at a relatively modest cost (under $2K, giving you $ for calibration. Sorry. Also check out avsforum.com; those guys really know their stuff.
reubent
7,037 posts
 
Jon,

I don't think you are going to be able to do this considering your budget. However, if you can spend a bit more, you can do pretty well.

Personally, I had a similar space vs. picture quality dilemma and I chose the EDTV 42" Panasonic Plasma. I paid $2400 from a local B&M store and I consider it a bargain considering its excellent picture quality, SD tuner, HD tuner, digital cable tuner, cablecard tuner and built-in speakers.

If you can live with a 37" unit, you can save a couple of hundred over the 42" price.

BTW, if you shop hard, you can get a Sanus wall mount for a bit over $100 (I did). I have not sprung for calibration as the PQ is good enough for me out of the box and I don't want to invest another 16% (approx. $400) for calibration when I'm happy enough without it.

Enjoy,

TIC
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
TIC- Sounds like you got a pretty good deal, and if space is a premium (it is in my den), then the wall mount plasma is an unbeatable solution. And I used an ED (=480p) CRT TV for a few years before getting the plasma. The key is to have a good input signal. Garbage in = garbage out, especially with a high resolution transducer, like a TV display or speaker
jond's avatar
jond OP
5,857 posts
 
Ok guys I'm beginning to get the picture, pardon the pun. How about this plan, spend the $2500 on the set and wall mounting and save the calibration for later down the road. The thing is space is really at a premium but I figure we might as well max out with a great set now rather than get an interim solution, even if we have to wait to get it calibrated. Also I'm guessing from the responses that a projector is a non-starter?
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