The World is Flat!

I've been on a mission of sorts lately to purchase a new flat panel TV.  Yes, I've finally decided to jump on the High Definition super highway only to find the road not so smooth.  I remember, with fond longing, an easier, ... happier, time when you could go into your local mega electronics showroom and buy a 52" Rear Projector TV for $1,200 or so and be very happy.   Strong brand name, 30 minutes of your time and  I could see  Buffy kick butt at 8 pm in big screen splendor. 

Well far be it for me to shout at the wind, but the cost and complexity of this new upgrade is bordering on the absurd.  Here is my critical features ranking.

Note:  Budget of $3,000 for the TV and over 50" in size.  Must be high def with a minimum of 1080i.  Brands bubbling to the top:   Panasonic (58" Plasma), Sony (60" XBR2 LCD Rear, 52" XBR2 LCD Flat), Sharp (52" Flat LCD), Vizio (60 inch Plasma)

The issue is that none of the technologies is perfect for the price.  Plasma has burn-in issues, reflective glass issues and very expensive 1080p costs.  Flat LCDs still have a little motion blur and are very expensive to get into larger than 52" sizes.  Rear LCDs are evolving from DLP technology to LCoS technologies and neither is very bright and both still take up a lot of space and burn through picture tubes at $200+ plus labor per pop.  In my case, I love the look of the 60" XBR2 Rear LCD from Sony but try as I might, I can't fit the 66" wide beast into my living room.  The smaller sizes in that model look much different and far less sexy as to eliminate them from consideration.

Furthermore, where do you buy the TV from makes an increasingly huge difference.  Best Buy has the Sony XBR2 Flat LCD on sale fro roughly $4,700 far out of the range for this discussion, however, there are several online only stores selling new, US, non-gray market Sony XBR2 Flat LCD (same model) for  a little over $3K.  That's a huge difference and giant incentive to chance a bad online buying experience.  Although not in the matrix above, where I buy the TV from is a major consideration point and not evenly distributed across TV types.  Flat LCDs and Plasmas are much cheaper online relative to offline purchase price than rear LCD models.

If that wasn't enough, there is the looming specter that every computer buyer faces.  What's coming up tomorrow?  In 6 months will 1080p be much cheaper than it is now for Plasma?  Will LCD 1080p costs go down and larger 55-60 inch models appear?  Will Vizio back up its 60 inch plasma at 1080i for under $2,700 with a 1080p model later in the year at a higher yet reasonable cost?  Finally, are we all crazy to even be talking about TVs at the $3K+ range when in 2 years these TVs will be $1K like older 720p sets are?

Finally, like every good car repair bill, its the ancillary charges that kill you.

Here is the wish list to date:

Direct TV HD with DVR:  $200  + $10 per month  - My non- HD tuner with DVR now finds its way into the den and by all reviews' sake, I'm forced to purchase a much inferior HD model that now functions differently that its Tivo inspired predecessor

www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000K6EQNG/sr=8-5/qid=1173379481/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/002-7905757-9269655.

Wall mounting brackets for LCD or Plasma $100 - $300 depending on whether swivel and extension arms are needed.  Add another $300 for installation, set-up and audio alignment if you can't do it yourself.

55-60" base for audio and video components regardless of Flat LCD, Plasma or Rear LCD purchase.  Cost is anywhere from $300 to $1,000 with a self-assembly Bush $300 base being the one that seems to fit my needs.

New DVD player - $300 - $1,000.  Not sure that many of you know this but most 1+ year old DVD players don't push out 1080i and don't use HDMI cables to optimize signal transfer.  New 1080i, HDMI, players may cost $200 with more desired 1080p Blue Ray or HD DVD players clocking in at close to a grand.  If you are a gamer, then buy the new PS3 and get a blue ray player built-in to it for $600 total.

In conclusion,  buyer beware, buyer be sane and buyer be informed that $3K gets you into the discussion but $4K makes the discussion a reality.  Hopefully one day, I'll be editing this blog on my new HD TV.

Let me know what you think!

Problem not solved? Ask a Zolved Guru... Friend needs help? Try Zolved Remote Control... rate the article del.icio.us   stumble print