I’ve reached the point of information overload on my TV purchase, so I’m hoping you all are willing to help me develop a little clarity about what I should be focusing on. Here’s what I think I know, but I’d really appreciate feedback…
1)Plasma vs. LCD. The Panny ST series seems to be “gold standard” when it comes to excellent picture quality at a good price. I’m salivating over one, and came within an inch of pulling the trigger on a VT60 yesterday when Amazon dropped the prices for the VT60’s under ST60’s. But the nagging worry in my head is that I have small kids (and a wife) who tend not to be careful with things. I had visions of one of them hitting pause on the DVR and walking away for several hours. I tend to be over-obsessive on taking care of my equipment. So, I could see there being family strife in the future about how they are treating the plasma TV, vs. how I think it should be treated. Throw in the bright room performance challenges, and I’m just really questioning whether the better picture is worth it. So at this point, I think I’m sadly resigning myself to LCD. I wish I could talk myself into a plasma, I really do.
2) Edge Lit vs. Back Lit: I don’t care about width, and what little I’ve found seems to indicate that a full back light set is going to have more consistent picture quality. I’m not sure if that’s true or not. It does seem like only the bargain basement TV’s have the full back lit now. I suspect these lower end TV’s also have lower quality panels/processors, but I don’t know that.
3) Local Dimming: Seems to be a nice add, but it’s really only on the higher tier TV’s.
4) Smart/3D: I don’t think I care either way on the Smart features. I’ve got a smart Sony Blu-ray, so I don’t see smart features on a TV doing much for me. 3D is cool, but I’m not seeing it as a must have.
5) “The Panel Lottery”: AVS forums has a lot of talk about “you need to buy this TV in this size” to get the best panel. Usually that’s focused on getting a Sony/Samsung manufactured panel. I’m looking at 60-70” TV’s and it seems like regardless of manufacturer these are third party panels anyway. I’m reluctant to change my TV size just to get a preferred panel, but if I really should I will. It does seem like 65” is an oddball size.
6) 120hz vs. the rest: My understanding is that I want to make sure I get a set that can achieve “true” 120hz, and anything above that’s not really going to do much for me.
Based on the above, I’m considering my options at Costco. I like Costco because of their warranty extension and return policy, but am not 100% committed to buying there. These are all 65” sets and at least 120hz:
Samsung UN65EH6000F (UN65EH6000): $1,100. Non smart TV, limited inputs but I have an AVR so I’m not sure I care. This is a full LED backlit TV, but CNET’s review was ho-hum at best. I’ve not found this TV up and running anywhere.
Samsung UN65F6350AF (UN65F6300): $1,470. Smart TV, edge lit. CNET recommends it, but it seems to be there because they like the TV design and smart features. Picture quality was the worst of their recommended TV’s.
Vizio M651D-A2: $1,650. Smart, 3D, edge lit with local dimming. CNET likes the picture, but the remote is universally reviewed as garbage. That’s a fairly minor deal I think. But for some reason, Vizio decided to make the 65” screen glossy, so you have to go to the 60 or 70 incher for a more matte screen. This could go in a room with windows at some point in its life, so I think I’d prefer the matte. That would take me up to $2,000. When I looked at this at Costco, it seemed to have worse viewing angles than the Samsungs even though it was supposed to be better.
Samsung UN65F7050AF (I think this is close to the UNxxF7100): $1,980. Very similar to the F6300, with the addition of 3D and some Led dimming on the sides that only seems to be useful in letterboxed movies. Not sure I’m going to pay $500 more than the F6300 for that.
I think I’d pick the Vizio, but I’m concerned about the glossy screen issue and potential glare from windows and overhead can lights. And I really don’t want to pony up for the 70 incher. Which leaves me the EH6000 and F6300 – and I really don’t know how to compare their picture quality short of buying one/both and utilizing Costco’s return policy. I’m leaning to the 6300 just because it’s this year’s technology, but I really don’t know if that’s an improvement over last year’s EH6000.
I realize this got way more lengthy than I planned, but would appreciate any input on if there are other factors I should be considering or if there is a clear winner on the list that I’m just not seeing. My head is spinning at this point.
1)Plasma vs. LCD. The Panny ST series seems to be “gold standard” when it comes to excellent picture quality at a good price. I’m salivating over one, and came within an inch of pulling the trigger on a VT60 yesterday when Amazon dropped the prices for the VT60’s under ST60’s. But the nagging worry in my head is that I have small kids (and a wife) who tend not to be careful with things. I had visions of one of them hitting pause on the DVR and walking away for several hours. I tend to be over-obsessive on taking care of my equipment. So, I could see there being family strife in the future about how they are treating the plasma TV, vs. how I think it should be treated. Throw in the bright room performance challenges, and I’m just really questioning whether the better picture is worth it. So at this point, I think I’m sadly resigning myself to LCD. I wish I could talk myself into a plasma, I really do.
2) Edge Lit vs. Back Lit: I don’t care about width, and what little I’ve found seems to indicate that a full back light set is going to have more consistent picture quality. I’m not sure if that’s true or not. It does seem like only the bargain basement TV’s have the full back lit now. I suspect these lower end TV’s also have lower quality panels/processors, but I don’t know that.
3) Local Dimming: Seems to be a nice add, but it’s really only on the higher tier TV’s.
4) Smart/3D: I don’t think I care either way on the Smart features. I’ve got a smart Sony Blu-ray, so I don’t see smart features on a TV doing much for me. 3D is cool, but I’m not seeing it as a must have.
5) “The Panel Lottery”: AVS forums has a lot of talk about “you need to buy this TV in this size” to get the best panel. Usually that’s focused on getting a Sony/Samsung manufactured panel. I’m looking at 60-70” TV’s and it seems like regardless of manufacturer these are third party panels anyway. I’m reluctant to change my TV size just to get a preferred panel, but if I really should I will. It does seem like 65” is an oddball size.
6) 120hz vs. the rest: My understanding is that I want to make sure I get a set that can achieve “true” 120hz, and anything above that’s not really going to do much for me.
Based on the above, I’m considering my options at Costco. I like Costco because of their warranty extension and return policy, but am not 100% committed to buying there. These are all 65” sets and at least 120hz:
Samsung UN65EH6000F (UN65EH6000): $1,100. Non smart TV, limited inputs but I have an AVR so I’m not sure I care. This is a full LED backlit TV, but CNET’s review was ho-hum at best. I’ve not found this TV up and running anywhere.
Samsung UN65F6350AF (UN65F6300): $1,470. Smart TV, edge lit. CNET recommends it, but it seems to be there because they like the TV design and smart features. Picture quality was the worst of their recommended TV’s.
Vizio M651D-A2: $1,650. Smart, 3D, edge lit with local dimming. CNET likes the picture, but the remote is universally reviewed as garbage. That’s a fairly minor deal I think. But for some reason, Vizio decided to make the 65” screen glossy, so you have to go to the 60 or 70 incher for a more matte screen. This could go in a room with windows at some point in its life, so I think I’d prefer the matte. That would take me up to $2,000. When I looked at this at Costco, it seemed to have worse viewing angles than the Samsungs even though it was supposed to be better.
Samsung UN65F7050AF (I think this is close to the UNxxF7100): $1,980. Very similar to the F6300, with the addition of 3D and some Led dimming on the sides that only seems to be useful in letterboxed movies. Not sure I’m going to pay $500 more than the F6300 for that.
I think I’d pick the Vizio, but I’m concerned about the glossy screen issue and potential glare from windows and overhead can lights. And I really don’t want to pony up for the 70 incher. Which leaves me the EH6000 and F6300 – and I really don’t know how to compare their picture quality short of buying one/both and utilizing Costco’s return policy. I’m leaning to the 6300 just because it’s this year’s technology, but I really don’t know if that’s an improvement over last year’s EH6000.
I realize this got way more lengthy than I planned, but would appreciate any input on if there are other factors I should be considering or if there is a clear winner on the list that I’m just not seeing. My head is spinning at this point.
