[Ninjaneer]

Been researching the past couple of days for a new HDTV (never had one) and I settled the Plasma/LCD debate with myself early on... video games factor into it (360 elite :rocks - so LCD it is! Striving to keep it to a $3000 max before tax.

I was considering the 52" Sharp AQUOS but reports on AVS Forum about the banding worried me. Ultimately I've settled on the Sony Bravia XBR2 46". AVS Forum members have reported some clouding on some models. The 52" is sweet but I can't justify the price increase at the moment... and the piano black XBR3 is just amazing but, again, price difference is unreal for a simple color difference.

I found the XBR3 on Amazon for an awesomely cheap price, even the regular XBR2, but the only problem is I don't think I want to take the risk of any potential hassles if there are problems upon delivery, such as clouding or a bunch of dead pixels. Buying it locally seems safer, albeit more expensive than Amazon.

Here's the breakdown (Best Buy / Circuit City):
46” = $2969 (BB) / $2999 (CC) who will price match of course (it's closer to my place)
46” piano black = $3599
52” = $3599

Newegg.com – 46” = $2749
Newegg.com – 46” piano black = $3199

Amazon.com – 46” = $2748 (and free shipping!)
Amazon.com – 46” piano black = $2799
Amazon.com – 52” = $3299

While the Newegg / Amazon prices look like a steal, they all require S/H costs (except for the XBR2 from Amazon), so it drives it up quiet a bit, along with buying a 2-3yr warranty. *edit: I could get S/H free if I join Amazon Prime I guess...

Has anyone but something this pricey from either places and had probs with replacement? That's the other thing too... I'd need to ship it myself yadda yadda.

Ultimately I've concluded that I'd buy it locally from CC, skimp out on the piano black savings from Amazon, and just be happy with the silver XBR2. The BB/CC sales end this Sat. so I'd have to act quickly.

BTW, we saw an awesome Pioneer 60" Plasma tv at BB, super crisp, slightly better than the 52XBR2, but it was $5499 sooooooooo yeaaaa no

/rant

[Ninjaneer]

Well, I'm sticking to CC. Ordering this particular model online via CC gives an extra 10% off and on top of that I can use Discover's ShopDiscover where CC is a merchant and get an extra 5% cashback bonus

[DasBlitz]

Post pics of what you got.

[Brunotheboxer]

Originally Posted by Ninjaneer

BTW, we saw an awesome Pioneer 60" Plasma tv at BB, super crisp, slightly better than the 52XBR2, but it was $5499 sooooooooo yeaaaa no

/rant

I have the Pioneer Elite and its one sweeeet tv but since you say you are gaming stick to the lcd. The sony is a Top notch machine but check out the new sammy lcd's before you buy. I think they are just as good but a lot less money. With sony you pay for the name more so than on other brands but like i said it is a great set, my dad has two. btw i personally like plasma better than lcd but for gaming dont even consider one.
I almost forgot this one. Check out the Olevia 747 47 inch 1080p lcd. I associate Olevia with budget lcds but this is a premium set featuring silicon optix video processing. In other words its ONE SICK tv, and keep going to AVS, its a great forum.

[Zirenz2006]

Good choice on the LCD for gaming but I would seriously consider Samsung. Their new line of LCD's are amazing. I have a Samsung plasma and it is a great tv. I think you overpay for the Sony name. Also, Samsung manufactures the LCD panels for Sony.

[Ninjaneer]

Originally Posted by DasBlitz

Post pics of what you got.

Will do. I'll have to get it delivered, hopefully early next week if they don't do weekend deliveries. It won't fit in my 335i

Originally Posted by Brunotheboxer

I have the Pioneer Elite and its one sweeeet tv but since you say you are gaming stick to the lcd. The sony is a Top notch machine but check out the new sammy lcd's before you buy. I think they are just as good but a lot less money. With sony you pay for the name more so than on other brands but like i said it is a great set, my dad has two. btw i personally like plasma better than lcd but for gaming dont even consider one.
I almost forgot this one. Check out the Olevia 747 47 inch 1080p lcd. I associate Olevia with budget lcds but this is a premium set featuring silicon optix video processing. In other words its ONE SICK tv, and keep going to AVS, its a great forum.

Thanks for the feedback Bruno! I admit plasmas look great. Their colors seem deeper and warmer while LCDs tend to look brighter. The XBR2 did the best job, imho, out of most of the others I've seen in person. Also you're right about the Samsungs; they compared very closely to the Sony in the store and BB had them right next to each other. I felt that the Sony showed less graininess compared to others and I think, IIRC, the Sony's black contrast and sharpness appealed to me more than the Samsung although they were pretty close. The Sony is a brand name thing indeed (unlike our precious BMWs lol) but for TVs I think they're great... what I absolutely can't stand are Sony Viao laptops - those are total ripoffs!

[Ninjaneer]

Originally Posted by Zirenz2006

Good choice on the LCD for gaming but I would seriously consider Samsung. Their new line of LCD's are amazing. I have a Samsung plasma and it is a great tv. I think you overpay for the Sony name. Also, Samsung manufactures the LCD panels for Sony.

Hmmm now you guys got me wondering. I'll have to check out the Samsung 46" LCD HDTV (LN-T4665F), I think that was the one I saw. It has a game mode lol... but I'll have to pass by and see them next to each other again before deciding.

Oh BTW - just checked - they're currently very close in price on CC's site due to the current sale. Actually, the Sony is $30 cheaper. So given the same price almost, would you guys still go with that Samsung? Or get the Sony? I'll do some research on it on AVS though

*edit: there is a cheaper Samsung 4661F only difference seems to be the ratio is 10K:1 versus the 15K:1 of the pricier 4665F model.

['Cane]

My cousin (in Boston) had his new 50" Pioneer Elite plasma installed while I was visiting last week. It's a $6000 TV but he got it for $2800 at Tweeter Etc. I told him to go buy another if he could the same price (I think he had plans to).

[Luongo]

Some of the XBR2's suffer from "clouding" issues. Basically means "uneven backlighting" or "backlight leaking". It becomes very pronounced when viewing dark scenes indoors with lights turned off. I would buy it locally for easy return or exchange.

[Ninjaneer]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

My cousin (in Boston) had his new 50" Pioneer Elite plasma installed while I was visiting last week. It's a $6000 TV but he got it for $2800 at Tweeter Etc. I told him to go buy another if he could the same price (I think he had plans to).

Awesome deal for an awesome tv

Originally Posted by Luongo

Some of the XBR2's suffer from "clouding" issues. Basically means "uneven backlighting" or "backlight leaking". It becomes very pronounced when viewing dark scenes indoors with lights turned off. I would buy it locally for easy return or exchange.

Yup I bought it through CircuitCity finally and it's getting delivered this morning anytime now I ordered a tv stand for it online too (Target, not an in-store item)... all the local ones didn't appeal to me much and were too pricey.

If it has any clouding / defects I'm gonna demand a replacement. I even asked them about it and they said if it's not a fixable issue, they'll replace it... hopefully they'll do so w/o hassles if any issues exists on my set!

[Ninjaneer]

Well I've had the TV for a week now and it's been great. My family's pretty happy with it and so am I The TV stand finally came in today and I took some pics... I still need to tidy up the wires but here are the pics. I didn't use flash since it would reflect off the screen but the pics don't do the real view justice. The TV is awesome, no clouding, blacks are good, and it's very bright even with the shades open

[uhaulball]

nice TV. i wouldve gone a little bigger, but that is good for a small room environment.

[Ninjaneer]

Originally Posted by uhaulball

nice TV. i wouldve gone a little bigger, but that is good for a small room environment.

Thanks Yea it's perfect for our place now... hopefully next time I'll get the 52" I originally wanted (or bigger)... probably be better things out by "next time"