Time for a new TV. Need advice for a mini theater set up.

[AlaskaB16]

Alright, so we're starting to clear out our basement now to build a second living space and have decided it's time to upgrade our TV situation. We've had the same 46" Samsung "flat" panel TV now since 07 and it's been awesome. Other than replacing all the capacitors twice, it's been pretty solid. Good picture (not compared to today's standards, but ok for me) but i'm looking for something new now. At the time, it was the best you could get.

So, here's the requirements I guess. Trying to stay in the 60" range for a nice fit with out moving it to a new spot in the room. Not sure yet if I sold on the 3D thing... The solid thick glasses don't like my face. I know times have changed so if anyone has experience with some quality glasses, let me know. My wife is more against it than I am. Hoping to not spend more than $1250 ish. I don't even mind buying used off Craigslist to get a better deal. We're also interested in a theater speaker system. Nothing crazy here. Maybe $500-$750 range?? A SMART tv might be nice too. We FINALLY got iPads a couple weeks ago. Ipad 4 and a mini. Apple TV worth it? We use Skype and facetime nearly every day though i'm not so sure we'd use either on the TV.

Lets see... what else... Not a gamer, but LOVE me some sports. Not sure if that helps.


Any suggestions??

 

[joe7987]

I personally cannot stand behind Vizio enough. I LOVE the Vizio brand. They're well-priced and built solidly.

In terms of the 3D, I would recommend going passive (often marketed as "theater") 3D, if you go 3D at all. There's not going to be as much of a difference / any noticeable difference between passive and active 3D. The big selling point is that passive 3D is that the glasses are dirt cheap. In fact, they're free if you go see a 3D movie at the theaters and keep the glasses. I've got about 10 pairs. I didn't pay for a single one of them.

I personally have a 42" Vizio Internet Theater 3D TV. This thing has fallen off of my TV stand onto the floor and continues to function just fine. It looks great and I paid way less than any of the big name brands. We have a 32" Sony, too. The image quality is comparable.

 

[92lseg]

My Visio is going on 5 years old, and still works great, never had an issue..

It's been moved to 4-5 different houses

Used as a computer monitor and left on for days, not one problem

 

[AlaskaB16]

I may have to do more research on the passive/active 3D I guess. I've never watched a full movie in 3D before except at Disney land (Anyone remember Captain EO from the 80's/90's? with MJ) Do they make prescription 3D style? My wife wears glasses (although she just got a pair of contacts yesterday she says have been great) so that was her biggest gripe. One thing I noticed is that they make TV's that can switch between 3D and normal. Is the quality there yet for this sort of thing? I don't want to be in on the ground floor of technology if it's just going to advance the following week.

 

[joe7987]

I'm not sure what you mean by switch between 3D and normal.
-If you mean that you can watch 2D TV and 3D TV:
All 3DTVs do that.

-If you mean that you can convert 2D TV to 3D TV:
I did a lot of research on this when I was buying my TV, but this was several years back (when I was a richer man. ). My understanding is that this is hit or miss depending on the specific scene being converted, but that it's generally fairly decent. You'll pay a decent amount for this feature on your TV, though.

 

[AlaskaB16]

I guess I don't really know what the hell I mean.. ha! I was looking at a 3D TV that had a little tag on the side of it that said it could be "normal" when you wanted it to (I'm sure it didn't say exactly that). I took that as meaning you could watch normal HD channels and then switch to watching 3D?? Although now that I think about it, why the hell would anyone buy a TV that could ONLY do 3D? Would that also mean your DVD player could do both 3D and "other"?

... I've been out of the game for so long on home electronics

 

[joe7987]

lol it's no problem. Yea, there are no "only 3D" TVs or Blu Ray players that I know of, but some of them can convert 2D to 3D. That's probably what you're seeing. This is useful because there aren't many 3D channels available with most cable companies. Even then, they'll charge you a monthly fee to get those 3D channels. At the moment, 3DTVs are best used for movies and video games, due to a lack of TV channel support.

 

[stcopley]

Vizio is a good solid brand that I stay behind but I would never get one for my main living room tv. I stick behind Samsung and sharp all the way. I have a 50" Samsung plasma that's about 5years old in my room and the picture is still as good as my new TVs. I do love my new 2013 model sharp 60" LED smart TV. Best picture IMO with stuff like Netflix etc...it was around $1200 new I believe. I need to upgrade my sound system, but just go to a store and test them out.

 

[AlaskaB16]

^^ So for you, what's the difference between your main and other TV's? For us, we're leaving the old samsung upstairs and will continue to use it as a "what ever TV". Maybe watch some old DVD's, kids shows, news... For the TV downstairs, we're thinking it won't be on all the time. More of a movie tv that we may use as a main TV some day if we decide to bring it with us the next time we move (as opposed to selling everything we own cause moving blows so hard).

 

[XpL0d3r]

Had a Vizio.. lasted less than three years; the backlight on the left side "died". It flickers on and off, but usually stays on after it warms up 20-30 minutes later.

 

[Blayze2010]

I got a 60" vizio LCD smart tv for $600 on Black Friday It's a great tv


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[stcopley]

^^ So for you, what's the difference between your main and other TV's? For us, we're leaving the old samsung upstairs and will continue to use it as a "what ever TV". Maybe watch some old DVD's, kids shows, news... For the TV downstairs, we're thinking it won't be on all the time. More of a movie tv that we may use as a main TV some day if we decide to bring it with us the next time we move (as opposed to selling everything we own cause moving blows so hard).

I have my 60" in the living room for everyone. Used for movies and sports mainly other than just TV. That's the main TV.

The other ones are both the bedroom tv's. Just the older ones that have been upgraded over time. Over the past 7 years or so.
I've had no problems with either Samsung and the sharp is amazing picture right now. I've had 3 different vizios and minor problems with all over time. 2 HDMI ports went out. And the third the sound went out. Great for the price but still cheaper parts. I believe they are sonys side brand.

 

[young_]

Y'all got some big tv's! Mine's a 42" and I thought that was big.

 

[AlaskaB16]

Maybe I should put the new 60" as the main TV and run the downstairs with my older set up.. Since so many of you guys are repn' Vizio, I'm going to have to check into them. I never really considered that brand. Always thought it was a knock off of something. Learn something new every day!

 

[stcopley]

Maybe I should put the new 60" as the main TV and run the downstairs with my older set up.. Since so many of you guys are repn' Vizio, I'm going to have to check into them. I never really considered that brand. Always thought it was a knock off of something. Learn something new every day!

I would look into them, but like I said. I've had 3 and still have 2 with continuous minor problems. I haven't had a problem with Samsung or sharp yet. And the Samsung is 5-7 years old now and still competes with TVs today. Toshiba is another solid brand.

 

[Puma]

I'm a die hard LG and Samsung fan. For 5 years I had a 42" LG LCD and loved it. We upgraded at Christmas to a 55" Samsung LED and it's unreal. We almost got the 3d Internet tv, but we could already hook up our laptops to the old tv, and 3d would be cool only at first for us.

Are you wanting to upgrade audio too?

Sent from my Note 2

 

[TokyoSkies]

Vizio was a brand that was contracted by Circuit City back in the day. When they folded, Costco and Wal-Mart picked them up. Now they're pretty much everywhere. They're not the greatest TV's, but not terrible. I have a 55" LG LED 1080p 120hz TV, and love it to death. We got it super cheap due to my roommate working for Best Buy, but even before his discount, it was $950 or so.
As far as 3D goes, you either love it, or couldn't care less. I'm on the latter end of that. It's not a selling point, and not something I focus on in the slightest, as it's more or less a gimmick. Go to a Best Buy if you can, and test out the 3D. Also, something to think about (although the price is absolutely mind-raping), there are 4K TVs out now, which have insane picture. They're like $5k for a 60", though
Home theater, it depends on the size of your living room, how your furniture is set up, and what you're going for. Want a simple, out-of-the-box set up? Go with an Onkyo 5.1 or 7.1 (if you have a massive living room). They range from $399 for their lower-end, to $999 for their highest home-theater-in-a-box setup. I paid $549 for mine, and it's a middle of the line 5.1. The head unit is decent, but could be better. It sound ridiculous, and has true HDMI pass-through, meaning I get true 5.1 sound, true 1080p, and true 120hz clarity. It's also easy to set up, and compatible with 90% of universal remotes (including your cable/satellite provided remote!). Hope that helped!

 

[young_]

So... What did you decide?

 

[AlaskaB16]

Ugh... I'm so indecisive. There's just so many options! I was hoping to find something I wanted on craigslist but haven't found anything worth checking out yet. I also see that ESPN is pulling out on there 3D tv channel which led to a story about how less than 10% (or what ever it was. Small) of people view 3D tv as any more than just a novelty with the vast majority of people preferring to watching movies in "normal" D. It went on to say that the 3D tv's would all but die out in the very near future unless they could figure out a way to do it with out glasses which is why so many people hate it. So ok, if I don't need a TV that has 3D features, then I guess that leaves room for money spent on a normal tv. Do any of you guys use apple TV? It's my understanding (haven't done much research) that it basically allows you to connect your iwhatever to the TV? That would be a nice feature. I signed up for amazonprime because of all the movies they have (I don't get faster shipping to AK anyway so that feature of prime doesn't affect me) so watching them from the ipad to the smart TV would be sweet..


... As you can see. I'm lost

 

[young_]

When I was in the market I just chose high stat (1080p HDTV, LED, 120 hz refresh rate, etc). But all I wanted my tv for was video games and plain old television. I was looking for a Visio but all my local stores were out so I settled with an insignia 42". (Best buy brand) I have no complaints. I'm sure there are better tv's but this one suits my needs well.