so my 30 year old tv got fried couple nights ago when lightning hit

so time to move into the the new age!

looking into getting a tv ~42 inches (the space is limited to that)

but have no clue where to even start, there is so much crap and some places say its important and others say it isnt etc..


plasma or lcd?
does refresh rate matter?
probably want at least 3 hdmi ports?

any other relevant things to consider?



Help me out JSP techies!!

Thanks

Some useful information:

The tv is in a living room with lots windows and limited blinds, so there is a lot of daylight.
The tv viewing will be about 40% daytime 60% night
mostly for watching movies.
most the channels will be SD, probaly will be getting Dish before long, but at this point its just SD.
dont need the top of the line, but prefer something mid range, spending no more than $1200
mulitple viewing angles, but mostly straight on ~9 feet away

Well id say plasma is a nono. LCD is the more avg tv to get or if you want just a little bit better qual. LED. LED to me is just the backlighting of the tv were you dont see the bit of white at the top and bottom of the screen. Id go LCD. Look into Vizio's

thanks, got one ordered

vizio 42" lcd with 3d, wifi, 240hz, 2x 3d glasses

ended up going to some stores and was looking at the tv's at walmart and some older guy rolls up in one of those electric chairs they have for fatties and handicap people and he starts givin me all this in-depth analysis of the tvs, he doesnt even work there, just used to do tv's and is a big videophile now.
so was able to help me sort out the bs from what actually matters.

did some more shopping and decided what was the best bang for the buck and what would fit my needs best

Ya, Vizio's are very good quality and a great tv. Good choice.

as i look at my 42" plasma i think to myself. picture// colors are typically better on the new plasmas and they dont face the same problem they did what 10 years ago when they first came out? also the refresh rate was 10x more on this bitch then the lcd i was lookin at it. suggestion, go to best buy and ask them they dont make comission so they arent trying to sell you that hard for some shit you dont want.

From everything that I have read and comments etc about tv's. Plasmas crack more times than not when you try to mount on a wall. They are much more heavy than a lcd. Lcd's last longer. Thats just the stuff that ive read and what people say. There could be exceptions maybe for a diff kind of plasma idk. But personally me and majority go with lcd's.

Hit by lightning?! oh wow haha that is old not much metal in them these days.
Btw a 42 inch i have just what you need a toshiba hdmi very inexpensive about 200$, it has TONS of av plugs hd plugs for xbox/ps3 (even the hdmi chip slot for the ps3) its stacked beautifull color and is very easy to program, But the remote gl on losing it haha.
All in all pretty bundled inexpensive tv, Hope this helps, OH ya can even plug your computer into it in 4 different ways. It's NOT a plasma. IF you want a plasma wait till next feb the new stream plasma shit comes out, Not to sure if ill like that.
You're set with the vizio, Just dont plug in to many things to it at once it's scary shit.

This post was edited by Belldandy on Jun 9 2011 09:56am

Get the new LED TV's, those are niceee

imo, if you got the money go for LED if not reg LCD