Is this TV right for our family??? Research, Research, Research, that is all I have been doing for almost a year. We saved loose change the entire time my husband was in Iraq and now we have decided to make a purchase. We have 5 kids, we like to watch TV and DVDs as a family pasttime. We only have basic Comcast cable. Is this the right TV for us and our needs? If so, will basic cable look OK and what cables will we need? Also what kind of DVD player should we be using, with this TV, for the best quality movie time?????Please advise before we make a purchase. Anyone????? Is this TV right for our family??? Research, Research, Research, that is all I have been doing for almost a year. We saved loose change the entire time my husband was in Iraq and now we have... » Read More Is this TV right for our family??? Research, Research, Research, that is all I have been doing for almost a year. We saved loose change the entire time my husband was in Iraq and now we have decided to make a purchase. We have 5 kids, we like to watch TV and DVDs as a family pasttime. We only have basic Comcast cable. Is this the right TV for us and our needs? If so, will basic cable look OK and what cables will we need? Also what kind of DVD player should we be using, with this TV, for the best quality movie time?????Please advise before we make a purchase. Anyone????? « Show Less
454365
Just pruchased this tv and its great. You should be able to get over the air HD signals if you are near a decent sized city so you will get the major channels in HD with a standard rabbit ears. Basic looks pretty good and it has zoom feature so the SD signal will fit the sreeen. DVDs look good too. i just use the composite hookups from a standsrd dvd and it worked great.
454366
i am waiting for my tax return so i can buy this tv and, like you have been doing some research on this, and other comprable TV's. many people have talked about the visible imperfections from non-hd sources on many HDTV's. i have read that picking up a cable signal booster like they have here on amazon for around 40 bucks could help clarify those slight imperfections even more.
847504
I purchased this tv from Amazon and everything went fine. As a matter of fact, I have purchased many things (50+) from Amazon and have not had one issue. I know you are looking for responses from people who have had issues, but don't let them scare you - they are highly reputable and from what I have heard their customer service and return policies are excellent. Do not hesitate to place your order, chances are you will not beat the price. With free shipping it is a steal. Plus they bring the tv right into your living room, take it out of the box, set it up, and make sure it works before they leave. I purchased this tv from Amazon and everything went fine. As a matter of fact, I have purchased many things (50+) from Amazon and have not had one issue. I know you are looking for responses from people who have had issues, but don't let them scare you - they are highly reputable and from what I have heard their customer service and return policies are excellent. Do not hesitate to place your order, chances are you will not beat the price. With free shipping it is a steal. Plus they bring the tv right into your living room, take it out of the box, set it up, and make sure it works before... » Read More I purchased this tv from Amazon and everything went fine. As a matter of fact, I have purchased many things (50+) from Amazon and have not had one issue. I know you are looking for responses from people who have had issues, but don't let them scare you - they are highly reputable and from what I have heard their customer service and return policies are excellent. Do not hesitate to place your order, chances are you will not beat the price. With free shipping it is a steal. Plus they bring the tv right into your living room, take it out of the box, set it up, and make sure it works before they leave. « Show Less
2030248
cant confirm how long it will last, because dont know how many hours of the day you will use it. All I know is the box store told my in-laws it would be around $300.00. We purchased 2 at a time for $72.00 or so, they love it and they have a replacement on hand if it goes out. Even if they replace it every year, they get a new TV for $35. I believe its a good deal. A lot better than $300 any way you slice it. Good Luck, hope this helps.
1230650
Depending on the TV you buy, you may now end up saving more than you would have saved by that Combo. For example, if you bought the tc-p50GT25, you are going to save $180 more than you would have 2 weeks back. the price for the starter kit hasn't changed from the time it was a part of the combo. I would suggest you wait one more week and you'll probably see better offers. Do continue to monitor the inventory though and pull the trigger if the inventory is falling.
1893058
The TV is pretty much ready to use on of the box. Although I would recommend something to protect your investment like a surge protector or UPS. If you don't already have an HDMI cable and your cable box/ DVD player has an HDMI output, then you can get it here for under $20. I did, and it works great. If your cable box is not HDTV, then you can buy an antenna to pick up over-the-air HDTV, if it's available in your area...old bunny ears antenna may work. Good luck!
1811378
Retailers will always try to tell you that Monster is best because they make such an enormous amount of profit if you buy that $99 cable. Think about it, if you owned a retail store, would you rather sell a $10 cable, or a $99 cable. You can't blame them for trying but "buyer beware" is in order. Lifetime Warranty? Seriously, for $99? Considering they are 10x the price of what a quality cable should cost, the lifetime warranty is irrelevant. If you would be willing to pay 10x the price of a blu-ray player or any other product, I'm sure they would offer a offer you a lifetime warranty on those too. Monster has the retailers sucked in because of how much potential profit there is to be made. "buyer beware"! It's all Monster marketing. And they are super good at it. As to your second question, there is no such thing as a 1080 cable. The only differences in cables are Standard Speed (Category 1) and High Speed (Category 2). The difference between Standard Speed and High Speed is that High Speed is guaranteed to throughput 1080p. Standard Speed may also throughput 1080p but it is not guaranteed to do so. As to "Hertz" or more accurately "refresh rates", the refresh rate is done inside the TV. The cable has nothing to do with it so long as it is capable of throughputting enough information so that the TV can receive enough information to refresh at the specified refresh rate. That said, any High Speed HDMI cable is capable of the refresh rates of any TV currently being produced. While that may change in the future, to my knowledge it is simply an irrelevant consideration. @Russell, you should not accept a distorted picture. It unacceptable and, assuming you have confirmed its the cable and not the dvd player or the settings, clearly you should call the people that sold you the cable and get it replaced free of charge.
768059
No,, I researched all the "Apps TVs" available and decided for the extra bucks manufacters charge for a TV with that option, I could get one of the many optional "WI-FY Apps boxes"($40+) out there by differant manufactures. Just a personal deal, but coming from old school thinking (having a DVD or VCR in the TV) if the TV goes bad or the DVD goes bad, you have to replace the whole unit. It's cheaper to replace one of them seperately. Like "stereo with all the bells and whistles" verses seperate tuner, amp, DVD, speakers, etc. Even LEDs don't last for ever, what good is "Apps" if you can't see-em. The E291 isn't a Rollex, but it is a very good looking new model copy, for a person that just wants to see the time. BTW, under 32" you can't tell the differance between 720 and 1080 HD unless you are putting your nose prints on the screen. I watch sports and responce time (action blurr) is not a issue. USB, VGA, Cable, Sleep Timer, all YES. One month+ watching it (wife has it on all day) no complaints,, unless I see the 49ers lose the Big One on it. With Amazon's help, a lot of TV for the buck
1908157
I was down to the same two. I found the sony for the same price as the samsung and went for it. I think I made the right choice of the two. I only have Comcast Digital due to them not offering HD in my area. I think the picture is great with DVD's and good if not very good with SD Cable. Some of the reviews I saw did not like the sound but I think it sounds very good without external speakers. My only complaint is the blur on fast moving sporting events. I hope it improves when I get HD but I can live with it. If I had the money I would have went for the 120 MHZ on the sony xbr or samsung 4071 but could not swallow a $2000 nut for a TV. I don't think you can wrong, when I have a good signal the picture looks great. I have only had the TV for 3 weeks but find myself watching a PBS show on birds flying around for hours. I looked for 6 months before I bought the KDL-40V3000, my wife asked me what I was going to do with all my free time. I told her I was going to watch it! FYI: I bought it at Circuit City for $1299 on sale and received an additional 10% off discount from the entertainment book. Good Luck
2125418
Not me but I am using hdmi cable with a samsung 46" LCD LN46B640. It was definitely near HD quality. Watched a regular dvd of inglourious basterds and district 9 this week and the picture quality was nothing short of amazing. In district 9, the helicopter shot over the alien camp was so crystal clear that it looked like 3-d. I'm gonna have to rent the blu-ray version to compare them. I've been happy with the upconversion. I also have a regular sony dvd player (dvp-ns700h/b) that got great reviews and I still use in my bedroom. Is that the one you have? You could even see my 5/14/08 amazon review of the sony dvd player to see how much I love my sony dvd player (dvp-ns700h/b). The Sony dvd player does an amazing job of upconverting. Probably the best outside of an oppo. Maybe even slightly better than the panasonic blu-ray player. Not really sure though because I have been really impressed with dvds in the panasonic. Maybe I will set up both with my television and really compare them. I do suggest you to connect an hdmi to your television though. That may fix your problem. Maybe the sony converts better than the panasonic with the component cables but the panasonic may convert equally well with an hdmi.
1738292
I also have been considering this TV and wondering about the HDMI 1.0 issue. Since so far no knowledgable techie has chirped in I did a little of my own research, and here is what I found out. This all comes from an industry web site hdmi.org ------------------------ The initial HDMI 1.0 specification was released in December 2002. Version 1.1 was released in May 2004. Version 1.2 was released in August of 2005. Version 1.2a was released in December of 2005. Version 1.3 was released in June of 2006. Q. What functionality was added to each specification? The following provides an overview of major functionality added to each version of HDMI HDMI 1.1 Support for DVD Audio ------------------------------- So my guess is that like the poster said it will not take the audio from his dvd player in the hdmi input, but I assume he could bring the audio in through other inputs assuming his dvd player has other outputs. Hopefully someone with more knowledge can elaborte on this, meanwhile I think I'll move on and look for a set that has at least a HDMI 1.1 interface since using a DVD player is one thing I want to do with it.
410293
I have placed an order through MacMall for $760 (after $40 shipping mail-in rebate). They do not have it in stock but gave me ETA of 1st week or March. I do not have any type of cable service currently. How does this tv display OTA TV channels? I plan to use it for OTA that will be digital soon and DVD and w/portable video player.
1489755
I've pretty much decided on purchasing the Panasonic 50PZ800U. I notice from your previous post that you have LCDs in your home as well. How would you compare the viewing experience between those and your new plasma? As far as HDTV, do you have Cable or Satellite? I currently have Satellite, but will switch to FIOS based on reviews in Consumer Reports.I really appreciate your time!
237660
Mike; the only thing my info packet says is, RCA is in a global international market , and in house brands of electronics; so I'm not sure about this one. reason I bought RCA is our last RCA tv , we had almost 30 years, we don't need all the gizmos so this tv fits our life style. hope this is some help. Ron
2208011
I'd buy the Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-Ray player, read up on web-site's about what to buy, Samsung,I have one and love it!, especially that since I also have a Samung 5084 50 inch Plasma TV also, HA!, so far everything I loaded into it has played without a problem, I have a Harmony 550 remote and down loaded codes from thier site and I'm having no problems so far. Haven't used the netflex yet but I can't see a problem there, but I think you got to have to right router (wireless or hard-wired) to use anything your going to use, maybe your just thinking to hard about this crap, buy it and read about what you have bougth and learn how to use it. I have a ONKYO TX-SR605S receiver with HDMI that I run this thru, and I never would even think about buying a F'*ING SONY, I'm sorry I forgot they own half of the ""USA"" !, "OH CRAP", sorry again, Rolacoy, I'm a happy person with Samsung so far, just "read" what the hell is in the box, and I see you know how to use the internet,surf the web and you'll find just about anything you might want to know about this S!!T, hoped this had a clue to what you need, like the old saying, It's better some time's to be going without being asked. Ben Tice
2217801
Hello Lilyan, It's been a while since I had that TV. I don't believe the TV itself had smart TV technology. If you have a Wii or DVD player with smart TV you could stream from those to the TV. Unless you're getting a great deal on that TV (less than $500) I would steer clear of it. The picture was fantastic while it lasted, but started getting grid lines through it and Sony would not fix. hth..
1302855
Check Monoprice and Blue Jean cables for your needs. Don't buy the expensive cables - but do buy good ones from one of the two I mentioned. They are both good suppliers - I have bought from both. Which cables you will need will depend on the devices. For example; is the the DVD equipped with HDMI or component or S-Video? RCA plugs for sound or optical. Better let your son know about each one ASAP so he can get the proper cables in time for him coming home for the installation (that's what I did for my mom recently). Good luck You will really enjoy your new Samsung - it is a fine piece of equipment. Geo
1349804
Thank you. I bought the S4696D after all and it is pretty spectacular! Unfortunately Time Warner Cable is not quite there yet, they told me that if I got the cable card instead of a cable box, I would not be able to play movies on demand and I would not be able to access some HD channels like ESPN and Discovery in HD (basically the ones worth watching) so I opted for the set top box instead. But regardless, I am ecstatic about the TV! Thanks for your advice.