Best Discounted 2012 TV Before 2013 models come out

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theonlyblackbunny

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So I've been looking for the best TV for my needs and now seems like the perfect time to buy a 2012 before the 2013 models come out. They are pretty much all discounted so I'll be saving a lot anyway.

---------My needs (and wants)--------

- Bright to compensate for living room lacking blinds, so plasmas are pretty much ruled out, unless you know some bright ones
- 3D because I want to watch 3D movies
- Passive 3D because I want everyone to be comfortable watching 3D for extended periods of time, the glasses are cheaper, they don't need recharging
- WiDi, because cables are so passé
- DLNA push to TV
- (DLNA?) pull TV video feed to smartphone/tablet
- 4x HDMI inputs minimum (cable box, HTPC DVI, Apple TV, next console)
- 1x Component input (Wii)
- 1x Composite input (just in case)
- 1x VGA D-Sub 15pin input (for laptop)
- 1x Analog audio input (for laptop)
- 1x Digital optical audio output (for Logitech Z-5500, best purchase ever)


--------------My choices------------------

LG LM9600 (2012)

Pros:
- LED backlit LCD
- Passive 3D
- WiDi
- iOS and Android app to pull TV video feed to tablet/smartphone
- Separate screen views with optional glasses (need to look into that, can you output one source for one viewer and another for the other viewer? They show two people gaming on the same TV but not seeing the same picture... Is it done with two game consoles?)

Cons:
- Glossy screen

-------------------------

LG LM7600 (2012)

Same as LM9600 except:

Cons:
- LED edge-lit LCD
- Smartphone app doesn't pull TV video feed (limited to LM9600, LM9500, LM9400 and LM8600)

-------------------------

LG LM7200 (2012?)

Same as LM7600 except:

Cons:
- Seems to only come in 60-inch form (too big for me)
- Bigger bezel?

-------------------------

Panasonic WT50 (2012)

Pros:
- App to pull the current TV video feed to a tablet

Cons:
- LED edge-lit LCD
- Glossy screen
- No WiDi
- Active 3D

-------------------------

Sony HX950 (2012)

Pros:
- WiDi?
- LED backlit LCD

Cons:
- No app to pull TV video feed to a tablet
- Glossy screen
- Active 3D

-------------------------

Sony HX929 (2011)

Pretty much identical to the HX950 except:

Pros:
- Presence sensor (turns off TV automatically)
- Proximity sensor (turns off picture and warns child to back away from TV, lol)
- Position control (optimizes picture and sound by detecting position of the viewer)

-------------------------

Sony HX850 (2012)

Pros:
- WiDi, WiFi-Direct

Cons:
- LED edge-lit LCD
- No app to pull TV video feed to a tablet
- Glossy screen
- Active 3D

-------------------------

Sony NX810 (2011?)

Pros:

Cons:

-------------------------

Sony Z5100 (2010?)

Pros:

Cons:

-------------------------

Samsung ES8000 (2012)

Cons:
- Only 3x HDMI inputs (dealbreaker)
- No VGA input
- App to pull TV video feed restricted to Samsung tablets/smartphones (maybe to all Android devices)

-------------------------

So any other candidates I'm missing?

-theonlyblackbunny
 
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I have a Panasonic plasma and the glossy screen is a horrible. It isn't in the largest room and there's a sliding glass door to one side, windows to the other and glass double doors right across from it. The glare/reflections are horrible. Never understood why anyone would want any display with a reflective coating.

But after 6 years it refuses to die and has no issues.
 
Skakruk said:
Because they have a viewing environment with controlled lighting.

(The facetious answer would be: "Because they've discovered the function of curtains").
Click to expand...

Exactly. I do all of my movie viewing in a darkened environment, and in THX mode, there's practically no eye strain; or at least it's nowhere near comparable to what you'd get with even a decently calibrated PC monitor/typical LCD tv in a room without biased lighting.
 
So the LG (http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-55LM9600-led-tv) has some interesting mode in which you can battle someone on the same TV and each person doesn't see what the other sees. It probably doesn't do that but wouldn't it be awesome if it showed two separate inputs at a time?

Another thing I noticed is that they are all glossy... Are the flagship TVs all glossy or is someone making a matte TV out there with most of the requirements I need?

-theonlyblackbunny
 
First up, edge lit is kinda a CON really, backlit is usually superior but most have dropped them anyway so edge lit is pretty much all you will get in the mid-range anyway.

You cannot go wrong with the Sony HX8XX panels, they are top stuff. Good PQ, game mode for lower lag and most of the tech bells and whistles.

I'd avoid plasmas if you plan go game on then due to IR.

1000
 
+1 for Panasonic Plasma

My '11 GT30 is a great display for cinema and sports and I've had no issues with IR when gaming although I've been very careful.
 
Coming from somone who stares at these tvs for a majority of their life(about 60 hours a week) Id take a look at some of the lower versions of these tv's. Widi never really has done it for me and you can keep a lot of coin by not going with it.

The ES8000 is awesome if you catch it on a good deal, i think i have seen it at 1999 before, but dont quote me on it, but the samsung also shares tv tablet sharing on androids, im pretty sure everything 7000(which can be had a bit cheaper and i struggle sometimes to see the difference) and above does. However this tv loves motion flow and can sometimes be a bit oversaturated in reds, and does a good well with a calibration.


Ive always been a huge fan of samsung tv's but some of this years lg's are pretty impressive

I dont have experience with the 9600, but I have used a lot of of this years lg products, and they have a pretty nice lineup this year. Their internet apps are probably the best of all the products and the wii like wand makes everything really easy to interact with. The dual play is easy, you basically buy dual play glasses and the polarization is slightly different for the glasses, and actually works quite well and is painless.

The lm7600 is a really solid tv that looks pretty nice with its really thin frame, but ones prior to august 2012 sometimes have a manufacturing defect that leads to a small blacklight bleed in the top middle of the screen, even i struggle to see this defect on affected tv's, but i have been assured by numerous people that it exists. If you can find a good deal on one of these as lg clears out inventory, your in good shape, i think they can be had for right around 1300. This tv does support dual play, its 240hz, and it comes with the afforementioned wii style remote control and boatloads of glasses. This tv also calibrates pretty well for an led tv and has some pretty decent presets.

Another alternative the lg 7200, bestbuy sells these 60" tv's for around 1500 bucks every month or so, this tv is probably my favorite tv in regards to the bang for the buck factor, 240hz panel, not many bells and whistles, and looks good out of the box. It also supports dual play and looks pretty decent out of the box, i have yet to have one calibrated, but it looks a lot like the 7600 with a slightly thicket bezzle, its also not as glossy.


I'm an old school home theater guy, and I love plasma tv's and i currently own a VT20, and a ST50, the internet apps though limited work flawlessly, the picture quality on good sources is very crisp and clear, and black levels are great, but your talking about a well lit room? you can have the best tv in the world, but if its in the wrong environment it just wont work for you. And as much as i love a good plasma, unless your willing to spend top dollar, glare will be an issue.

Which brings me to sony, I love old school sony tv's there are some true gems out there (hx810)(hx 929) (z5100), but i just can't say i like the hx850, it just doesn't look right to me, its colors are muted, the motion detection is bested by even mid level samsungs, and it doesnt bring a whole lot to the table as far as internet content goes, pair that with ir glasses that are 30% more expensive then their competitors and i have good reason to say avoid them. However if you can find a good deal on an hx 929 snatch that gravy up! i love that tv.


I feel like i went off on a rant lol,
Also how big of a TV?
Where are you located?
 
Hehe rant away, that's the kind of conversation I was looking for!

- WiDi I don't absolutely need but if it keeps me from plugging in my laptop (or someone else's) to play a movie, I'll be happy.

- Samsung's offerings don't seem to have 4x HDMI inputs at all, it's somewhat of a dealbreaker for me because I won't like going back there to plug in my game console when I wanna play. If only it had a separate DVI input, that would've worked for me. Also, their tablet app being Android-only is unfortunate because the 3 mobile devices around here are iOS-based.

- I'll look into the LGs 7600 and 7200 and their features, see if anything matches most of my needs.

- Sony's HX810, HX929 and Z5100 I'll look into also.

- It's a shame plasmas don't generate more light otherwise I'd be all over them.

- The TV I'll buy will either be a 47, 50 or 55 inch as I don't want anything smaller than 46 inches and I'm too close to the TV for anything larger than 55 inches.

- I'm in Canada but I'm open to getting it shipped from wherever as long as the price is right.

Thanks for your input!

Back to some more research...
 
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