In need of a new flat screen for my moms new house, techies please help

[fawcett]

Looking to get a sick flat screen for our new house. Looking at around 50+inches, not sure about differences between technologies ie: hd, plasma, ect.... What is the best technology out there when it comes to tv's? What will last the longest (in terms of not getting too out dated or just suddenly dying).

This is something we have no idea about, but my mom has given me the job of finding and buying the tv so... of course I want a good one. Looking to spend less than $5k if possible but hey, if you get what you pay for...

Let me know what to get, the best ones I have personally seen are Dells at a local bar (I think they are plasma's). I have seen others that look like crap-too many pixels. The Dell that I've seen is so clear, you can see peoples faces in the stands of the Sox games.

Thanks!
-fawcett

 

[v6v8swap]

From what we were told when we got our tv, is that alot of the quality comes from the signal. And from what I've seen, that is correct. We bought a 50" HD Sony at Best Buy last year and I was kind of disapointed in the picture quality when we got it home. They have all their "high-end" tv's running on a High Definition signal and I am using Dish Network non-HD signal. A HUGE difference in quality! The tv's in the store had a breath taking picture, mine at home is pretty marginal to say the least. I have looked into getting the HD package from Dish Network, but haven't done it yet. I live in an area that can get some HD over the air, but have not put the big antenna up that that would require yet either (the stations are about 80 mi away).
Our tv is the Grand Vega 50". It is HD ready and looks awesome. It cost about $2700 last year (about 1 1/2 years ago actually). The guy at best buy talked us out of the more expensive plasma with this thought. According to him, the plasma has a pretty limited life expectancy compared to the lcd (he said approx 7-8 yrs??). The pixels of the plasma will burn out never to return. The lcd uses a light generator (a light bulb of sorts) that will just burn out and can be replaced fairly cheaply.
I think that $5k would get a fantastic tv. Our set, I think, has gone down to around $2k, correct me if I'm wrong. Also, be sure to give some thought to where you want to put the tv (like what kind of stand etc.). We had hell trying to find a piece of nice furniture that would hold the tv and still go with the decor of the room that it was going in. They have all sorts of small stands (glass and metal mostly), but very little in the way of a wooden entertainment center that would hold all the audio/visual stuff. That's one thing the plasma has over the lcd is that you can mount it on the wall.
Sorry that this got to be so long of a post. It's just my experience. I really didn't know squat about what I was doing when I got the tv and had to learn after the fact. Good luck in your search.

 

[WHITE94COBRA]

I have a sony 72" widescreen flat panel lcd Hd ready, love it. I was told to stay away from the plasma from my dads partner who bought one about a year ago, the color is screwed up on it and it has an image burned in it, also if you lay it down flat IE on its back it will not work anymore. And mine is mounted on the wall...

 

[Ozz]

I've heard the same about plasmas. I have an LCD and love it.