OT: 40"ish Television Recommendations

[pjmsj21]

I am looking for a 40-42" television for a vacation rental home. Thus I am trying to stay in the $400 range thus pretty much of a budget model. Any suggestions as to what and where? I am also considering the "used" units available from Amazon.

TIA

Pat Mc

[Viper]

Panasonic Plasma.

At that size, 720 is FINE...you do not need 1080 in plasma until you go over 42.

I've had this for two years and it rocks:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panasonic+-+42%22+Class+-+Plasma+-+720p+-+600Hz+-+Smart+-+HDTV/2120043.p?id=1218310005850&skuId=2120043

Samsung 43" Plasma for $479.00:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+43%22+Class+-+Plasma+-+720p+-+600Hz+-+HDTV/4837604.p?id=1218540192528&skuId=4837604

So my advice is: plasma, 720, 42/43".

[Ken Robb]

Consumers' Union (Consumer Reports) has lots of good info on pros/cons of plasma vs. LCD, performance by model, real world prices and frequency of repair records.

[dustyrider]

Best Buy's house brand Insignia was a great value for my 32", 2 years old now and still looking great, also a former roommate's 40" Insignia is 5+ years old and still going strong.

[parris]

We have Panasonic lcd and plasma as well as vizio in our home. All of them have been solid with the "best" picture being the plasma set. At work we've got vizio, jvc, lg, samsung, and Toshiba. Those sets are on from 12-16 hrs every day. With the exception of one of the early vizios' and I think one Toshiba all have been rock solid. The lg, Toshiba, and Samsung seem to have a better picture but that could just be how each is set up. I hope this helps.