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[Mejilan]

I admit I don't know too much about HDTVs, not being in the market for them myself. But a very nice person I work with is getting HD Cable service (Time Warner, NYC) installed this week, and is stressing over which TV to buy. I was hoping that some of you would be able to shoot off some solid recommendations according to the specs she provided me, which I'll cut and paste below. Please note, she wants it to be fully HD ready. She doesn't want to deal with buying extra accessories or upscaling or downscaling or whatever. Details below.

32", 37", 42" Plasma, or LCD.
Flat panel
HDTV ready (and I mean ready!)
How hard is it to mount on the wall
Does it have a swivel arm so I can turn the set towards the right/left on the wall
What are the installation specifics? How heavy?
How much for installation

Anything else you think of would be most appreciated. I watch sports, nature and cop shows. I have the set on for about 4 hours/night, more on the weekends.

She's not even sure if it should be Plasma or LCD, so really, please educate us!

Many thanks, GAF!

 

[seanoff]

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=197/promo_id=63/popup6%5B%5D=10:301/

1920x1080 lcds and plasma.

HDTV ready (and I mean ready!)

there will be scaling because not everything is 1920x1080, some channels are broadcasting 720p. most other plasmas and lcds will be 1024x768, 1024x1024 etc etc

 

[Mejilan]

Alright. Then what about Plasma vs LCD. Why one over the other?

 

[Cooper]

Alright. Then what about Plasma vs LCD. Why one over the other?

In general, plasmas
- have better blacks
- handle motion better
- are larger
- are less expensive for the same size

In general, LCDs
- have higher resolution
- handle bright rooms better
- have no image retention/burn-in issues

Which one has the overall "better" image quality is purely personal opinion.