Buying a new TV

G

GRhino

250+ Posts
Other than wanting one that's about 55" & $1,500 or less, I'm pretty wide open about which one to buy.

This is the one I was almost set on getting before I went to Sam's to take a last look:
Vizio

Then I saw this Samsung setting between 2 other Vizio's (not the one I was ready to buy) & started having 2nd thoughts. The picture was incredible on this Samsung, IMO:The Link

Any suggestions? Vizio, Samsung or other?
 
The Samsung has a better contrast ratio (120k:1 vs. 50k:1) and uses almost half as much power. However, the Vizio has more powerful speakers (15W vs. 10W).

Being a ***** for specs and brand names, between the two I would probably get the Samsung.
 
A few months ago we were looking for the same thing. Went to Sam's Club, checked out the Vizio because it was cheaper and bought the Samsung 55'' because it was great. I like this TV a lot. Our thinking was that whichever one we bought we would probably have it for 6-8 years, maybe more. With a longer view like that the extra cost for the Samsung was not a big deal. If you can afford it, get the one you really want.

We got this Samsung model. (55" Class 6400 Series 1080p LED HDTV)
 
GHrino-

Go with what Dionysus got. You need an LED, not just an LCD. The picture quality- in many people's minds are better with LED- and I admit this is debateable.

But- the important part is- for a little more money you will come out way ahead in the long run. Especially if you intend to keep this TV for awhile. Burning 40-50% less juice is a big deal on your utility bill- and YOU WILL save money- guaranteed.

Plain LCD is going to fade away as soon every TV will be LED lit. Don't go for the older technology.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm definitely thinking about getting the Samsung you suggested, but I'm not finding an exact match for that model at Sams or Best Buy. The one I found @ Sams doesn't have an "RF" at the end of the model #, & it has 5,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio (instead of 4...I assume 5 is better), & it cost $2,196. Would this be basically the same TV? UN55C6400

Can someone tell me what the letters at the end of the model # mean? There's RF, SF, XF, VF & WF.

Last question...some of the features on this Samsung are "Samsung Apps Platform" & "Wi-Fi Ready (Requires Linkstick Adapter)" & "Wireless LAN Adaptor support". Does this mean the Apps (like Netflix) & internet are ready to go with this TV, or do I still need to buy something else? FWIW we do have wireless internet in our house.
 
go to best buy tomorrow before the sale ends and pick up the samsung 55" c7000 3d led. it runs $2299.99 but you can get a package with the tv + 3d blu ray player+ 2 pair of 3d glasses+ 3d movie all for $2299.99. plus if you have them ring up a calibration with it you save $300 dollars bringing the price of all of it to $2199.99
 
GRhino, the Samsung model you linked to looks good, I think that's pretty much identical to the one we have. I'm not familiar with all the letter codes in the model name but I think that's a very good model.

The Samsung Apps is a setting (press Internet on the remote) where you get to the web-based features, including Netflix. There are more apps there like Hulu, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and some others I don't recall - we just use Netflix. The TV is ready to connect to these services out of the box, although it will sometimes run an update if there's a newer version available but these usually just take a few seconds to run. The Netflix app will let you browse your Watch Instantly (streaming) queue, but you can't search or browse for movies or add to the queue from within the TV, so you'll need to add things to the queue on your computer and then select them from the app on the TV.

(We rarely order DVDs from Netflix anymore, so we went to the 1-DVD-per-month service which is under $10 a month, and just select things from the Watch Instantly option. It's all you eat and a great deal, although there are many titles not available yet for streaming, so there's a little tradeoff there.)

There's a wired Ethernet connection on the TV, so you can directly connect your wireless router if it's located near the TV, or get a wireless ethernet bridge device to pick up the signal and connect that to the TV. I bought this Cisco-Linksys WET610N device and it works great.

I suggest you get the N-mode adapter if your router is capable of that speed since some movies, especially in HD, require a good bit of bandwidth. Occasionally the Netflix stream will choke and stop working, but this happens less frequently since I switched my G-mode adapter for the N. If the connection breaks I have always been able to close the Netflix app, go back in and resume watching. You just need a pretty fast connection. We have Comcast cable, I'm not sure but DSL might be slower in some cases.

Hope that helps. The picture on our Samsung is just magnificent. We don't even watch much TV but when we do we really enjoy this set.
 
the letters at the end of the model number are ********. They are there to protect retailers that promise to beat the competitions pricing "on the exact same model". The warehouse clubs get a couple of unique letters on the model numbers so the traditional retailers are protected.
 
BigWill is right on. They throw in some letters and take out some inconsequential feature so retailers are protected.

Go to the manufacturers website and view the specs on all models. for example the only difference bw samsung plasma 590 (sams model) and 550 (sear model which i bought) is the color of the TVs cabinet. Everything else is exactly the same. But bc the models are different Sams couldnt price match.
 
i bought the Samsung 55" LED 3D 8000 whatever in August. Got the Blue ray, etc. regardless of the throw in stuff, the TV is freaking bad ***. the LED aspect makes most HD channels look like they are live. seems like they are over on my wall and i can go touch the people on the screen. can't go wrong with the Samsung LED.
 
Here's the one I think I'm going to buy. According to the specs, it looks like it's almost the same as the one Dionysus bought. It's on sale at Best Buy for $1,999.97 & includes a Blu-ray Disc Player & LinkStick Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter. And free delivery.
 
I ended up with this one. {url=http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod1510564}Vizio XVT553[/url]

3rd gen of Vizio TruLED with higher contrast ratios and still under $1500. It had 55" Samsungs on either side and the pictures were almost identical. And the Vizio bluetooth remore with a full keyboard rocks.
 
You can not compare the contrast ratio of one manufacturer to another, there is no set way in the industry to judge it. That number is thrown around all over the place.
If you are after the un55c7000, and are in or around Austin come see me I can save you some money and give you the same bundle, same thing on the c8000.
If I can help any of you out with questions or purchasing a TV email me and I would be more then happy to help you out and maybe earn your business.
[email protected]
 
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