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Ok, I'm once again calling my SI family for their wisdom. We are looking to purchase another flat screen TV. Which is better, plasma or LCD?

I prefer LCD... not sure why, but that's what we have.

We have to get one more but I'm waiting until I get some other things taken care of.

we have an LCD now and have no problems with it. Plasmas are cheaper but I'm wondering if it'll be the old "you get what you pay for".

Plasmas have a bad reputation for durability. They claim that is just the early ones, and that the problem is fixed now. They haven't been claiming that long enough to convince me it is true though.

On our fourth year with a plasma with no issues. We love it and appreciated the savings. I don't notice a difference and haven't heard any major complaints since I've had one.

LCD or LED even better.

Plasma screens consume far more power and are more prone to screen burn, also supposedly have a shorter shelf life.

LED consume less power and supposedly have longer life span.

Failing that LED/LCD are usually thinner/lighter and can look better or at least are easier to wall mount...

Though on the plasma plus side, colours are stronger at the start though fade over the years, only really noticable on full HD films and only if you are really that bothered by looking.

So if you think of your Electric bills, LED is the way to go

I use to work in retail. I asked our electronics sale associates this same question a couple time and they always said LCD or LED. They had far more complaints on the plasmas going out than on LCD's. Plasmas are never suppose to be laid flat, so this should be taken into consideration if you plan on moving in the future. Also, never buy the floor model no matter how good the deal is unless you buy a really good extended warranty. Those tv's run none stop for months on end.

http://www.logicbuy.com/

^^^ This is a really good website for finding the best deals on electronics.

We've had our 60" Pioneer Elite plasma for almost 5 years now...zero issues. Granted it was on the high end of the price tag, but all the research and reading I did, especially on Consumer Reports solidified it was a good choice

We're looking at the LG 55LS4500, which is a LED. Our other TV is an LCD so this will be a new experience. aesir, I heard the same thing from a salesman at Best Buy when we bought our first LCD. INAB is not convinced either. thanks for the link jennie! Keep the info coming guys - we're planning on purchasing this week.

The research we did assured us that the burning issue with plasmas is not nearly the problem that once was and it would take some serious misuse to have it be a problem now. Like DS we bought a new plasma but I don't think it's a problem anymore.

One huge benefit to plasama's is that you don't get that fade out/black screen if you're not standing directly in front of it.

That was a bonus for us considering the layout of our living room/kitchen area.

A good test when you're out shopping for your TV. Stand about 10 ft in front of it but off to one side, walk towards it to see how close to the side of the screen you can get before you can no longer view the picture on it.

Bought our first flat screen tv in 2006 - back when they started at $2500 and 720 was the highest resolution available. It was a Panasonic 50" plasma.

We have since bought 4 LCDs (one was a replacement for a Vizio that just went dark/silent without warning).

Even with the 1040 and better response time on the newer LCDs, the plasma is still my favorite tv. It just has a better picture...and that's definitely noticeable in movies.

The only reason I moved to LCDs was due to the lighting issues. Plasmas need to be in mostly dark rooms to offer the most benefit since, unlike LCDs, they have a glass screen.

If you are looking for a tv for a family room that has windows and will be viewed at different times of the day, I would go with LCD. But if you are looking for a tv that will mostly be viewed in low light conditions, plasma would absolutely be my first choice.

I had a plasma for four years and did have pretty bad black burnout.

I got an LCD two years ago and am much more pleased with the quality.

I had an LCD until the screen separated. I now have a plasma. It is night and day better. Plasma is at its peak, so you get extremely good picture quality for the money. CNET has a 'top 5' best HDTVs. Four of those are plasma, and the only LED is a $6000 TV. My mom has that $6000 LED TV, and without custom tuning, the picture looks like crap. My kids' 32" LCD looks better. My brother has two plasmas he bought in 2007, and they work just fine.

[This message edited by NotDefeatedYet at 12:52 PM, March 27th (Wednesday)]