LCD or OLED? - The TV Thread

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

You are better off trying to find a local security company with central station monitoring then a national brand. You are just a number to them.

And you will pay up the A for ADT and others. You will likely pay $30-$45 a month for monitoring. We found a local, Texas based company that has been around for over 25 years, provides a free, wireless transmitter so that we don't need phone lines (and nobody could cut them if they wanted to in order to by pass the system) for $16.95 a month (plus we pay a year in advance and get a free month).

They're response time has been just as good as anyone elses. We had a faulty sensor/contact on our back door and used to get false alarms every few months and they would call just as fast as anyone else.

[mjb2124]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

Ahhhh, nice. My wife has been talking about ADT of late, since their prices are not too bad. You never know, all we see on the news lately is people breaking into homes.

We have Guardian. The install came with the house build so that was "free" (I'm sure it was included in the mortgage so I use the term "free" lightly as I know it was well over $1000 for everything to be installed). We pay $31 a month for the service. There are 3 motion detectors, a carbon monoxide detector, 2 or 3 heat detectors, an absurd amount of smoke detectors (I think there are 8 total?), all exterior doors are wired with sensors and all windows on the first floor are wired with sensors. There's a keypad on each level (front door, basement door and master bedroom) and a siren (not like the old school sirens that were big and intrusive...this thing is small and white and looks like a smoke detector. All of it comes to a box in the basement - along with data, phone and cable. Here's a picture of the box:



We've had good response from them (their corporate headquarters is down the street from my house). The panel controlling everything fried one day (green circuit board in the picture) and they replaced it the next day free of charge. My wife has set off the heat detectors twice when she burnt food in the oven and they called both times to see if anything was wrong. I don't know all the places that they service though. If they service in your area, I highly recommend them.


BTW, this is how anal I am about wiring. When we moved in the box looked similar to this, but had more wires and they weren't very neat IMO. I re-wired the entire box using zip ties and made it all neat.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

You are better off trying to find a local security company with central station monitoring then a national brand. You are just a number to them.

And you will pay up the A for ADT and others. You will likely pay $30-$45 a month for monitoring. We found a local, Texas based company that has been around for over 25 years, provides a free, wireless transmitter so that we don't need phone lines (and nobody could cut them if they wanted to in order to by pass the system) for $16.95 a month (plus we pay a year in advance and get a free month).

They're response time has been just as good as anyone elses. We had a faulty sensor/contact on our back door and used to get false alarms every few months and they would call just as fast as anyone else.

We have Guardian. The install came with the house build so that was "free" (I'm sure it was included in the mortgage so I use the term "free" lightly as I know it was well over $1000 for everything to be installed). We pay $31 a month for the service. There are 3 motion detectors, a carbon monoxide detector, 2 or 3 heat detectors, an absurd amount of smoke detectors (I think there are 8 total?), all exterior doors are wired with sensors and all windows on the first floor are wired with sensors. There's a keypad on each level (front door, basement door and master bedroom) and a siren (not like the old school sirens that were big and intrusive...this thing is small and white and looks like a smoke detector. All of it comes to a box in the basement - along with data, phone and cable. Here's a picture of the box:

We've had good response from them (their corporate headquarters is down the street from my house). The panel controlling everything fried one day (green circuit board in the picture) and they replaced it the next day free of charge. My wife has set off the heat detectors twice when she burnt food in the oven and they called both times to see if anything was wrong. I don't know all the places that they service though. If they service in your area, I highly recommend them.

BTW, this is how anal I am about wiring. When we moved in the box looked similar to this, but had more wires and they weren't very neat IMO. I re-wired the entire box using zip ties and made it all neat.

Thanks guys, I will look local then to see what what companies are around here.

Newegg seems to have some nice sales going on right now on speakers and I've combed the rest of the net to see if I can find what I'm looking for any cheaper. Plus they offer 3 day UPS shipping for $3 which is a good deal.

I'm looking at this center channel right now "Polk Audio CS2 Series II Center Channel Speaker".

Newegg Product URL - $130



I plan to rebuild my 5.1 setup slowly due to funds, but this one is going for $130 which is a good deal from what I have read around. The matching fronts are around the same price, which I'll pick up in a few weeks. I've read that the bigger the center channel (in terms of what it can handle) the better for getting much more clear and crisp dialogue. At the moment, the center channel is the weakest link in my setup. Any thoughts?

It's funny how much this thread has gone from LCD/Plasma's to AV equipment, home security. LOL!

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

Thanks guys, I will look local then to see what what companies are around here.

Newegg seems to have some nice sales going on right now on speakers and I've combed the rest of the net to see if I can find what I'm looking for any cheaper. Plus they offer 3 day UPS shipping for $3 which is a good deal.

I'm looking at this center channel right now "Polk Audio CS2 Series II Center Channel Speaker".

Newegg Product URL - $130



I plan to rebuild my 5.1 setup slowly due to funds, but this one is going for $130 which is a good deal from what I have read around. The matching fronts are around the same price, which I'll pick up in a few weeks. I've read that the bigger the center channel (in terms of what it can handle) the better for getting much more clear and crisp dialogue. At the moment, the center channel is the weakest link in my setup. Any thoughts?

It's funny how much this thread has gone from LCD/Plasma's to AV equipment, home security. LOL!

Polk speakers are very solid. The center channel receives most of the dialogue so that's where the a good chunk of your audio money should go. You then want to stay in the same "family" for your fronts so the voices match up tonally.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

Polk speakers are very solid. The center channel receives most of the dialogue so that's where the a good chunk of your audio money should go. You then want to stay in the same "family" for your fronts so the voices match up tonally.

I went ahead and ordered the CS2 before I left work today. I'll look at upgrading the front speakers once I get my tax return, then I'll only have the rears and the sub to worry about down the road. I never thought of ordering from Newegg before, they are pretty reasonably priced.

Game, have you ever ordered from Newegg? I hear they offer great service and their pricing is good too.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I went ahead and ordered the CS2 before I left work today. I'll look at upgrading the front speakers once I get my tax return, then I'll only have the rears and the sub to worry about down the road. I never thought of ordering from Newegg before, they are pretty reasonably priced.

Game, have you ever ordered from Newegg? I hear they offer great service and their pricing is good too.

I've ordered stuff from there, and tigerdirect. Haven't had any problems.

[jmood88]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I'm upgrading my tv again and I'm having a hard time choosing between these two:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIER...d=WRNHR22476Z3
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN40C6...d=WRNHR22476Z3

I'm not stuck on getting just one of these two but these are the best I've seen so far. My current tv is a Samsung so I'm used to the interface and my aunt has one of these new LED one's and I've personally seen how great the picture is on those. I prefer the plasma look though and I've heard that the Viera's are great but I've never actually seen one in person.

[23]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I'm upgrading my tv again and I'm having a hard time choosing between these two:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIER...d=WRNHR22476Z3
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN40C6...d=WRNHR22476Z3

I'm not stuck on getting just one of these two but these are the best I've seen so far. My current tv is a Samsung so I'm used to the interface and my aunt has one of these new LED one's and I've personally seen how great the picture is on those. I prefer the plasma look though and I've heard that the Viera's are great but I've never actually seen one in person.

Cant go wrong with either, but Panasonic plasma's are really nice

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I'm upgrading my tv again and I'm having a hard time choosing between these two:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIER...d=WRNHR22476Z3
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN40C6...d=WRNHR22476Z3

I'm not stuck on getting just one of these two but these are the best I've seen so far. My current tv is a Samsung so I'm used to the interface and my aunt has one of these new LED one's and I've personally seen how great the picture is on those. I prefer the plasma look though and I've heard that the Viera's are great but I've never actually seen one in person.

I would take the plasma, better PQ and no input lag for gaming comparatively. Also a hair larger and cheaper to boot.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I'm upgrading my tv again and I'm having a hard time choosing between these two:

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIER...d=WRNHR22476Z3
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-LN40C6...d=WRNHR22476Z3

I'm not stuck on getting just one of these two but these are the best I've seen so far. My current tv is a Samsung so I'm used to the interface and my aunt has one of these new LED one's and I've personally seen how great the picture is on those. I prefer the plasma look though and I've heard that the Viera's are great but I've never actually seen one in person.

Mood, if you look man, I've got the 50" G series Panasonic plasma and I absolutely love it. Mine is a Best Buy exclusive so it goes by G20, while everywhere else it is the G25. The set your looking at also has THX mode which is freakin' fantastic. The Panny plasmas really give a natural image which many like and many don't.

I was turned off by plasma's due to misconceptions, but after spending almost a month with this one.....its a great TV and don't really think I can ever go back to LCD even though I thought about it earlier in the week since there was a deal on a 60" for a little more than I paid for this plasma......but I can't stand any of the LCD extra processing crap like interpolation to name just one thing. For sports, games, and blu-ray plasma's are great.

[jmood88]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

Yeah I think I'm going with the plasma. I always wanted one and I hate the black levels on LCD's. On some games and movies I can't see anything if it's too dark.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

All I will say is WOW! with the Polk Audio CS2. I can't believe the depth and range from this center as opposed to my old Sony Center. We have watched one movie so far and you can notice such a difference. Plus this thing is a beast (weighs 17lbs.) as I had it sitting on top of my AV rack and now I placed it on a lower shelf as it looked so gaudy. LOL!

Now I really need to replace my fronts as you can to a degree tell that the CS2 is overpowering the fronts since the Sony's I have are from a HTIB set. I have no choice but to wait till tax returns which are supposed to arrive later next month. Oh well for now, this center has helped solve some of my issues with my previous center not having proper depth.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I went ahead and ordered the CS2 before I left work today. I'll look at upgrading the front speakers once I get my tax return, then I'll only have the rears and the sub to worry about down the road. I never thought of ordering from Newegg before, they are pretty reasonably priced.

Game, have you ever ordered from Newegg? I hear they offer great service and their pricing is good too.

newegg.com is the best of the best with all there products, fast shipping unbeatable prices.''I shop there a lot.

[nemesis04]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I just purchased a Panasonic TC-P50GT25 plasma and had a few questions. Besides the contrast being turned down to 50% what about the other settings like Brightness etc? Also, is it ok if I run the set in THX mode while breaking it in if I keep the contrast down? The pixel orbiter is currently set to "automatic", should I manually set it to cycle more frequently? The manual settings are 1,2,3 or 4 minutes.

Any help in getting started would be appreciated. Thanks!

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: Plasma or LCD?

I just purchased a Panasonic TC-P50GT25 plasma and had a few questions. Besides the contrast being turned down to 50% what about the other settings like Brightness etc? Also, is it ok if I run the set in THX mode while breaking it in if I keep the contrast down? The pixel orbiter is currently set to "automatic", should I manually set it to cycle more frequently? The manual settings are 1,2,3 or 4 minutes.

Any help in getting started would be appreciated. Thanks!

Honestly, you don't have to break in your Set if you don't want to, I did for mine, that was just based off of pure paranoia. It's up to you, if you had to break them in it would say it in your manual, which it doesn't.

Great set and you will enjoy it.