Buying An HDTV, Part XVI

It's been two months since the last HDTV thread, and it's Sunday, so I'm overwhelmed by all the offers in the paper...but it's TV time in the Zebra household.

I've looked through all the older threads, so I have a pretty good idea of where this will all start. But some of the numbers and specifications thrown out in the threads from 2007 are a bit outdated when I compare them to the circulars, so this is what I've gathered:

-The bigger, the better (obviously)
-1080p or 1080i really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, especially for someone with poor vision like myself
-Look for a high contrast ratio - the old threads mention 1,000,000-to-1, but the ads have 2,000,000-to-1, so I would assume that's better
-Whatever I do, find the TV I want then buy it online

Now, for the other topics that haven't yet been definitively answered in years past:

-Plasma, LCD or, now, LED? Plasma is better for sports, I reckon, but uses more energy. And apparently LED = tons of money.
-I see 60Hz, 120Hz, even 600Hz. Again, the bigger the better? I don't even know what this would technically measure.

Finally, this is the main feature on the front page of the Best Buy circular: Panasonic Viera 1080p Plasma, 600Hz, 50 inches, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Here's the product description. This is not the top of the line, I gather, but probably pretty close - and it's part of a home theater bundle that totals $1400. The lady wants to just grab that and get it over with, but I know these things are to be treated like children. Thoughts?

Many thanks in advance for the wisdom.

 

Honestly, the best thing I did when buying a TV was sign up for an online subscription to consumerreports.org. We went with their highest-rated TV in the category we was looking for (32 inch LCD). I did read that it's best to get as many HDMI ports as you can on the thing as a means of "future proofing" it.

Also, if you want to do something more with it (like connect your computer), go through a step-by-step of what you'll need to accomplish that with both your source and the TV. Discovered last night ours doesn't do audio input for a computer unless you're using S-video or VGA, even though I was connecting with HDMI. Doh.

 

Sounds like you're on the right track, and Cadet's Consumer Reports recommendation is a good one. In addition to that, I'd recommend buying online. We've bought two HDTVs in the past couple years from vanns.com and were pleased with the price and service both times.

 

Bigger isn't necessarily better. There's a chart somewhere on the 'net about how big of a TV you should get based on how far you're sitting from it.