10 Bone-Headed Mistakes Plasma TV Shoppers Must Avoid!

This brutally frank article points out ten major pitfalls that buyers of Plasma TVs can easily to fall into. It strips away the lies told by con men, the confusion spread by geeks and the bumbling interference you’ll get from supposedly helpful know-it-alls as you search for the perfect Plasma, LCD or DLP TV.

Shopping for a Big Screen TV means avoiding lots of people trying to dazzle you with new technology.

You have to side-step slick TV salesmen talking about "DLP", "EDTV" or "1080i". You have to outsmart internet con artists selling "gray market" Plasmas. And you have to ignore bone-headed advice from Fred, the neighborhood know-it-all.

Mistake #1: Don’t Buy A "No-Name" Plasma TV!
The most important decision you can make when buying a big screen TV is to decide not to buy a "No-Name". A device as complex as a LCD, Plasma or DLP TV must be manufactured with the finest components by dozens of expert technicians working in multi-million dollar plants. "No-name" companies use none of those.

Mistake #2: Never Trust A "Seeing Eye" TV Salesman!
If you walk into a TV showroom and don’t know EDTV from HDTV, some slick salesman will smile and eat you for lunch! Don’t let salesmen make choices for you, or you’ll end up with some outdated TV his boss wants to get rid of. Or you’ll end up with screen burn-in on your new Plasma when your son hooks up his Playstation 3; or suffer with a dim display in your brightly lit living room. Do a little research before you make a purchase; it’s not difficult.

(If you’re not familiar with some of the terms used above – DLP, EDTV, LCD – Google the "123 Guide To Plasma TV.com")

Mistake #3: Don’t Buy From A "No-Name" Retailer!
It’s important to buy your Plasma TV from a reputable dealer selling brand name merchandise. The return of a faulty $2000 Plasma TV won’t bankrupt Wal-Mart or Sony; but could devastate a Mom and Pop electronics store. Try to make major purchases from a major retailer’s website; make sure they offer a good return policy and have brand name Plasmas at a discount price.

Mistake #4: Don’t Fall For Plasma Internet Scams!
We’ve all seen what look like great deals on Plasma TVs online. But exactly what is a great deal? It means getting GREAT MERCHANDISE at a GREAT PRICE. It’s not a great deal if you get CRAPPY MERCHANDISE at a GREAT PRICE! You don’t want your "new" Plasma to be a returned or refurbished item. Avoid "gray market" or "B stock" merchandise, and avoid sellers who aren’t authorized retailers.

Mistake #5: Don’t Play Video Games On A Plasma Television!
The chance of screen burn-in on a Plasma TV has been greatly reduced by improved technology, but not eliminated. Computer programs, video games, stock tickers and station logos can burn permanently into the screen, ruining your expensive TV. LCD and DLP TV screens cannot suffer screen burn-in, ever.

Mistake #6: Don’t Let A Know-It-All Pick Your TV!
Your neighbor Fred says he’s an expert on Big Screen TVs, and volunteers to help you buy one. Fred may be a good guy. . . he may even know the difference between DTV and DLP. But Fred may also be a Boob blowing smoke out the rear of his shorts. How can you tell? Rely on the only person you can trust to look out for your interests . . . you! Listen to Fred, but take him with a grain of salt . . . and do your own research!

Mistake #7: Don’t Try To Bring Home A Plasma TV By Yourself!
There was a time you could go to Circuit City, buy a 19-inch color TV, throw it in the back seat and take it home . . . those days are over! Shipping a Plasma TV to your home is the only sensible way to get it there; it’s too big, expensive, heavy and delicate to be shoved in the trunk of a car. Your retailer will arrange shipping for you; make sure that insurance and order tracking are included in the deal. Don’t sign for delivery until you’ve inspected your TV for damage.

Mistake #8: Don’t Install A Plasma TV Without Help!
A Plasma TV, although thin, is actually very heavy. A 50-inch Plasma TV can weigh over 160 pounds. Mounting a Plasma TV on it’s table stand is a three person job; call some strong friends over. The delivery people will put your TV on the curb, or in your living room, depending on what you paid for. They won’t install your TV on a wall mount, that service costs $200-$300.

Mistake #9: Don’t Fail To Connect A Dolby Sound System!
You shouldn’t settle for the sound coming from your TV speakers. Attached to your TV, a Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound amplifier sends six separate channels of sound through speakers in front of, on both sides of and behind the viewer. Home Theater Systems start as low as $250 and go into the thousands; they include an amplifier, five speakers, wire and a sub woofer. Dolby 7.1 is even more advanced with eight sound channels.

Mistake #10: Don’t Forget To Budget For Peripherals!
For full enjoyment of your new Plasma TV, you’ll need lots of other stuff: HDMI cables for each peripheral, surge protectors, a TV stand or wall mount, a HDTV DVD player and digital cable for High Def broadcasts. You’ll also need a Home Theater System with at least Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound and a comfortable viewing area. I’m not trying to scare you . . . a modest system can cost less than $300, A good system between $800-$1000 and a Top-of-the-Line system $1500 and up.

Well, there you have it . . . the 10 Biggest Bone-Headed Mistakes you could make when shopping for the perfect Plasma TV! Avoid them like the plague!

Good luck . . . I hope you find the Plasma TV that will thrill your family for years to come!

It’s as easy as 123!

About The Author

Ike Ridley is the avid videophile and self-confessed "Movie Nut" who created the website the 123 Guide To Plasma TV . To visit us, click the links or paste this URL into your web browser:

http://www.123-guide-to-plasma-tv.com/

Ike has moved to the Caribbean where he clicks away on his laptop under a palm tree.

Click Here for tips on buying discount Plasma TVs!

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Toshiba Are A Great Player In The Tv Market

In TVs, Toshiba is really pushing big, wall-mounted LCD TVs as a lifestyle item. It is trying to get away from the image of TVs as big, bulky items, hiding away and outsourcing its old CRT offerings to promote the flatscreen LCDs relentlessly.

This is a good decision for Toshiba, as their CRT TVs were mediocre at best, while their LCDs are some of the best on the market today. While expensive, as ever, they are extremely lightweight and come with very good software and extra features to help you get the most out of your TV viewing, such as automatic tuning, picture-in-picture, very quick channel changes, and all the other little things that add up to make a good TV much better than a cheap one.

If you’re buying a Toshiba TV, you will find that it works much better if you actually mount it on the wall as intended. The best thing to do is to clear a space that you know works – perhaps take down a painting – and measure it, and then take the measurements with you when you go to the showroom. Hopefully the showroom will have the LCD TVs hanging on walls to allow you to see how they will look in that environment, and they should be able to provide the exact measurements for any given TV for you on request.

Even though Toshiba’s LCD TVs are selling well, they know that nothing is forever. However, they tend to be a company that leads rather than follows, and they’ve got an ace in the hole: they’re already working on SED, a possible successor to LCD. These screens will again be flatscreen and look much like existing LCD TVs, except that they will be capable of displaying much higher resolutions, such as those output by top-end HDTV – that’s high-density TV, the next-generation broadcast standard. However, there is as yet no known release date for SED TVs.

By: john

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

John Gibb is the owner of Toshiba Resources, For more information on Toshiba Laptops check out www.Toshiba-Laptops-sources1k.info

Click here for more on sanyo televisions, toshiba, hitachi and more.

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Direct TV, DISH Or Cable Service? Which One?

Considering one of these services? Like many millions other people, you are looking to upgrade your entertainment in your home. Recently the more popular choices include these 3 main players. Based on recent report on Kaptain Satellite website (www.kaptainsatellite.com), during last year 2005, DirecTV gained more than a million new subscribers. Similarly so for Dish Network. The interesting thing to note is that these new subscribers moved from a cable provider.

So why the phenomenon? What are the comparisons that can be made between these three different providers?

Well, both DirecTV and the Dish Network are on a level par in terms of features. They both offer free equipment and installation by professional satellite TV installers. Price wise, they have a much cheaper program rate than cable. And this is at least 50% cheaper at the basic level of subscription compared to cable.

However, the satellite TV giants differ on the issue of additional televisions being hooked up to their system within the home. The Dish Network allows this free of charge. But DirecTV charges for each additional television unit hooked up. This is very much the same for the way cable TV charges.

Similarly, DirecTV and cable TV both charges for HDTV equipment. The Dish Network, however, supplies that equipment free of charge to its direct television customers. This comes as a surprise since the Dish Network actually charges less for a basic package than their DirecTV counterparts.

There is one big advantage for football fans for DirecTV subscribers, and not Dish Network or cable TV customers. And this is the NFL Sunday Ticket which allows football fans to choose from over 100 Sunday games – as well as access to over 8 other subscription-oriented sports packages. With the technology that direct TV brings to your set, you could almost feel as if you’re at each game!

Aside from these variations, both the satellite TV suppliers tend to agree on what features they supply to their subscribers. First, they both offer completely digital channels – unlike cable TV. Second, they both offer High Definition TV (although DirecTV does charge for the equipment). Third, they both offer a relocation package should you move house and want to take your direct TV system with you. And finally they both allow for JD Power.

Now, the number of channels provided by direct tv and cable is vastly different. Dish Network and DirecTV both offer over 220 channels to subscribers (this is a maximum total and so not available to all subscribers), compared to cable TV which offers only less than half of this at around 90 channels to choose from on its network.

Differences aside, there are some similarities between the three different companies. For example, the satellite TV companies and cable tv allow for multi-channel viewing: if the television is linked to the system, then each television on the system can be tuned to a different program. Plus, all allow for local sports programming. Even cable allows you to watch your local team in action, and they all have pay-for-view movies and events.

Despite all the above, satellite TV itself really have a huge impact, not just on the visual standards of what we watch but their advanced technology gives access to so many more programs than we ever previously dreamed of. Thus allowing subscribers of many diverse interests to be catered to than is possible using the cable TV companies.

Check out http://www.satellite-tv-101.info for more information and articles.

About The Author

Lesley Chew

Satellite TV enthusiast and webmaster of http://www.satellite-tv-101.info. Do check out the website for more satellite tv related information and articles.

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Home Theater – Plasma TV VS Projectors

Many homeowners are struggling with an important, electronic question: What is the ideal display for my home theater? Many people have fought this debate, but I’ll try to make clear some important considerations.

The most important detail to consider when deciding between a projector and a large plasma television is ambient light. A room with lots of windows presents a problem for a projector because every little bit of ambient lighting degrades the projected image. The ideal environment for a projector is one where you have total control over the lighting. If your home theater uses a projector, you are limited to using it when you can eliminate other light. A plasma screen can be used anyplace, anytime.

Assuming your home theater has blackout curtains, or exists deep underground; let’s examine differences between a plasma television and a projector. One advantage of a projector is that you can get a much larger picture than is available in plasma. Projectors can produce images comparable to an 81-inch screen and larger. This just isn’t possible with a plasma screen. However, plasma’s have the advantage of not needing any amount of space. A projector must have a long enough corridor to project its image on the wall or screen. To get an 81-inch or greater image, you need a decent distance between the projector and the target. Second, a projector’s image is dependent on more than the quality of the projector; you must be projecting onto a specialized surface or you lose detail. A top of the line HD projector with a very high native resolution would be wasted if you were just projecting the image onto a wall. You need an equally high quality screen with features such as a matte finish to eliminate reflection and glare. A plasma display requires no additional equipment.

Overall, a projector has the potential of creating a beautiful image, but it needs too much to work effectively. If you’re creating a private movie theater with lighting control and an investment in a screen, mounting equipment, and blackout curtains, then a projector is your piece of equipment. For everyone else, I suggest a plasma television.

About The Author

Jakob Culver is founder of the website www.plasmatvarena.com providing information, articles and reviews about plasma tv’s. To find more articles like this one visit the site http://www.plasmatvarena.com/.

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