Do I really...

 

 

1:50

 

Do I really...

That's a reference I'm surprised anyone doesn't know!

I am building a Plex media server... pretty excite about that.

I am building a Plex media server... pretty excite about that.

 

I built one to about two months ago. I spent around $300, but I already had a processor to put in it. It's running fairly well. The only issue so far is that the transfer rates aren't great since my router isn't that fast (150 mbps).

Where to begin looking for a big TV for a basement? What to look for?

 

Will be used 99% of the time to watch sports. Online? In store? Brand? LED vs Plasma?

 

Any help appreciated, there seems to be a million options.

Where to begin looking for a big TV for a basement? What to look for?

 

Will be used 99% of the time to watch sports. Online? In store? Brand? LED vs Plasma?

 

Any help appreciated, there seems to be a million options.

 

Depending on just how big you want, you might want to look into Plasma. They are heavier and, despite improvements, more energy intensive, but they look absolutely awesome.

Where to begin looking for a big TV for a basement? What to look for?

 

Will be used 99% of the time to watch sports. Online? In store? Brand? LED vs Plasma?

 

Any help appreciated, there seems to be a million options.

I didn't even know they made plasmas anymore. LED's look fantastic and are dirt cheap compared to a few years ago - they should work for you. I'd start w/ Amazon as a price point and then check the stores, most will price match.

Panasonic announced last year that they were done making plasmas, which only leaves Samsung and maybe one or two others making them. I picked up a 51" Samsung Plasma last fall and am really happy with it. The picture quality for the price ($500) blows away and LED even 2-3x the cost. If screen glare isn't a concern, plasma's still the way to go for the best picture quality.

There are a lot of different opinions out there, so if you try and solicit them, you may just end up more confused than when you started.

 

My advice would be to check out the reviews on cnet.com, and then pare down your choices from there, based on your specific wants/budget.

 

As for online/in-store, I've done both, and never had a problem. You can find some great deals at places like Abe's of Maine sometimes, but then you run the risk of dealing with an out-of-state retailer if something goes wrong. Best Buy seems to have gotten more competitive in recent years, and they provide the security of a local presence that has to deal with you in the event that you get a lemon.

 

Where to begin looking for a big TV for a basement? What to look for?

 

Will be used 99% of the time to watch sports. Online? In store? Brand? LED vs Plasma?

 

Any help appreciated, there seems to be a million options.

You live in Chicago. Always go with amazon unless Costco has a killer deal. You save having to pay the 10 percent sales tax with amazon.

 

The cheap LEDs aren't great with hockey btw. You have to spend a bit to get one that will be satisfactory to you.

It's always fun to go to Abt and gawk for a while.

I built one to about two months ago. I spent around $300, but I already had a processor to put in it. It's running fairly well. The only issue so far is that the transfer rates aren't great since my router isn't that fast (150 mbps).

I bought an off the shelf box from QNAP and added two 2TB hard drives. Pretty much plugin and go. I am in the process of moving my movies over to it. Then get them all into Plex and stream to my Roku Streaming Stick.

You live in Chicago. Always go with amazon unless Costco has a killer deal. You save having to pay the 10 percent sales tax with amazon.

 

The cheap LEDs aren't great with hockey btw. You have to spend a bit to get one that will be satisfactory to you.

 

But you're supposed to report it! (*laughs at the state of Illinois*)

reported for tax evasion

Where to begin looking for a big TV for a basement? What to look for?

 

Will be used 99% of the time to watch sports. Online? In store? Brand? LED vs Plasma?

 

Any help appreciated, there seems to be a million options.

Go in-store, find what you want, then check Amazon.

 

Samsung is the only brand I'll buy, but if I were to look elsewhere, it'd be Sharp or Panasonic.

 

And go LCD. Trust me on this, LCD is the bomb for Blackhawks games. LED is iffy and Plasma is a big no-no.

Edited April 11, 201412 yr by Steve9347

Go in-store, find what you want, then check Amazon.

 

Samsung is the only brand I'll buy, but if I were to look elsewhere, it'd be Sharp or Panasonic.

 

And go LCD. Trust me on this, LCD is the bomb for Blackhawks games. LED is iffy and Plasma is a big no-no.

 

Be ready to have people in this thread tell you how wrong you are.

 

 

At this point with the technology you can't just talk about LCD/LED/Plasma and compare them based on the TV-type alone. Each TV is different and unique and comes with certain technology that is going to aid with the picture. It used to be that Plasma's had the best blacks, but LED/LCD's have become much better and unless you're a real videophile I'd be shocked if anyone can really tell the difference without the two tv's being right next to each other (LED/LCD's of good quality I mean. Not the uber-cheap Sams/Costco models)

 

It hasn't been said yet, but also grab a tv without all the extra internet crap on it. The tv companies charge you 2-300 bucks or more for that stuff and really it's not necessary when you can spend $100 on a roku/amazon tv box or $35 on a chromecast. There really is no benefit to having it all built in to the TV. Using my internal samsung stuff takes the same amount of time as my chromecast and the quality is all the same as well.

 

 

At this point with the technology you can't just talk about LCD/LED/Plasma and compare them based on the TV-type alone. Each TV is different and unique and comes with certain technology that is going to aid with the picture. It used to be that Plasma's had the best blacks, but LED/LCD's have become much better and unless you're a real videophile I'd be shocked if anyone can really tell the difference without the two tv's being right next to each other (LED/LCD's of good quality I mean. Not the uber-cheap Sams/Costco models)

 

It hasn't been said yet, but also grab a tv without all the extra internet crap on it. The tv companies charge you 2-300 bucks or more for that stuff and really it's not necessary when you can spend $100 on a roku/amazon tv box or $35 on a chromecast. There really is no benefit to having it all built in to the TV. Using my internal samsung stuff takes the same amount of time as my chromecast and the quality is all the same as well.

 

This is very true. I've barely used my TV's smart functions (mostly stream with Chromecast or PS4). The only thing good about the TVs with the SmartTV functionality is that they might have more HDMI ports than the ones that don't.

Go in-store, find what you want, then check Amazon.

 

Samsung is the only brand I'll buy, but if I were to look elsewhere, it'd be Sharp or Panasonic.

 

And go LCD. Trust me on this, LCD is the bomb for Blackhawks games. LED is iffy and Plasma is a big no-no.

Does it put one of those Fox glow balls around the puck to make it easier for me to watch?

 

A quick search doesn't show many options for LCD...? Especially at bigger sizes.

 

Why no on the plasma?

 

Rock didn't you say something about LED being tough to track the puck, it skips or something?

 

Also thanks everyone for the tips here...very helpful.

Edited April 11, 201412 yr by IlliniKrush

LED TVs are really LCD TVs that are LED-lit. LCD screens used to be CCLD-lit.

 

I don't know what Steve has against Plasma. Plasma's native refresh rate is 600Hz compared to 60/120/240 for LED/LCD.

It hasn't been said yet, but also grab a tv without all the extra internet crap on it. The tv companies charge you 2-300 bucks or more for that stuff and really it's not necessary when you can spend $100 on a roku/amazon tv box or $35 on a chromecast. There really is no benefit to having it all built in to the TV. Using my internal samsung stuff takes the same amount of time as my chromecast and the quality is all the same as well.

absolutely true

At this point with the technology you can't just talk about LCD/LED/Plasma and compare them based on the TV-type alone. Each TV is different and unique and comes with certain technology that is going to aid with the picture. It used to be that Plasma's had the best blacks, but LED/LCD's have become much better and unless you're a real videophile I'd be shocked if anyone can really tell the difference without the two tv's being right next to each other (LED/LCD's of good quality I mean. Not the uber-cheap Sams/Costco models)

 

It hasn't been said yet, but also grab a tv without all the extra internet crap on it. The tv companies charge you 2-300 bucks or more for that stuff and really it's not necessary when you can spend $100 on a roku/amazon tv box or $35 on a chromecast. There really is no benefit to having it all built in to the TV. Using my internal samsung stuff takes the same amount of time as my chromecast and the quality is all the same as well.

I agree with this - but looking online, it appears most TVs come with all this extra s*** added + 3D, and who needs that crap?

yeah, it can be hard to find a higher-quality set that doesn't include all of that junk with it.

Be ready to have people in this thread tell you how wrong you are.

 

That'd be because he *is* wrong.

 

When it comes to refresh rates/sports, nothing comes close to plasma. The issue with plasma has never been one of picture quality or refresh speed, the issue was of burn-in and it's non-efficient use of electricity in comparison to LCD sets.

 

And as someone else correctly pointed out, LED *is* LCD, with different back lighting.

Edited April 11, 201412 yr by Y2HH

That'd be because he *is* wrong.

 

When it comes to refresh rates/sports, nothing comes close to plasma. The issue with plasma has never been one of picture quality or refresh speed, the issue was of burn-in and it's non-efficient use of electricity in comparison to LCD sets.

 

And as someone else correctly pointed out, LED *is* LCD, with different back lighting.

 

There it is.

 

And yes, you are right.