After living with an old CRT since the beginning of time, I've recently been considering an upgrade. I've been surfing around for a bit looking for the perfect TV but have come to realize I know virtually nothing about modern televisions. I thought this might be a good place to ask.

Some requirements:

1. 47-inch display

2. I have a huge collection of DVDs (and VHS tapes for that matter) and would like for them to look decent.

3. I don't really care about 3D

4. Internet capability would be a very nice bonus, but I do have a Blu-ray player that allows me to stream Netflix.

5. A brand known for reliability

6. $850 is about the max I can spend

I've been looking at the VIZIO E3D470VX. It's 3D but has good reviews and is the right price. However, anyone who could chime in with actual experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

Samsung 40" 1080p 120 Hz Slim LED HDTV

Toshiba 46" 1080P/120HZ LED TV

Toshiba 47"

Philips 46"

So a little explanation of my choices:
Yes the Samsung is 40",but is an excelent Smart LED HDTV for this money.

The 2 Toshiba's are better than the Vizio for sure. Philips too...

From the 4 tv's I will personally go for the Samsung .... a bit smaller but the quality is awesome... I have a 22" LCD TV from them 3 y.o. and quality is almost to perfect.

edit: For the 850$ range - LG,Samsung,Toshiba,Sharp or Philips... no mistake in all of them... go to a shop and check them in person. I think you will go for smaller Samsung for sure ;)

I've had good luck with Samsung displays in the past, they generally look good and are affordable. But I don't know anything about these specific displays.

I'll vouch for Samsung. All the TVs and PC monitors in my house are that brand. Like hedwards said - they look good and are priced nicely.

The Samsung I offered him is the last year model :) The 2012 models are 1000+ $ and they are silver in color ;)

I could have sure used your help a couple of years ago!

Samsung & LG use pretty much the same matrix in last 2 years...they just change the design :)

If you're going to use the TV mainly for movies and gaming, consider plasma over LED. Plasma TVs are way cheaper these days than top of the line LEDs, and offer a picture composition better suited to gaming especially.

If you watch a lot of regular TV though, I'd go for a LED. The Samsung Smart-TV lineup (Samsung 6-series and up) are excellent TVs with much extra functionality.

When it comes to 3D, you simply can not get the latest LED panels without 3D. You'd have to settle for a cheap model with a relatively inferior panel compared to 2011 / 2012 models if you explicitly do not want 3D. The good news is you'll save money, the bad news is the action on the screen just won't look as good.

Be wary of what you are actually getting "extra" on more expensive models. On the very top Samsung LEDs for example, you're basically getting the aluminum frame instead of the glass frame. It's not worth an extra $100. Do some research to find out what model and make of panel the TV actually has, most of the rest is irrelevant.

I bought a new TV last year, and I went for the cheapest Samsung LED with the absolute newest panel. It was about $200 cheaper than the "top" model of the same series, and all you'd get for that extra $200 is a nice silver aluminum frame and some extra connectivity in the back. But who has 4 SCART devices these days anyway?

I'm guessing he hasn't owned 4 SCART devices in his life seeing as he's American.

But yes, connectivity is something that's good to keep in mind. It's nice to have one up front and I've found that having more than 3 total to be more than I personally need, but that's going to depend upon the person. Having one for the DVD player and one for a console is probably enough for most people.

I heard Samsung is the best. Unfortunately, I know almost nothing about TVs so I can't help you with more information.

We had a plasma TV (about 3 years ago now, if that makes a difference) which was used for gaming.

It sucked.

Any static elements (like a HUD, or channel logo) would burn in after about 15 minutes of play and stay visible for the next 6 hours or so. We had it traded for an LED TV which, while not being as vibrant with the colours, does not have the burn-in problem at all.

Then you must have had a poor or faulty display.

The store didn't offer to replace it with the same type, they immediately offered the LED version of the same TV (which was slightly more expensive, but they didn't charge for the extra).

It was actually "Image Retention" rather than "Burn-in" (temporary vs. permanent) and my research into the matter (that I just did :)) shows that while plasmas are more resistant against it than they were when they first came out, they are still susceptible to it (especially when new).

Which makes sense, if you look at how they are more resistant. One way is to "shimmer" the pixels, but that just makes the retained image smaller (shimmering a white pixel surrounded by white pixels.. still leaves it white). Other ways include zooming in to stop the black bars when watching something at a different aspect ratio, not pausing things for a long time and lowering the contrast. You know.. all the things you can do (or don't have to do) with an LED TV without worry.

Samsung typically get good reviews and I've yet to find anyone I know who is disappointed with theirs.

Not as many folks I know are buying Sony but the picture can be stunning at the higher price levels.

I've heard (but have no first-hand experience) that the Vizio models look good, but that the reliability isn't on par with the longer-established brands. That may have improved over the last couple years.

We helped the folks pick out a beautiful 42" Panasonic last year, and liked it so much that we bought the same one for her parents last November.

Among whatever advice you receive here, I'll offer this: take the time to really look at the picture itself, and do so at the distance that you will be watching at home. This can be difficult at some stores, where the TVs are placed in aisles only 4 or 5 feet apart. At Sears, we had to go into the next aisle and look over the shelves to see the screens at the appropriate distance. Pay attention to the blacks (they should be black, not dark grey, motion 'crawl', pixelation during fast action, color reproduction in dark scenes, and also see if there is any standard-def content on the demo loop (not all channels are yet HD) so you can judge its ability to display off-native resolution. Don't be afraid to play with the remote to adjust colors and overall picture - just because the screen looks a little washed-out or dim doesn't mean that a salesman took the time to adjust it to look better; odds are, you can make any given set look better within a minute or two by fiddling with the picture adjustments. But definitely set aside some time to just watch TV at the store - a quick ten-minute decision is a crap-shoot.

The good news is that TVs are getting so much better than they were just 5 years back, and cheaper, too. We've been holding off replacing our beloved HD CRT but only now are we starting to feel that the LEDs and Plasmas are able to match the picture quality of our CRT set.

Happy shopping!