I almost pulled the trigger on a 50" plasma today

Ayoob · Expert Joined: Jul 15, 2004 Posts: 1110

My girl and I have been window shopping for TVs recently, and it looks like plasmas have come a long way. There was a particularly nice on on sale today for $1700. 50 inches of plasma goodness. Razor sharp, deep blacks, etc.

Unfortunately, we'd have to go into debt for it and I didn't want to pay interest on a depreciating asset, so we backed off. We can pay cash for it in a couple of months so we'll just hold off til then.

Of course, we're going to need a battery array to deal with the unstable power grid in the next couple of years, so if anyone has an idea how much power a 50" plasma and a blu ray player suck down, let me know.

jbrovont · Intermediate Crude Joined: Jun 16, 2006 Posts: 700

Those TVs are sweet, but - are you sure you want that? With all the things going on in the world, $1700 might come in handy for something more necessary soon. Just my two cents, but either way best of luck! Those things can't be beat for playing video games on lol

Power wise, I think you're looking at 300-500W for plasma, and about half that for an LCD.

ki11ercane

Plasma TV

120V, 370 watt, 3.08 amps.

Blu-Ray Console

120V, 35 watt, 0.29 amps.

If you use the TV and Blu Ray 3 hours per day, you will consume 1.21kwh. 360 watts of solar panels should do it on average per year of 4 hours of sunlight per day. However the freezer will go un-attended to. Smile

Spend $2000.00 on the A/V hardware and $2000.00 on the solar panels.

startswithearthquakes · Tar Sands Joined: May 27, 2008 Posts: 93

Get it so you can watch WWIII unfold on it. That would be pretty sweet.

Rich7 · Coal Joined: Jan 30, 2006 Posts: 13

I bought LCD, I think I'd rather have a plasma... much better black levels, but I hear the new LCDs are pretty good too

3aidlillahi

More people spending vast sums of money on ridiculous toys means less money going into land, guns, gold, and prep materials. Go for the 60" and get some surround sound! Whoooo!
_________________
Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.

BigTex

I got a 42 inch plasma last year. I couldn't resist. $1,000, no interest for THREE YEARS. That's crazy.
_________________
Smile

vision-master

MadScientist · Heavy Crude Joined: May 19, 2004 Posts: 418

ha! and I thought I was gonna get to congratulate you on a good decision. but instead this is just a deceptive orgy of consumerism at its pinnacle.
_________________
"The future power is manpower"

Kingcoal

The sad thing about it is that today we have fantastic technology at cheap prices. The only thing missing is good programming.
_________________
"That's the problem with mercy, kid... It just ain't professional" - Fast Eddie, The Color of Money

vision-master · Last edited by vision-master on Mon Aug 11, 2008 7:24 am; edited 1 time in total

Lumpy

I agree with everyone who says that prices will go down -- for two reasons:
1. Technology gadgetry almost always gets cheaper pretty quickly ... like about 3 months after one pays full price for whatever the gadget is.
2. Luxury items are going to be selling like crazy for not much money in the relatively near future. Some people in rural Idaho are already driving to the nearest town (about 30K population), and pawning the ski boats, mega-stereo systems, etc, in order to be able to keep paying for gas and even food. This is only going to get worse ... or better, if you are a buyer. If I were shopping for a Plasma or LCD, I would buy from a private owner (who had the papers on the thing) or even a pawn shop ... much cheaper.

As for us, when we moved to the farm 3 years ago we paid $1700 for a 32" LCD. A LOT of money, but ...
1. We had decided never to have TV in our house again, so we wanted something with good resolution to watch DVDs on. (We use Netflix, plus are building up our private collection of old movies and favorite newer ones.)
2. Our old TV was a big, clunky power hog -- going on the fritz anyway. So we got rid of it. Gave it away, I think.
3. We have a deal that we watch movies (or a part of one) only at designated times ... we are starting to budget our leisure time vis-a-vis value added. So we have started to even see daily (evening) movie watching as not something we want to go on with. So that LCD should last a long time. (I think they are hardier than Plasmas, too.)
4. We are doing more crosswords and other mind-stimulating things, we read a lot, and we are having more "talking dates". These are times when we don't work on anything, but we talk about projects, ideas, plans, dreams. LOTS OF FUN!!!!!!

Lumpy

PS - We are probably going to get a back up LCD when we find one really cheap ... along with a back up DVD player. We are planning to start taking in foster kids in February of 2009, and may not always want to watch the same things they are watching .... which will be well-monitored!
_________________
Jackie Joyner-Kersee: "It is better to look forward & prepare, than to look back & regret."

mos6507

I had to second guess myself when I got a 24" LCD monitor for my computer. I almost regret it now although I like the resolution. I don't see myself going any higher than that since that's about the minimum size for 1080P. The Mitsubishi LaserTV system might be a good "Peak Oil" big screen, though, if there is such a thing. 25% power consumption of equivalent plasma or LCD and ultra-long lifespan:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/21996/
_________________
As long as I am around, there are no worries we have reached "Peak Words"

--ReverseEngineer

smallpoxgirl · Moderator Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 6278

Are you guys kidding? $1700 could buy food, guns, ammunition, tools, orchards, livestock and you're going to spend it on a boob tube? WTF?
_________________
"So while you sit and whistle Dixie with your money and your power.
I can hear the flowers a-growin in the rubble of the towers.
I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all." - OCMS

Cashmere · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 1971

I'd literally rather burn 1700 and throw the ashes in the toilet then bring such a monstrous idiot box into my home.
_________________
Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.