quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
wall mount is the way to go. Buy the type that extends out by pulling on it.

I could not disagree more.

WAY too many people have their TV's mounted up so high on the wall, it's literally a pain in the neck to watch for any length of time. Above the mantle? Really?

The top of the screen should ideally be about eye level as you are sitting on your sofa or chair or however else you watch TV.

A good stand that keeps it as this level is the way to go in my opinion.

Or you could do what my wife made me do... She cut cardboard out and placed the rectangle at ALL possible angles. Turned out good but GOOD LORD it was painful.

Yeah, I don't buy into the 'it's gotta be a wall mount' either.

The inlaws just got a 65" and put it on a wall mount up high, looks like a TV exploded out of the corner of the room they have it in.

But all they do is sit around and watch TV all day, so it's fine by me I guess.

I'll soldier on with a 42" plasma, going on 8 years old, sitting on a short TV stand about 2 feet off the ground. It only goes on for a couple hours a night to stream a movie or some TV.

quote:

Originally posted by hvyhawler:
From what I was told, HDMI cables either work or they don't. No need for fancy high priced cables. My cheap ones work well enough for us...

Partially true. If you are shooting for 720P that is true. If you are looking for 4k (which I'm sure he's not) then it matters. The throughput and version number is what is important for those that care. You will want HDMI rev 2.0 to get to 18 Gb/s which is capable of 4k @ 60fps.

It's hard to find a decent monitor that's NOT "smart" these days, so don't make that a priority.

Also you may find over the next 25 years you wish you had it. It's nice to be able to sling stuff to the monitor with a single click from iPad and such, and it also allows access to almost every online service without another device. Used to be you had to have a smart DVD/BR player for that, no more tho.

Have fun - prices are cheap and quality is good. Also look upsize some. 36" is almost free, you can add more size for almost nothing.

Agree on the wall-mount issues. Only place we could put one in our "keeping room" (MS version of a den or family room) was over fireplace. That is the most ridiculous place to have a TV ever and it is WAY too high. That gets used for news only, or games and such while working in the adjacent kitchen.

Wall mount is fine, but you really want a comfortable height.

The great thing about wall mounting is you get to pick the height. Nothing says you have to put it way up high or over a mantle. I have my tv wall mounted and it's only a few inches higher than when it was on a stand. It makes the room feel bigger not have a huge tv on a huge stand and frees up the top of the tv stand for your wife to decorate.

The only place a tv should be mounted high on the wall is in a bedroom at the foot of the bed so you don't have to bury your chin in your chest to watch tv.

Get a 55" Samsung. Life's too short to watch a crappy little TV, especially at today's prices.