Whats with plasma and LCD TV pricing lately?

[HAL9000]

This spring, my wife and I want to get another big screen TV for the basement. My 28" TV is 16 years old and finally bought the big one... Looking around at a replacement CRT TV, all of them suck as we are used to our 50" Samsung.

Well.. what I don't understand is about 3-4 months ago, there were plenty of decent 42" LCD TV's around in stores for $2500 or less. Now it's all the Plasma TV's in that price range for that size and all the LCD's are $4500-$7000 which I am NOT gonna pay that much for another TV.

I don't want plasma as you can't fix the dang things... meaning replacement of the bulb like you can with LCD or DLP.

So what's with the big increase on price lately?

[FLG]

Possibly a way to force you to go with plasma, so you either spend alot on a LCD or instead spend less and go with a plasma tv, which if it breaks you have to bring it to them to fix, which equals more money for them. . Cant think of any other reason why the price would go up, usually when a newer technology comes out the one that its "replacing" the price goes down on.

[figarowa]

more or less it may comes down to consumer demand and popularity, more people want the newer lighter, brighter technology, there isn't a shortage that i'm aware of. Personally think its cheaper going with a sub $1500 DLP and a nice screen, if you have the space for it.

[Hi Ho]

Plasma's may not have a bulb to replace but that is a plus for most people. The half life of a plasma is around 60,000 hours. That is a LOT of usage, and that's only the half life. There are plenty of plasma's for around $2,000 but I have never seen a 42in LCD TV for anywhere near $2,000. In fact, I don't believe I have seen a 42in LCD flat panel, though I believe they do exist. Are you talking about 42in RPTV's or flat panels?

Have you considered front projection? If the room will allow (light controlled) that would be the most cost effective way to get a screen of just about any size. You can get very good HD (1280x720) LCD projector such as the Sanyo PLV-Z3 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&Q=&is=REG&O=productlist&kw=SAPLVZ3&cpncode=07-1933552-2&sku=356453&srccode=cii_5784816) or PLV-Z2 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&Q=&is=REG&O=productlist&kw=SAPLVZ2&cpncode=07-1933563-2&sku=299984&srccode=cii_5784816) for $1000 to $1500 USD.

[HAL9000]

more or less it may comes down to consumer demand and popularity, more people want the newer lighter, brighter technology, there isn't a shortage that i'm aware of. Personally think its cheaper going with a sub $1500 DLP and a nice screen, if you have the space for it.

Ya... I have a Samsung DLP right now... I love the thing... but for my basement, that is just gonna be to big and take up too much room, so a flat panel is what I'm really looking for.

Plasma's may not have a bulb to replace but that is a plus for most people. The half life of a plasma is around 60,000 hours. That is a LOT of usage, and that's only the half life. There are plenty of plasma's for around $2,000 but I have never seen a 42in LCD TV for anywhere near $2,000. In fact, I don't believe I have seen a 42in LCD flat panel, though I believe they do exist. Are you talking about 42in RPTV's or flat panels?

Have you considered front projection? If the room will allow (light controlled) that would be the most cost effective way to get a screen of just about any size. You can get very good HD (1280x720) LCD projector such as the Sanyo PLV-Z3 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&Q=&is=REG&O=productlist&kw=SAPLVZ3&cpncode=07-1933552-2&sku=356453&srccode=cii_5784816) or PLV-Z2 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&Q=&is=REG&O=productlist&kw=SAPLVZ2&cpncode=07-1933563-2&sku=299984&srccode=cii_5784816) for $1000 to $1500 USD.

I've seen plasma with 60,000 hour life, but they were generally the higher end pricing which at that rate, I'll stay with LCD. The lower end plasma had much shorter half life which equates to a TV with a not very bright picture in as little as 5-10 years and nothing you can do about it. At least with a replacable bulb, toss in a new one and you're as bright as day one.

The area I plan to put it in is really too small for any kind of projection setup which is why I'm looking at flat panels, preferably in the 40-45" range.