[Ayoob]

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]

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.

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

[startswithearthquakes]

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

[Rich7]

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!

[BigTex]

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

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', 'M')y 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.

[MadScientist]

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.

[Kingcoal]

The sad thing about it is that today we have fantastic technology at cheap prices. The only thing missing is good programming.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MadScientist', 'h')a! 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.

[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!

[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/

[smallpoxgirl]

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?

[Cashmere]

I'd literally rather burn 1700 and throw the ashes in the toilet then bring such a monstrous idiot box into my home.

[Muckingfess]

how much rice would $1700 buy? Beans? 9mm? .223? canning supplies?

I guess it's a matter of personal priorities, but I'd rather be eating rice and beans watching the sunsets than having a monster TV, even for just movies.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Muckingfess', 'h')ow much rice would $1700 buy? Beans? 9mm? .223? canning supplies?

I guess it's a matter of personal priorities, but I'd rather be eating rice and beans watching the sunsets than having a monster TV, even for just movies.

[evilgenius]

Jesus, man, and I've been constipating over whether I should buy a 20", maybe as big as 22". I think 32" is about as big a screen as most rooms I am likely to watch a tv in can take. Any bigger and it would dominate my small spaces. If you have the distance and you can justify it against the arguments presented here I would pull the trigger, however, because you will apparently have big audiences.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('evilgenius', 'J')esus, man, and I've been constipating over whether I should buy a 20", maybe as big as 22". I think 32" is about as big a screen as most rooms I am likely to watch a tv in can take. Any bigger and it would dominate my small spaces. If you have the distance and you can justify it against the arguments presented here I would pull the trigger, however, because you will apparently have big audiences.

[PrairieMule]

I bagged a 36" flat screen last spring. While the big box stores are giving deep discounts on electronics, there are better deals to be made on craigslist.