If you’re looking to get a lot of TV for not a lot of money, then this post is for you.
In this post, I’m going to focus on the best budget plasma TVs as I think your money goes a little further with plasma than with LCD or LED technology.
720p or 1080p
In this post, most of the TVs I’ll discuss feature 720p resolution. It’s still considered HD, but it doesn’t have the same resolution as high end plasma and LED TVs that have a resolution of 1920×1080. For a 42 inch display, 720p is quite acceptable and you’ll still get a good picture on a 50 inch display as well.
50 inch or 42 inch screen
One of the easiest ways to save yourself a couple hundred bucks (or more) in the HDTV market is to opt for the smaller 42 inch screens. If you have a small to average size living room, a 42 inch screen will be plenty big. If you have a large family room or you’re setting up a dedicated home theater room, you’ll want to go with at least 50 inches.
Best Budget Plasma TV – The Contenders
Samsung PN50C450 & PN42C450 – Editor’s Choice
If you’re looking for a quality plasma TV but don’t need a lot of bells and whistles, then the Samsung PN50C450 (50 inch) and Samsung PN42C450 (42 inch) plasma displays are the ones I recommend. While they’re only 720p resolution, the sub $700 price tag (50 inch) and $550 price tag (42 inch) more than make up for it. You’ll also get a good combination of blacks and picture quality.
LG 50PJ350 & 42PJ350
The LG 350 series comes in a close second and if you want a lot of features to make picture adjustments, these are the TVs that you’ll want to consider. LG has a reputation for packing a lot of upscale features into their budget TV offerings. You’ll still get good picture quality (720p resolution) and at less than $700 for the 50 inch model, you’ll get a great deal. The 42 inch 42PJ350 will run you about $500. (You should be able to get free shipping from major online retailers)
Panasonic TC-P50C2 & TC-P42C2
Panasonic currently produces the best high end plasma TVs, but their budget offerings lik the TC-P50C2 (50 inch) and Tc-P42C2 (42 inch) are still good choices for the budget conscious consumer. The image quality and blacks are above average though you’ll get very few features, limited connectivity, and you’ll probably want to get a separate sound system as sound quality on these TVs aren’t very good. Again, these TVs feature 720p resolution and will run $700 and $525 respectively.
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About hdtvguy
Plasma TVs still have much better contrast ratio compared to even the best LCD television ~
i think that plasma tvs are more expensive than LCD tvs and they are a bit heavier too ;,-
One thing to consider with these three sets is if you plan you use it with a stereo/home theatre system. If you use an older stereo with analog inputs only then the Samsung PN42C450 is the only logical choice – it’s the only one of these three that even still has an analog 1/8″ stereo miniplug for analog audio output. The Panasonic and the LG only have digital audio outputs.
Otherwise one will be forced to either buy a home theatre audio system that has the digital inputs needed or you will have to buy an analog to digital converter. Bottom line is you will likely end up spending an additional $100 (or more) just to get either the Panasonic or the LG TV patched into your older stereo system, and since budget is of the mind’s eye here, that ultimately defeats the purpose.
One last comment – Samsung model also offers the PN42C430 – which is essentially identical to the PN42C450 except that is has two HDMI inputs instead of three. Average cost is about 40 USD less.