Just looking around there seems to be many more plasma TV's than LCD's, and the plasma's seem to be cheaper when comparing size for size. Or am I imagining this?
Plasma technology will cost you less, it's a mature technology, but is still being pushed along at a decent rate (check out how thin they are getting!). But I doubt there's more choice until you get to the 50" + panels where the LED's and LCD's of the world really start to struggle with even light distribution. As a side note, there's probably too much choice for TV's right now... Sony probably have the smallest range as they don't do plasma. Samsung have a foot in both camps at pretty much every size, as do LG. Panasonic abandon LCD / LED after 42".
Just looking around there seems to be many more plasma TV's than LCD's, and the plasma's seem to be cheaper when comparing size for size. Or am I imagining this?
Alot of plasma televisions are huge but low resolution 768x1024 panels compared with the 1080x1920 if full HD. It's a way of pushing out large TVs cheaply for people who want the largest TV at the lowest price and don't care about quality. I would not buy a TV without full HD. Another issue is that the cheaper 1080p plasma panels are usually somewhat more reflective than more expensive ones - that is they suffer more from glare which is an issue for you. To give an example the top end 1080p P42VT30Z sells for $2622 vs just $999 for the low end 1080p P42U30Z. There are also large price swings between low and high end LCDs.
Each brand's NZ website will have a list of models available. It's the best place to start.
I'm thinking of looking at Samsung, Sony and LG for my new LCD TV. Want to stay away from no-name brands (Transonic, Konka, etc). Anything I should watch for?
richms: Costs 1/5th that or so off ebay or deal extreme for a wii cable. The problem is the lack of inputs on the slim TVs now when you do have many legacy analog sources. Its not something they tend to advertise, but even on the fat chunky sets, where there was normally 2 or 3 components, it is down to 1 now, same for AV's, the front/side inputs are gone etc.
I picked up a Wii component cable for someone else, for $1.95 at the Warehouse on clearance two weeks ago, so you could try that.
Seriously, both LCD and plasma TVs are seriously good these days, and either will probably work just fine for general use. LCDs are a bit lighter, generally cope with brighter lit rooms, and probably have a very slight edge for gaming and general watching. Plasmas are a bit heavier, typically are a bit more prone to glare in brighter rooms, but have slightly better blacks and a very slight edge for film watching. My advice:
1. Don't obsess about plasma vs LCD, buy one that you like the picture on at a price you can afford
2. Get a decent number of inputs. You will likely have legacy devices and add more over time (MySky, Freeview recorder, DVD player/recorder, Blu Ray, VCR, Bluray, Xbox, PS3, media player, Wii etc). For a main TV I wouldn't go with less than 4xHDMI - with at least 1xcomponent AND 1xAV (preferably 2 of each) as well. Switch boxes are a pain in the backside, and you will almost certainly want to plug in more devices than you have now later on.
3. Don't buy for sound quality, buy for picture quality. If you want good sound connect to a stereo or home theatre kit. Even inexpensive sound options will likely blow away the (typically fairly awful) quality of speakers on most TVs.
4. Don't base a purchase decision on whether it has internet capability or can play media files. You can add that later, and even an inexpensive media player will likely be better and more flexible than the media/net options that I see shipping with TVs.
5. Personally, I think 3D is a gimmick. Nice gravy if thrown in, but not integral to the purchase decision. Other than a couple of disks on the market, there's no source material anyway!
As above, both technologies have their pro's and cons. If you are going to wade through it all, consider how relevant the comparisons are to your situation. Things like plasma is too heavy might be relevant if you're often putting your tv in your backpack and walking it over to a mates place, but the rest of the time it sits/hangs somewhere and never moves.
With LCD/LED vs Plasma there is no right answer. It's a lot of personal taste and knowledge about what you want from the TV and where you'll use it etc.
The inputs thing is slightly less important, as with sound, IF you use an external receiver to handle the sound and source selection. In this case (and assuming a capable receiver) your TV only technically needs 1 hdmi input.
3D may be important to you, but remember that every component in the chain needs to be 3D capable, so if you need a receiver and a bluray player then you'll need to add this to the price, plus likely some hdmi cables, which might need to be higher spec for 3D too.
As Timmay says above too, I'd be looking at a flexible store returns policy if you're not too sure about which one you want. Despite the comments you'll get, it's not really until you get it home to your place, in your environment, in a dark room etc, that you'll start really noticing aspects about it.
As an aside, if you're considering wall mounting just remember that you'll need a power socket up the wall, some solid wood to screw a bracket into and you'll need to run cables inside the wall back to your AV gear somewhere. Some people are into wall mounting but don't fully think it through initially.
The best way to find out how good a TV model is is to read professional reviews posted to videophile forums. The magazine general type reviews are too shallow to make a good judgement. Look for something with good black levels.
If anyone knows how to convert HDMI surround sound to RCA I'd like to hear it :)
It looks like there is such a converter but it costs alot of money. There are Toslink to stereo RCA converters but not all of them will source from the surround channels when downmixing to stereo.
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