Great picture but too many dead pixels.

After an extensive and exhausting time researching this product, I finally decided to buy. You have to be very careful not to fall for the price in ANY store. Even though I put in the zip code of the Circuit City store on Brodie Lane in Austin, Texas I noticed a huge difference with the in-store price and the price online. The price in the store was $2799 and the price on the website was $2499. A girl who worked in the store even compared Circuit City with car salesmen. She was so right! I told them they should be more honest. They leave it up to you to catch them trying to charge you $300 or more for the same TV they sold someone else for $2249 or less!

I bought the first unit on 9/28/2008. I was amazed at the picture but I also noticed a few dead pixels. Of course, the TV went back. I tried another one on 10/2/2008. Here's what is so funny. The sales guy asked me if I’d get another one if he knocked off $100. I flat out said no. I told him they would have to knock off 20% or 30% but after talking to his manager he only agreed with $200. I finally found out that you could get another 10% with the coupon code online. He knocked off another $50.00 and I got the second one for $2249.99. I took it home and ran DPT (Dead Pixel Tester) that can be found at a place online called Data Product Services. Just Google "Dead Pixel Tester". I found 3 dead pixels. After 9 days of this mess that TV also went back. They wanted me to try a third one but I flat out said no again.

I also didn't like the silvery flaky stuff that is between the bezel and the panel itself. Look closely around the edges of the panel. You will see some uneven white silvery stuff that looks like glue. I also don't like the way the units are manufactured in Mexico. I have nothing against the country but from past experiences and listening to others I have decided it is not a wise decision to buy anything electronic from south of the border. That goes with Sony televisions as well. I told the sales guy at Circuit City when they stop getting shipments of televisions from Mexico I'll buy. That includes China. So far I haven't really had any problems with my 34 inch Sony WEGA CRT TV that was made in Mexico in 2005 or my PS3 that was made in China but I will NOT buy another LCD flat panel TV until I exhaust every effort to get one made in South Korea or Japan or its country of origin. I even called Samsung and the rep told me he was livid when he bought his LCD TV and it had a dead pixel. The sales guy at Circuit City told me the reason I saw the dead pixels is because I ran the tester on it. Duh! He acted like I shouldn't have done that. I strongly advise doing it though. Just hook your computer up to the VGA connector on the TV and run DPT. If you even see one dead pixel I advise taking it back, PERIOD. You have 30 days at Circuit City so don't waste time. Pick that TV apart with a fine tooth comb! You paid enough for it!

It appears we are going into a bad recession. The power is with you. Don't get me wrong; the television had a superb picture on it but from 5 feet away I could see one of the dead pixels. The average Joe would probably never see the dead pixels and sometimes you have to look very close. Don't be fooled by what it says in the manual. Not verbatim, it will say that dead pixels are normal and come from the manufacturing process. What they are telling you is that their Quality Control is poor and they are hoping you don’t notice these flaws.

This is one of the reasons the prices are falling on these televisions. When these higher end televisions start hovering around the $800 - $1000 range there is a small possibility I would possibly consider buying one, even if it had a dead pixel or two but if you are spending closer to $2500 for one, it is not worth it. Also, don't fall for the Monster HDMI cables in the stores. They will try to sell you one for over $130.00. That is just plain ridiculous! If you go to Walmart you can buy one that is just as good OR BETTER for less than $35.00! As long as it is specified HDMI 1.3b you should be fine. The 1.3a spec should be fine as well, but if you are viewing TrueHD (1080p) you should go for the 1.3b cable. Perhaps I didn’t look hard enough but I could not even find the HDMI specs on the Monster cable package. 1.3b is the latest specification and any brand should be fine. I would definitely wait to see if the prices fall again.