As much of an improvement as DVD was to VHS, Blu Ray is even more of an improvement over DVD.

If you're going to get a Blu Ray player, invest in one with wifi capabilites so you can watch Netflix and Hulu and Youtube on your TV.

Also, down the road, consider getting a 5.1 sound system. You can get decent full sets for about $300. One of the amazing things about Blu Ray is that the sound is uncompressed--truly the best possible quality. And I don't know about that Vizio, but generally speaking even the most expensive flat pannel TVs have crappy sound. Simply the nature of having a small body.

Or you could just get a PS3 which has: 3D, BluRay and NetFlix as well as access to the Internet.

But you can find internet capable blu ray players for $100. A PS3 costs two or three times that. It's not worth it unless you're going to game on it.

My wife and I had the same discussion and realized that it gave us no benefit. Neither of us play video games...

Valid points if you're only looking for Blu-Ray, but if you even "might" be looking at 3D down the road, it still may have its purpose.

All in all, to each his/her own.

If you look at the quality of Blu-ray players, the best ones come in 350-400+, especially if you jumble in 3D. Its not just picture quality, since they all look pretty similar, but load times as well as the cable ports that you plug the hdmi into. I've seen some cheap ones where the ports came undone and wouldn't recieve a signal.

The PS3 might seem like a waste if you don't game, but not only is one of the best quality players out there, it has 3d, netflix, and playstation store, so you can rent and download the newest movies on the day they're released.

If you're on a budget, there are cheaper alternatives obviously, but if you're searching for a blu-ray player that will last and always have the latest firmware, the PS3's update system makes it one of, if not the best Blu-ray player on the market for $299.

If you're on a TV budget of <$600, why would ever spend 50% of that on a Blu-ray player? The more expensive Blu-ray players don't actually play Blu-ray movies in any higher quality or anything, they just have more bells and whistles like DVD upscalling and super-fast load times and such. My dad also has a cheap Blu-ray player (I just use my computer to TV connection) and I've never heard him complain about cables coming unplugged. It was probably just someone who didn't know how to hook it up or who bought garbage HDMI cables. (I've ran into that problem before, cheap HDMI cables that won't fit properly.)

Also, it doesn't make any sense to buy a player with 3D capabilities if you don't even have a 3D TV or don't plan on buying one within the next 6 months. The rule with electronics is that they always come down in price and get better in quality every year (thank you free market). If you want 3D in two or three years from now, you won't be thinking: "thank god I bought that $300 player a few years ago" you'll be thinking "damnit, why did I buy that $300 3D player a few years ago? I could've got one today for $50"

I believe it is already mentioned in this thread, but since you're getting the tv you should look into good cables as well. They can make a huge difference in picture and sound quality. Check out www.monoprice.com
They sell really high quality stuff for dirt cheap. Not sure how they get away with it, but I have several cables from them and they are top notch.

Thanks for the link Touchdown Jesus, I'll check it out. Still talking with the fiance about whether to get a blu ray player or ps3, thanks for all the imput.

Just another perk to the PS3 is having netflicks streamed directly to your TV...just thought i'd throw taht out there. (Im a gamer and always trying to get new poeple to join the Vidiocy.) "joooiiin uuusss" lol

I've got a Phillips 50" LCD and it's excellent.

Also have a Panasonic 42" Plasma (though 2 years older) is also excellent.

My parents just bought a couple new LED Vizio's and I can't say I'm anymore impressed with the LEDs than I am with the LCDs or Plasmas. For the money, I'd go with LCD. Plasmas tend to get quite a bit more glare simply due to the glass screen vs the LCD screen. That's why I have the LCD downstairs with the windows and the plasma upstairs where there's only 1 window.

make sure you get a surge protector on your new TV

For what it is worth Ill throw in my 2cents.

I like the Panasonics plasma tv's. Panasonic plasma is great!

For LCD's, I like Sony and Sharp.

For the argument of which is better...plasma or lcd (or led for that matter). It depends on where you want to put the tv as well as what you want to do with the tv. I believe there really isn't much of a quality difference between any of the tv's. LCD's are better for rooms where there are a lot of light and Plasma's seem to work better in darker area's with the richer color.

But if you game most like Plasma due to the almost instantaneous refresh. However, that might change if you have a lot of light in a room...then go with Sharp Aquos as it seems to have the fastest refresh rate of a LCD tv and has a game feature that helps with the refresh rate.

In my opinion, there is no top tv model/choice. Pick something you like and you will be happy. Some swear by plasma, others swear by lcd. As long as your happy who cares what others opinions are right?

For dvd players, the PS3 is the best on the market but it is also expensive. Buying a lower quality bluray will get you the picture quality you will be looking for, if you don't have surround sound then it doesn't really matter as far as sound quality goes.

3D tv's are still first generation and I personally am going to wait to buy one. The demo's I see in the stores don't really impress me that much. It seems that it is not as good as the theater so I expect vast improvement in the 2nd generation...so I will probably wait a bit. The glasses will also come down in price with 2nd generation (just a guess).

Either way it is all just opinion, but this is mine.

Happy New Year to all!

I've got the tv as well as a new surge protector. One more question, should i stick with my upconverting dvd player or make the jump to blu ray? Is there a huge difference between the two?

There is a difference, especially with a tv over 40 inches and if you have a surround sound system. If you don't you may not notice a huge difference. It also depends how much of a videofile/audiofile you are. If you notice little things about picture quality, you'll notice a difference. It's not a requirement by any means, but the way I look at it is why have the HD TV if you're not going to have HD components to go with it? I love having blu-ray.