I currently am looking for a new tv. I recently found a Samsung LCD 40″ tv for $800. I like the plasma but was told they’re phasing them out within a year and they are not good nor safe for tiny children. I have a 13 month old. What do you suggest?

Answer:
Plasma televisions are NOT being phased out. Panasonic, Samsung & Pioneer are all leading manufacturers that are committed to the plasma platform. Plasma produce deeper blacks and truer colors in many instances. A correctly adjusted plasma picture usually is much better quality than most LCD's. Many times store personnel may have sales incentives to push certain brands or types of product based on what their store management needs to move.

As far as safety for small kids all CRT TVs or plasma TVs emit a very small amount of radiation. IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HARM your child. You would have to have him press his forehead against the screen everyday for 10-15 years to even have a raise in radiation level to even be concerned with. If you’ve granite countertops in your kitchen (which also emit trace amounts of radiation) they should probably be of greater concern.

If you are going to use your TV as a computer monitor, use it in a brightly lit room or like a bright picture then LCD is probably best for you. If you can control the light in the room and like rich deep true colors, plan to watch a lot of movies then a plasma is probably the better choice.

Plasma's do weigh about 20% more than LCD's but with either one make sure you properly anchor your Television so it can't be pulled down on top of the little one. Also a plasma will emit some heat even though I’ve never found a problem with it and most plasma's do use more electricity than a comparable LCD set (about 25%).

I own both a LCD (smaller 32″ set in bedroom wall mounted) and a plasma (main televison in home theater 50″). I love my plasma and it IMO produces a superior picture than my LCD and is my main motion picture viewing set.

Whatever you do don't purchase anything from the person pushing that bad information.

Answer:
LCD - Plasmas are less durable, under certain conditions or over time the screen can crystallise (rendering it useless)

Tho that might be just a rumour - you can check:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4351-12658_7-658…