looking for opinions on home entertainment equipment

so, i got a nice bonus from my last job and now i can replace my old equipment with some new stuff. i have things narrowed down pretty well, but i cant totally decide.... so maybe you can help?

TV
i definately want to get a 55" samsung LED. i was looking at the 2011 models because their prirces are way lower. there are 7 different 55" models (D6000-D8000) , but i cant decide on which.
so my questions are:

• 240hz vs 120hz: do you really notice a difference and, if you have the 120hz, do you wish you would have purchased the 240hz?
• built in WIFI: do you ever use the wifi? is it worth it to pay extra for this feature?
• screen frame size: some of these boast 0.5" edge and some boast 0.2" edge. would you pay extra for the 0.2" screen frame and why?
• screen edge bleed: some people have complained about the led bleeding on the edge of the screen on black/dark images. have you experienced this with led tvs or on any of these samsung models. are certain models more prone to this?
• any other thoughts?

receiver
i was looking at the onkyo TX-NR609

• does anyone have experience with onkyo? or even with this model?

blue ray player

• i was looking at a samsung model. it seems that they can vary widely in price. is a $250 model any better than a $75 model? what are you experiences?

thanks

 

You really need to check out AVForum. You'll probably find specific reviews AND threads for almost all of those items you listed. I'm too far out of the game (bought my system four years ago) to offer any relavant advice.

 

well, when it comes to HDTVs these days, you can probably find a good deal on one w/ a CCFL (cold cathode florescent light) backlight, ...many of these will be 60hz or maybe some 120hz... then you have LED's ( "LED" just refers to the type of backlight, not the screen itself), ...for LEDs you have two basic types of backlighting... 1) LED "edge lit", and 2) LED backlit...

i'm in the camp that says backlit is better than edgelit... a lot of the edge lit ones "leak" light around the screen edges, even for an all black signal.. they tend to be cjheaper than back lit, ..so it comes down to your tradeoff curve..

what i did recently was get a plain old 60hz 1080p CCFL HDTV that i'm using for my computer monitor - i'm quite happy w/ the "picture", and i'm very happy w/ the low price i got it for, compared to the LED ones and the 2012 lineups..

 

Avsforum and hometheaterforum are your friends.

That being said, I don't like Onkyo, I don't think their sound is all that great. I have a Denon AVR-791 that I got new for a steal and I love it. It's paired with Klipsch Reference front 3 and then some in-wall speakers rounding out the 7 channels. Prior to that had a Harman Kardon AVR-520 which I also loved. I've read great reviews on Denon and I researched a bunch before purchasing. Look into them.