Buying late model Samsung DLP rear projection TV?

08-01-09: Martykl
IME, the picture quality is very good, but maintenance issues are real. You will go through lamps...

I just ordered a new lamp assembly from Discount-Merchant. The bulb on my Hitachi LCD RP HDTV blew out this week. My local in-town supplier wanted $291 for the replacement, and he was out of them anyway. Most online lamp vendors charge about $219 for my unit. But DM's price was $139.99 plus $28 for 2-day shipping, little more than most places charge for the bulb alone (which you then have to install inside your old housing).

Their return policies are reasonable, and if the bulb is sourced from Philips or Osram (mine was), they provide 3-month or 6-month return periods, depending on the application.

Hey Mjcmt - Let me get back to you on that. I will do some "walking around" my unit. Also, I think when I was researching these I came across info relevant to this. If I can find it again, I'll let you know. As much a fan as I am, do go and look at some for yourself. When I was shopping there just weren't a lot of >50" (53"?) options available in LCD or Plasma. (Well - there might have been a Sony 60" LCD for like $30 grand.) Maybe things are different now but I'm no longer shopping.

The unit we got was an HL61A750. I agree with Aggielaw...DLPs might not be as bright as LCDs (especially in the show room - if you ask me). Ask the sales person where the brighness, contrast and related settings are for anything you are watching. I thought many of the LCDs in the show room were max'd out on picture, brightness and contrast etc. FWIW - I'm not an LCD hater - we have a Sony LCD in another room. At home the DLP does fine in "standard" mode (not even on "dynamic" mode) with picture, contrast, brightness etc settings at 50% or less.

OK - I'm checking my owners manual...recommended horizontal viewing angle is +/- 70 degrees Left or Right of Horizontal. Recommended vertical viewing angle is +/- 30 dgrees.

I will do a "walk around" tonight and see if the quoted Samsung values seems reasonable. Again, horizontal viewing angle hasn't even come up for us.

Hope you find something that is good for you.

GH

Thanks Ghosthouse.

I think I will see if I find a LED light source DLP w/ 1080p for a good used price. This might be a tall order. If not I will have to wait for more $$s.

There are an aweful lot of 1080p LCD flat panels for cheap-ish, but I'm not sure how old the technology on these cheaper LCDs are, and how they may compared to a LED light source DLP.

I would never buy a DLP projection unit again. NEVER