TV selections

I decided to just save it up for another couple years. In January 2003 I bought a 36" Panasonic. After perusing the AVS forum for awhile, there where to many questions/complaints about the reliability of new formats (Plasma, DLP, LCD) to justify the cost. There were also complaints of the non-HDTV signal looking better on an analog set than a HDTV set. Since TV is lagging behind as far as HDTV programming, I decided to wait a couple more years. Hopefully the prices will come down on plasma, and the reliability will improve.

Regards,
John

I`d get a Hitachi or mitsubishi instead--better quality. Also, I couldn`t afford buying 2 big tv`s in a 2 yr time span. That is why I`m saving up for a big one now. I know it is not an easy decision. I sold these before. We dropped the Samsung and the Toshiba lines because of reliability problems. Just a word to the wise. Dan R

the viewing angle in your setup may not work very well with a rear projection TV go to the store stand directly in front of the TV at your viewing distance and start walking straight to your left while watching the TV picture get progressively worse until its totally unacceptable.BTW Panasonic sucks had to sell it because it was terrible.

"Fever104"

Going by the picture of your room above, I may I have to concur with "Mejames" up to a point. I don't think that an RPTV is going to work either. Not if you go with the placement of the TV versus the seating position from which you will be viewing the TV. With what you are faced with, then I think that a 36" Direct-View set might be the best thing for you.

But, let me ask you this one question before I go on. Is this arrangement going to be permanent??? Or are you and your wife planning to move in the next two or three years or so???

If you guys are going to stay put for a while, then it might be best for you to invest a few more dollars and get a Sony 40" Direct-View set (either their standard model or their XBR model...... either way, both sets are HDTV ready).

On the other hand, if you guys are going to be moving sometime in the near future, then I would go ahead and go with an RPTV then.

I really think that before you go out and spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a TV, I think that it is imperative that you decide what your future living arrangment is going to be. That in itself will go a long way toward which type of set you will want to buy and stay with over the long haul.

By the way, that's what I have done and so forth. Right now, I have a 27" analog set (a TOL Panasonic from 2000). My set has a great picture (it ain't high definition, but it remarkably close for what is an analog set. Hook up a decent DVD player to it, you'll know what I'm talking about then). For the three years I had my Panasonic, I ain't had no complaints about mine. And like I said, the picture is magnificent. I'll be holding onto mine until a good affordable plasma comes along. I'll just hope that by the time I get mine, the technology and reliability issues that John has pointed out will be addressed then. And hopefully, the price will be came down a little further by then as well.

And they had better be addressed too. I'm going to be pretty pissed off if I end up having a $2,000.00-to-$2,500.00 TV sitting in my house and I cannot even get the damn thing repaired when it breaks.

--Charles--

I also was waiting out the HD standard, but just dropped my 32" Proscan on it's face while getting the house painted, so I had to buy a new TV. I had been ‘in the market’ so to speak for over five years, and there’s not a TV I’ve not seen nor read about….. that said…..I think you are looking at too small a TV, go to some local shops and measure out the viewing distance you have and see what you think.

I personally sit ~11’ from my TV and went with a 61” as the 50” looked small next to it. My wife doesn’t say much about my stereo choices…THANK YOU GOD!!!!!! So I got to get what I wanted, you’re mileage may vary! I did take Judith with me and showed her the TV’s I was looking at and had her sit at the distance we would at home and surprisingly she also agreed with the larger set…you might have the same luck!

My advice to you:

1) DO buy an HD capable TV...there's enough HD broadcasts out there now, and DVD's are progressive, so the 480p alone is worth the added money, plus, like dlrepp said, do you really want to buy two TV's?? Especially knowing the 'cheaper' one now will be outdated very soon, and by many peoples standards, already is. With 75% of your TV viewing is from a digital source (Direct TV and DVD) you really should get an HD compatible monitor/TV. As for 16:9 vs 4:3….I’ll address that at the end.

2) Prices are likely about as low as plasma's will go for a while, and plasma's only have a finite life span, go to any AV store and see the older ones, they fade out and aren't fixable! Cool technology, but likely not the answer. Plasma TV’s are very sensitive to burn in!!!! LCD's are cool, but don't do fast motion as well, and are smaller and more expensive, but do last longer, if you’re going for the super thin TV, large LCD’s are coming out this year, in the order of 42-50” sets, I don’t have word on prices yet, but I expect HIGH!!!

3) RPTV......pretty broad classification these days.
A) CRT's are the old standard, huge, heavy, need to have the convergence reset regularly and don't tolerate ambient light or off angle viewing, do have burn in!!
B) LCD’s aren't that expensive (more than CRT's) but don't do fast motion well, and with DVD's being a good portion of your viewing, this can be annoying I find, but if you go with a smaller (43") set it might not bother you too much. Essentially no burn in!
C) DLP’s right now, IMHO have the hands down advantage, DLP RPTV’s offer great off angle viewing, are brighter than CRT/LCD’s, and at least as bright as plasma’s (but are far cheaper than these) and can handle much faster motion (pixel refresh rates). Yes, they too have a down side, they are dependent on a very bright light bulb to reflect off the DLP chip…that bulb last’s several years depending on amount of viewing, and costs ~$300-400 to replace. No burn in!!
D) Newer technologies like LCOS (only Toshiba has one and it’s $9000 for a 51” I believe…not reviewed to well recently either!) will be contenders in the future, but not for another two years or more. Reportedly no burn in.

DLP’s, LCD’s, Plasma’s all have some difficulty producing true blacks, plasma’s are getting better, and the new Sony and Panny 4P (plasma’s) are pretty good, but more than three times the price of an equivalent DLP RPT, as the DLP RPTV are less than 15” deep, I wonder how much that 10” is worth to you????

I personally bought the new Samsung 61” RP DLP TV, for $4600, I get a native rate of 1280x720, Faroujda DCDi, every signal it takes it upconverts to 720p….and it’s cheap relative to the rest. It also has DVI w/HDCP input already, but unfortunately no firewire.

Yes, many like the Mitsubishi’s, and they are the only company to promise to ‘keep their TV’s up to date’, but ask anyone who owns one how if they are going to spend the $595 for the FIRST upgrade!!!! I like the picture of the Mitsubishi CRT’s, and when calibrated, they are better than the Pioneer Elite TVs, if you really want a CRT RPTV, that’s likely the route I’d go.

Now should you get 16:9 or 4:3??? Well, I think that depends. Personally, if you are buying a technology with risk of burn in (plasma, CRT), you must consider this more seriously. Running your new plasma for as little as 30 minutes of static display can leave an imprint for ever! If I where going that route, I’d seriously consider what I watch and what is important to me. If you elect to go with any other format, ABSOLUTELY go with 16:9! It will be the standard soon enough…getting back to the do you want to buy two TV’s thing again!

Sorry, kind of wordy, but it gets most of the big points across!

Happy shopping and I hope this helps some!

Ken