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recommend me a new 53" RPTV? $2-3K (1 Viewer)

Ray Tseng

Auditioning
Joined
May 10, 1999
Messages
5
Hi All,

The 53" Sony KP53XBR200 just broke today with a bad pincushion effect with the green gun (green picture parabolas in on the top and bottom). Autofocus tries for awhile gives me a E17G code).
It had just fallen out of extended warranty too: 1/1/2004 (grr...).

Instead of fixing it, our family has decided to get a new TV.
It's been about 5 years since I last checked in on what is available and am totally confused on all the latest and greatest. Looking for some broad and quick recommendations on what you would get in my situation or where to look and avoid another lemon.

Size: Last size was good: 53" 4:3, so we're probably looking for about the same.

Price: not a concern, but willing to spend 2000-3000 for a higher end and hopefully more future proof model.

Other considerations:
Looking to avoid Sony. Although the picture quality is great, all of our Sony TVs have died or have had problems after about 4 years of use (3 so far). Toshiba? Mitsubishi?

Location: SF Bay Area, CA. Recommendations on local dealers or recommended internet shopping if you have them are welcome.

90% TV-regular 4:3 coax cable (not digital cable, HDTV capabilities are not required, but also see price considerations above).
10% DVDs
A few other inputs for occasional VCR and etc.


Appreciate all the help!
 

John S

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2003
Messages
5,460
4:3 sets of that size are getting increasingly difficult to find. Especially if you are try'n to future proof.

I actually do not know of any 4:3 sets of that size that offer all the bells and whistles needed for "future" proofing at any price.

The things you need to look for to try to future proof your new HDTV are:

1. If it is a 4:3 set, make sure it has native widescreen mode for 480p(EDTV), 720p and 1080i(HDTV), on both component and DVI inputs.

2. DVI input, it seems when HD DVD comes out, it may only be available through DVI connections.

3. 720p support, many HDTV Monitors / HDTV Ready sets still only support 480p and 1080i.

4. DCDi Progrssive scan / 3:2 pulldown

5. Multiple true HD component inputs / Multiple DVI would be cool to but that is still extremely uncommon.

6. OTA and QAM HD tuner included or not


I hope this helps some, good luck with your quest.

PS: In the end, on my new set, I have none of these. But then I also only paid $1248 for a 60" 4:3 Philips with a native widescreen mode that only works with 1080i sources.
I am very happy with the set, and understand the trade-offs with it.
 

DaViD Boulet

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 24, 1999
Messages
8,826
This is the everday TV? Is it in a main room of the house or in a place that is light-controlled like a basement den or HT room?

Even with so much "TV" watching...I urge you to consider a 16x9 display. If you go with something like DLP (any bulb-based system that's not CRT) you'll have no burn-in issues to worry about with stuff in 4x3 mode. Why would I urge you to consider a 16x9 set with so much 4x3 viewing? Because "TV" isn't about rocking your world with picture quality--so why optimize your viewing for 4x3 and subjugate WS content which is generally of much higher quality? You'll get much more of a "whooosh" factor even with 10% WS viewing when you put on that WS DVD or HD signal and your screen fills full-width than you'll get when you take the best-recorded images and shrink them to 3/4 the size of the evening news.

If you've got light-control you can always do a front-projector on a budget like you've described. Personally, I *love* watching "TV" on my friend's projector just like it's a normal "TV" that happens to be 100" diagonal (16x9). Naturally, when you switch to a well-recorded DVD or HD signal...it's a whole new world that no rear-projection TV can come close to.
 

Ray Tseng

Auditioning
Joined
May 10, 1999
Messages
5
The TV will be in a living room and be more for casual watching rather than dedicated (i.e., I'm not bringing out the blackout curtains). As a result, I think i'm still going with a RPTV rather than a FP.

DLP looks interesting, however, it's twice the price as a CRT model. I think I'd rather just get the CRT for now, and if it DLP really is that great, maybe 5 years down the line I'll upgrade.

I think I'm going to go with the Toshiba 57H93 from onecall (on sale). The HX looks interesting but I don't think the additional price would be worth it (since I can't avoid sales taxes as with one call).
Thanks to the two repliers for their responses
 

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