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What's YOUR TV? (And how would you rate it?) (2 Viewers)

John CW

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 7, 2000
Messages
619
Wow! Thanks to everyone who has added a review of their TV! This is is an excellent thread!! If you haven't added your experience yet, please do so! Thanks!!

Make/Model:
Size/Type:
Price you paid for it:
Good things:
Bad things:
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no)


Thanks!!

~ Johnny
 

Rajeev_s

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 20, 2002
Messages
184
Make/Model: Panasonic 53WX42
Size/Type: 53" Widescreen, 480p, 1080i.
Price you paid for it: $1446 at Best Buy
Good things: Great picture quality, Loved it right out of the box. Love it even more after tweaking. Easy tweaking. HD and DVDs are fantastic. Good 4:3 stretch mode and zoom mode.
Bad things: no DVI, wont do 720p (didnt need to use it)
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes in Totality.
 

Jeff Aguilar

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
229
Location
Lacey, WA
Real Name
Jeff
Make/Model: Sony KP-57WS500

Size/Type: 57" Widescreen

Price you paid for it: $1849 Locally

Good things: Fantastic picture! Finding the Newsgroup with tweaks for this tv was a God send! Was able to take out my RED PUSH in the service menu and using Avia, my colors are incredible!

Bad things: I wish the discrete codes worked for my pronto. Checked remotecentral and had no luck with the discrete codes there.

Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) I am very happy with it. I cannot believe how much of a difference this tv made to the sound quality of my system!!! I worked on the sound of my system before investing in a bigger TV. After setting up my TV, I really feel like I have completed my home theater. I know it will wear off, but it is a good feeling. Going from a 27" tv to a 57" was so worth it.
 

Morlan Liu

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
58
Make/Model: Sony Wega 27" KV-27FS100
Size/Type: 27" Flat
Price you paid for it: Free for me, $400 total cost from gf.
Good things: Flat, Clear Picture, Matching stand.
Bad things: Matching Stand doesn't fit my Yamaha RX-V530 receiver unless I take off the volume knob.
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes, I'm happy with it. Wish I could have a bigger TV but can't fit in my room.
 

Alan Pummill

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 6, 1999
Messages
1,262
Make/Model: Pioneer Elite PRO-620HD

Size/Type: 58" HD RPTV

Price you paid for it: $5000

Good things: Best Picture that I have seen on ANY RPTV!!
Had it ISF Calibrated by Gregg Loewen!! We still watch a lot of standard def. cable and Pioneer Elite's stretch mode and line doubler are considered the best there are!!

Bad things: $$$...But you get what you pay for!!

Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) YES, YES, YES
Held a Local HTF Meet about a month ago and everyone was very impressed with the picture quality!!

PIONEER ELITE'S ARE THE BEST ON THE MARKET...BAR NONE!!
 

Dennis Gardner

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 12, 2002
Messages
206
My newest TV in my house is an Infocus X1 projecting a 100" diagonal on a matte white screen with a JVC HRS 4800U as the tuner running s-video to the pj. $1200 pj + 125$ vcr +
$50 screen = $1375 way under the $4000 I was looking at for a 57" Mits RPTV!

The picture on analog cable is as clear as my direct view
Sony 35".

Its funny how little the Sony gets used. Movies, sports,
concert dvds,and PS2 games take on a whole new dimension!:D

Even Fox News showing Sadam toppling today was crystal clear.


DG
 

Joshua_Y

Screenwriter
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,241
This is the TV that I am having delivered tomorrow...

Make/Model: Samsung TXN3071WHF
Size/Type: 30' 16:9 HDTV
Price you paid for it: $999
Good things: Not here yet...
Bad things: Not here yet...
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) I'm sure I will be happy with it...
 

Bob Bartlett

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 28, 2001
Messages
209
Hitachi 36UDX10SA/ 36" 4:3 direct view HDTV
$599.00 from uecweb.com not including delivery charge.

Beautiful picture. Has the 16:9 squeeze. Just got it so I am still playing with it.

Wish it was a widescreen but couldn't afford one and currently 98% of my viewing is dish network non-highdef.

Totally happy with it. Much better than my 27" toshiba analog.
 

John CW

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 7, 2000
Messages
619
Please keep going if you've not added your TV to this list!

Make/Model:
Size/Type:
Price you paid for it:
Good things:
Bad things:
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no)


Thanks!

~ Johnny
 

Max Leung

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2000
Messages
4,611
2000 Toshiba TW40X81. 40" widescreen RPTV. Paid way too much for it (about $3600 Canuckbucks including taxes and extended warranty). Picture looked like crap out of the box, but the tips on Keohi's site and a CA-1 colorimeter makes this TV shine!

The TW40X81 is a tweaker's TV, so it isn't very impressive off the factory floor. Had to line the inside with Duvetyne, remove the red push, fix the convergence, remove the protective screen, and spend many nights fixing the damn grayscale (the blue gun can't track worth a damn until the contrast is set to below 15). I'm still annoyed with the blue gun convergence drift.

I bought an extended warranty, but so far it hasn't broken down. If I didn't get it, I'm sure it would be on fire by now.

I knew ahead of time that this tv would require a huge amount of tweaking. It looks stellar now, and am happy with it aside from the size and blue gun convergence.
 

JoeHard

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 24, 2003
Messages
136
Pioneer-SD533HD5
53 inch widescreen
1995.00 + tax Local A/V Dealer
I,ve had this TV less than 1 week so I can't be very critical as yet,but I looked at Sony, Toshiba,and Mits and thought this TV was much better.Picture is sharp but does not push red or green.Stretch modes look good.No DVI and the TV height seems shorter than most making the screen seem lower,but I am very pleased so far.
 

RobertR

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 19, 1998
Messages
10,675
NEC XG135LC CRT front projector
Price Paid: $6000, new in the box from Av Science (retail price $20,000+)

PROS: OUTSTANDING color reproduction, DEEP inky blacks (even a lot of movie theaters seem unable to measure up in comparison), excellent brightness levels for CRT (I never think the picture is too dim), can handle any resolution I throw at it, including 720p and even, I’ve been told, 1080p, automatically switches to the correct preset memory.

CONS: Big and heavy, nil flexibility with respect to setup distance, somewhat noisy fans.

I’m very happy with it. There are only a few CRT projectors in the world that are better, and I prefer the picture to every DLP, LCD, or plasma picture I’ve seen.
 

Max Leung

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2000
Messages
4,611
NEC HT1000 DLP front projector ($7000+ CDN, well under $5000 in the US).

Pro:

Incredible picture quality. It matched my RPTV in all respects, including contrast, black level, and shadow detail. Out of the box, the colors are dead-on perfect when set to D6500K, movie mode. Dark City looks very good, Fifth Element Superbit is damn near 3D. Dark movies like the X-Files look extremely good. No loss of detail anywhere!

The scaler is very impressive. 480i sources are indistinguishable from 480p (although with slightly more noise). The Sweetvision feature for interlaced sources is actually useful. I had a hard time telling the difference between an HTPC image and a 480p image off of my Panasonic RP91 DVD player.

Soft focus: May be too soft for some, but the image is very film-like and smooth. No "screendoor" visible unless you're viewing at less than 1x screen width distance.

1000 lumens brightness: plenty bright for light-controlled rooms, great up to 120" diagonal screens. However, lumens drops to 800 in eco-mode, but should still be bright enough.

The best front projector for the money.

Cons:

Single chip DLP with 4x color wheel. Not good if you're very sensitive to rainbows and/or get eye-fatigue and headaches. The latter is why I had to send the HT1000 back. DLP is not for me. :frowning:

Soft focus: The image may be too soft for those who are used to razor sharp projectors.

Large lens offset: If you flush-mount the HT1000 to the ceiling, and project a 100" screen, you will find that your screen needs to be lowered from the ceiling top by more than 20 inches.

XGA, 4x3 aspect ratio: the HT1000 is only 1024x768, 4x3. However, the addition of a Panamorph lens for $1200 US is still cheaper than the 1280x720 16x9 DLP projectors by several thousand dollars. Not really a con, since the image is so good you won't notice the lower resolution!


If you're not susceptible to rainbows and DLP headaches/eye fatigue, this is the best DLP projector for the money out there right now. Can be had on the street for $4300, compared to over $7000 ($6000 street?) for the Infocus 7200 and $10K+ for the Sharp Z10000 and the Marantz S2.
 

Nathan_R

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 4, 2000
Messages
717
Make/Model: Panasonic PT-56WXF95
Size/Type: 56" widescreen
Price you paid for it: $3200 June 2000
Good things: 480i/480p/720p/1080i on all component inputs; excellent service mode; no glare(screen removed)
Bad things: White streak problem :angry: no firewire
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes!

Best regards,
~~Nathan
 

ChrisMatson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2000
Messages
2,184
Location
Iowa, USA
Real Name
Chris
Make/Model: Sony 36XBR450
Size/Type: 36" 4:3 with anamorphic squeeze, HDTV-ready
Price you paid for it: $2250
Good things: Great picture, 2 component inputs, view from any angle
Bad things: would love a 3rd component input and Firewire/DVI
Overall: Are you happy with it? Yes, very happy!
 

John CW

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 7, 2000
Messages
619
Admin: Is there any chance this post could be made a "sticky"? I think since there are so many people asking the same question ("Which TV should I buy?") this is a way of letting them do their own research pretty easily.

Just a small request! Thanks! :D

~ John
 

DeepakJR

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 10, 2002
Messages
255
Real Name
Deepak
Make/Model: Panasonic 47WX42
Size/Type: 47" RPTV
Price you paid for it: $1239 claiming "open-box" at Circuit City. This was the last of their stock and sold it cheap.
Good things: Great PQ after tweaking with AVIA. Good progessive scan display. Does not lock into full mode with progressive input.
Bad things: Would of liked to have the bottom part of the tv the same size as the top. The grill on the speakers comes off easily. No DVI input for future-proofabily(?). Cheesy flexible screen. Cheap build quality for such a good tv. No 720p support. These are just little things, dont let them fool you, this ia great tv.
Overall: Are you happy with it? You betcha, for the price it cant be beat. Althought I do wish I would of gotten the 53" model now that I moved the tv into the living room.
 

Rich McGirr

Auditioning
Joined
Apr 15, 2003
Messages
11
Make/Model: Panasonic TH-42PWD5UZ (PT-42PD3)
Size/Type: 42" ED Plasma Display
Price you paid for it: $3,200 online
Good things: Great DVD reproduction giving 1:1 pixel match, good conversion of cable/sat signal to 480p. Wall mountable, good detail in blacks. No dead/stuck pixels, no audible sound from >6". Outstanding details and fluidity.
Bad things: $$$$
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Waiting for HDTV to become more of a content provider and for 60" plasmas to cost $3,500.
:D
 

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