I have a friend who has a chance to upgrade his 4-yr-old 50" rear projection HDTV with yet another 4-yr-old 65" rear projection HDTV for $800. Even though the price is "cheap" for such a large TV, my gut feeling is that this is a horrible decision. Sure, the TV was nice four years ago, but it doesn't even have HDMI inputs, much less all the drawbacks of using such old technology.
However, for his needs, I can't think of a convincing argument to keep him from making this decision. He isn't blown away by Bluray, doesn't care if 1080p looks much-much better, can't tell much difference between a Bluray disc played on his Playstation 3 and regular DVDs played on a cheap, non-upconverting DVD player on his old rear projection HDTV (which is in desperate need of a new bulb). All he really cares about is that it's cheap for a 65", and if it will look noticeably better than his current TV.
However, for his needs, I can't think of a convincing argument to keep him from making this decision. He isn't blown away by Bluray, doesn't care if 1080p looks much-much better, can't tell much difference between a Bluray disc played on his Playstation 3 and regular DVDs played on a cheap, non-upconverting DVD player on his old rear projection HDTV (which is in desperate need of a new bulb). All he really cares about is that it's cheap for a 65", and if it will look noticeably better than his current TV.
