Is this a good time to buy 1080p?

MarkHarrison · 06-14-2006, 02:27 PM

My wife has been bugging me lately to upgrade our old 32" to a new widescreen (yeah, life really sucks.

) That's kind of a shock since she claims she can't see the difference in HD. She's just thinks I've earned a bigger TV so I'm thinking of taking her up on her offer.

I know very little at this point other than we won't be going with a projector. She doesn't want one and we honestly don't really have a good place to set one up anyway. We're still not set on a size, price or technology, but I'm working on it (I've been looking back though this forum and reading old posts and plan to do a lot more of that.)

The biggest decision at this point is figuring out if I should go with 1080p or not. It would certainly be nice to future proof at this time. But I'd rather not pay through the nose if they're still going for premium prices. I've seen one or two at prices that look attractive. But I'd rather not get a lesser set at 1080p when I can get much more for my money with 720p.

One that caught my eye so far is the Sansung S5087W. It's true 1080p for roughly $2500+-. Even though we've not set a price, I'm thinking that $2000-$2500 might be a good ballpark to start with. As for size, I'm not sure, but we sit about 9' from our current set. I know 50" isn't quite that 1.5 viewing distance, but it's much better than what we have now.

Obviously we'll still need to hit a few stores and view the different sets to see if we prefer one technology over another.

So I guess the question is, is this a good time to look at 1080p? I don't want to waste good money just to be an early adopter. I also don't want a piece of junk just because they have 1080p at a decent price. And I really don't want to spends thousands above my comfort level just to get a good set if 720 will do for now.

Michael TLV · 06-14-2006, 03:52 PM

Greetings

Good time for 1080p ...? Probably not. Wait a generation for the units that actually accept 1080p input signals.

Regards

MarkHarrison · 06-14-2006, 05:19 PM

Well, according to the review I found here, this set will accept 1080p signals. Unless that review happens to be wrong.

Actually, the official product specs are here and they say "2 HDMI inputs (High Definition Multimedia Interface) accepts 1080p format".

It looks like Amazon has it for $1,988.88. Is that a good deal for a 1080p 50" DLP set? Are there any features I should be looking for that aren't there?

Brian^K · 06-15-2006, 04:38 AM

Amazon has it for $2139.99, actually, which is a $360 reduction over what I paid for it. Pretty darned impressive.

It is a 1080p set. That "next generation" came out June 1. 1080p is here.

Chris Gerhard · 06-15-2006, 05:29 AM

I think now is the best time yet to buy a 1080p display but in a year, that will be an even better time to buy one. If you need a display now, I say buy a display that accepts and displays 1080p. I would not buy a new display now that doesn't. I already own 720p and 1080i displays and won't replace them anytime soon, but if I needed my first and only HDTV now, I would buy 1080p.

Chris

**HTF Ads**

MarkHarrison · 06-15-2006, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian^K

Amazon has it for $2139.99, actually, which is a $360 reduction over what I paid for it.

That's really strange. I could have sworn it was coming up a different price yesterday.

Anyway, I didn't get a lot of feedback here, but I found plenty of information (too much actually) over at AVSForum. There's a couple hundred pages spread over two different threads over there. It seems like people really like this line. So it's what I'll probably end up going for.

Mark Cappelletty · 06-15-2006, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkHarrison

That's really strange. I could have sworn it was coming up a different price yesterday.

Anyway, I didn't get a lot of feedback here, but I found plenty of information (too much actually) over at AVSForum. There's a couple hundred pages spread over two different threads over there. It seems like people really like this line. So it's what I'll probably end up going for.

Yeah, I've done my homework on the AVS Forums and am really impressed with this set. The only major problem I've heard about the Samsung xx57 and xx58 sets is an incompatability with the Tobshiba HD-DVD player through HDMI which is likely to be fixed in a firmware upgrade (and a few reports of blotchy screens in early models). OneCall has it (backordered) for $2199 with a $75 coupon off through Monday. The rub is that they, like Amazon, don't have a return policy on TVs over 20", which makes me reticent to jump despite the great deal (and OneCall's good service).

AVS is great but a little scary; if you thought the AV jargon here was obtuse, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Brian^K · 06-16-2006, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkHarrison

That's really strange. I could have sworn it was coming up a different price yesterday.

It is important to be very careful. That price you saw is the current price for a brand-new HL-R5087W, which is last year's model. There is a big difference between these two sets. The HL-S line is considered a very substantial improvement over the HL-R line, and you can tell just by looking at the two side by side from the same feed. (Similarly, be careful that you're not comparing HL-S5086W to HL-S5087W ... those two sets look identical with the screens off, but there is a very noticeable different in picture quality with the screens on.)

Adam_R · 06-16-2006, 02:13 PM

HL-S5687W owner here.

Now is a GREAT time if you have the $.

It'll be alot cheaper in a year, but if we (those who enjoy leading edge tech) always waited for the next thing or prices to come down, we'd never buy, would we?

MarkHarrison · 06-16-2006, 02:21 PM

Thanks for the advice everyone. I understand about always waiting for the next best thing or cheaper prices. I think I'll jump in at this point. I'm really liking what I've been reading about the Samsung HSL line. I think the next step is to visit a store and check them out in person.