$3000 is the budget, looking for something in the 53 to 57 inch range. (1 Viewer)

[Travis Hedger]

After long last I now have the ability to start depositing funds into my "Home Theater Savings account"

I have set an approximate budget for around $3000 as I dont want top end (will do a projector when we get a new house, current house cant support a projector of any type) nor do I want entry level HD.

All my life I have never had anything better than a 27inch run of the mill, off the shelf TV.

I finally got the wife to accept that I will have nothing less than a 53 inch screen.

I do not want LCD/Plasma. I would love DLP, except for the fact that I can see rainbows very easily in the Sammy sets, otherwise they have a wonderful picture.

So it looks like Rear CRT is what I can get.

Tuner integrated or not doesn't matter as I will eventually drive the set with an HD DirecTivo.

Now the sets I have always respected have been from Mitsubishi, I was thinking of getting a WS-55813 if still available by the time full funds are available.

I remember I took first notice of Widescreens from Toshiba and started drooling, the 65H80 I think was the first model number I remember from them.

I have a friend that got a Panny 53 inch a few months back for $1299, awesome deal and wonderful picture for Cable HDTV via component inputs.

Thing is I have been looking for years, casually shopping around never really latching into anything specific as I thought it would be forever before I could get a set, but htat day is soon coming.

I guess I am asking for help, suggestions and thoughts as to what you guys and gals have spent within a similar price range on a set.

I have never looked into any Sony or Hitachi offerings either.

One concern I have though is the native or "converted to" resolution. The Panny above converts to 720p and I was really impressed with the picture. I do not believe that I have yet properly seen a 1080i source, so my question is for upconversion from 720p sources, is the picture just as good and such?

Sorry with all the meandering and questions, but being as my first set, I want something that is just right.

DLP would be my top choice if it wasn't for the blasted rainbow effect though.

 

[DonDavis]

Are you set on an aspect ratio?
Does it HAVE to be widescreen?
What are the dimensions of your viewing area?

I have the Philips 60", HD compatible, 4:3 set. I did some real "soul-searching" and realized that widescreen was not a good fit for my home. I paid about 1499 at Costco last December and have been very pleased. I added the Onkyo TX-NR801 receiver and my HT is well on its way.

Good luck! Sounds like you have done a great deal of homework.

 

[Shane Martin]

Mits has just gone to a new series but I would still go with what I ended up with.

Which is a Mits 55413. This is last years Silver Plus set w/o an HD tuner. You should easily be able to get one for what I did which is $1699 + tax and $40 delivery(or 0 if you can negotiate that off). That should make your total around $1950 and you have a bunch of cash left over to upgrade your Directivo, upgrade your dvd player etc etc etc.

I got mine at Ultimate which I think they have a few in the "city" as us Tulsans call it
I'm pretty sure that set is 1080i native. The older Panasonics used to accept 720p but not the new ones. The only sets that accept 720p native right now that I know of are the DLP, Plasma and LCD sets.

 

[Travis Hedger]

Widescreen is what I want. I have a friend that has a 60 inch Mitsu 4x3 that we got back in 1999 when we used to be roomies. It's just too damn big!

A mid 50 inch Widescreen is what I got my sights set on.

 

[Jim Mcc]

I agree with Shane, go with the Mitsubishi without the built-in HD tuner. I have the Mits. 55807, about 3&1/2 years now. Most experts will tell you buy Mitsubishi or Toshiba. But the Toshibas are being built in such a way that even most minor repairs need to be brought into the shop(this was told to me by service tech that did a minor repair on my set). His favorite sets are the Mitsubishis.