A couple of HD / RPTV questions... (1 Viewer)

[JerryHatchett]

I'm pretty new here, but it looks like a great forum and I'm glad to be here.
The only HD signal I've seen is a DirecTV signal piped through a couple of RPTVs. I was blown away by the difference. I honestly expected it to be a disappointment after hearing all the hype, but it far exceeded my expectations even on the showroom sets that were untweaked to say the very least.
Question: Any speculation or rumors as to when a DirecTV/TiVo combo with an HDTV output might be available? I positively love my TiVo and it's about 50% of what I watch, DVDs being the other 50%.
Question: I have not seen a progressive-scan DVD player in action. How close does the quality come to HDTV?
General comment: I see that there's a lot of price shopping going on here for various HT components, which is great. I'm shopping right now myself for an RPTV, probably a TOSH 65H80 or maybe the MITS WS-65857. There are a ton of unauthorized dealers out there on this stuff, so please be careful. Getting a graymarket DVD player for a couple hundred bucks that you can't get worked on is one thing. Imagine having a 400-lb. behemoth of a TV that you paid a few grand for, and the problem takes on a different complexion. I know I'm most likely preaching to the choir, but felt obliged to say that. No, I don't work for any dealer nor do I sell any of these goods. I'm personally very partial to OneCall.com due to the great pricing and great service I've gotten there through the years.
Thanks, and again, glad to be here.
Jerry

 

[Ryan Pream]

On the onecall comment..they can be almost as bad. The benefit of buying local is that you can return it for a new one(or ideally for a refund). I had a very bad initial experience with my TW40X81 from onecall, I wish I could have returned it instead of sending it to local incompetant repair shops.
Now that I'm looking to replace it I hope to make myself buy from a Best Buy type store, even if it costs more.
Ryan
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[JerryHatchett]

Ryan,
I agree that buying local is the best option if you have local dealers available who are willing to price competitively. In my area, there is one dealer who has the TOSH TV. I can buy it online for $24XX plus shipping. The local dealer offered to take my '94 KP-53XBR set in trade and trade for a difference of $4499. When he learned that I didn't come down with the last drop of rain, he dropped that to $3999. I've called B&M stores in a 100-mile radius and still haven't been able to find the set in stock at anything remotely resembling a decent price. In cases like this, online is my only viable option.
Jerry