about to buy RCA F38310..good idea? (1 Viewer)

[Sean Patrick]

i am going to buy a F38310 this week online (spectravox, best deal i've found yet and they have a 30 day money back guarantee)...as long as i'm not steered away from it here. It's the perfect size for my living room, is a tube (which i really prefer), and has a built in HD tuner which i consider $500 built in value.

Things i am wondering about :

since i am buying a refurbished unit, i will probably have that side-of-screen squeezing in 16:9 mode that older units suffered from. Is this something an RCA tech can take care of with warranty service?

I have directv, but have directivo receivers and won't be using the internal ones. is there a way to disable these so it's not constantly running?

and just how loud are the fans? i've never heard one in a showroom but in a quiet living room this might be different. I'll be sitting about 10 feet away.

i won't be buying a progressive scan dvd player for a few months. will an interlaced player look acceptable in the interim?

otherwise i'm pretty confident that i'll like the picture, every one i've seen so far has looked great. i've been living with bad geometry and brightness problems on my smallish Wega for 2 years so i'm hoping things will improve on that end.

thanks

 

[Matt Stryker]

Sean- I would seriously consider reading this thread: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...ght=RCA+do+not
As for DirecTV, you should probably use the internal one if it decodes HDTV; just get a multiswitch and run one line to each, and then run your DirecTivos into the set via S-video.
If you are in Atlanta, you might want to check out some of the local HT clubs here: Link Removed
Link Removed

 

[Jack Briggs]

Sean, Matt pointed you in the right direction. At this moment, you're dazzled by the idea of having high-def capability, and that is good. What is bad is this particular RCA model--and the fact that it's refurbished.

Why not wait a little while longer and save for something that will give you years of trouble-free high-definition pleasure? The Thomson products are very risky as an investment.

 

[Sean Patrick]

yuck...it's too bad because it's the only widescreen tube i can remotely afford right now. i really really don't want a rptv. I wouldn't mind a 4:3 HDTV that accepted progressive signals, but 2.35:1 material would look much smaller than i'd like on current 4:3 HDTV sets.

the place i'm buying it from has a 30 day money back guarantee. i know this doesn't address long term issues but a lot of the problems people have with it i'd be able to see/notice immediately.

i'm not sure if it's true that it upconverts everything, i was told it has native 480i.

i can also get a good deal on a philips 34", but that is getting a little TOO small for my room.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Sean:

The Philips has been very well-reviewed and widely praised. I've seen one properly set up. It's intoxicatingly gorgeous. I had a thread here a few days ago about "picture quality" versus "picture quantity." I'd give you a link, but the thread was sullied toward the end by some petty back-and-forth bickering among a few participants. But I say go for good picture quality above all else. So, the RCA gives you a big, curved widescreen display. The Philips is flat--and flat-out better. Why pay for something that's big and problem-prone over something that's just four diagonal inches smaller and very reliable?

You might also consider the Sony KV-36XBR450--though 4:3 native, it has a 16:9 mode.

I am afraid that if you buy that Thomson product, the next post we'll get from you will be one asking where the best RCA repair centers are in your area.

JB