Best TV to get for $1500 plus maintainance (1 Viewer)

[SteveKNJ]

I have about $1500 to spend on a new TV, and this is what I'd like to do:

Biggest screen with least amount of maintaince with HDTV capabilities (not necessarily right now, but I'd like to be able to easily port to it in the near future).

In researching, it is my understanding that a plain old CRT is the most mature technology with the least amount of problems, but does that mean only a regular CRT. What about rear projection CRT? I can get a really large screen in my price range, but what I'm concerned with is the maintainance involved. What should I expect? Some sales man in one of the large chains said that the bulbs are $1000 apiece and need changing once a year. Is this true? Am I better off just buying a regular CRT TV?

Help a real confused consumer...thanks.

 

[Ted Lee]

i bet he was trying to sell you an extended warranty. forget it, he's lying to you.

1500 is a pretty decent budget. here's how i guess i would break it down.

direct view crt
you can get around 34". you'll get the best picture quality. maintenance (i suppose) is pretty low. you can't really adjust anything anyway.

rear projection crt
a lot more flexibility in size. i think you may be able to get a decent brand (i like hitachi, mitsubishi, etc.) around 50" or so. there is some user maintenance involved (convergence), but that's about it.

i think what you'll want to decide first is what screen size you want. if you're okay with a smaller 34", then definitely get the direct view. but, if your goal is home theater, then i really think you'd be happier with a bigger tv. nothing says ht like a 65" tv!

hope that helps some...if you have other questions, just ask!

 

[SteveKNJ]

Thanks Ted,

By maintainance, is this a one time thing or is this a yearly process? How often do these things get out of sync? My sister has an old reprojection and it is really kind of blurry, is this a common thing to happen to these sets? Is the maitainence involved doable by a novice such as myself or is this something that a professional will need to do?

I'd love to get the bigger screen, but if there is a lot of other costs involved besides buying the set (I already have the audio set up, so there's no cost factor there), then I'd tend to go toward a standard style CRT.

 

[John S]

In other words.. How often does a CRT RPTV need cleaned?

Depends on the environment. Plus, with a little moxie, you can do the cleanings yourself.

Calibrations hold fairly well. The user convergence, is usually more than good enough for a re-tweak of it.

The grey scale calibration, seems to hold really well for most people.


Hard call for you for sure. After now using a 60", there is no way I could ever go back that's for sure.

Professional calibration is totally worth it, I finally got it done by a local guy, he had good refrences, and the corrtect equipment. He did it at night, as he said that any light present can throw off the calibration.

Now in a few years, I would vertainly have better input on the maintenance aspect. I'm sill less than a year in with mine. My previous non-hd 46" lasted 10 years with no maintenance whatsoever, and now has new home, and is used hours on end each and every day still.

 

[SteveKNJ]

How much does a professional calibration cost?

 

[Ted Lee]

it sounds like you're "over-worrying" about maintenance. i wouldn't let that be a consideration in your buying purchase.

all rptv's should be converted once in a while. i've had my tv about a year and have done two "thorough" tweaks, and a few "quickies". total time spent is probably less then two hours.

professional calibration is always a good thing, but can be costly and certainly must be done by an isf certified technician. i haven't done it on my set simply because i can't afford it.

if i were in your shoes, i would simply think about how big of a tv do i want, then go from there. i have a 65" myself. i may be moving into a new house, which may force me to downscale. yikes!

edit - i think isf calibrations are about 500 bucks.

 

[Al.Anderson]

I second the "over worrying". I've had my rear projection for two years now and I only did the full calibration once and it's held up very well. Actually twice, but it didn't need anything more than a nudge the second time. You WILL have to do it once though, as the RPTVs come notoriously mis-calibrated from the factory.

An additional question to ask yourself is where you'll be using it. The RPTVs do not deal well in a brightly lit room. For the most part I won't do any serious watching during the day, even with the curtains drawn.

Another question is what else you'll be doing with the set. To avoid "burn-in", most people still suggest avoiding gaming on the projection TVs; although more and more that suggestion is controversial. But personally, I think the tubes are better for gaming anyway. (So I have a separate gaming tube TV.)

If you're planning on heavy movie watching with the new TV, I reco going with the largest screen your room dimensions will permit. If it's mostly sports or TV, I'd go with the big tube. Even in high def, I don't think the RPTVs do sports-video justice. (On a lower end set at least, which is what I have and what I think you'll be in the market for in the $1500 range. And lower end doesn't mean bad - I absolutely love my set, I just don't have all the bells and whistles.)

Regarding TV, even if you think you'll be getting your HD signal over the air I don't think that alone warrants the super large screen. I live in an area with lots of HD signals and I'm still not getting a lot of use out of the OTA HD.

 

[John S]

A decent Yes concert on OTA PBS HD here in Denver late last night.... I was shocked.. lol

5.1 and amazing video, but the HD video showed how bad they are starting to look from their age though... lol


I really prefer sports in particular on CRT RPTV, just to give you an idea of the varied opinions on such things. I would also rate their performance in a fairly bright lighted room as decent, but certainly not as good as any direct view display.

 

[John Garcia]

If you are after image quality, go for a smaller set with the best PQ you can find, and that will likely mean a CRT at that price point. I picked up my Sony 34" widescreen for $1500 new.

If you are after just a big screen, shop around. IMO, CRT RPs are just not worth it anymore with DLP and LCDP, though they are more expensive (~$2k+ min)

 

[Jack Briggs]

As long as this remains a theoretical discussion about display technologies (but at a beginner's level) the thread can remain here. If, however, you are seeking specific advice regarding models, we'll move the thread to Display Devices.

 

[SteveKNJ]

I'm just trying to determine where I will get the best quality for the buck. It sounds to me for overall PICTURE Quality and less overhead, I'm better off going with a 34-36" CRT. If I'm looking for pure size, then a RPTV is better. I'm thinking, based on my research and what I read in this thread, that I'm probably better off taking my $1500 and spending it on a CRT. Here's my reasoning:

1) Seems like the technology is changing and RP CRTs are old technologies that are going to be replaced by the newer techs.

2) CRTs picture quality is better, and my room is just not that big where size is a huge deal. I'd rather get a top of the line CRT with top notch picture quality then a lower end RP TV.

3) The new RP TV technologies are not completely mature yet and very expensive relative to my budget and needs. I'm thinking two years down the road, when the technology is better, and more mature, I am going to want to buy one anyway, why spend $1500 now on something that has some inherrent problems when I could probably buy something better for less money then.

 

[John S]

I sort of agree, but only because of the smaller size.

I'm of the opposite opinion, three CRT guns are better than one. Off axis viewing is the only place that a direct view CRT wins.

But hard to say when your comparing a much larger screen size to the small sizes single CRT direct views come in.

But a ton of factors come into play here. I still give CRT Projection the nod on picture quality.