Buying a TV in this day and age... (1 Viewer)

[Arthur S]

Charles, so you would rather have a 56 inch with a sharper picture than a 60 inch with a slightly less sharp picture. 60 inch display is 15% more screen area than 56. Significantly more impact. You don't really have to answer, clearly PQ is top priority for you.

Personally, I could see myself with the 70 inch XBR in a couple or three years, when it is $4,000.

 

[cctyu]

Hello Arthur,
I have no choice! The 60" Sony is simply way to wide for my room. If only the side speakers of the 60" can be detached like the 70"!

 

[Arthur S]

Charles

I'm sure you will be happy with the JVC, it is a fine product.

 

[TicoTVA]

I'm recommend that you consider also the JVC DILA (LCOS) its cheaper than the Sony and great quality. XXFH97 and XXFN97 are the current models
LCOS RPTV perform great for films its a softer picture than the DLPs
Just my 2 cents
ticotva
tvauthority.com
[email protected]

 

[cctyu]

With the above discussions essentially focusing on the Sony's SXRD-XBR's, SXRD-A2000 and JVC's XXFH97 ( choices investigated for my next purchase ), I was pleasantly surprised to come across an article about CNET's editor's pick for best TVs. The article had write-ups on all of the aforementioned TVs. However, after reading the article and rating, I am more LOST than ever!! The PQ of the SXRD-A2000, which I found not up to snuff when compared to other new 1080p TVs, was given a rating of 8.3/10 (second only to the 8.7/10 XBR1).The JVC HD56FH97, which was my final choice, only receive 7.3/10 and some mediocre comments!! Question! What do I do now and how reliable are CNET's review/ratings?!! Pity Canada do not sell Mitsubishi products, otherwise I would have opt for their new '6 colour' 1080p range and forget about both Sony and JVC!!

 

[Tim Glover]

Just now noticed this thread from good bud Chuck M. Alot of good advice here Chuck...and it will only make things more difficult. The worst is yet to come.

Let me echo some of the LCOS comments. Sears has the Sony and it does look rather nice. Smooth as heck, yet still has impressive detail. JVCs version is also recieving good press too.

I read good things about Samsungs DLP sets too. In a recent shootout, their 65 inch got one of the critics first choice. Some thought it looked too digital? Their cabinet style is knock down gorgeous.

Here's a Shootout from Home Theater Magazine: Some of the results may surprise you Chuck.

http://hometheatermag.com/rearprojectiontvs/206faceoff/

Good luck Chuck!

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

It sounds like you are a similar same predicament I was in. I had a 60" 4:3 Mitsubishi I bought in 1996 and while it was a great looking set, it wasn't 16:9 or HD. For my viewing room, I didn't want to upgrade because the 40" 16:9 sets were just too small after watching the Mitsubishi. Well, the Mitsubishi died a quick death a month or two ago so I had to do just what you are doing. Look around and pry open the wallet. I looked at a lot of sets and wasn’t going to settle for anything smaller than 60". I bought the 72" Toshiba 72MX195 DLP model and have been very happy. It has all the features mentioned in this thread (1080p, 2 HDMI, front inputs, etc.). The picture is incredible IMO and fortunately nobody in my family suffers from the rainbow effect. I bought the set for $3900. So there is another recommendation to muddy your waters.

Also, don't forget to budget a stand and cables too. Stands for these TVs can be pricey. The one I bought was $500. I'm sure there are cheaper ones, but a 72" set is very heavy and needs a sturdy stand. Budget some money for cables too. HH Gregg wanted $80 for the HDMI cable. Blue Jean has a 6 footer for $21.50. HH Gregg threw in the cable so I didn't have to order. My Comcast only has 720p through a DVI connector so you may need a DVI to HDMI cable for digital video. That’s $21.50 at Blue Jean. HH Gregg didn’t have that cable but did have a $50 DVI to HDMI converter. They threw that in too. (Wow their cable prices are high).

Anyway, good luck on your purchase. You are doing the right thing by shopping around and reading this forum. Most people are knowledgeable and helpful.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Thanks for all of the advice. I decided on the Sony KDS-60A2000. I got a decent price match at Best Buy, so I got it at $700 off sticker ($350 off of their sale price). The money saved allowed me to get a nice stand for it.

Can't wait until it shows up Next up, HD player and new receiver...and in that order. I think I'm waiting for the A2's (or 360 add-on, we'll see). But the BIG purchase is done. The other TV's recommended looked good, but I felt most comfortable with the Sony, and I think 60" was the way to go.

 

[Arthur S]

Nice going Chuck!

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I'm pretty happy. I kept gravitating to the 60" SXRD. It had a warm picture that was consistently smooth. Like I said, plenty of the other choices looked good. I mistyped above...the receiver is actually waiting until early next year. I'll get HD sometime in November. Batman Begins is calling to me...

 

[Tim Glover]

Sounds like you made a good choice. The Sony SXRD is a great display.

Have fun....

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I just saw over in the HD forum that you got the new television, Chuck. Congrats on the SXRD!

 

[Brian Olson]

I had the JVC 61FH97 and returned it in favor of the the Sony KDS-R60XBR2. I was hoping not to have to pay the $700 premium for the Sony, but it won out in the end.

The JVC is a fantastic display, don't get me wrong, but it had a few issues that I did not want to live with. The first being the user interface. I hated it. Never thought a UI would turn me off so much but it did. Sony's UI is light years ahead of the JVC. Secondly, I did not like the SD images I was getting from the JVC. I know these displays are designed for HD, but there's still plenty of SD out there so it needs to do a decent job at it. Again the Sony wins that for me. The third issue was, in a word, black. The level of black that can be obtained with the Sony is superior to the JVC (which I thought was good till I saw the XBR2). What I thought was black was really grey. Well dark grey, anyways. The Sony set me straight. I spent a lot of time with the settings (even going into the service menu), but could not get the level of black without compromising the overall picture on the JVC that I can with the Sony.

If you're price sensitive I would have no problems recommending the JVC. It really is a good RPTV at a very competitive price. But, if money is no issue the Sony is the way to go (IMO).