HD Questions--Come educate me. (1 Viewer)

[BrianDiP]

Hi folks.

Let me start off by stating that we aren't going to buy a television until March 1 when we are moving. I don't want to have to move the thing twice. I just want to educate myself as much as I can to make the best decision I can since I am such a newbie. So far the three televisions that we have narrowed our search down to is like many other people have done, the Mitsubishi WS-55411 and the Hitachi 57SWX20B/57UWX20B. The current prices at my local Good Guys/Circuit City/Sears are Mitsubishi WS-55411 ($2600), Hitachi 57SWX20B ($2999) 57UWX20B ($2499). It's difficult to see which television looks the best in the stores, with them not being calibrated correctly and such. Just from what I had seen today, the Mitsubishi looked better than the Hitachi's, but it seemed to be calibrated better. The hitachi's were very bright and the cable wasn't giving a great signal (shadows and such). My questions are these. We have digital cable and of course watch lots of dvd's. Which will give the best cable and which will give the best dvd picture of the three? What in the world is DVI and how will it affect me? I know that the Mitsubishi set i am looking at doesn't have DVI and both the Hitachi's do. Will this affect me in any way? If this is something that would be worthwhile not far into the future, I of course want a set that has it. I have seen lots of people talk about it and I just want to make sure that if I buy a set it won't be unusable in a few years because it doesn't have DVI. Last, but not least, what's the difference between the Hitachi's? I looked at both and like I say, the Circuit City viewing area wasn't set up the best it could have been. They both didn't look all that great. Is the SWX worth the extra $500 over the UWX? Right now the two frontrunners are the Mitsubishi and the UWX. Any input on these will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

--Brian

 

[Hugo]

Hi Brian,
I would go for the mitsubishi, for I have seen reviews that they are the top rated PTV's IMHO. The WS-55411 doesn't have a DVI, but the WS-55511 does, and it's about $3,200dlls. I have a WS-55511 it looks great, and comes with HD tuner already called the DM module, which includes the NetCommand feature that uses firewire technology. Hope that helps.

Hugo

 

[KurtJ]

go with DVI.

 

[RobSB]

This won't be what you want to hear, but let me say it anyway. You should look into the Toshiba line, specifically the XXHDX82. I just got the 50HDX82, and it's pretty darn good. Good stretch modes for 4:3 material, looks great on DVD's, and pretty cheap too. When you're this early in your research, don't count it out yet.

 

[BrianDiP]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll have to see if I can take a look at the Toshibas. I have counted nothing completely out since I am just starting my research. One thing we started to worry about is that we are going to be upstairs. I'm not 100% sure of the room size, but I believe the viewing distance can be anywhere from about 11 to 15 feet from the viewer to the screen itself. We want as big of a screen we can get in there and still look good and we know we won't be living there for a whole long time. Maybe a year and a half or so. We didn't know if we wanted to go smaller or if we should get the bigger one that splits into 2 parts for moving. The 57 would probably get up there, but many have posted with the moving problems they had. Any input would be great. Thanks!

-Brian

 

[Doug_X]

I have had the 50HDX82 for 3 months now. It is great. Enough said.