HDTV recommendations? (1 Viewer)

[Derrick Cameron]

well it's been a few weeks now since i got the HDTV fever, and i just can't fight it off so i'm going to buy one. i already bought a progressive scan dvd player, a JVC XV-SA75GD, now i just need a nice new TV to use it on. i've been looking at a lot of HDTV's and trying to do as much research as i can because this high definition stuff is still sort of new to me. i'm going to try to stay under the $2500 mark. i'm looking for a widescreen model that's at least 47". anyone got any recommendations? any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jeff Peake]

Here is what I have found, in the last couple of months of research for my own HDTV purchase. These are my opinions, based on personal experience with the sets, and research (mostly at www.hometheaterspot.com).
Toshiba HX series:
- There seems to be a concensus at HTSpot.com that all units suffer from a type of image ghosting. THe severity of this problem varies from set to set, but most sets show signs of image ghosting. See www.hometheaterspot.com for details. Toshiba is offering full refunds of your purchase price if you complain to them, and thier techs verify your set is affected.
- However, many people report the problem is minor or un-noticeable on thier sets. Very good value overall. I found the 65" model (65HX81) for $3000 delivered, the 57" model for $2700 delivered.
- I really liked the Toshiba's, but am not comfortable that there are some rather severe known issues. If you get a good one, this is a great set....if you get one with bad ghosting it will be a pain in the rear to get replaced/refunded!
- If you are on a budget, the Tosh's offer a great set for a good price.
Mitsubishi:
- I recently checked out a Mitsu Platinum Plus, and was not happy with the pic quality. All Mitsu's have a red push problem, where the image is overly red tinted. This can be fixed by hooking your PC up to the color decoder inside the TV, and running some nifty software that allows you to adjust the settings of hte color decoder.
- I found the line doubler to be the worst of any of the sets I viewed. 480i inputs looked very blocky and grainy. 480i DVD looked the worst on this set.
- I personally found nothing redeeming in the Mitsu line. They are more expensive than the Toshiba's, and produce at best an equal picture, at worst a much poorer picture than the Tosh's.
- HTSpot has a very active mitsubishi forum, owners report that the Mitsu's are the most tweakable, and can be dialed in to produce extremely good images. It could very well be that the set I viewed could have been tweaked to look much better......I basically saw what it what look like "out of the box".
- If you like to tweak, you can probably get very good results with Mitsubishi.
Pioneer:
- I loved them. There are a couple of known issues. One refered to as "white crush", in which bright whites appear yellow/brown-tinted. I wasnt able to see this on the models I viewed. I dont think all sets are affected by this. Some people report red push as well. I wasnt able to see this on the set I viewed.
- The 64" (non elite) model that I viewed looked better than the Mitsu and Tosh when displaying a 480i signal. The line doubler is as good as the Toshiba, if not better. Normal cable/DSS looked very watchable.
- very good stretch modes (if that matters to you).
- nicer cabinet than the Mitsu (which was rather bulky).
- I am buying the 64" Pioneer this month!
Jeff Peake

 

[Dave Smith]

Jeff,

Did you find a good price on the Pioneer?

The best I've seen is $3199 at Crazy Eddie, but I don't think I'd order from them. Heard too many horror stories in the past.

 

[Jeff Peake]

I found $3099 from www.datavis.com.
I used http://shopping.yahoo.com to find that price.
DataVis doesnt have very good feedback on resellerratings.com...so I am trying to use thier price as a pricematch for a reputable dealer. The local brick and mortars wont even come close to $3500.........
I will let you know if I find a good deal.
jeff

 

[DonWinzen]

You can get a great deal on a Panny 47" widescreen at Sears. I had heard they would not honor the Internet comparison prices but I got them to honor on a 51" 4:3 (family watches a lot OTA cable) HDTV. I am extremely pleased with the picture thanks to tweaking of the set. The price will be under $2k

 

[Derrick Cameron]

Thanks for all the input guys! I think I might go with the 47" Panny, but if I can afford it, I might buy the Sony KP 51HW40. Any thoughts on this model?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Derrick,
I have the KP57HW40 (same as the 51) and am quite pleased with it.
It's picture is quite watchable with my middling quality cable, better with DirecTV. HD and my JVC progressive scan dvd look gorgeous.
My set looked very good right out of the box, and so far has needed only a 20 minute session with AVIA to produce a great picture. I have no convergence or geometry problems. The set has very good color with realistic fleshtones.
The WideZoom variable stretch mode does a nice job with 4/3 images, with minimal funhouse mirror effect.
Sony's DRC (line doubling) has had a reputation in the past for being sorta blurry, but they've revised it on the new models and to me it looks at least as good as the Toshiba and non-Elite Pioneers I've looked at.
The set has some really cool pip features, something I never messed with much before but am starting to like a lot.
It will display 480p from your progressive scan player natively, unlike the Toshiba and Hitachi which convert to 540p and lose a bit of resolution as a result.
I think if you want a consistently good performing tv that doesn't require lots of tweaking, the Sony is an excellent choice.

 

[Derrick Cameron]

Thanks Steve! I've been reading a lot of good reviews for the KP51HW40 on www.epinions.com and www.audioreview.com so I think that's the one I'm gonna buy. Hopefully I can track down a good deal on one today and it will be in my living room tonight. I don't have to work for the next 5 days and it would be nice to have a new TV to play with. Ok, well it's time to go drink some coffee and go haggle over TV's! Wish me luck!

 

[Chris_DiDio]

Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased a mitsubishi ws-55859 hd ready tv. I am extremly happy with the quality of the tv.