Help with 1st RPTV purchase (1 Viewer)

[Chris Massa]

I'm a newbie but have been reading several forums. We're about to make our first RPTV purchase. I'm in a small city in Northern California which has a Best Buy, Circuit City and a small HT store. I wasn't too impressed with BB and CC. They kept referring to Consumer Reports ratings and while fine if buying a toaster doesn't seem very good for expensive electronics. We are looking for something for DVD's (non-progressive player currently), DirecTV and some off air broadcast. No HDTV signal is available for years except from satellite. I'm trying to keep the cost under $3000 but that is flexible.

The HT store has limited selection and most are not calibrated very well. There are two that caught my eye.

1. They have a new Pioneer Elite Pro-610HD which they want to move very badly. I could possibly get it for about $3500. Is this too good to pass up or should I not look too hard at a 1.5-2 year old TV? They only have one. I had wanted to look at a non-elite Pioneer because of some of the good things I have heard. I tried to find a 533 but no one around here has any.

2. Mitsubishi 55809 which was returned after 1 week for $1995. I could get a new 55819 for around $2700-2900 but they don't have one in stock. How do these compare to the Pioneer (Elite or non-Elite)?

It was hard to tell picture quality because the color was way off but they both looked good when using a progressive DVD. Getting a TV calibrated may be difficult. The purchase price includes delivery, setup, and convergence. They do not know of anyone capable of doing an ISF calibration in town or even in the area. Could I do enough calibration myself using the AVIA guide?

Thanks for any help.
Chris

 

[DaveF]

Is this too good to pass up or should I not look too hard at a 1.5-2 year old TV?

If it's a floor model, keep in mind that it's been on 8 - 12 hrs/day for 2 years. So it's had the equivalent of 4-6 years normal use. It's also had the buttons pushed and jabbed by countless people in that time; how are the switches holding up? Think of it as a used car: two years old with 75,000 miles. Is it worth the price? (Maybe it is; the important thing is to make an informed decision).

If it's not a floor model, then it's just a question of whether the price is good for two year old technology.

As for the sales people at BB and CC, they're just trying to give typical consumers information that they'd likely look for. Ignore them if you want and just buy based on your own research. (That's what I generally do.)

 

[Chris Massa]

After doing some more reading I think I'm going to forget about the Elite 610 because it has been on display for at least a year. I think they are trying to limit its use because it was unplugged in the store.

How are the Mitsubishi's? Any significant difference between the 809 and 819 series? How do they compare to the Pioneer 533 (non-elite)? Should I go out of town to try and find the Pioneer 533?

Chris

 

[Neil Joseph]

Don't know much about the TV but if you decide to get it, do some haggling.

 

[Jan Strnad]

I'm a Toshiba fan. Their widescreen models do a good job of dealing with less-than-perfect satellite and cable signals, and they're generally good straight out of the box. Since you aren't sure about getting an ISF calibration, you'll want a set that looks decent without one. It's also easy to get into the service guide and do your own 50-point (more or less) convergence once the set has been used for 100 hours or so. Until then, you'll get a great picture with the user controls and Avia.

Good luck!

Jan

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Chris,

The Mits models you list are not current, they're last year's models.

For $3000, Circuit City carries a number of Sony and Hitachi models that will work quite well for you--Sony KP57WV600, KP57WS500. Hitachi has some good sets also, avoid their low end UWX sets and look at the SWX20 line.

Best Buy carries the Toshiba sets, but not the top end HX series. Toshibas are very well regarded. BB also carries Mits, but under different model numbers than you'll find at other stores. Generally I think their Mits models are equivalent to the low-end WSxx311 models. Last year BB did carry the non-elite Pioneers, but I don't know if this is still the case.

If you have a large Sears store near you, they carry Mits, Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi. Their service and return policies are quite good. The model numbers in their circulars are Sears item numbers, not the mfg numbers, but if you go into the store they have the mfg model number on the display pricetag next to their proprietary number so you can compare. Sears is also quite good for pricematching.

I'd strongy advise against buying a floor model rptv.

Good luck--take your time, do your research, and don't hesitate to post questions here.