I need some hellp/opinions on choosing between 3 RP t.v.s (1 Viewer)

[JedW]

I will be sitting approximately 8-10 ft away from the set, so I figured that 50" or slightly bigger would be ideal(opinions on this are welcome). I am looking to spend around $1500 to $1700. I mainly watch a lot of regular 4:3 Dish network tv, so zoom mode and picture quality of that type of signal is what I am most concerned with. I also will be using for DVD's, but I figure if it looks good with regular cable/sat than DVD should look great as well. Here are three tv's that look pretty good and I was looking for any opinions as to which one would be the better tv and why. Also, if you know of other tv's that you think are a better choice and are around this size for a similiar price please let me know. I appreciate any and all opinions.

Sony 51" - http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-...oductDetail.do

Panasonic 53" - http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...Definition+TVs

Toshiba 51" - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....6&type=product

 

[RichG]

You want to add the Hitachi to your list when comparing. It is the F series which falls into your price range. I saw the Sony, Hitachi, and Panasonic side by side and went with the Sony. They are all good sets, so you need to decide for yourself which one looks best.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Well my vote is for the Sony. I had this set for a month now and it's one beautiful picture. I'm not using the HDMI input for my upscaling player but through component this baby has a sweet picture. I'd would give it :star: :star: :star: :star: .5 out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: . My ony thing about the set itself is the remote, it doesn't have a backlight that helps you navigate through the t.v. in a dark setting and depending on the size of your center channel you'll need to distribute the weight if it's a large center channel. My center channel dual 6 inch woofers so pretty large and I'm using a temporary block again to distribute the weight. Great set, it allows you to shut the Scan Velocity Modulation off.

 

[Travis_R]

I always recomend mitsubishi, thats all they make is RP tv's so its their specialty, I have a 42" and a freind bought I believe a 60" mitsu on my advice and it looks incredible as well, we both have VOOM HD sattelite though which is another thing I recommend

 

[Jason Charlton]

I'll add another vote for the Sony. I've had my KP57WV700 for a little over a year now, and have loved it since day one. When I got it, I didn't have digital cable or HD, so my main focus was to get something that displayed standard def cable well. Although the picture was a bit on the grainy side out of the box, once the artificial image anhancements (like SVM) were disabled, and I did a quick calilbration with Avia, the picture was very good.

The Wide Zoom stretch mode on the Sony is outstanding - an excellent compromise, IMO. I watch virtually all 4:3 material in WZ and don't mind one bit.

-Jason

 

[Beny_K]

Another thing you may want to consider are DVI/HDMI input slots on the TV. These slots provide an all digital connection between the TV and SAT/DVD to give you the best picture quality.

I'm not sure, but Dish Network should have one of these output slots (I have Comcast and their box has a DVI output). Check your DVD player, this may not even be an option though.

Sony has one of each, Panny has a HDMI, and Tosh has DVI a slot.

 

[JedW]

Thank you to everyone that has applied so far. After reading some more on the mistubishi(probably not spelled right) tv's I will add this tv to my list of possible's.

55 " Mits

What do you think about this one compared to the rest?

 

[Heinz W]

I'm pulling the trigger on this 51" baby Thursday:

http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/proj...l/51S715.shtml

The 51S715 has a great picture, and it looked better to me than the comparable Sony sitting right next to it. It also has an integrated ATSC tuner, HDMI, Cablecard slot, and the auto-convergence feature. I've also seen, in the course of researching CRT RPTVs, that Hitachi RPTVs are well regarded as far as reliability. You can find it it for maybe $1900 online, and Sears will match plus 10% of the difference.

I can't wait 'til mine arrives on Saturday!

Good luck, those are all pretty good sets so you should be okay with whichever one you finally decide upon.

 

[JedW]

Well I decided to pull the trigger on the Sony. It will be arriving tomorrow and I can't wait. When I remodled my living room I did the whole built in 7.1 home theater system with all of the components hidden from site in a closet. However due to budget issues, the tv had to wait. I have been wathing movies on a 27" zenith. Thank you to all that replied to my post. I will have a review of this tv up after a few days of viewing it.

 

[Chuck Mullen]

I have an older 53" Panny and have been very pleased.
Also, get an HD receiver from Dish Network and unleash the power of this large investment! You will not regret it!

 

[Jerome Grate]

You are going to so love this t.v. My advice get an upscaling player as soon as you can, Star Wars Trilogy, let's say Oh My Gosh.