I need some help deciding on an HDTV - $3k-$5k (1 Viewer)

[Mark Kasprzak]

I'm in the process of purchasing a new home, and I'm going to have to get myself a new HT display to do with it. I have absolutely no qualms about putting myself in debt to give myself a serious upgrade, so I'm going to need some advice (Size is not an issue).
I went to Best Buy tonight (I know, I know) to get a physical look at some of the displays. I was slightly underwhelmed by the 65 inch Mitsubishi, impressed by the 40 inch Panny LCD, and I *really* dug the 42 inch Phillips Plasma.
Here's my quandry: Size and Quality are both very important to me, and I don't know which one takes a backseat to the other. The 65 Inch Mistu is HUGE, but not nearly as bright or crisp as the LCD or Plasma. I understand that this is normal for CRTs, but how does a *properly calibrated* CRT RPTV usually compare to LCDs/Plasmas?
The other issue is price. I'd be able to get the Best Buy employee discount, so the Plasma would run me $4900 instead of $7000. So I'd be looking at $3k for a large CRT RPTV, or ~$5k for a smaller plasma. Decisions, Decisions..........
Any suggestions/unput are more than welcome.

 

[Randy_T]

The 42 inch Phillips Plasma doesn't have a built-in tuner. Best Buy recommends the Phillips E-Tuner at $1000. You would then have to buy a HDTV converter box to receive HDTV signals. I don't know if BB carries Pioneer. Check out the Elite Series.

Randy T

 

[James Stierman]

check out the new hitachi 65SWX20b. It reatails for 3799.99 and is probly one of the best projections on the market. It has become the top selling tv at my work and everyone who has one has loved it.

 

[Gil D]

James,
How good is the new Hitachi SWX series with NTSC? Also, is the tuner still very slow.

Mark,
How are the 55" Mits sets at BB. Which ones compare to the Platinum Plus Integrated like the 55859?

 

[James Stierman]

It looks very clean and the HD looks better than i've seen on an projection, we have the 57 in our showroom, tuner seems about average.

 

[Mark Kasprzak]

James - Thanks for the input on the Hitachi SWX. I looked into them last night and saw nothing but good stuff about them. Yet another set to confuse me...
Gil - In BB, all of the RPTVs were remarkably dim. I was underwhelmed by pretty much all of them. I haven't compared against the Platinum Plus models, but I plan to.