Mitsubishi WD-62525 DLP Advice (1 Viewer)

[BennyD]

I'm in the market for a 50-65in TV and the Mitsubishi WD-62525 caught my eye. A little background first, my uncle used to own a hifi store and always recommended either Sony or Mitsubishi displays, thus I am a tad biased. However, it has been years since he closed his store, so that may have changed since then. My price range is between $3000-$4000, though I can go a little bit higher and will do so for added quality. The location where the TV will go is the alcove shown in the following URL:
Alcove
The dimensions of that space are approximately 60"x70"x40" (height up to where the ceiling slants, width, depth).

With that being said I have several questions.

1. I have read that DLP TVs have a lamp assembly that burns out every ~5000-6000 hours. As the lamp degrades over time does the image get noticeably less bright? Also is the time range for replacement accurate? And lastly is it difficult to replace the lamps?

2. From the picture above, I would like to place the TV back in that alcove. It will not fit on a stand, and fit in that alcove. Are there any problems with having the TV sitting directly on the floor, aside from viewing angle?

3. Do DLP TVs suffer easily from burnin? I play probably more than my fair share of video games as well as frequenting TV channels such as ESPNNews which has a bottom ticker. If burnin occurs, is it possible to order a replacement screen and is it possible to replace the screen on one's own? If so, how much do screens generally cost?

4. Lastly, any impressions good and bad of any of the Mitsubishi lines of DLP TVs?

 

[Bob_Campbell]

Benny,

I'm in the same situation, looking for a tv between 50"-60". I went out and looked at the Mitsu 525, all I can say is that I was extreemly dissapointed! I saw this tv at BB and I took the avia calibration disk and the store let me play with the tv. All of the following was after calabration. The tv was extreemly dim, not sharp at all, they did have a HD feed on but I had them switch it to Analog, even worst(that's to be expected). The black level was bad, not to mention that there is no black level adjust to itself on the 525. To put into perspective how bad it was, an RCA DLP sitting right next to it looked better, before and after calabration of both the Mitsu and the RCA. IMO, i think that RCA stinks. With that said I couldn't believe how bad it was, so I need to go see the Mitsu Diamond series 725/825, I'm hoping that it's alot better. I have a Mitsu 55" diamond series RPTV but looking to get LCD/DLP for my next purchase. I'm still in the early stages of looking but my tops so far in you price range are the Sony Grand Wega LCD 55 or 60", Hitachi 50" LCD, Samsung 50 or 56" DLP(sammy might not work for you b/c it comes mounted on a stand) and the toshiba DLP.

Hope this helps but again you need to see it yourself, as all ways.

Bob

Ps. Very hard to have burn in on a DLP

 

[BennyD]

Thanks for the post Bob. I appreciate the quick feedback. Fortunately, I'm upgrading from that JVC 27" TV you see in the picture I provided. I'm a poor college student, so I've had to make due with that up until this point. I'm surprised at your observations, I'll definately be buying the Avia disc and taking it with me to BB with me when I go looking. The Grand Wega's look great from what I've seen, but they might be out of my price range. I'm very glad to hear about the low burn-in rates on DLP. Once again, thanks for your feedback and I wish you luck in your search also.

 

[Bob_Campbell]

benny,

Mitsu 825 diamond series can be had online for under 4K. The 60" Sony grand wega LCD was 3.7K at BB you can get the 55" online for about 2.5K.

Again good luck and I'm going out tommorow to look at the others including the Mitsu 825 and will reply back after that.

Bob

 

[BennyD]

Well, Bob I just talked with a buddy of mine who has had two Grand Wega's. He said that both of them had problems, and that he's never tried to set one up without issue (he's setup and configured four). Take that with a grain of salt, because he's not quite as much of a hifi enthusist as everyone on this board, but all the same its an opinion.

On another note, I just measured dimensions and I can fit that Mitsubishi DLP with the matching stand into that alcove. Which makes it even better. I'm really leaning towards the Mitsubishi at the moment, but I won't actually be buying the TV until late May (just doing my research now). Be sure to let me know which TV you decide on Bob, I'm interested to hear how it works out for you.

 

[Alf S]

My parents are very happy with their Mitsubishi 52725 DLP.

They use the Cox Cablecard for their HD/SD signals and I must say the PQ for both is outstanding.

The only downside is that channel changing is slower than usual but not terrible by any means.

I negotiated a deal at a local A/V store and also got a deal on the 5 year extended warranty...walked out of there with the TV, matching stand and warranty for under 4K.

p.s. DLP's DON'T have burn in issues.

Good luck in your quest!

Alfer

 

[BennyD]

Thanks for the response Alf. My girlfriend and I went by Best Buy today and I played around with all of the configuration settings on the WD-62525. I must say I was highly impressed. Bob is it possible that you just saw a lemon when you went or that someone had tinkered with the settings enough to make the picture look dim? I'm going back in a few days with Monsters Inc and LOTR: ROTK to test it out with a DVD signal. I also looked at the Grand Wega and it looks like the width is going to end up being too wide to fit in that alcove. I'm disappointed because I love Sony as a brand, but every TV I've considered from them has had space issues due to them mounting the speakers on the sides of the TV. However, I own only widescreen DVDs and play a lot of video games, so I'm probably better off going with DLP for the bonus of being immune to screen burn-in. I'm still open to other ideas, but at this point I'm pretty well sold on the Mitsu.

Two quick additional questions that you may know Alf...
1. I know that the Best Buy service plans are basically a piece of crap; however, when I inquired as to the difficulty in replacing a lamp assembly in a DLP TV once it burns out the salesperson said that it should only be done by a trained tech and that their service plan covers the Best Buy tech coming out and doing the replacement including the new lamp without charge. The service plan is looking like its going to run about $400-$500 which would be far less than the 2-3 bulbs I anticipate needing to replace. Do you know if the plans actually cover such replacements?

2. Also, this is probably a shot in the dark, but would you happen to know if Insight Communications offers cablecards? They are my current cable provider.

 

[Alf S]

One thing I want to bring up...the 525 series you are looking into at BB has one of the worst protections screens..it's very very reflective and gives off a lot of glare. Not sure if you noticed or if it plays a factor in your set up. The step up series 725 has a much nicer screen that is way less reflective. The TV's are identical other than that.

Personally I wouldn't deal with BB on a TV like this, not to mention getting their extended warranty...I bought my parents TV at Ultimate Electronics and negotiated a great deal on both the TV and Exteneded Warranty (Which covers 3 bulb changes for under $400).

I see there's a UE in Fairview Heights, IL..is that nearby you? If not, do you have any other more "upscale" A/V stores nearby you could look at to get the 725 series?

Back to the questions:

As for question #1...the manual shows how to replace the bulb, so I don't imagine it's too difficult...they probably wouldn't publish the instructions if they didn't want the consumer to change the bulb.

I have no idea about question 2..a simple phone call will answer that question.

Good luck!

 

[BennyD]

Thanks again Alf for you response. I am aware of the reflective nature of the screen. I read a review of the TV that pointed this out, but made the point that the screen was not difficult to use. I live with my girlfriend without any pets or children so I'm assuming it would probably be reasonably safe for me to just remove the reflective screen and put it into storage, only putting it back on when I go to move the TV. I don't have any upscale A/V stores within a 45 minute drive unfortunately; however, I'm reasonably comfortable with Best Buy. Being in college I personally know almost the entire workforce, so I know how to pull some strings if I encounter any problems. I'm thinking the best course of action at this point would be to buy the TV without the BB service plan and then look over the warranty and the service plan with a fine-tooth comb to see if a) it would void my warranty if I replaced the bulb and b) the BB service plan truly covers bulb-changes.

I was just hoping I'd get lucky on Question 2. Since I'm going to have to have a set-top box for my HD box I think I might just keep the digital box also.

Once again, thanks for your feedback. You and Bob have been immensely helpful.

 

[Bob_Campbell]

Benny,

I just got back from looking at the Mitsu 725, Sony XS, and the Hitachi Director Series. IMO I think the best one was the sony XS, here are the reasons why. 1) The black levels look ok to me. 2) I didn't see any screen door effect, where as i saw the rainbow in the Mitsu. Set-up seemed fine. 3) If your NOT planning to have your own sound system the sony comes equiped with 4 speakers and a sub (thought it sounded pretty good). 4) Finally the price is nothing to turn your head at, this can be had with a stand and good bartering ability for about 3.3K from BB or CC. Again these are just my opinions and reflections. Good Luck and hope you enjoy whatever you get.

Bob

Ps. SONY 55" XS not the 60"

 

[BennyD]

Welp guys, finally bit the bullet. I bought the 62525 today. It gets delivered on Thursday. I looked at the Sony 60" Grand Wega while I was at BB also, but it was too wide for my set up and I was more comfortable going with DLP over LCD technology. Just a follow-up, the BB service plan does indeed cover all lamp changes within the 4-year warranty period, and at a price of $499 its cheaper than the potential 4 lamp changes. However, I'll never fully advocate the Best Buy service plan. Anyhow, after everything is set up I'll let you guys know what my impressions are of all the various component qualities. As of the moment it's looking like my video set up is going to consist of the following:

• Sony DVP-NS315 into TV via THX-Certified component cable (this will need to be upgraded to a DVD player with progressive scanning)
• HD/DVR box from Insight into TV via THX-Certified component cable
• Gamecube into TV via S-Video
• PS2 into TV via S-Video
• Digital Cable into TV via Coax

 

[BennyD]

My TV got delivered yesterday!

As such I figured I'd give you guys my initial impressions.

Reported Problems (e.g. problems people have reported)
------------------------------------------------------
- Brightsport - It appears, at least initially, that my TV does not suffer from the football sized brightspot some owners have reported.

- Smudges - None

- the "Reset" problem - I gave the TV a pretty substantial workout of different input sources and video resolutions last night and it didn't miss a beat except for when it was scanning the Antenna for HD signals.


Input Sources
------------------------------------------------------
- Standard Definition (480i) - SD TV looks good, but it not necessarily anything to write home about.

- DVD (480i) - Looks very good, but could possibly look great it upconverted to 720p or 1080i.

- PS2 - Some games look downright bad (i.e. MVP Baseball 2005) and some games look absolutely stunning (i.e. Gran Turismo 4 in 1080i).

- Gamecube - Everything looks reasonably good.

- HDTV - I was only able to get one HD station via my OTA antenna. The one I got came in with about a 60-70% signal so there was some minor pixelation; however, the rest of the picture was breathtaking.

Overall, I'd say this point I am very impressed with the set and it has lived up to what I was expecting. I have no doubt that once we see more channels, games and DVD go to 720p or 1080i this set will end up looking absolutely gorgeous.

One thing to note, I am waiting to have it ISF calibrated until after I've burned it in for a week or so and ensured that its defect free. However, the auto-color setting seemed to do a reasonably good job of producing good balanced colors.

 

[Alf S]

For what it's worth...

My parents were getting a bit frustrated with the slow channel changes of the 52725 using the cablecard, so a Cox cable tech came by today to "re-author" the card since I upgraded the Mitsu firmware (this was suggested by Mitsu).

Well after some discussion, the tech and I decided for their sanity, it was time to switch to a HD cable box to speed up channel changes and also allow for PPV and guide info.

The tech was very nice and helpful, and offered to give install for free (normally $45)and install the one HD DVR he had in his van for a 5pm job (our appt was at 10am) and he would just get another box later for the 5pm appt.

The install went fine, and now my parents are thrilled at having DVR functions...plus having fast channel changes and an online guide is icing on the cake.

For those tempted by the "card", I'd say stick with a box and enjoy all the conveniences it offers.

 

[BennyD]

Just thought I'd correct myself. From the book of "I don't know half of what I say I know", today I corrected my DVD player settings so that it was outputing a 16:9 signal instead of 4:3. Yes I'm a dumbass. Anyways, the DVD input into the TV now looks amazing. I was a bit disappointed for this last week because the DVD input looked a bit washed out colorwize and stretched a little bit. Those problems both vanished with one small change on the DVD end.

Additional notes:
-----------------

• It's been a week and I seem to be bright-spot free. Looks like I got lucky.
• The glare on the screen during the day is a bit annoying, but coming from a 27" tube TV that had horrible glare in and of itself it's no big deal.
• The "Auto" color setting definately has a green push. So configure your TV via the PerfectColor system.