New house, new Dish, need new HDTV (1 Viewer)

[KenA]

I've been going back and forth between the Toshiba and the Mitsubishi. I really like the fact that Mits stands behind future upgrades. Is that for all of their sets or just a specific line? I'm thinking about something in the 50"-55" range. Recommendations? Don't want to spend much more than $3K.
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»ken«

 

[JoelW]

I had the same dilemma/decision to make as you... Ultimately I chose the Toshiba. Let me state that I was able to get dealer cost on either, so the cost factor was not an issue at all as they both cost relatively the same. The reason(s) I went with Toshiba is due to the immense tweability and knowledge about you to get them looking great. I know there is also knowledge about Mitsi's out there too, but it doesn't seem like nearly as much as the Toshiba's.
A RPTV will NOT look good (possibly even acceptable) unless you tweak it. Out of the box, no TV is going to impress you very much. You need to first calibrate it with Avia/Video Essentials, fix the convergence & geometry problems, and then do what ever other misc. tweaks you feel comfortable with.
I've had my Toshiba 57h81 for about a week now, and it just keeps getting better. Out of the box picture was better than I expected, but has dramatically improved over the last 6 days. Toy Story 2 is breath taking. I had signifigant geometry problems when my set arrived (no surprise considering Oklahoma's pot hole filled roads), but due to the vast knowledge on how to tweak these sets I found, I easily corrected these problems.
If all this sounds like more of a pain that its worth, you should consider getting your TV ISF'ed. I firmly believe that unless you are willing to put effort into your RPTV, that you would be better off buying a smaller tube picture. RPTV's are more touchy, but they certainly can look great, especially when given a good picture source like DVD or HDTV.
I'm thrilled with my Toshiba thus far. In the end, I didn't want to have to deal with the red push of the Mitsubishi models and opted for the Toshiba.
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Joel White
Editor CheapHomeTheater.com

 

[KenA]

So you're not concerned about the upgrade? It doesn't seem like the red push is difficult to fix. I also like the fact that Mits is HAVi enabled.
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»ken«

 

[JoelW]

I'm not too concerned about the upgrade. I think the problem will be solved via STB in the future (if the standards dictate a problem).
The red push isn't difficult to fix on the HD inputs, but you have to put an inline attenuator to do it. For each input you would have to do this type of fix, which may not be a big deal to you but I didn't want to mess with it.
The standards are so unclear now that I didn't feel the Mitsi promise to sell me a $1000 upgrade meant that much to me. Having paid around $2,000 for my Toshiba 57h81 a $1,000 upgrade seems a little foolish to me, I'll just buy a new TV and get rid of this one.
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Joel White
Editor CheapHomeTheater.com

 

[MickB]

Look at the non-elite Pioneer line as well. I have the 58" Pioneer SD-582. Beautiful picture with DVD'S or HDTV. Crazy Eddie in New Jersey has it for $3100. You can't go wrong with Toshiba or Pioneer. After a few months of use get the set ISF calibrated.

 

[KenA]

Well, after reading the threads in HometheaterSpot it appears that the red push attenuator is a peice of cake. I could assemble that in my sleep. With this knowledge in hand, I went to a B&M to check them out first hand. They are both beautiful, but I decided on the Mits. I was able to get the sales dude to drop $500 and bought it on the spot. The straw that broke my wallet was that he promissed delivery tomorrow! I can't wait to fire that baby up!
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»ken«