There I was, all set to buy the Toshiba 57H83.. (1 Viewer)

[Greg.K]

But Fry's had the 65H83 on sale for $200 LESS than the 57H83, with the sale ending today. I got it for $1799 + tax & shipping, delivered it's just a few bucks over $2000.

I had just about convinced myself that we didn't really have room for a 65", but at that price I'll make it fit.

Anybody have experience with this particular TV? I haven't sprung for Fry's extended service plan, should I? ($199 for 2 years, $250 for 3)

And yes, I've heard plenty of Fry's horror stories, but personally I haven't really had any problems with the Phoenix stores.

 

[Greg.K]

The TV was delivered today, I quickly hooked up the DVD player before heading to work, and played a bit of Monster's Inc.

WOW is it beautiful. I never knew that much detail was in that DVD. I'm definitely glad I went with the 65" screen now, & I can't wait until I get some time to adjust the picture.

I have a window open window behind my seating position, and even with the blinds closed the glare is pretty nasty on the screen. I'll have to try to figure out a solution to that problem. I am pretty sure I don't want to remove the protective screen at this point.

 

[Kevin Golding]

I took advantage of the same sale back in June - you can't beat the price The screen is very reflective. Regular cable varies from acceptable to atrocious, but DVDs and HD are incredible. Change to movie mode to disable SVM and lower the contrast down until you can do an Avia/DVE/S&V calibration. The picture will look even better.

 

[Greg.K]

Some notes:

- Picture quality on DirecTV was good, considering the source material. I was expecting worse. TheaterWide 1 is very nice on 4:3 material. Most of the time you can't tell that it's not 16:9. I just wish scroll worked for this mode so I could get all of the CNN ticker visible.

- I can't see any difference between 540p and 1080i for 480i sources (all I have at this time). I'm guessing it's not an earth shattering difference? Or does setting to film mode affect this?

- I only have several year old Sony DVP-S360 DVD player feeding it. Judging by the picture on Monsters Inc, I think the de-interlacing in the TV is doing a damn nice job and I can't imagine a progressive DVD player doing much better eeking more detail out.

- My son wanted to watch SW: Phantom Menace, now I know what everyone was complaing about with the edge "enhancement" :/

 

[ClaytonMG]

I am thinking of buying the 57H83, but I have a question since I've never bought a Widescreen TV before. What happens if you watch a movie that's not enhanced for 16:9 TV's?

Clayton

 

[ClaytonMG]

And when I say a movie not enhanced for 16:9, I mean a movie that's in scope or is flat.

Clayton

 

[Greg.K]

Widescreen TVs have a zoom mode that will fill the screen for non-anamorphic letterboxed material.

On the Toshibas, this is "TheaterWide 2".

 

[ClaytonMG]

That is nifty! And the picture still looks good and everything? It doesn't look distorted at all?

 

[JustinS]

It doesn't look distorted per se, but it definitely doesn't look as good as a comparable 16x9 DVD watched in "Full" mode on a Toshiba.

The problem is with the source material, not the TV. You always have the option of watching it in regular mode, where you would have the black bars and grey bars on the side, which on a 65" widescreen would be just like watching it on a ~53" 4:3 TV.

I've owned a Toshiba 40H80 for about two years now and find that I always watch non-anamorphic DVDs in TheaterWide 2 but still virtually always watch normal cable and the occasional VHS in standard mode.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

less than $2000 for a 65" Tosh? Wow!

The glare screen is removable but is some what of a pain to do.

One of my partners, Michael Hamilton (see www.lionav.com), lives in the Phoenix area, and would be able to calibrate it and remove the glare screen for you.

Happy viewing!!!

Gregg Loewen

 

[Ken Arnold]

Get the extended warranty! I have a Tosh 65HX81 for 2 years and it just died. It's been in the shop for 3 weeks...I'm going crazy with all these new releases piling up!! :frowning:

My only consolation is that I won't have to pay for the thing when I get it back.

This is a great set and we love it - not knocking Tosh at all, but EXTREMELY glad I got the extended warranty!

 

[Greg.K]

Wow, two months later my thread's resurrected.

The glare screen is removable but is some what of a pain to do.

The glare's only really a problem in the late afternoon, and I mostly solved it by adjusting the vertical blinds so less light gets through, so I'll probably leave it alone.

I passed on the extended warranty. Hope that decision doesn't come back to bite me.