Toshiba 42HDX82 vs Mits WT-42311, DVI vs FireWire (1 Viewer)

[Iain]

Some of you may have seen my previous posts, and I'm still undecided on which 42" 16:9 HDTV-ready RPTV to get . The Toshiba and Mitsubishi are currently at the top of my list, but I still have a few issues to sort out in my mind. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's where I'm at:
The Toshiba seems well-liked here and its size (about 19" deep) and the fact that there's no need to buy a stand are big pluses for me. I get the impression that the Mitsubishi may have a better picture quality (I haven't seen one yet), but it being 25" deep (those 6" make all the difference in my room) and requiring a separate stand make it a distant second to the Toshiba in my mind.
Also, the whole copyright protection issue had raised concerns for me (maybe I'm making too much of this?). My current understanding is that Mitsubishi's nice-sounding "upgradeability promise" may not be quite as good as it sounds. Here's what they say:

We will engineer and manufacture the upgrades necessary so the television you purchase today can be made compatible with near-future advances in digital television and digital interconnectivity. Specifically, we promise that you will be able to have your television upgraded, at a reasonable cost, to include an off-air HDTV tuner, a cable TV tuner (for unscrambled programming), an IEEE 1394 (FireWire®) connection, HAVi system control, and 5C copy protection.

Two things stand out for me: "at a reasonable cost" is pretty vague, and there's no mention of DVI with HDCP - Mits seems to have backed the wrong horse by sticking with their IEEE 1394 FireWire. Am I right in thinking that the Toshiba is a better bet here since the 42HDX82 has DVI with HDCP built in?
Any thoughts or more info on copyright issues would be greatly appreciated. (No need to advise me on going with something completely different. I've thought about this for some time and am happy to go with a 42" RPTV. FP isn't suitable for my room, and maybe I'll go plasma in the future but I'm not going to let that stop me getting the best possible widescreen HDTV now.)
Cheers, Iain

 

[Brian L]

I am in the same boat you are in...about to pull the trigger on an HD capable set (maybe 51 inches if I am good!), but the DVI vs. Firewire issue is a great concern.

The last couple issue of WideScreen review had several articles, as well as a lot of letters from the readership on the subject. There are good arguments for both camps.

Some say not to worry about it, but for me a 2 to 3K expenditure is not something to be taken lightly.

You are right regarding your concern about Mitsi's Promise. The term reasonable sure leaves a lot of wiggle room.

I think I read somewhere that the intent was for the upgrade to be less then $1,000......thats 1/2 to 1/3 the price of many sets! I do NOT consider that reasonable at all.

Whats really important for my TODAY is how well the set looks with Progressive DVD, followed by how well it upcoverts NTSC DirecTV and NTSC OTA broadcasts (via the internal interlace/progressive converter).

Lastly is how the set looks with a true HD picture (I will be going with DirecTV's HD channels at some point. Where I live there is NO over-the-air HDTV save for PBS, and personally, I consider 99% of all network content irrelevant anyway).

I may just take the advice of someone that posted previously and ignore that whole DVI/Firewire debate and go with the set that best meets my needs TODAY.

BL

 

[Iain]

Thanks Brian - it's nice to know I'm not totally off base on these issues. I'm new to HT and I'm finding that the more information I get the more confused I get, until finally it all starts to become clearer. I've figured out which receiver (Marantz SR-5200), speakers (Paradigm Focus, CC-170, Atom, PDR-12), and DVD player (Panasonic RP82 or CP72) to get, but I'm still on "information overload" on the TV.
There's another similar thread on the DVI vs FireWire issue (here) which suggests DVI may not be so much of a done deal as I thought it was. More info from those in the know would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Iain