Well - I did it. I purchased an entry level rptv yesterday. (1 Viewer)

[Rod Melotte]

Yes Yes - I know, I should have gottin something HD but I'm thinking this will do for the next 5 years and by that time things will be even better/cheaper, I was on the edge of the finiancial envelope as it was.

I would LOVE any comments on the below features - I'm happy (which is the bottom line) so any negative comments will not hurt my feelings, it's a 5 year fill in TV.

Because of space problems I went with a 43 inch Sony

KP-43T90. It's NOT HD and it's NOT 480p Compatible (which is to bad).

It is 4:3 and NOT 16:9

It DOES have

3D Digital Comb Filter (which I THINK is a good thing)

130º viewing angle (maybe they all do and it was not a big concern)

Flash Focus All Digital Alignment System: With the touch of one button, you can converge the picture by aligning the red, green, and blue picture tubes(is this standard???).

Microfocus Picture Tubes: Uses an extended neck, reducing beam spot size by 25% for a highly detailed, sharp picture.

First Surface Mirror: Unlike many projection TVs, which require the electron beam to pass through the front surface of the mirror twice, Sony's First Surface Mirror means the beam reflects off only the front surface. This results in improved resolution, brightness and contrast. (COMMENTS??)

Dynamic Focus Circuitry: This system adjusts the picture during each scanning line for consistent corner-to-corner sharpness. (Is this standard with all rptv's)

A built-in high-contrast protective screen

Advanced Velocity Modulation Scanning (sounds cool but I don't have a clue on what it does)

Microfocus Picture Tubes (same as above)

and it looked GREAT on normal cable (I insisted they NOT play a DVD and wanted to see real live broadcast).

And the sweet thing is that I talked them down $300 by saying Sears was going to beat their price with their Net deal.

 

[Brad_V]

Yes Yes - I know, I should have gottin something HD but I'm thinking this will do for the next 5 years and by that time things will be even better/cheaper, I was on the edge of the finiancial envelope as it was.
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No no - You got what fit your budget and made a good decision for this moment in time. So you can't watch CSI in high-definition or watch a DVD in progessive, Oh No! Put in a DVD, interlaced picture or not, and tell me it doesn't look good.
That was a smart thing to watch regular feed on it. I hear so many people with HD sets, particularly Mitsubishis, saying how lousy analog feed looks. Sometimes the line-doubler will make the feed look better, sometimes the line-doubler will make the feed look much worse. In fact, on another forum, someone was saying how he brought his 16:9 HD Mitsu back because satellite looked SO terrible on it. He exchanged it for the analog version and is MUCH happier. As well as has an extra thousand in his pocket.
That Sony is certainly a fully-loaded set. Have fun.

 

[Roy H]

Congrat's Rod on your new TV. It sounds to me like you made a very wise choice. You got a great deal, and you like the picture you get from your new TV. What more could you want? Better yet, what more do you need? You are right IMHO. You will get years of enjoyment from your new TV. Down the road when prices are way lower, and digital TV's are perfected, then make the move. Right now I think there are many more reasons not to have a digital TV then there is to have one, again IMHO.
PS: For now just sit back relax and enjoy the show.
Roy.

 

[Rod Melotte]

Roy - my feelings exactly on digital's. IF a person has one already that's good, if he does not there is no rush to get one RIGHT now.

I feel like my dad all of a sudden. He would never buy a color TV until they were perfected. I guess it's called being anal? lol

I wanted a rptv 5 years ago but thought they all look horrable, upon further review I see that thet now are look alot better. Who knows in 5 years plazma's might be afforable and the bugs worked out(which there are still some).

 

[Brad_V]

I may buy someone's 10-year-old 52" RPTV for $100 for a bedroom TV and only have to tweak the colors to give it a decent picture. The set was like $3200 new 10 years ago. Even five years ago, a good Mitsubishi set was quite a chunk of change. Now good analog sets are so cheap that everyone should have an RPTV. Gotta love it.