What is the best RPTV for $3,000? and why (1 Viewer)

[Josh Wolfman]

My brother is buying one this week- what is the best he can get for $3,000? He will be sitting approx 9 feet away from the screen. He will be using Direct TV instead of cable (I think he is getting hi-def DSS) and he watches a ton of sports. Thx.

 

[Brian Bowles]

It depends on what you are looking for? Are you going to watch regular cable tv with it? Many people thing the Toshiba has the best stretch mode. Personally I want either at Toshiba 57hdx82 or a 65hdx82.

 

[James R. Geib]

With a 9 foot viewing distance, a 51" to 53" model would more than large enough. Personally, I would recommend the Hitachi 51SWX20B. The Hitachi would run about $3000 with an extended warranty, and this set has received rave reviews. I auditioned this set at Circuit City, and it had a very, very good picture.

 

[Mike Matheson]

The Hitachi SWX would probably be number one on my list as well.

Encourage him to calibrate with Avia/VE/S&V once he gets his set.

Mike

 

[Chris_HD]

If you can stretch to $3300-3400, the Samsung HLM43W DLP 43" is stunning. IMO the Samsung DLP models have the best PQ of any RP set with HDTV program input. You have to see it to believe it.

I would have upgraded my Toshiba by now but they did not offer a set bigger than 50". Of course, they now have one at 61". Oh man.

Chris

 

[greg_t]

Pioneer SD533 53" 16x9 from onecall can be had for well under $3,000.

 

[Earl Simpson]

All good units! I have noticed the new Sonys have dropped in price.

 

[TimMc]

Your brother's interests sound similar to our house. We're mostly D-TV & DVDs and I looked at practically everything I could before buying. As said above - everything mentioned are all good units. Since it looks like you're running Hitachi RP maybe he should keep it in the family? At least that should make answering his questions easier...
The Pioneer 533 at OneCall is (was) darned enticing. Yup - I'll admit right up front that I went that route, so bear that in mind for the rest of this dribble... The Samsung DLP admittedly can be spectacular - really black blacks, the sharpest cleanest edges on the floor, etc. But the price was a bit higher that the comfort level (can you say tuition?) and the size was smaller. The Sonys (Grand Wega LCD and 57-600s, etc.) were also really good, but neither style seemed to ever get to really black (blueish or greyish at best?). My tired eyes thought that Pioneer's stretch modes & doubling looked noticeably better than the Toshiba & Mitsubishi comparison models, and none of those sets was at totally out-of-box settings. I never could get a Hitachi & Pioneer side-by-side, but the Hitachi's I saw were good (that's where I compared the Sonys and saw Hitachi blacks where neither Sony got totally black).
I dunno - maybe the Hitachi? You know what they do and can help answer the inevitable setup & adjustment questions.
Those Sony prices did drop by $hundreds this past week, though.
Now for the really hard question: What does your brother like? What has he seen and what are his preferences? We all made our choices based on our own likes & dislikes. You gotta make sure that his choice addresses his preferences and not all of ours - or else the truck would pull up with a couple of Sonys, a Toshiba, a Pioneer, the bigger Samsung LCD, and the new Toshiba LCoS set. Oh, yeah - and an Hitachi, too.

 

[Josh Wolfman]

My brother really has no idea about any of this stuff...he would be happy with pretty much anything- but he knows if he spends $3,000 he should at least get a quality piece recommended by the video community which is why I am asking y'all. I just bought a new TV last month, but my decision was a no brainer...I needed something for my bedroom not too big, not too small. In my eyes you can never go wrong with an XBR tube so I purchased the 36XBR800. He doesn't want the 40 inch tube- he wants bigger. I am not real happy with the Toshiba and Hitachi units- I looked at them about 3 months ago for a friend of mine. I don't know if they changed the line doubling process since then but I could really notice a difference in picture quality when watching regular cable in those TV's versus the mitsu. The salesperson says the toshiba and hitachi are similar in the way they double and the mitsu is a bit different- but I don't have facts to back this up- maybe u guys can help me out on this. Thx.

 

[KevinFC]

Josh,

Check the internet for pricing on the Samsung DLP sets I have seen the 50" set for as low as 2999.00 and the 43 for as low as 2499.00. They are also sold at Tweeters and at Ultimate from what I have heard. IMHO the best picture out of the bunch.

 

[KevinFC]

Chris,
Samsung will be releasing a 46" and 56" Q2 of this year, and the bezel on those babies are sharp . Choice of colors too. (charcoal or silver)