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What's YOUR TV? (And how would you rate it?) (1 Viewer)

John CW

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 7, 2000
Messages
619
Everyone seems to be asking the same question: "What TV should I buy?" There doesn't seem to be any clear answers one way or another. There are too many factors to take into account... What type of TV do you want? How much do you want to pay? Ratio. High Definition. All of us have our own criteria, and its very hard to find a review about a specific TV we're after.

Truth is, someone who has owned the set for a while is likely to know more about it than a reviewer, plus collectively we have the ability to rate more TV's than any magazine could ever afford to review! :)

So taking all this into account; how would you rate YOUR TV?

(Of course, I'm asking for information on newer or high quality TV's... not that 28" 4:3 TV you've had sitting in your living room for the last five years! ;))

How about filling in the following to help your fellow HTF's?

Make/Model: eg. Sony KV-36XBR800
Size/Type: eg. RPTV 70" 4:3 or Plasma 40" Widescreen
Price you paid for it: eg. $2700 at BestBuy
Good things: eg. Great PQ. Cheap.
Bad things: eg. Nothing or Bad sound. Really heavy. Had to return it. etc
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no)

(I'm currently looking for a set myself, so please excuse me! :))

Here you go:

Make/Model:
Size/Type:
Price you paid for it:
Good things:
Bad things:
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no)

Hope everyone thinks this is a good idea and joins in!

Thanks!

~ Johnny
 

Steve Schaffer

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 15, 1999
Messages
3,756
Real Name
Steve Schaffer
Sony KP57HW40

57" widescreen HD-ready rptv.

Paid $3k in sept of 01.

Good: Picture quality--color rendition is very nice, subtle differences in fleshtones are nicely displayed. Easily tweakable to correct color decoding and eliminate svm. good stretch modes for 4/3 material. Convergence stays in synch, flash focus works great, never had to do a manual convergence.

Bad: have to cycle thru all inputs rather than access them directly.
Remote buttons too sensitive--I keep accidentally turning on PIP or some other trick screen mode when I don't want to.

Overall very very happy with it.
 

John Royster

Screenwriter
Joined
Oct 14, 2001
Messages
1,088
Sure...I'll bite.

Make/Model: Mitsubishi 65819
Size/Type: 65" RPTV
Price you paid for it: 2700
Good things: 3d image, perfect grayscale, can tweak absolutely everything including ridding all forms of edge enhancement, format modes availible for 480p
Bad things: Won't accept 720p from xbox, doesn't like crappy sources
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes

Make/Model: Sony 36XBR450
Size/Type: 36" direct view
Price you paid for it: 1600
Good things: Bright tube, squeeze mode for 480p and HD
Bad things: Won't accept 720p from xbox, doesn't like crappy sources, poor resolution on HD sources
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) No
 

John-Miles

Screenwriter
Joined
Nov 29, 2001
Messages
1,220
Make/Model: Toshiba 36HFX71
Size/Type: 36" HDTV direct view
Price you paid for it: 2800 plus tax Canadian dollars
Good things: Amazing grey scale out of the box very good picture quality even on the worst of source, this tv really enhances bad pictures instead of displaying their flaws. very good price when compared to similar tv's 1000 dollars less than the sony xbr for example
Bad things: the only thing i really want on this tv that it cannot do is I would like to be able to adjust the overscan for each input. DVI would also be nice, but i dont believe it is in any way necessary.
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) YES very pleased
 

Bryan X

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2003
Messages
3,469
Real Name
Bryan
Make/Model: Panasonic pt53wx52
Size/Type: 53" HD RPTV
Price you paid for it: $1704 in Feb 2003
Good things: Very good image for the price, can turn off SVM, fairly easy to tweak, decent OOB picture.
Bad things: Won't accept 720p signal.
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes
 

EdR

Second Unit
Joined
Oct 29, 2002
Messages
432
Make/Model: NEC LT260 Projector
Size/Type: Currently 80"
Price you paid for it: $3200 (Oct '02)
Good things: Outstanding image quality, highly tweakable, quiet, accepts nearly every kind of signal (PAL, NTSC, 1080i, 720p, etc), 8-way keystoning (3D reform), portable, sealed optics, only 25% lamp usage after 6 months.
Bad things: Lamp is expensive, remote can be finicky, menus are functional, but could be laid out better.
Overall: Are you happy with it? Very
 

Trevor H

Second Unit
Joined
Oct 18, 2000
Messages
336
Make/Model: Hitachi 57TWX20B
Size/Type: 57" 16:9 Rear Proj. HDTV
Price you paid for it: $4600 (Can.)
Good things: picture is awesome, very easy to calibrate
Bad things: weird looking 4:3 stretch mode, has a bit of red push out of the box but once calibrated is fine.
Overall, Are you happy with it?: YES very much, IMO this is the best TV you can buy in it's size
 

Hanson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 1, 1998
Messages
5,272
Real Name
Hanson
Make/Model: Pioneer SD533HD5
Size/Type: 53” Widescreen RPTV
Price you paid for it: $2250 delivered
Good things: Where do I begin? Great picture, the best stretch mode, great line doubler, 64 point user convergence, user defeatable SVM, 15 pin RBG input, user settings for each input, plus more stuff I can’t remember.
Bad things: only 4 video inputs, no DVI, all user settings reset when you come out of service mode (really annoying)
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Emphatically yes. And only $100 more than the TW40H80 I bought 4 years ago. The Pioneer so much better in every way.
 

JonathonSan

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
80
Make/Model: Sanyo PLV-Z1
Size/Type: LCD Projector
Price you paid for it: $1500
Good things: Bright, detailed BIG image. Fantastic colors
Bad things: Grey blacks
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) YES!

Jonathon
 

John Stone

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 5, 2001
Messages
680
Make/Model: Panasonic PT-53WX42
Size/Type: 53" Rear Projection Widescreen HDTV
Price you paid for it: $1599.00 (January 2003)
Good things: Excellent picture and color accuracy (after calibration with Avia), deep detailed blacks, huge image, very inexpensive--unbelievable bang for the buck, no screen sheild (zero glare!)
Bad things: No DVI input, picture is not that great out of the box (requires basic user-level calibration to really shine)
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no): YES--100% pleased, would purchase again without hesitation

Here's a picture of mine in action.
 

nick_rh

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 1, 2003
Messages
86
It's not much, but it's honest...

Make/Model: Sony Wega KV27-FS100
Size/Type: 27" 4x3 tube, standard def.
Price you paid for it: $465 (September 2001)
Good things: Great picture especially with DVDs, 16x9 mode, plenty of inputs, nice remote
Bad things: No PIP, no 16x9 auto-detect, have to cycle through inputs
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes, very much
 

Marcel_V

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 24, 2003
Messages
51
Make/Model: Panny 47wx42
Size/Type: 47" rptv widescreen
Price you paid for it: [email protected]
Good things: Great bang for buck, super movie quality after tuning. Picture without screen shield glare is great even with sun coming in windows.
Bad things: Doesnt have quite the refinement that higher models have like the Mits with full wooden cabinets (the panny has a plastic half shell). Also not quite as many options/frills in basic user menus and displays/remotes as the higher end models.
Overall: Are you happy with it? Oh yes
 

Josh_SR

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 21, 2003
Messages
105
Make/Model: RCA / D52W135D

Size/Type: 52" / RPTV

Price you paid for it: 2000.00 on 3/12/03

Good things: Very nice black and siver cabnet, has wheels and is very light to move around, has an intergraded DVD player with some good options, Has 2 outputs for extra speakers, the on screen menus look crisp and clear. nice picture (i think can be better with tweaking)

Bad things: If you dont site in the right spot....the top of the screen will be to dark, anything that is red on the screen is blocky and very noticable, compaired to what i am reading in these forums..... this tv dont have alot of tweaking options, cant tell what rez the tv is displaying

Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) I cant tell yet
 

JimC_A

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jul 24, 2002
Messages
154
Make/Model: Toshiba 50H82
Size/Type: 50/RPTV
Price you paid for it: $1979 @ Best Buy 24 mos free interest
Good things: Great pic w/DVD and HDTV, good pic w/digital cable
Bad things: Glare on the screen, Should have 3 HD inputs, Should have bought the 57"
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) YES
 

Alan M

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 3, 2003
Messages
454
Model and brand:Toshiba 65h82
size: 65" hd rptv 16x9
Price you paid: $1995 on sale at frys in january
Good: great picture with dvd's and hd tv
Bad:glare,and when I 1st brought it home,looked terrible until it was calibrated.
Overall: very pleased with this set and would recommend it
 

Jeff Pounds

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Messages
385
Cool... here we go...

Make/Model: Panasonic PT53WX42

Size/Type: 53" 16:9 HD RPTV

Price you paid for it: ~$1,700 at Ultimate Electronics in Nov. '02.

Good things: Echoing comments from my fellow Panny owners -- excellent bang for the buck. Very easily tweakable to obtain excellent image and a wealth of information out there on the tweaks, including the well-known "panny.tv" site. Also has a pretty decent stretch mode for 4:3 regular TV material.

Bad things: Doesn't accept 720p; no DVI input.

Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Absolutly! Couldn't be happier! :)
 

Ken Custodio

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 5, 2001
Messages
316
Make/Model: TOSHIBA 50H82 (ISF calibrated by G.LOEWEN)
Size/Type: 50" HDTV Monitor (NO HDTV Tuner)
Price you paid for it: $1799 @ BESTBUY
Good things: Great Stretch Modes, Good PQ, only 22" deep, Nice POP/PIP setup, has big flat top for center speaker, good bang for the buck.
Bad things: 540P loose a little resolution, frame is silver not black, can't use PIP/POP with a component source.
Overall: Very happy with it, would buy it again, but with a bigger screen :)
 

DarrenH

Agent
Joined
Feb 28, 2003
Messages
37
Make/Model: Sony 32FS100 Wega Trinitron
Size/Type: 32" Flat Screen Rear Projection
Price you paid for it: sister won it in giveaway, bought from her for $400 :)
Good things: Crisp picture, nice OSD, flat screen
Bad things: Very heavy, only one component input, not HD
Overall: Are you happy with it? (yes/no) Yes
 

DaveGTP

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2002
Messages
2,096
He He He he he he *evil laugh*...probably not the kind of response you were expecting...

Make/Model/Size/Type: Zenith POS 27" with S-video, 3 yrs old
Price you paid for it: g/f bought it for me for Xmas, $280
Good things: Works OK
Bad things: S-video OR composite connection is irritating for my gazillion game systems.
Remote died (although the puppy was seen running with it in his mouth at one point...cause of death inconclusive).

Menus are ghosted about .5 inch; test looks a little fuzzy due to some ghosting on the TV, making RPGs sometimes hard on the eyes
Overall: Are you happy with it? Sort of? Better than the 20-ish inch wooden box ancient console TV that we had at the time: the sound on the old one would randomly triple every few days for a minute or so, scaring the bejesus out of everyone. My Zenith POS is better than the last rummage sale/college student POS I had before.
Didn't know anything about HT at the time, I would buy something else now. Upgrade to 42" Panny Plasma in my future someday, I hope.
 

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