JTH182

Okay, well my parent's 27" Sony that is older than me is finally dead (they have to listen to the radio ) So it looks like they are ready to step into the new millenium. Well, I had always believed for the price, the Tosh 57H81, and the DST3000 STB would be their best bet. Lately though I've been hearing good things about the Sharp 4 & 5h series. What do you all think? any other sets I should check out for them? Their price range is right at the Tosh's level. Oh, and they want to buy a set within the next week or so

FiveO

My Toshiba 50H81 is arriving at 3pm this afternoon. Been a two week wait.

I've been a Sony man all my life but when I compared the picture between a comparable Sony and the Toshiba I decided to a take a chance. Hopefully I won't be disappointed.

There are some other threads on the Toshiba models...just punch in Toshiba in a search on this forum.

Sn0

For the money I don't think a mitsu can be beat, I shopped for months and looked at everything on the market, and picture quality on the mitsu was amazing, I believe it is the best RPTV aside from the elite series, go to www.hometheaterspot.com for all RPTV questions. I love my 47809 and wouldn't go with any other brand.

gross@iastate

I agree with Sn0. Buy a Mitsu. I am very happy with my 55809. The only thing better are the Pioneer Elites but they are expensive. www.hometheaterspot.com is a great website, full of information.

TheKobra

I would have to say stay away form the Mits. Too much red in the picture. Best way to tell this is put on any movie that has a taxi drive by. Look at the taxi it is orange NOT yellow like it should be. Some people (I can) really can't tell but if you are color blind look out!

Berkowitz

I have a ws65908 and love it!!!! It took some tweaking and some break in time, but it is well worth it!!! I have a Zenith DTV1080 on order and can't wait to watch some HDHBO!!!!

gross@iastate

What is the deal with this Taxi driving by????? You write this in every thread that a Mitsu TV is mentioned. Yellow has nothing to do with red push. All RPTVs have red push. It is noticeable mostly with flesh tones, where a face will be slightly sunburnt. I only see yellow taxis on my Mitsu, unless they are painted a different color. Whatever TV you were watching must of had the settings messed up or was just faulty. I have never heard of yellow looking orange.

Sn0

Yes there is a red push on the Mitsu, but this can be fixed, on DVD viewing it can be fixed with 8 dollars in parts from radio shack, and EVERY RPTV has red push to some extant. It was discovered by Sony and their marketing department, that if you add a bit of a red tint "RED PUSH" the picture will stand out and look better to the consumer in a line of TV's since then all manufacturers have done this trick. Any component source can be corrected by this little tweak. And there are a few souls that can fix this problem in every input by changing the eprom. But the red push issue is on every big screen so don't let that hype drive you away from the IMHO the best priced RPTV on the market.

kits

own Mits VS-60703 for almost 4 years now and don't even feel like going to HDTV b'cos this sucker looks damn good. Better than some HDTVs(for viewing DVD and analog programming). Period.

Sockmonkey

Yes, the Mits are good sets. They are notorious for having a substantial "red push" that can be corrected with a few parts from Radio Shack. When tweaked, however, they give a fantastic picture.

The Toshiba are slightly cheaper, and in the 2001 model year were generally regarded to have a better picture than the Mits.
For 2002, the Tosh picture quality has degraded a bit (possibly due to 480 to 540 upconversion).

After a year of indecision, I picked the Tosh over the Mits for price, picture, and tweakability.

You'll be happy with either one.

Movie_Man

Since Mitsubishi is being discussed now, I totally love my 55807.

FiveO

Well....got my Toshiba 50HX81 today...a day late....but worth the wait.

I'm very impressed. Still playing around with it.

Watched Saving Private Ryan on it already...wow.

Next up is the DTS Last of the Mohicans


Very nice picture.

Glad I didn't go with the 57HX81...would have been too big for my room. This things huge!

webfeet

I've been shopping all month for a RPTV...and after extensive research, I went with a Mitsubishi WS 55809, it gets delivered on Sunday

Pharoh

Need more info!

What will primary source of TV? Cable or satellite?
What type of DVD? progressive or interlaced?
Parents watch much network tv?
Parents familiar with zoom and stretch modes?

Depending on your answers my answer will be different.

Generally though the Toshiba, while a very good set, has a much softer focus, (as noticed on test patterns, and reference discs), than both Sony and Mits. I also feel that both Sony and Mits have much better line doubling systems. The Sony's DRC system however makes satellites look terrible, (has to do with the MPEG-3 throughput), so the Mits will look noticeably better on satellite, but the Sony better on cable. The Toshiba probably better on satellite than Sony. Progressive DVD is extremely film like on the Sony's, with great black levels. Both the Tosh and Mits have too much built in contrast, (both will require a good amount of tweaking). The Sharps btw look very good on satellite, but have had some service issue, albeit the 4s not the 5s. Sorry to take so long, but it is not an easy answer as I would really need some more feedback to give a good recomendation. Hope this helps some.

JTH182

Well, they just went with the 57HX81. I think they got a pretty good deal: $2626, free shipping/set up, and haul away of old POS TV. Should be there monday!! Thanks for the help everyone.