danicus007

Okay I really want to get a big screen rear projection TV, but I don't know enough about them. Here's my setup and what I'm shooting for.

I have DirecTV w/ TIVO but not HD channels. I probably won't opt for HD until a few years down the road when it's becoming more the norm.

I watch a lot of DVDs, I don't have any gaming systems. I also watch a lot of regular programming TV.

I'm thinking 45"-52" would be good. My TV area is a pretty good size. And I want to stay in the $1,200 range.

I was in Circuity City today looking at the 52" RCA D52W20 which is $1,400 but I've also seen the D52W17 and D52W15 for $1,200 which looks like the same TV to me. So I ask the guy if he can show me the TV with digital cable and not HD and he can't on the RCA but he shows me on the Sony next to it. He said it was the direct feed into the coaxial and it was all snowy and looked like crap.

My question is...with my DirecTV hooked up via S-video how is the picture going to look? Is it going to be very snowy or will it be comparable to my 27" Sharp tube TV? I know DVDs are going to look great, but I sure won't be able to handle snowy regular TV.

The two TVs I'm most interested in at this point are both at Sam's club and are the RCA D52W17 and the 45" Zenith . Would anyone recommend or not recommend these TVs??

Thanks for all your help. And any links to good sites with info about this stuff would be awesome. Also any good deals on a big screen would be nice.

Brian Shannon

I'll just throw out some random thoughts regarding your post.

I have seen that RCA TV (while helping a friend shop) and was NOT impressed.

Some channels on Direct TV are better than others. A larger screen will magnify any problems in the image. I personally have a hard time watching ESPN HD because it is terrible on my screen. The Discover channel in HD is stunning.

I would shop around, look at more stores and bring a DVD or two with you to demo.

Good luck!

danicus007

Thanks for your thoughts Brian. My main concern is how the picture is going to look while watching DirecTV programming. I'm just curious if it's going to be snowy or not. I'm guessing it's not going to be as clear at a tube TV but I want to know how poor the image is.

Brian Shannon

It depends on the channel, I am sorry I cannot be more specific than that. The channels that are heavily compressed and tend to show older material like TNN, WGN, TNT etc., sometimes look bad. HBO, Discovery, Travel channel tend to look good.

Walter Neff

I watch DirecTV on a 47" Panasonic RPTV. I'm not really sure what you mean by "snow" -- to me, that sounds like a relic from the days of antennas -- but what other people have said it is right: The bigger the screen, the more you'll notice the compression DirecTV uses. I'm not sure exactly how to describe this, but sometimes you'll notice that a patch of solid-colored area on the screen -- blue sky, for instance -- will look sort of blocky and "computerized," for lack of a better term. Sort of like if you take a small JPEG or GIF on your computer and blow it up to 200 or 400 percent.

None of this has much to do with the fact that it's an RPTV, but rather that it's a big TV. You'd likely notice the same things on a 47" plasma or LCD television.

Mostly, though, you won't notice it unless you're looking for it. And I still think DirecTV is better (price, channels, TiVo, etc.) than any other option.

danicus007

Coolness, that was the response I was looking for. Someone with DirecTV and a big TV.

The one the salesman showed me at CC was literally snowy, their cable or connection must have been crap or something.

I'm thinking of going with the 45" Zenith since it's only $1K and my living room seating is only about 9 feet from the TV.

Thanks so much for your reply!!

shadowhawk2020

Hey danicus007 if you can pick it it yourself try brand smart usa. www.brandsmartusa.com . The closest one is in West Palm Beach, but I got a 51" toshiba for $1199, and they had Hitachi's and Sony's at that price as well. The 3 year warranty was also $100 cheaper than Sears.



Shadow

BTW my tv is the 51h83, which isn't in the ad this week. But call them and get a price, they will save the price in the computer.

danicus007

Wow, those are some awesome prices. Unfortunately I live 171 miles from West Palm Beach. After tolls and gas and a rental van to pick up the TV; it would cost too much and take up too much time. I appreciate the info though...I just wish I lived closer, or they had one in Orlando

shadowhawk2020

I live in Merritt Island, it was a bad drive for me to. I saved $600 at the time for the T.V. and $100 for the warranty. So it was worth it for me


shadow

JupiterPrime

as for the former, that is good enough reason alone to have a nice big 16:9 HD set - DVDs just sparkle on it - as the latter, by 2006 there will be much more HD broadcasting going on.