chipmac

The manufacturer might not cover bulb replacements but I too have heard of many extended warranties from second and third parties that do.

Thunderball

Ok, here's a challenge for you folks.

Show me the sets you would buy if you were me. Try to keep it under $2000 , including the set, TV and an AV stand, since I'll need to buy a new one.

I saw the CC ad this week for a Sony 46" RPTV for 1499 and it looked pretty good in person and they had a matching stand that can hold the 2 devices I need held the most underneat for $199. But I'm sure that is a horrible TV in your opinions as well.

So, lets see what you would buy.

Shannon Nutt

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....9&type=product

If you want one with an HDTV tuner already built in, the 55513 is currently $1999. That's the one I have. But I got mine with a tuner because for the first year I lived off of over the air content.

chipmac

See there's another thing. Those stands that are needed for the smaller models often bring the total cost up to where it would be if you bought a bigger model that doesn't need a stand. Are you looking at this model because it fits in the space you have or the price? You told us your max price but how big do you want to go and how big can you fit?

candyrocket786

I just bought this model from www.onecall.com



PT-47X54 by Panasonic (RPTV)

The set has some great reviews.

By the way...this was my first big screen purchase.

Thunderball

Candyr : have you gotten it yet? I'd like some opinions when you do get it.

Thunderball

In my currently livign conditions, a 50" LCD or Plasma would fit, anythting about a 46/47/48 inch cabinet won't fit up the stairway. I only have a 2.5 foot gap to get everything thru.

Thunderball

Another thing I'm accounting for is the overall weight.

I'm moving in a year or two, and dont' really want a 200 lb behemoth in my living room.

bryce0lynch

A small, lightweight set for

candyrocket786

Should have it end of next week.

Here's the official X54 thread @ the www.avsforum.com

My final price was $1246 (no tax and included shipping).

The weight of the 47X54 is about 147lbs.


Like I said... it has some great reviews and I didn't want to spend a whole lot $$$ on my first big screen. I figured I test one out and see where it goes from there.

Thunderball

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gcbrowni
[B]A small, lightweight set for

agrall

Consider the new Sony GWIV series and the Hitachi VS810 series LCD rear projection sets. Very nice in my opinion...

bryce0lynch

Your best chance is to buy someplace with a salesperson that makes a commission. Talk them down, give them an excuse to pricematch, and offer to get an extended warrenty. The price match gives them an excuse to lower the price, and the extended warrenty makes their mouth salivate. I usually do my talking with my credit card nice and obvious in my hand, and I start by making it clear I'm buying the Tv TODAY; I'm not comparing prices or BS'ing around. If I'm not buying it from you then I'm going down the street to offer the other guys the same deal. If you're buying cables, a dvd player, or a stand then I would have a shopping cart with those in them.

At this point, with the extra cables and stand, an extended warrenty, a serious commitment to buy NOW, a commishioned salesman, and an excuse for them to lower the price, you shouldn't have any problems.

If you need cables or a DVD player then it's a good time to get them, so you can show them you're buying extra stuff, but if you don't need them or they are WAY overpriced, then don't bother to get them. Same with the warrenty, if it covers bulbs then go ahead and get it with the Tv, if it doesn't, or the Tv isn't a bulb set, then don't bother.

I have a Panasonic 50" LCD RPTV and I love it. I would have gotten the Samsung 50" DLP (N model) but they were backordered to hell and back AND about $500-$700 more. I'm not sure what I'd get today, an LCD or DLP. $500-$700 is a pretty big difference for a small increae in image quiality, which is probabally unnoticable to most people.

In an informal survey I did, the screen-door effect was worse on the LCD sets, better on the DLP's, and best on the LCOS's. But again, I don't really think it matters.

Thunderball

Fuck it. I went with the newer version http://www.tweeter.com/product/index...ductId=1843055

For actually a lower in store price.

Much lower, I paid about that, but got a free stand and free delivery basically. Plus I tacked on a 3 year extended warranty(waste of cash I'm sure) so I was at where I was before with last year's floor model, but instead have the brand new model.

It had the picture I liked and the price was where I wanted to spend. 18 month no interest too boot. Im' happy. CRT may have been cheaper, but this is "cooler" and fits all my criteria.

bryce0lynch

Cool.

Are you going to get an upconverting DVD player to go with the HDMI port, or wait for a HD player?

You getting HD via OTA, Cable, or Sat?

Thunderball

Not getting an upconvertiging DVD, gonna wait for HD.

Not getting HD cable either. I mainly went with HD for future purposes.

At least no HD cable yet. Not a big fan of cable. More a fan of DVDs and XBOX lately

agrall

Congrats. I special ordered (long story) its big brother, the 60XS955. I'm really looking forward to getting that home!

Thunderball

While I"m thinking about this...2 questions..

1) How do I clean the screen since I dont' think windex will cut it anymore

2) What disc should I get to set it up, Avia?

Thunderball

This is why I hate DVDTalk, I always get one upped

Red Dog

I plan on getting the Sony 42" Grand WEGA (KDF-42WE655).

cowanrg

Thunderball,

great choice. you will be happy with that tv.

Deftones

Nice pick Alan. Not a big fan of Sony's but those sets have looked pretty nice when I've seen them in the stores.

bryce0lynch

You'll want to use a mircofiber cloth, with no liquids. If you choose to ignore that, then just plain water. You can pick up a special liquid cleaner & microfiber at BestBuy (and other places.) I forget what it's called (maybe it's a Monster product?) but it should be in the Tv section, probabally near the DVD scratch repair stuff. Whatever you use, make sure it's labeled for use on screens. (I have two small children and so far I've been able to clean everything with my microfiber.) You can probabally get cheaper microfibers at an auto parts store, but I'd stay away from cleaners that they sell there.

You're gonna get the HiDef kit for the XBOX? There's a website somehwre that tells you which XBOX games support widescreen and which support HiDef.



You should be able to pick up Avia or "Sound & Vision" at Best Buy also. S&V is a dumbed down Avia. You might try renting Avia (Netflix?) since you'll only need to use once or so. (I bought mine on eBay and then turned around and sold it bac k on eBay.) "Digital Vidoe Essentials" is newer than Avia, and designed for HiDef and digital sets, but I've heard it's much less intuitive than Avia; something like "you have to know what you're doing" to use it.

Deftones

Unless they have an updated Digital Video Essentials disc, the one I have is really easy to use. It's a bit long if you want to do it right, but well worth the time invested in doing it correctly.

Thunderball

My problem was, with looking at all the TVs, I've always had Sony, and I think it's osmething about the way it looks, but I couldn't NOT get the Sony.