JACOB

I have a samung 47 inch rear projection. I got it from sam's club for 1,047 not including taxes.. It also included a free stand.
www.samsungusa.com
JACOB

j123vt_99

Best Buy just made this purchase more interesting.. They are offering a Homedics Antigravity Recliner with Shiatsu Massage System for free when you buy any Flat-Panel or Projection TV



with purchase of any
Flat-Panel or Projection TV
$999 and up

For a limited time, get a Homedics Antigravity Recliner with Shiatsu
Massage System for free when you
buy any Flat-Panel or Projection TV
$999 and up at BestBuy.com.

Follow these steps to get your free Massage Chair:

1. Select any Flat-Panel or Projection TV $999 and up, and add it to your cart
2. From your cart, click on the "Free Massage Chair Offer" check mark to return to this offer page
3. Click on the "Select" box next to the Homedics Antigravity Recliner with Shiatsu Massage System below
3. Click on the "Add Items to Cart" button at the bottom of the page. The Homedics Antigravity Recliner with Shiatsu Massage System will be added to your cart at no charge.

Important Note:
Both a Flat-Panel or Projection TV $999 and up and the Homedics Antigravity Recliner with Shiatsu Massage System must simultaneously appear in your cart to qualify for this offer. Savings will be shown in your cart when all promotional requirements are met.

Offer available online only; excludes LG products. Not valid in combination with other offers. See full details.

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

bulldozer3

the CC near me has the Sony 50" HDTV WEGA marked $500 off, for 2500. great tv, picked one up last month, except i got it at that price plus a free stand and home theater.

I think the store goofed on the price, cause it dosen't list it for 500 off online or in the weekly ad.

j123vt_99

going to best buy right now to look around and see some of these in person... if it's ok, i'll give you guys my impressions and then you can school me on which one is the way to go... and onecall does seem to be a good site to go with

j123vt_99

ok.. these are the 3 i am considering based on what bb had available

sony kp51ws520
mitsubshi ws-55315 ( i think this one was 54 or 55 inches, but same price)
and the toshiba 51h84

the guys at bb were horrible.. i asked 2 different guys about which one they would recommend.. they both said sony because "they prefer sony".. that was it. when i asked about the different features of the 3 sets, they said "they are pretty similiar"... that's it.. that's all they told me and these are the guys trained to sell $2k tvs.

both the sony and toshiba are the same price on onecall... the sony seemed to have a little bit of a better picture, but i shudder to think about how those tvs at bb are setup

drmoze

Out of those 3 the Mitsu (yes, the '55' in the model number means 55 inches!) is the clear choice, with the Toshiba 2nd. Sony is not known for their rptv's being particularly good. (Tube tv's yes, rptv's, no.)

Forget about what they look like in the store. You're right, you can't tell anything about rptv quality from store displays. Be assured that a Mitsu with a bit of teaking and proper adjustment will indeed look stunning!

j123vt_99

just wanted to update this thread and see if anyone else had any opinions or new recommendations... i will be moving into my house on may 25th, so would like to have a new TV arrive about then.

Spiky

If you are looking at CRT based RPTVs, a Mits is easily the best buy. ALL of these are not great out of the box. If this is the technology you are definitely going to buy, you may wish to consider a good calibration 6 months after you get it. They have awesome pic quality once the greyscale is calibrated properly after a break-in period for the guns.

j123vt_99

what does a calibration entail?

Spiky

Any TV should be showing a white color temperature of 6500K. Almost zero do out of the box, CRTs are notoriously bad. An ISF calibration gets the color correct, starting with the white/black, usually just referred to as greyscale calibration. They also do convergence and some other tweaks that many users can't do.

Even if you don't go this route ($200-500, most likely), you should get yourself a setup disc and do what you can yourself. Avia or Digital Video Essentials are the names. Even if you don't do THAT, the very first thing you should do on a TV like this is turn the contrast way down. They are usually set above 50%, which can cause burn-in in a week in some situations. Should be set well below 50%, whatever the scale is in the TV.

It's really bizarre. They ought to just set TVs like this from the factory, but they'd rather set them with insane, contrasty levels to "look good" on a BB floor in the giant room with all the lights. As if that's where most of the TVs go.

Check out the Mits forum at Home Theater Spot. Or other brands you are considering. Best place for RPTV info.

B.A.

The Mits, then the Sony if a Mits is unavailable.

My local ISF calibrator recommends a DVE/Avia disc to check your contrast and brightness levels when you take it out of the box. Then break it in for 100 hours before having it calibrated.

j123vt_99

are the TVs discussed HD ready? I'm a little confused between HD Ready vs HD Capable vs Able to recieve HD over the air.

nightmaster

I hate to trash Sony as a brand. I'm using one of their DVD players and have a 20 inch WEGA in my son's room, both of which are giving us great service. It's been mentioned here before and I will add my agreement- Sony makes a wonderful tube set. Anything RP is only average. I'd definitely go with the Mits. Had I not bought my Hitachi 57F510 that was my next choice in the end.

j123vt_99

calling around to pcconnection/one call... shipping for these guys is for only delivery to the driveway.. ugh.. for pcconnection, it is for a semi to drive to your garage.. if you want it unloaded off the truck, it is an extra $120 or so

Spiky

There are many different words used by the marketers to describe all this stuff, as you've indicated. They are often not what they seem. Here are some actual choices, you'll have to check each model to see what their marketing crap really means, and try to separate hype from reality.

You want to know 3 things:

Native Resolution -- what the TV actually displays
SDTV: 480i resolution
EDTV: 480p resolution
HDTV: 720p, 1080i, or 1080p (1080p is very uncommon so far). May have other native resolutions, also. (this probably describes most "HD Ready" you've seen)

Input Resolution -- what resolutions the TV will accept. These will be changed to Native to actually display. Most EDTVs and HDTVs will accept 720p and 1080i these days. EDTVs convert down, remember, so you aren't truly getting HD. (these are probably the "HD Capable" sets you've seen)

HD tuner You need a special tuner to receive HD channels. Might be in your TV, in your cable or sat box, or it could be separate completely. In buying the TV, ask if it has a built-in HD tuner, or ATSC tuner. This is what you described as "Able to recieve HD over the air". (OTA)

So far these TVs with a built-in tuner are only for use with an antenna. But they are starting to put cable tuners as an option in some TVs. Then the TV all by itself could receive standard cable channels, standard OTA, OTA HD, and cable HD channels. I'm not sure if these are actually shipping.

Spiky

If you are looking at a big RPTV, internet isn't always the best deal. You can often order "driveway delivery", then tip the guys a bit to get it inside, might be cheaper than ordering some special delivery service. PC Connection is crap, IMO. One Call is great, but you can probably find similar deals at a local Costco or something. I ordered a plasma from Costco.com once. The standard delivery was for them to bring it in and unbox it. Mounting was up to me.

These TVs are unwieldy, but not all that heavy. A 40" tube is heavier than a 65" RPTV, IIRC.

Ultimate Electronics is going out of business. If you have one near you, this may be the month to get a deal.

bboisvert

I'd personally recommend Toshiba over Sony, but that's just my opinion.

I'd also recommend that you break it in for a lot more than 100 hours before a calibration. I don't think that's adequate time for everything to settle.

j123vt_99

looks like the 51h94 is just $200 more than the 51h84 and has HD built in... any thoughts on whether it is worth it?

Spiky

You have to decide how you will get your HD service. If you [will] have sat or cable service, it is likely you will never need the built-in tuner. You should check what your provider offers. Sat boxes always double as OTA (from antenna) tuners, cable usually offers local HD over the cable so you don't need OTA.

If you don't plan on using cable/sat, then $200 sounds slightly better than external at the moment. Aren't they still around $300 for external OTA tuners?

Or, some of these companies are starting to offer a digital cable card solution in the TV. That would mean you can get a digital cable box with HD integrated into the TV. Don't know about the TV you're discussing, might be worth checking out.

j123vt_99

called time warner and it would essentially be $7.99 a month for the HD Cable Box (with free HD of NBC, CBS, FOX (i think)) and $9.99 for ESPN HD.. sounds ok.. not super excited about paying $10 a month for ESPN, but i wouldn't have to pay the $200-300 for a tuner.. right?

Peralphion

I would be looking to maybe buy the Mitsubishi HDTV mentioned in this thread, but I live in Canada and I cannot find it anywhere. Anyone knows of stores selling it in Canada, or another way? I would like to maybe order it online, the distribution system is just bullocks.

Spiky

Correct. But you probably have to buy a basic package, too. Those charges are on top of whatever your 'standard' cable charges are. If you already have a digital cable box that you rent, then the HD box is probably the same price or a buck or two different, it isn't another $7.99/month.

j123vt_99

i hate to , but i think i'm going to be ordering the toshiba 51" 51h84 this week.. anyone have anything super horrible to say about the tv... i think i'm going to order from onecall.com

Slayer2005

IMO, a big screen TV is such as waste of money considering the price of some front projectors. You could literally have a 7-10ft screen with a great picture and a 30" widescreen HDTV for under $950-$1,100.

Here's how:

Pick up an Infocus X1 or a CRT like the ECP4500+ (this one cost me $700, but will exceed most digitals costing many times more).

At Philips outlet online they have a refurbished 30" Widescreen HDTV for $359. FREE S&H. That is an unbelieveable deal.

Projector (X1 DLP) cost: $579 (was $1,000 new last year and was once $1,600. This is the single most popular projector out there for home theater due to it's huge bang for you buck.): http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductD...ourceID=k31366

Philips 30" HDTV cost: $359 http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_re...og&shop=OUTLET

One for TV viewing and one for home theater. I own a 55" HDTV too and I can say it does not compare to the experience of a front projector. Not even close. My screen is more than four times the screen surface of my bigscreen tv and takes up much less space.

The X1 is now $579 on PC connection after a $100 rebate. That too is an unbelievable deal. I honestly couldn't believe it when I saw it. I paid $1,000 for mine last year and it was worth every penny (well, at least until I saw a CRT front projector). It's refubished, but I buy refurbs a lot, because they have a much lower defect percentage. A new X1 will probably cost around $700.

No big TV can compete with the deal above. None. Compared to a real home theater with a front projector it seems wrong to call a big tv a home theater. When compared to a front projector a big tv seems like what it really is, an oversized tv trying to imitate a home theater.

chipmac

So you're saying to buy an small HDTV for TV viewing and a large screen and a front projector that is only SD for home theater. I'm sorry that just doesn't make sense to me.

Don't get me wrong. I do agree that a front projector is better for the home theater experience and in fact I'm thinking of getting one to replace my 55" Mits down the line. Here's where I don't agree. Front projection systems must have almost total light control to be usable where as I can watch my RPTV in everything except bright sunlight. Not everyone can control their lighting this way. Sitting 8 feet away from my 55" and the field of view is the same as when I go to the theater. Some people could be overwhelmed by anything larger.

Also why use a small screen for HD where you can't really see HD's benefits but only use an SD projector and blow up the SD image to 10 feet where it will look decent at best. If you're going to go projector at least get an HD one.