j123vt_99

Looking for a nice big new tv to go into my new house when i move in... I don't care about it being a wall mounted flat panel.. I see an ad today for Fry's 53" HD Ready Projection TV for $1299... The $1500 range sounds good, but i don't want to buy anything that will out of date in a few months. Please throw me any advice of brands/types/retailers

not sure where this should go so if it should be moved to dvd hardware, please move..

Mopower

Wrong forum.

j123vt_99

should it go tech talk or dvd hardware? tech seems to typically be computers\internet and dvd hardware seems to be players/speakers

Dah-Dee

j123vt_99

already have one of those in the bedroom

Dah-Dee

Are we still talking about the TV?

j123vt_99

moving on

das Monkey

kvrdave

Get a projector and a screen. I did it for about $1300 and it is amazing. Need to have a room where you can control the light well.

j123vt_99

i was looking at your plan.. the problem is it will be in a living room and the lights will on for a fair amount of the time

Otto

Problem with the projector idea is bulb life, as I see it. How long do those bulbs last, realistically? What's the cost of replacement? I mean, if I have to buy a $300 bulb every 18 months then it doesn't seem to be worth it.

kantonburg

I just received my Toshiba 51H84 last week and I absoutely love it.
I narrowed it down between the Tosh 51H84 and the Hitachi 51F510. I chose the Toshiba over the Hitachi because of the "Enhanced HD" feature Hitachi imposes that you evidently can't turn off. I knew from all my research that no matter which I bought I'd be happy. Here are a couple of my threads that covered my buying experience and how much I paid.

I ordered from Onecall.com. Very nice people and I did buy the extended warranty. All covered in the threads.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=225808


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=506775

j123vt_99

$1499 for the Toshiba at BB sounds pretty good...

kantonburg

Also take note that at the time BB's price was $1699 before tax and the $249 warranty.

My total from onecall came to $1613 WITH warranty. If I don't use that warranty in the three years they refund 50% of the cost I paid for it. Also there is no tax or shipping. No tax unless you live in Washington state.

So it would have been $2024.45 with tax and warranty from best buy. Granted the very next weekend they offered the TV 10% off but that still didn't come close to Onecalls price. I just couldn't justify $400 extra dollars just to buy it locally. Oh and our Best Buy won't deliver to my house. I'm 55 miles away from the store. Their limit is 50 miles.

It just wasn't worth it to me to spend the extra in my case. Same repair man comes out if it breaks. Oh and onecall is one of only 8 (according to them) authorized Toshiba etailers. That may or may not be true. All I know and was looking for was that they were.

Timsterino

If you can, spend a little more than $1500 and get a DLP set. You will not be disappointed. I have had my Toshiba 52" HD DLP for two weeks and I am very happy with it. I got a great deal at Best Buy for $1999.00 with the 10% off coupon.

Brian Shannon

The bulb in my projector is rated for 2000 hours. At 4 hours a day that is 500 days of viewing.

How often is the projector going to be used and for how long each time is a good way to judge this.

Otto

Right, but 500 days is less than 18 months. Again, if the thing is going to cost me a couple hundred bucks every 18 months, it doesn't seem worth it.

BobDole42

Mitsubishi WS-55315 is what I have and LOVE it! big screen (55 inches), amazing picture, three component inputs AND DVI... it goes for 1900 list, but you can usually get it for less. Sears, for example, always has 10% coupons floating around which will bring it down to 1700. If you can stack another 10% coupon (which they sometimes let you do), you can get an amazing set for a sweet deal

Shannon Nutt

My parents have had a rear-projection TV (a Toshiba) for 6 years and have never had a bulb go out on them yet. My Mistsubishi is almost two years old - no bulb problems yet, either.

Shannon Nutt

I second this...I have the 55515 model (I wanted a built-in tuner for over the air stuff), but it's a great TV.

Pistol Pete

If these are CRT RPTVs (judging from age, I am almost certain the Toshiba is) , there is no bulb to replace. Only DLP and LCD (and the various sub-types like DiLA) have light bulbs.

Brian Shannon

Well I guess that is all up to the individual person. Note that would be four hours a day for 500 days or 18 months straight. I don't use my projector every day. And even if I did I would rather have 18 months of beautiful image to look at even if it meant another $400 bulb at the end of that time. That figure works out to about .80 cents a day. I wish all products returned that kind of cost to benefit ratio.

nightmaster

I bought a Hitachi 57F510 (57 inch screen) 3 months ago and am positively in love with it. Figure it can be found in the $1600-$1800 range. It was between that and a 55 inch Mitsubishi the longer and harder I looked; both great sets....Mits owners seem to have great things to say about their RP sets. You say you want big, so go big- considering the years of enjoyment you'll get from it, getting a set too small to save a few hundred dollars will be something you regret not too far down the road. The more you get used to watching a big screen, the smaller it gets!

drmoze

I can definitely recommend a itsubishi rptv. Great quality and bst picture size/quality for the buck. Esp. if you're in a house and don't need a flat panel. My first bigscreen was a Mitsu 50" circa 1992 and it lasted a solid decade of heavy viewing with a great picture. Replaced it with a 65" WS for the new loft, tweaked it with AVIA and service menu functions obtained from hometheaterspot, and the pic is gorgeous. HD looks spectacular, and every dvd is like a night in at the movies.

Size is important. (at least for tv's!) If you will be watching in a basement with small or no windows, a projector would be the way to go. For a regular living room/den, where you might not want the windows always blacked out, then an rptv is the way to go. In a few years, plasmas and big dlp's will be cheap enough to compete in the bang-for-the-buck category. But rptv's don't have the hassle of replacing pricey lamps. They are based on mature, good ol' crt technology.

dave-o

I love my Mits. Had it for about 5 months now and it still gives me chills when I am watching an HD broadcast.