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Need a Widescreen Recommendation


MBM135

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OK, looking for a bigscreen. Criteria:

MUST stay below $2000.

Would like to stay at 50 inches or higher

HT room now is pretty large but I'm in the military and move every 2 years so may not always have the luxury of a big room

#1 criteria is PICTURE QUALITY--I don't care about the TVs audio or other features--I've got that taken care of with Klipsch!

Any recommendations are helpful.

Thanks!

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I've been keeping an eye on things too.

The best way to go, in my view, is to wait as long a possible.

I've pretty much decided that the time to buy will be just after Christmas 2003.

There is a lot of new technology coming on board. There will be built in tuners. There will be more RPTV with LCD, and light valve, and crystal on a chip.

It is easy to say, I want this, that, and the other thing. But people in hell want ice water, too. Strident demands, particularly here, are not going to get you anywhere. Smile.

Gil

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Hmmm...interesting. Was at Circuit City today and saw at least a dozen TVs in the 51, 53, 57 and up range in the $1700-2200 price range. But the staff didn't seem to knowledgable--would sell you whatever etc.

Was hoping someone here had a unit they really liked that would share thier views.

No nice pictures in the 50 inch range? Wow! What are you guys using now?

Darn, I must not have my standards set high enough.

MM

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I wish I could help you. I wanted the best picture I could get without paying for a plasma. My room is 13x23 with the tv on the long wall so I didn't need a 50". That's why I went with the sony xbr widescreen. 34" but incredible picture. They don't make w/s tubes any bigger. I got a great deal at $2k but yeah, I saw many 50" or bigger projection tvs in that price range. Good luck. I'm sure you'll find a nice one that fits your budget.

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they arent knowledgable, they are basically idiots. I work at Best Buy, I know. My supervisor, the head of the department is a complete jackoff. He is a pathetic excuse for a "product specialist". YOu dont have to know anything about audio video to be able to sell. All you have to know is to lie, if a customer asks a question, just say "yeah, sure it'll do that" and make the sale. At Best Buy, they go by what TV gives the most margin in profit and thats the one they try to shove down your throat, whether it is the best for your needs or not. Foe example, today a customer came in wanting a 32 inch flat screen HDTV. I took him to where they were, and he says "if I want this picture at home, what do I need?". I said, Oh well you need either a HDTV tuner, or HD cable or sat box. THen this idiot runs up to me and corrects me, saying, oh no, you dont need any of that, its ready to go! I didnt correct him as I would get "written up". Even on the Best Buy site, it says you need a set top box for HD. I showed him that, and he still maintains he's correct. I'm the most knowledgable guy there, and they have me consistantly working the 19-27 inch tv area. And I was hoping that getting this job, I could finally help people get the product they need, and get the knowledge they want from a sales rep... boy was I wrong. My advice, go to Tweeter

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My sister in law has a Sony KP57WS500 (I pretty sure thats the model) Anyway, she paid $1950 for it. Best Buy currently has in for $2299. Its widescreen and HDTV upgradable.

I cant really say that I'm in love with the picture quality after looking at my 36' HDTV Wega all day, but the price and size fit what you looking for. I'm not a very big fan of that "stretching" they do when watching normal TV. And the picture isnt really all that bad with a DVD. And in fairness, when she asked me to make sure she had everything hooked up right, I noticed she had cheap RCA's on the DVD player and a coax cable hooking up her satellite receiver.

At the time she bought it late last year it got pretty decent reviews. If I were in the market for a TV that size, I like the Mitsubishi's and Pioneer Elites a lot. But both will push you over $2,000. And this is based solely on my observations in walking through my local AV shops to drool.

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On 6/29/2003 9:56:06 PM MBM135 wrote:

Was hoping someone here had a unit they really liked that would share thier views.

No nice pictures in the 50 inch range? Wow! What are you guys using now?

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Mike, i must admit i'm a little surprised myself... as there seems to be quite a few nice ±2000$ sets out there. I have been waiting to purchase a HDTV myself, somewhat in the same boat as Gil... seeing how this tech is quickly evolving, the newest models are often the best buys. If you want to do some research you counld check out Cnet reviews at:

C-Net HDTV reviews

as well as the forums at AVS ...

AVS Forum-Display Devices-Rear Projection Units

hopefully you can find some interesting info on there...

Later...

Rob

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OK, looking for a bigscreen. Criteria:

MUST stay below $2000.

Would like to stay at 50 inches or higher

HT room now is pretty large but I'm in the military and move every 2 years so may not always have the luxury of a big room

#1 criteria is PICTURE QUALITY--I don't care about the TVs audio or other features--I've got that taken care of with Klipsch!

Any recommendations are helpful.

Thanks!

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If your only considering 6:9, you'll have a tough time getting something nice for $2,000. Some here would argue against 4:3, but it all depends on what you watch the most. I love my 4:3 Toshiba 61" (61h70) RPTV! Excellent picture quality. Outside of DVDs, all the programing I watch is still 4:3. For myself, I will not switch to 6:9 until at least half the programing I want is availible in that format. That said, the ball is rolling in HDTV. If you can wait, that may be your best option. The only way you can buy a set now, with excellent picture for $2,000, is to go with a 4:3 that is HDTV compatable. Just my thoughts...

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Recently the local retailers have been running Hitachi 53" RPTV's/4:3 for $1699. Although I haven't eyeballed them in quite a while, were I needing a TV at the moment I would consider that unit.

I feel the same as the above members, now is probably a good time to wait.

Keith

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I just saw this posted on edealinfo.com and thought I'd post it in this thread. At Good Guys:

"Philips 60PP9352 60" Widescreen Digital Projection TV » only $1799.99 + Free Shipping "

I've never seen this TV (haven't been looking) so you might want to check it out someplace nearby.

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For the foreseeable future---the best value in big screens 16X9 should remain RPTV technology if you can handle the size of the set.

Maybe you can find a used Mits in your range----don't think you'll find it new at that price. I've had super results with the Mits Diamond series 65" wide screen---never seen anything any better. The only thing that beats it might be a front projection system--but then your talking $20K

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Buy something used......Everything is going to change by 2006 or 2007. And the "standards" shoot out hasn't been decided yet. In 2006 or so, everything is going digital & I doubt it will be the same digital we have today. I'm using what I have until is breaks or 2006, which ever occurs first.

Unfortunately, my 27" NEC went out last week. Craig....do you know how to fix these things? Good thing I have a few other sets left including an old Sony projector (50"). By the way....for those of you who have those older projectors with the free standing "screen", did you know that you can easily change the focal length on the lenses to increase the picture size to 72" & 100"? Pretty nifty trick....Sony sold the same set at different prices, thousands of $$$ more and all you got was the larger screen. They just pegged the moveable lenses at different positions!

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On 6/30/2003 5:09:57 PM artto wrote:

Buy something used......Everything is going to change by 2006 or 2007. And the "standards" shoot out hasn't been decided yet. In 2006 or so, everything is going digital & I doubt it will be the same digital we have today. I'm using what I have until is breaks or 2006, which ever occurs first.

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I'm with Artto on this one. I am going to milk my 32 inch Sharp for all its worth. By 2006/7 it will be interesting to see what is available and for how much. By than, I may be ready for a new TV, since that Sharp I currently have will be a good 10 years old. If it dies before that, I still have a perfectly good 20 inch Zenith down in the basement that I could use in the meantime.

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On 6/30/2003 9:01:52 PM Thors1982 wrote:

You found a projector for $500??? I just looked up projectors and can't seem to find one even under a grand. Can you help me?

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I think he said "another $500." That would make it $2,500.

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Ok this is stretch but it may be helpful to you or others that read it. A company in Nashville buys surplus stuff and they bought some Pioneer 50" plasmas from the bankrupt ENRON company. Seems they used these in their conference rooms and such. Anyway they are priced in the $2k to $4k range. I have not seen them or done business with this company. I just heard about them from one of venders that was installing a fiber optic security system in our plant. This is all I know for the contact:

Jay Goode

Wilhagan Ventures

315 Wilhagan Road

Nashville TN 37217

http://www.wilhaganventures.com

615-385-5873 - Office

615-417-5873 - Mobile

Good luck and maybe someone finds a sweetheat deal!

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