cyclonecj Posted July 1, 2003 Share Posted July 1, 2003 I went the other way. After spending big bucks on an Inteq (Zenith High-end) 52" & having it burn up after 3 years, then finding out that all the Zenith RPTV do this every 3 years, I went the dependable route. I found a 61" RCA at Circuit City for $1399. Over 3 years on it & working perfect. It has not even needed a color alignment. I have never had an RCA TV that didn't last at least 15 years. Picture quality? ... very good, EXCELLENT for the price. Also, RCA has a 1 year warranty. Most others are 3 months, like the Inteq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayvis Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 I know this will stretch your $2000 budget, but if you seek the world's best big screen picture you have to buy a Pioneer Elite. Pioneer is now offering rebates on there Elite Pro Series sets. I just bought a Pro-530HD (53" widescreen) for $3100 plus I get a $500 rebate from Pioneer. Nothing else on the planet beats it for $2600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Augie has an interesting idea. I believe the Sony Cineza can be had for about $2500 and it's a front projector (LCD). The Perfect Vision magazine has a review of it in this month's issue. Might be an option!! Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barfly Posted July 30, 2003 Share Posted July 30, 2003 Try the Hitachi 51f500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cultrain88 Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 Sony 51" Hi-Scan 1080i 16:9 Projection TV - KP51WS500 HD MICROFOCUS CRT and Lens System I originally had this Sony in my H/T. I now have the Mitsubishi 73909. But great picture. Its now in my bedroom, and I cant complain one bit. I've seen them for around $1600 to $2100. Cultrain88 Aragon Stage One Bat VK-200 Aragon 3005 Music Fidelity A3 Denon 2900 Mitsubishi 73909 Klipschorns 90 Ak-3 RC-7, RS-7's (2)SVS 20-39 PC+ Tranparent and Straightwire Interconnects & Speaker wire PS Audio and Transparent Line Conditioners Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinoloco Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 It would help to know what part of the USA you are from. On the west coast, you have good guys and goodguys.com that have some very good deals. You can also go to Fry's Electronics and negotiate with the sales manager. Sometimes they cannot lower thr price, but they can give you the warranty for free, which is like lowering the price. Go to the stores and see if you can find a TV with open box. The guys at Best Buy are useless. They usually do not carry the higher end models but charge the higher end price because the people who go there do not know any better. Its completely setup for the Mass Market crowd. At Good Guys, you will always see the higher end models at the same price as the best buy lower end models. I got a 60 inch Philips "match line" which is their top of the line model from Good Guys for 1598.00 (open box). This TV is 2899.00 MSRP. I negotiated with the sales clerk, showed them I was ready to buy and they accomodated me. I have to say, I am impressed by the Philips TV. It has a filter in it to sharpen the images so even regular TV does not look so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jw_Leonhart Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 http://www.tweeter.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1163215&cp=&searchId=10297040206&keywords=Mitsubishi&page=2&pageBucket=0&parentPage=search Tweeter has that 55" Mitsubishi TV for sale. I love Mitsubishi TV's myself and I wouldn't go any other way. Just a suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulaco Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 I dodn't read all of the replies, so I am sorry if I repeat anyone. I can't afford a big screen TV, so I can only relate second hand what I think and what I have seen. I was at BestBuy the other day and was comparing all of the TV's. I started off looking at the non-projection TV's with HD and then with wide screen's. The Sony 34" or 36" (can't remember which) HD widescreen was amazing. It was very bright and the picture was extremely crisp and clear. In the 40" and up range, out of what was available, Mitsubishi and Panasonic had the brightest, crispest picture in projection TV's (HD or not, widescreen or not). The LCD's and Plasma's all looked pretty bad to me. They were not very bright and the resolution sucked. If I had 2 grand to blow, I would have the non-projection Sony widescreen. That thing had the best picture out of every TV they had (heck, it looked better than ANY TV I have ever seen!). In my opinion, projection TV's still don't compare to CRT's. I think plasma's and LCD's also have a ways to go before they look as good. They did have some type of new rechnology plasma or LCD (forget which) that was really bright and clear, but it was very expensive also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieTuna Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 My two cents on RPTVs... Back about seven or eight years ago I was in the market for a TV, I went into McDuff's (Radio Shack?) and looked around. I was not in the market for an RPTV, but was really impressed with a 45 inch Pioneer model set up with the other RPTVs. The price was ~$2300 and I negotiated a free 3-yr warranty (~$300) since the salesman was certain it would not fail (and I said if that were true, I'd never have to exercise the warranty). As it turned out, I did use the warranty to replace the screen which had some spots on it-no problem. I still have that RPTV and am ready to replace it (bigger model and it is showing it's years). I've decided on a Mitsubishi model unless I can afford a Pioneer Elite. Both MIts and Pioneer have great reps. The DPL model look intersting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jw_Leonhart Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 I've owned several TV's from Mitsubishi ranging from 27" all the way up to 55" and I love them. I have also had RCA, SONY, and Panasonic and I have to say they are all awful, the Sony's are the worst. The reason Sony can get away with selling something so much cheaper is because they don't include exactly what you want while the other company's usually will. I saw this over at Tweeter when I was looking to buy myself a new TV and decided to buy the Mitsubishi instead of the Sony that I was looking at because for the price the Mitsubishi had the best picture and more offers than the Sony that was about $100 less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruinsrme Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 ecost is introducing a 42 inch JVC for $2600 with up to 1080 resolution www.ecost.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgatty Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 I would like to know what the knock on Sony is; I have a 53" XBR that is 9 years old w/ no problems. I am putting a 46WT510 in the bedroom next week. You can get the 51WS510 for under 2k, but this is too big for my BR. (You can also get the gold series Mits 55' for at 2k.) If anyone has specific problems with the Sony's, I would like to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earle Decker Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 I got a Hitachi 51F500 at CC for $1850 and couldnt be happier. DirecTV looks pretty good and DVDs look great. I cant wait to get some HDTV in the house. Earle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBB Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 #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! If you can raise a little more money than $2,000 I would get a Mitsubishi or a Pioneer ELITE. I own a Mits and love it but it requires tweaking in combination with a professional calibration with a color decoder fix if the model needs it. Then you will have one of the best pictures I have ever seen on a wide screen RPTV. Many professional calibrators recommend the Mits and the Pioneer ELITE if you can get them to admit it. As an unwritten rule the pros dont like to show favor for one manufacturer over another but this is what Ive heard from people in the know who dont have a cent to gain by telling me. I would look at both brands. However I would not buy a Mits from Best Buy. They are carrying RPTVs specifically MADE for them by Mits. They are NOT the same as the standard Mits that you can get at another retailer or Sears. Oh! Did I forget to mention that I WOULD NOT BUT A MITSUBISHI RPTV FROM BEST BUY? I thought I did. I also would not buy any other high priced TVs from them either. I like Mits. That is why I own one AND I have nothing against Best Buy. I go there all the time and purchase DVDs, cables, CDs and maybe a throwaway DVD player but not a very expensive piece of electronics that I would expect to perform with the least amount of NORMAL problems one can expect from a complicated and delicate item such as a RPTV. I also recommend finding an authorized Pioneer dealer in your area to look at their ELITE line of RPTVs. You will find that service can be a big factor in making a decision between retailers in the world of RPTVs and with many other electronic products that you want to enjoy for a few years. Also consider HOW serviceable the RPTV you are interested in IS. That is why the pros tend to like the Mits and Elites. Not because it is easy to fix them as much as the ability to get the most out of these products that the manufacturer put in them to start with. The Mits is probably the most tweakable of all RPTVs on the market. The Elite naturally has a fantastic picture but is not as tweakable as other RPTVs. If you absolutely refuse to move off your $2,000 budget then perhaps Ive wasted your time and mine. It can be done close to that price point if you are very patient while on the hunt. The trick is to educate yourself as much as you can about the RPTV you want in order to avoid all the BS artists out there that just want your credit card number and never hear from you again. I wont go into it here because my post is already too long however I bought a new Mits 2 years ago at nearly retailer cost with a 3 year warranty BUT I put about $1,000 into the set after my purchase because I knew what type of picture it could produce once it was tweaked and calibrated. The overall cost ended up being even less than buying most of the brand new RPTVs that are out there that have nowhere near the picture quality that I enjoy with this set all the time. Good luck. Good hunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgatty Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 What "tweaks" are you referring to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBB Posted August 1, 2003 Share Posted August 1, 2003 ---------------- On 8/1/2003 7:47:12 PM jgatty wrote: What "tweaks" are you referring to? ---------------- Tweaks will include how to use the Avia Guide to Home Theater DVD to adjust and calibrate your display, how to fix too much red on your set (Red Push), Focus, Geometry, Overscan, Edge Enhancement and many other tweaks that you will be able to perform that will improve the picture once you get into the RPTVs service menus. You can learn about them on The Spot Home Theater Forum. You can register as a USER free at the very bottom left hand side of this page OR become a paid MEMBER at the very top right hand side of this page. Home Theater Spot Forum You will need to become a member to learn the tweaks for each particular brand of TV BUT you will find a world of information on The Spot for FREE if you just browse around the site for a while. Good luck and have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beesley Posted August 2, 2003 Share Posted August 2, 2003 Hi, I've only had experience with the Component video quality of Samsung's 55 inch Tantus RPTV, model #hcn559w. Let me say that I was extremely imressed with it's HD capability. I'm in the military as well, my close friend bought his from the BX/PX for a little over $1,500. Even at 1,999 it's a great piece of equipment and the 42 inch model sells for a bit cheaper (1,349 i think). The only problem I have is when viewing anything with the lights on, sun shining through the window, ect, you can see everything staring back at you. Sometimes it seems like RPTVs can be glorified mirrors when used outside it's "Proper Enviorment." BUT, With all the Front projectors, Plasma screens, and technology out there today, it's difficult to go wrong with RPTV low prices. Also, I was watching a football game on a Sony FD Trinitron Wega HDTV, model #KV-40XBR800, via direct tv and let me tell you it was phenomenal. It felt like I was on the 50 yrd line, I could actually make out blades of grass swaying in the wind. It's a little smaller than the samsung and a CRT, but picture quality is much better. Thanks for listening to my humble retort of a reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beesley Posted August 2, 2003 Share Posted August 2, 2003 One more thing I forgot to mention, I didn't get a chance to view how the samsung would have painted a pic through direct tv, or the sony via DVD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWTX Posted August 3, 2003 Share Posted August 3, 2003 Take a look at the Hitachi 51S500. I recently purchased the 57 after much research and am quite pleased. I would rate it "best in class". You should be able to find one on sale for around $2K. BTW, be careful about judging the picture quality in showrooms. RPTVs ship from the factory in "torch" mode, ie. brightness, sharpness and contrast is elevated, so that they show better on the floor. Finally, check out HDTVoice.com, a forum. It incorporates a separate forum area for each brand. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoD Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 In a word---PIONEER. I love my 64" but probably above your limit. Think this next level down is the 53". Great reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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