Help me pick my TV :-)

[DrWho]

Lots of votes it seems for the Sony.

Unfortunately, wifey-poo wants the thinnest I can get. I went to

circuit city & looked at the Sony (WOW) and also the Samsung plasma

(also wow)

I guess it all falls back to how adament she's going to be on wall

mounted. Since either one is essentially "free" to me, I can live with

either one. Actually, the Sony will cost me about $150 out of pocket

where as the Samsung will not only be 100% free, but I can use the

balance of points to buy the wall bracket and STILL probably have a

couple points left over.

hmmmmm

One concern you should factor is the longevity of the display...with

average viewing plasmas start to lose their quality after 3 years - and

then eventually the TV just dies...you will probably get around 10

years max out of it. It probably won't be an issue if you plan to

upgrade before then, but I like the idea of a TV lasting 20, 30 years

(which means it can be delegated to the kids or other parts of the

house when you upgrade the HT).

[Coytee]

I might have hemmed & hawed a bit...or perhaps it was the quivering of my lower lip, BUT, wife said to get the one I wanted...even if it WAS thicker.

I'm sure me telling her the Sony was 10" (deep) and the Plasma ALONG with it's wall bracket might be about 8" or so...she realized we're in same ballpark. Of course, I might not have told her the bracket I scoped out was a swiveling/telescopic kind and not simply a flat wall bracket [A]

So, I just hung up with the order company and put order in for the 50" Sony SXRD. Man, I remember the FIRST day I saw one of these things years ago... was probably 18" diagnal and was something like $10,000... Now I have to get the HD box for my dish.

[H]

[Buckeye_Nut]

For HT purposes, BIGGER IS BETTER!! Get the largest screen

managable for your room application. Otherwise, you'll second

guess yourself later and wish you bought the bigger screen. In

fact, dont rule out projectors if you can control ambient light. I wish

I had shopped projecters before I bought my 65", because now I wish I

had a 8'-10' screen......LOL Needless to say, the 65" will be the

last TV I will ever buy for my theater room.

I personally prefer the large RP-CRTs because I think they still have

the best picture of the big TVs. The only downside to them is

their size and weight. Providing you have enough space to

accomodate one, that's the direction I would look.

[Xraygav]

Please do tell us how you like the SXRD. I'm thinking of getting one soon, they've dropped in price so greatly. (Sony must be close to releasing something new?)

I DID have the Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK 50" Plasma , and could not have been happier. No blocking or ghosting, great blacks , no viewing angle issues. an incredable picture. It's the 8th generation screen..not the commercial 5th that you find at BB and other stores. It's limited to 720p and you do need to worry about burn-in if you are a gamer, but it's truly just a display..you're not paying extra for speakers, tuners and such..just for the incredible picture.

I disagree with Dr Who, who stated their life is limited. They (like nearly all recent generation plasmas) are rated at 60,000 viewing hours..which, last time I remember figuring out, amounted to 7-8 hours a day for twenty years. We all would have bought two,or more, new great tv's by then.....reguardless if they've actually worn out, or not.

I've come to think of the rear projection sets as being the fragile ones. If you buy one you need to accept paying $200 for a new lamp every few years. (probably end up costing you more than 1k over yoru 20 years)

Anyway, I hope you are happy with it... i'm very interested, myself.

Gavin

[Xraygav]

One more thing....

Any SXRD owners suffer from the "Green Blob"?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=683422

[tommiwan]

I haven't heard anyone say this yet, and I am surprised... The Aquos have an awesome picture to them. They are a great tv, with a good contrast ratio as well.

The SXRD's are also great tv's with great picture.

[ScorpsFan]

Congrats on the ordering of the Sony SXRD, I have both a 60" Sony LCD RPTV and a 46" Samsung DLP, the Sony is a bit smoother looking picture while the Samsung has a bit more black detail. The Samsung was recently serviced and I can't say enough for their customer care, no problems with the Sony, but I've owned Sony televisions for almost 30 years and their customer care has also been excellent when needed. Dish HDTV is a beautiful picture when they are truely using HD, but as a back up, I'll be getting an OTA antenna for the locals as Dish doesn't yet use the HD transmission here (Chicago area) for local channels. ENJOY!