Marshal Posted December 12, 2001 Share Posted December 12, 2001 I've been shopping for a new TV lately for watching my DVDs and the upcoming Winter Olympics and Superbowl(well, the commercials at least). I hope NBC will carry the Olympics in HDTV. Anyway, I've been thinking about the new Toshiba 42H81 16:9 HDTV ready kit and would like to field this group for feedback if you have this TV and any experiences. I have a small apartment and the relatively modest size for a widescreen is perfect for my apt and so is the depth, front to back. One problem however is that the top of the TV is too narrow to mount any speakers like a center channel. Any info on your experiences either with this TV or others would be appreciated. I've seriously considered the Sony Wegas like the 36 XBR450, but a widescreen is more future-proof. Thanks in advance. This message has been edited by Marshal on 12-26-2001 at 05:51 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Posted December 13, 2001 Author Share Posted December 13, 2001 Geez, I'm disappointed. I expected there would be videophiles here to answer the ? for sure. If not the Toshiba, which would you recommend? I know this is mostly an audiophile forum, but with Home Theater being big these days, I expected at least a couple of replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted December 13, 2001 Share Posted December 13, 2001 marsh, u may get some responses if u post this under the audio Home Theater section on this site. ------------------ My Home Systems Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 Marshal, check out the Panasonic CT-34WX50. That's what I'm going to be getting in a couple weeks. It has awesome picture quality for DVD's and HD, and actually looks pretty good with NTSC, which is not something you can say about many HDTV's. Sony makes a 34" tube also, but it is a little out of the price range you mentioned. It does have a HD tuner built in though. If you are looking for something bigger, also check out the Hitachi 43UDX10, it has a lot of the same qualities mentioned above, good price, and very bright for rear projection. I don't know if it can hold a center channel or not though. I know the 46" mitsubishi can (WT-46809) it's a nice TV, but doesn't look as good with non-HD/DVD. Finally, the Panasonic PT-47WX51, is a good TV, and doesn't need a stand like the last two I mentioned. If you want to go bigger, lots of TV's can be had in the price you want (even Sony) in the 51-55" range. Hope this Helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underhanded Penguin Posted December 14, 2001 Share Posted December 14, 2001 I don't know about the 42 Marshall, but I bought the 32hfx71 Toshiba hdtv ready tv and I'm on my second lemon right now. I'm considering returning it and getting something other than oshiba for hdtv. It's weird. In the store itl ooks good, and everyone else that has toshiba regualr tv's seem to say really good things about it, but this 32" hdtv seems to have poor qulity control. The first one I got had a 1/8" faint white line about 1/2" down from the top of the screen when I leve the television on for more than 10 minutes. By faint, I mean it is not noticeable at all if that part of the screen is balck but it is very noticeable if it is a light color. So I returned it expecting to get a perfect one. The replacment I got had the exact same problem and also "smeared color" on the top right hand corner of the screen. Also, the tv speakers don't work at all. Please let me know if anybody has experienced these rpoblems with this or other tvs. Thanks. -UP ------------------ I love you Aki Ross! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomer9911 Posted December 20, 2001 Share Posted December 20, 2001 Toshiba 53HX71(HDTV), TV purpose for myself, NHL, NASCAR, NHRA, etc, excellent(use a line doubler also), and for dvd\video, their wide screen's sets are good with the Pegasus system CRT also, may want to check out a line douber http://www.dvdo.com etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack be Knimble Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 I think the best HDTV I've seen so far is the Pioneer S532-HD5 rear projection. It may be a little above your price- it's being sold for $3499 at Best Buy. Of course if it ever goes on sale it could drop $500. I did look at the Toshibas and tried to convince myself they were better. It didn't work out. I ended up deciding to save my money to get the Pioneer. I believe it would be worth every penny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Posted December 26, 2001 Author Share Posted December 26, 2001 Hi Jack: What size is that TV? I may have seen that one. Is it a 50"? I saw a Sony 51" RP that is supersharp with great color. It looked better to me than the Pioneer it was sitting right next to displaying the same HD demo. Don't remember the model # though. Doesn't matter; 50+" is too big for my apartment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted December 27, 2001 Share Posted December 27, 2001 Marshal, I got my new 34" Panasonic about a week ago. It is sweet!!! When I told people what I was getting, a lot of them asked me why I was going so small. Well, I sit maybe 8 feet from the TV, and I tell you, I'm glad I didn't go any bigger. The TV is perfect size for my room. I think this TV, being a tube, has better picture than any RP (maybe not Pioneer???). I'm glad I didn't go with my second choice 43" Hitachi. A couple other choices that didn't mention before are the 40" XBR. It's not widescreen, but it has a 16:9 mode, and it's so damn big, even in widescreen it would be okay. Kinda spendy though. Then there's the RCA F-38310. It has okay picture, and everything is built right in for HDTV, both over the air and satellite. Like I said, okay picture, not the greatest, looks good with HD or DVD, though. Not the best stretch modes for 4:3, but again it's damn big, so the bars on the sides might not bother you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack be Knimble Posted December 28, 2001 Share Posted December 28, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Marshal: Hi Jack: What size is that TV? I may have seen that one. Is it a 50"? I saw a Sony 51" RP that is supersharp with great color. It looked better to me than the Pioneer it was sitting right next to displaying the same HD demo. Don't remember the model # though. Doesn't matter; 50+" is too big for my apartment. It is 53 inches (and trust me, this Pioneer definitely looked better than the Sony that was next to it). If that is too big then I recommend any of the directview sets from Toshiba or Panasonic, maybe even RCA(although theirs is not flat). The Sony 34 inch may not be in your price range. The directview sets usually look better with NTSC images. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Posted December 29, 2001 Author Share Posted December 29, 2001 The RCA you're referring to looks great with HDTV demos I've seen. I saw a clip of Charlotte Church singing Bali Hi or whatever it's called from South Pacific from one of her concerts. Comparing all the TVs there in the showroom, the RCA 38" widescreen, Sony 36" Wega and Sony 51" RP widescreen had the best picture quality. As far as dimensions, the width of the RCA is not a problem, but the depth is. Ditto for the Sony 51" which is also too wide for my small TV room. The Wega 36" barely comes in under the wire for depth(front to back), the 32" might be a better choice; not quite as deep. It's really a tradeoff when you consider the advantages of 4:3 sets and 16:9. One is better suited to MOST TV broadcasts NOW and some DVDs which are not widescreen. The other represents the future when most TV will be widescreen and in HD along with most DVDs. At least the best DVDs. To make a long story short, the widescreens are more obsolete proof. That 51" Sony widescreen costs about the same as their 40XBR700 which is the standard 4:3. It's not direct view like the 40XBR, but it still has an excellent picture and would be a better buy(more bang for the buck)than the 40XBR in the long term when most TV eventually becomes widescreen. If you're gonna cough up 2.8K, actually 3K+ after taxes, you want something that you will want to keep a good long time. 7-8 years anyway. But again, why am I rambling about that 51" when it's too big for my apartment. Maybe that Panasonic 34" would be a good buy. The advantage of the Wegas and maybe that Pan is that there's enough depth at the top of the TV to put speakers, at least a center channel. Not so for some or most of the shallow depth widescreens like the Tosh unit I've been looking at. As for overall quality and reliability, it's real tough to beat Sony. My '94 model 32XBR still has a great picture over 7 years later. The problem is that it has S-video connections at best and not Component, and is not HD 1080i ready. The best it could do with a digital converter box would be 480i. It's been a great TV, but with all due respect to it is not worthy of the NS900V DVD player I'm dreaming about and would really like to buy. My neighbor btw has a 45" Sony from the mid 80s that he says has only been serviced once in the last 15-16 years and still has a pretty good picture for an 80s era TV. The last RCA TV I had didn't hold up to aging nearly as well. I don't have the confidence in RCA that I have in Sony, Tosh, Mitsu & Pioneer, especially Sony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted January 16, 2002 Share Posted January 16, 2002 i,ve been thru the 4x3 vs. 16x9 debate and decided to go 4x3 with both my 90" projection screen AND my 36 xbr 450. even though i always get the 'widescreen' version of a dvd if available, and get widescreen movies on satellite when given a choice, and the hd satellite receiver will provide even more 16x9 material,there still is, and will be for quite a while, ALOT of 4x3 programs; for me, black bands at the top and bottom of the screen are MUCH easier to contend with than black bands on the sides of a rather small 4x3 picture (when displayed as 4x3 on a 16x9 tv) and short,fat people (incorrect picture geometry) when 4x3 is streched to 16x9 is NOT acceptable! for your application, consider the 32 or 36" xbr (don't bother w/the hs20, you can get sony's top of the line 4x3 xbr if you shop for the same $ or close enough; also consider the kp 43 ht20 hd ready sony rptv, an excellent buy, and not too big. avman. btw-the dvpns900v is a GREAT player,but i chose to forgo progressive scan, and got the 5-disc dvd/sacd/cd player, the dvpnc650v. avman. ------------------ 1-pair klf 30's c-7 center ksps-6 surrounds RSW-15 on the way!! sony strda-777ES receiver upgraded to v.2.02 including virtual matrix 6.1 sony playstation 2 sony dvpnc 650-v 5-disc dvd/cd/SACD changer dishnetwork model 7200 dishplayer satellite receiver/digital bitstream recorder sony kv36xbr450 high-definition 4:3 tv sharp xv-z1u lcd projector w/$22 vinyl pull-down window shade 'screen'-rough side out Bello'international Italian-made a/v furniture panamax max dbs+5 surge protector/power conditioner monster cable and nxg interconnects/12 gua.speaker wire KLIPSCH-So Good It Hz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Adams Posted January 17, 2002 Share Posted January 17, 2002 hi Marshall, I have the Mitsu 46-809 that I recently purchased a few months ago and I love it. my dvd's look great and I haven't upgraded to progressive scan yet(thats next). I really liked the 40 inch sony but needed to stay around 2,000.00 and wanted something a little bigger than 36 inches. I also have an apartment. When I saw it in the showroom I thought well that's not all that big but once I watched it at home for awhile I saw it again in that giant showroom and thought "it looks alot bigger in my place" 46 really is a good size for an apartment. 55 woulda been too big for my place. The cable tv signal doesn't look all that great as someone stated, but I don't watch much anyway, I mainly bought it for dvd. and I will eventually upgrade to HD anyway. Hope I could help.Happy hunting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Posted January 18, 2002 Author Share Posted January 18, 2002 You're not Eddie Adams the photographer are you? LOL! Yeah I've seen the Mitsu 46 and it looks nice and so does the 36XBR 450. The local BestBuy has the non XBR version of the 36", for a little less and I wouldn't have to have it shipped in out of state. Still, that XBR quality is a real nice plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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