Rear Projection TV Recommendations

[-=Rudy=-]

Continued from the Plasma TV thread:

Originally posted by Cliff

Rudy, I'd recommend a Mitsubishi or a Pioneer Elite, if you're going the RPTV route. I did a lot of research last October, and I ended up buying a Mitsubishi Diamond W/S. I've been totally happy with it :) But, the Pioneer Elite's picture is slightly better (IMO), if you don't mind spending a bit more money (well, a fair amount more). Norm (teaser5) has the Pioneer Elite, so he may have some thoughts on it...

OK, Norm...spill it! :D

Cliff--which Mits did you get? I've been eyeballing the Gold Series, most likely the WS-55311 (55 inch). I think the 65 inch would be too imposing in my room (not picture size, but cabinet size...especially in black, being in a very light room). The Gold Series is "HD Upgradeable". I think the Platinum comes with HD tuners. I don't watch much in broadcast TV, and with HD still being in flux, I'd almost rather wait and get a tuner upgrade in a few years when there is more programming I'm likely to watch. For now, mainly DVDs, laser and S-VHS, with occasional DirecTV.

So for me it's a matter of picking size (48 vs. 55 vs. 65), and getting the HD tuner or not. The Mits may be more available locally. ABC Warehouse showed the 55" at $2199...not bad considering my 36" Sony XBR RPTV was $1995 way back in 1987.

The Pioneer sounds interesting. I'd be curious to hear how reliability stands up in comparison to the Mits sets.

[teaser5]

I love my Pioneer Elite man. I have a 64". I got it about two and a half years ago. It has never given me a second of anything other that total satisfaction. The guy who came over to frag the set says it's the best. It's a big monster and expensive but probably has come down in price to the five grand range since I got mine. I think I paid seven. Damn thing is on wheels
Hi Def on this box is off the hook. DVD's are amazing.
You ever in DC? C'mon by and have a beer and a look!

Cheers-
Norm

[Cliff]

Rudy, I bought the WS65-909. It was Mitsu's top model (Diamond) for '01. I bought it on close-out, so it was discounted fairly heavily (I think about $2500, and it listed for $6500). The convergence is pretty steady, in fact, I have not had to redo it since I first got it dialed in. I even moved the TV to my HT room when it was finished, and went down a couple steps! It's been a solid TV.

As far as "HD-Ready" goes, I think you've got a good idea. I would have waited and bought an external HD Box, but I got such a deal on this TV, I couldn't pass it up. My room is fairly large, so that's why I went with the 65" screen. I sit about 17' away from it, which is plenty of room for that size screen. I'd go check out the Mitsu and a Pioneer Elite, and see which one you think looks better. The Pioneer is a great TV also, but I have no personal experience with it, as far as reliability goes, at least.

[-=Rudy=-]

Wow...I should watch for closeout deals. One of the cheaper places in town, alas, has salesmen that are like hungry vultures. The big box stores don't carry Mits, which may be a good thing. ;)

Yeah, at that price, I'd definitely spend a few hundred extra to get something worth thousands more. :D For my budget right now, though, I'll hold out and get an HD tuner later on. Mits does make a big deal about the Gold series being guaranteed upgradeable in the future.

My Sony's sort of forlorn, sitting there in the basement. It had a decent picture when new (although it had a reddish cast off to one side, and greenish off to another), but it's broken down on me three times, and now has a gassy green tube, so the greens are fuzzy. (Repairman said the tubes were a miniature size, and cost about $700 new.) And it needs a new screen on it as well, which could be quite expensive. Might just keep it for the kids' playroom until it dies. And if I ever find the same set in someone's trash, I might take it for parts.

[Cliff]

Originally posted by Rudy@A&MCorner
Wow...I should watch for closeout deals. One of the cheaper places in town, alas, has salesmen that are like hungry vultures. The big box stores don't carry Mits, which may be a good thing. ;)

Yeah, at that price, I'd definitely spend a few hundred extra to get something worth thousands more. :D For my budget right now, though, I'll hold out and get an HD tuner later on. Mits does make a big deal about the Gold series being guaranteed upgradeable in the future.

My Sony's sort of forlorn, sitting there in the basement. It had a decent picture when new (although it had a reddish cast off to one side, and greenish off to another), but it's broken down on me three times, and now has a gassy green tube, so the greens are fuzzy. (Repairman said the tubes were a miniature size, and cost about $700 new.) And it needs a new screen on it as well, which could be quite expensive. Might just keep it for the kids' playroom until it dies. And if I ever find the same set in someone's trash, I might take it for parts.


I have always been a Sony owner, Rudy. But when I did my research, most reviews and opinions were opposing the Sony RPTVs. I never read or heard one bad thing about the Elites or Mitsu's. I would try to stay away from the Toshibas as well. Heard a lot of bad things about them, and I never saw one set up that didn't look blurry. Drop me a PM any time, if you want more info on the Mitsu's.

[Gary Freed]

Hi Rudy,

The DLP RPTV's look great. They are sharper and brighter than
CRT's. If I was buying now that's the technology I would go with.

Having said that,

I have a Pioneer Elite Reference RP510 / around 53" diagonal. Although, the Elites look nice, they are vastly overrated.

Hitachi, Toshiba and Mitsubishi and Sony and Panasonic are bigger players in the RPTV market. Alot of folks have raved about the Zenith sets too.

If you have the patience, spend lots of time shopping around and you'll come the best decision. Have fun too! :agree:

Best regards,

Gary:)

[James RD]

Originally posted by Cliff



I would try to stay away from the Toshibas as well. Heard a lot of bad things about them, and I never saw one set up that didn't look blurry.

I have a one year old Toshiba 50H82 that I'm very happy with. Not blurry at all.:)

[Cliff]

Originally posted by James RD


I have a one year old Toshiba 50H82 that I'm very happy with. Not blurry at all.:)


Yours could be perfect. I was just saying, when I was comparing the Mitsu's to the Toshibas, the Toshibas just looked more blurry to me. Believe me, I wasn't biased toward the Mitsu's. I went into the dealer, for the first time, with the Toshiba at the top of my list. Then I did the comparisons. The dealers are probably to blame (for the way they set them up), not the sets, but it's a shame either way, 'cause I'll never buy a Toshiba W/S now.

[greg_t]

Pioneer Elite. I have a 530 and absolutely love it. If you will be using sources like LD and regular cable, the Elite fits the bill due to having a superior line doubler, best stretch modes in the industry, and a high resolution 3D comb filter.

[Gary Freed]

Originally posted by James RD


I have a one year old Toshiba 50H82 that I'm very happy with. Not blurry at all.:)

I've seen a lot of Toshiba's that look great. What I really like about some of the Toshiba's is the ability to take low resolution digtial broadcasts like DirectV and disable the progressive scan. The picture actually
looks much better as a result.

[-=Rudy=-]

About a decade ago, one of the home theater mags did a comparison of three sets, and a Toshiba came out on top. Of course that was before the high-def sets became available. It's hard to find a good place to look at sets around here...most are "mass" retailers that have no clue how to display the sets.

Anyone know if the Mits sets are DLP or CRT based?

[Cliff]

Originally posted by Rudy@A&MCorner
About a decade ago, one of the home theater mags did a comparison of three sets, and a Toshiba came out on top. Of course that was before the high-def sets became available. It's hard to find a good place to look at sets around here...most are "mass" retailers that have no clue how to display the sets.

Anyone know if the Mits sets are DLP or CRT based?


They're CRT based.

[Gary Freed]

Hi Norm,

Mitusbishi is going to unveil their 2004 catalog of RPTV's with a bevy of DLP offerings. Their current DLP's are front projection only.

I would also find a way to check out what all the other Manufacturers have to offer first.

best regards,

Gary:)

[JohnG]

http://www.samsungusa.com/images/prod/product/b2c_hln567_full.jpg

The Samsung DLP's are the hot RPTV's at the moment.

Very thin design and weigh less than 100 lbs. Bright HDTV picture and very sharp.

If I was buying a CRT based RPTV then I would go with the Pioneer.

But with these new slim DLP/LCD based HDTV's now pouring into the market from Panasonic/ Hitachi/ RCA/ Phillips and Samsung, I feel this is the way to go now.

[JohnT]

I bought the Elite 610 in 00' and love it. A good display is a good display.

Easier said than done, but forget the $ part and buy what you want to live with, it's normally a long term relationship anyway.

[Richard Feirstein]

Less expensive displays such as DLP and LCD rear projection are superb until you notice a lack of black and an absence of shadow detail. New updated hardware tries to address this issue but perfection is still a few years away.

Richard.

[Cliff]

Originally posted by Richard Feirstein
Less expensive displays such as DLP and LCD rear projection are superb until you notice a lack of black and an absence of shadow detail. New updated hardware tries to address this issue but perfection is still a few years away.

Richard.


If ever...

[duse]

We have a 48" Mitsubishi, and we love it. If we had gone any bigger, it would have gone back to the store, because it's in our FROG, and there is a very small landing where you have to make a 90 degree turn. I was very nervous watching the guys bring it up the stairs and make the turn. A 51" would not have fit. We only sit 9' from it, so it is perfect.

A note on the HD thing. Ours does not have a tuner, but we subscribe to Time Warner, which offers a HD converter. We only get HBO, Showtime, ETV, ABC, CBS and maybe a couple more, but they are offering ESPN, INHD and INHD2 soon. Worth checking into if you are a Time Warner customer. There's no use in spending $400 for a tuner if there are no channels available. BB was pushing Direct, but we had LOUSY luck with DISH. I'll never go back to satellite.

[JohnT]

A note on the HD thing. Ours does not have a tuner, but we subscribe to Time Warner, which offers a HD converter. We only get HBO, Showtime, ETV, ABC, CBS and maybe a couple more, but they are offering ESPN, INHD and INHD2 soon. Worth checking into if you are a Time Warner customer. There's no use in spending $400 for a tuner if there are no channels available. BB was pushing Direct, but we had LOUSY luck with DISH. I'll never go back to satellite.

If TW works for you then you're all set. TW around NYC offers alot (HD) but there are complaints about compression which degrades the picture.

Those who have both Direct-HD & Dishnetwork-HD claim Direct is starting to cram too many channels in there with compression. I'm in the Dishnetwork camp and with the addition of their HD package plus the upcoming HD-PVR, I'm happy. I've only heard praise regarding their HD-bandwidth and lack of compression.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by JohnT

Those who have both Direct-HD & Dishnetwork-HD claim Direct is starting to cram too many channels in there with compression.

Ya think? ;)

Yeah, the compression is really getting bad on some of the kids' channels, especially during commercials or changes in scenes. It was never this bad when I first signed up. I think, too, that for some programming you now need to buy a 2nd dish aimed at a different satellite. Anyone know the skinny on this?

I'm still sticking with DirecTV, but only because it offers channels that DISH doesn't and as infrequently as I watch it (once every couple of months), it's not worth it. The kids don't notice, and don't care, especially on a 13" set. The Music Choice channels I use for background music at a lower volume...suits my purpose. :)

I'd be all for putting up a 2nd DirecTV dish IF they could deliver HD programming with low compression.