I wanted to get a little discussion going about the pro’s/con’s of the various big screen TVs out there. Especially from people who bought them. What do you like & dislike? What features are can’t do withouts? What features are ones you hate (including size, weight, viewing angles, etc)? Where did you buy, and if you’re comfortable saying so - how much did you pay?
I’ve got my eye on one of those DLP sets. I don’t know how many more times I can say no to the salesmen, regardless of how idiotic the prices are. Also, one feature i like is the two tuner/screen thing. My buddy can do two 27" screens showing differtent channels on his HDTV at once if he wants to. During football/hoops season, that can be especially cool.
I purchased a 51" Sony HDTV a few months back from Quenn City TV. I have been very happy with it so far. The picture is incredible when watching a true HDTV channel (HD Discovery Theatre or ESPN HD for example). The price was the best part (about $2,000) along with the Sony reliability (per Consumer Reports).
I have a 42" rear projection lcd sony grand wega. It is very thin and very lightweight. It resembles a plasma televison, but is much cheaper and will last much longer because it has a projection bulb that you replace every 4 years or so. I bought the display model for around $2000 right beofre the super bowl. The HD picture quality is amazing… I can’t wait to watch a full season of NFL on it. Now if time warner would just add ESPN-HD, I will be all set.
The only down side of DLPs is that their pictures are spoiled by vertical shifts in the viewing axis. That is, when you view your DLP from above or below its central axis, the picture dims considerably. So you’d have to be fairly certain of where the TV is going to go in your house and its relative location to where you’ll be sitting. Other than that, they kick a lot of ass.
I bought this Panasonic to break into the HD world for about $900. Nothing fancy but it is HD. Flat screen but tube filter. Charter cable just began offering HD boxes and about 8 channels in HD (CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPNHD, Showtime, Movie channel, HDNET, HDMOVIES). It looks great. Analog channels are average and Digital is above average.
If you have a room that will allow it (a large white wall), get a projector. My buddy bought a $2k projector, kicks mucho ass over any HDTV I’ve seen. Larger screen, just as clear and takes up 1% of the space.
Granted, he doesn’t use that as his full time TV (mostly for movies/sports events), but it’s awesome.
[i]Originally posted by BofANiner[/i]@Jun 30 2004, 10:11 AM
[b] I purchased a 51" Sony HDTV a few months back from Quenn City TV. I have been very happy with it so far. The picture is incredible when watching a true HDTV channel (HD Discovery Theatre or ESPN HD for example). The price was the best part (about $2,000) along with the Sony reliability (per Consumer Reports). [/b]
We must have the same TV... I echo BofA's comments.
[i]Originally posted by NovaNiner[/i]@Jul 1 2004, 04:36 PM
[b] NA, I highly recommend you check out the Gateway DLP. $2500 for a 56". Very good reviews from what I've seen.
[i]Originally posted by LutzFan[/i]@Jul 7 2004, 09:17 AM
[b] Mine does something similar to that, but it doesn't work if you run it through a cable box first (which you need for HD programming). but you can split the cable and have one input into the cable box and another one straight to the tv. then you can watch and listen to one channel (at about 60% of normal size) and then scroll through the other channels in small windows on the side of the screen to see what is on other channels. kind of cool feature i guess, but the dual screen feature is more useful. you can watch 2 games side by side (27" screen each) and switch the sound between the two.
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Do you know if the sound-switching for PIP works with surround sound running through a receiver? I haven’t used the splitter since I got my HD receiver and can’t remember how I handled sound before. I know 49er basketball much better than all this tech wiring stuff. :wacko:
i’m not sure about that. you might need two separate inputs into the reciever to have surround sound audio from both the direct cable input and the cable box. then you would have to switch between the two on your stereo remote when you change channels. i’m not sure though, maybe someone else can help you out with that one…