I have a 34" widescreen Sony WEGA HD at home right now and want to get ridiculous, so I’m considering getting a new TV instead of a MacBook Pro. So, I’m looking at this:
What I want to know is if anyone has this TV or one similar. I’m not very familiar with DLP, but what are the ups and downs? I see that this is 1080p (true 1080p via HDMI) , is there anything I could be missing that would make me regret this purchase?
That set looks to be the best cost/value comparison. Any TV I’m missing that would be better?
It’s worth the trip to Best Buy, Tweeter, or Circuit City to go and look at the sets themselves. I went with a Sony SXRD set because I find them sharper than DLPs. Your comparisons will naturally vary.
Also, don’t forget the extended warranty, and make sure it covers at least one lamp replacement.
The problem with going to those places is they use the shittiest hi-def feeds for their TVs. I plan on going for a look though. I will also never buy another Sony TV after having a really shitty experience with their support for my current HD.
Everybody has their brown list. But the upside is that the stores usually use the same shitty hi-def (or just 480p DVD) feeds, so you can compare & contrast.
JVC also uses the same/similar tech as Sony’s SXRD, but I haven’t heard much about their sets. Otherwise, it’s just different flavors of DLP.
Good point. They do pump throughout the store. I need to check it out. I was at Best Buy looking around last weekend, but I didn’t look at the specific modules.
That TV should be just fine. Samsung’s DLPs are very nice sets, from what I’ve seen and heard.
As for the ups and downs of DLPs:
Excellent black level performance is a plus.
The “rainbow effect” can be a minus–a sort of rainbow-colored shimmer caused by the way DLP sets generated color. Not everyone can see the rainbow effect, and more recent sets (like this one) should reduce or eliminate it. For what it’s worth, I can see it on a friend’s older DLP if I really try, but it isn’t noticeable or disturbing under normal circumstances.
Moving parts are a minus. That friend had some expensive repairs recently when the light engine in his set died. The plural of anecdote is not data, however, so I wouldn’t let that scare you off of a DLP set.
I say go for it; it sounds like you’re happy with the price, and that’s a fine TV. Have fun with it. I’m loving my own new HDTV. :>
I used to go for the biggest TV possible too, then I wised up… size isn’t everything. Go for a LCD, it’s mature technology, it looks gorgeous, and it doesn’t weigh over 100lbs.
That looks like a pretty good price for that TV. Nice size, I love the DLP tech and Samsung is a good HD brand. I think the next set I get might be an LCD though because it seems like the color richness is better, slimmer form factor/weight, and you don’t have to worry about bulbs burning out.
My local CompUSA had a closing sale recently and they have the 65" HP 1080p set for $900 each (MSRP is more like $4K), but some fucking eBayer bought them all before I could get down there.
I recently bought a 42" LCD and I absolutely love it and don’t regret it at all, but I have noticed that the decline in prices for big screen tvs (LCDs, Plasmas and DLPs) seems to be accelerating (rapidly) recently. So that is something you may want to think about.
Also, IMO, the biggest problem with viewing in-store models isn’t that they have shitty high-def feeds (though that is a problem), but rather that in a lot of stores the TVs will be in various states of fucked up calibration. I’m not talking about that in the videophile sense of the factory settings being 2 degrees off true flesh tone color or whatever bullshit, but rather the fact that in the bigger stores like costco or frys, it is common for dipshits to go around messing with the settings intentionally to make things look poor. So if you do go to view them in a store, go to one that has lots of those anal people who walk around and bother you when you’re trying to shop because they usually minimize the amount of people who fuck with the settings on sets.
I really don’t dig the form factor of projection TVs, even DLP ones. Flat panels make a big difference, especially if you take advantage of their size (either with an appropriate stand/center, or wall mounting). It makes the room.
The shitty HD feed is definitely a factor. I guess they have just one HD source split to around 20 different sets because most in-store HD looks shit. I got into an argument with a guy at CompUSA about it because he insisted I was looking at an HD feed when clearly it was nothing like HD quality. In the end I realized that it was HD (switched to ESPN2HD and could see the logo in the corner) but it looked like shit, worse than 480p even. I don’t know how they expect to sell HD sets when they’re not feeding them a signal that shows off what they can do.
This is for a slightly smaller unit but they explicitly state that their findings here apply to the unit you’re considering. If you have the cash… I’d suggest you consider giving Sony another try and look at the XBR3
Sony is hilariously overpriced. Buy the westinghouse lvm-42w2 for $1500 like me, and be happy. If you really want to spend more money and get a big TV, pick up the 47" model instead. Cheap as shit, great picture (since every LCD is made in 1 of 2 fabs anyway), tons of inputs, 1080p, and did I mention cheap as shit? Spend the extra money you saved on the XBR on a tivo series3, playstation 3, wii, hookers, and beer. Or just save it, and buy another better TV in two years.
Somewhat true (there’s a few more factories than that… and some are chinese), but what’s around the panel matters a lot.
I’m not saying the suggested TV isn’t great, Westinghouse is an unknown brand here, but it’s not because all lcds are alike. They’re not.
If money wasn’t an issue my favourite brands for LCDs are
Philips
Sony
Samsung
(two of these use the same panels)
… o.k. if money really wasn’t an issue you could add German manufacturer Loewe and Danish Bang and Olufsen to that list, but that’s more design based.
When considering technologies I’d pick lcd over plasma over DLP - but I have absolutely no need for anything bigger than 40".
