HDTV from best buy, any opinions?

[Dulanic]

Originally posted by: glenn1
I'm dating the girl who is responsible for buying all the television tubes/panels Circuit City sells for the entire corporation, and if you talked to her she'd be the first to tell you (off the record of course) to buy whatever brand is cheapest. She sometimes buys 50-60k units at a time and all the tubes and panels come from basically the same 8-10 factories in China installing the same Corning glass and same Texas Instruments DLP processors into whatever housing the spec calls for, then it gets the nameplate slapped on. The bezel may look different but the guts are basically the same whether it's Sony, LG, Samsung, or anyone else's name on the box.

I will be the first to say, I disagree, and I sell the exact TVs she's buying for us 🙂 Yes some of the internal components are the same, but many are not. The display itself is of course important, but just as important are the electronics inside, the way they convert and handle signals is a major player in the different sets.

 

[ViRaLRuSh]

Would this one be the same quality and just lighter in weight?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...yId=pcmcat31800050029&id=1077625431124


Or is there a big difference in quality?

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

The quality should be virtually identical since they use the same tubes and electronics. If the weight and price is important, by all means pick the smaller set. Keep in mind you're losing 10" viewable over the 65" set, so adjust your seating positions and setup accordingly.

 

[ViRaLRuSh]

either rooms it was supposed to be in, wouldve been rather small, but big enough for a Widescreen projection. I'm all about the bigger the screen the better, but I guess I will make my decision based upon quality as I see it in store.

 

[royaldank]

Another quick suggestion...Get a tape measure and see how far back you'll be sitting during normal TV watching. Then, make sure you look at sets in the store at that distance. I think general opinion is 1.5x the diagnol measurement for optimal viewing. Just make sure you don't get something too big. It's no fun sitting on the front row of a movie theater and it's no fun having to run your eyes back and forth around the tv to see everything.

 

[rh71]

who can set me straight with all these terms ? I see them being used interchangeably and it's confusing...

CRT vs. LCD vs. plasma I know... but how does rear projection fit in ? I thought rear projection = CRT (with the big backside). What else is there ?

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes
I still like CRT based RPTV's the best and the Mits is a nice TV. Room light control can be a definite issue as is burn in. If the TV is setup properly burn-in isn't that much of a concern.

if you honestly think CRT RPTV's have the best picture, dude you seriously need glasses. i dont' know if i would call it a fact or an opinion that CRT's have the worst picture out of all RPTV's.

and that burnin comment is not true, CRT's always have a risk of burnin. if you plan on watching a lot of 4:3 tv shows, then you will need to plan on watching them in stretched mode often if you are going with a CRT, to not keep the black bars on the sides the whole time.

Setting up the TV properly GREATLY reduces the issue of burn-in as does varying what you watch. Sure it can be an issue but it doesn't have to be.

If CRT is so bad why is it that all new technology is compared to it. Maybe you've just seen some bad CRT displays. CRT is absolutely the most natural look display technology
out there.

i would say all the new stuff is compared to CRT RPTV's because CRT RPTV projections were the only ones that were previously out?

i thought that was pretty obvious ...

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: rh71
who can set me straight with all these terms ? I see them being used interchangeably and it's confusing...

CRT vs. LCD vs. plasma I know... but how does rear projection fit in ? I thought rear projection = CRT (with the big backside). What else is there ?

This should be helpful to you.

only thing it doesn't talk about in that link is DLP.

 

[royaldank]

Originally posted by: royaldank
Another quick suggestion...Get a tape measure and see how far back you'll be sitting during normal TV watching. Then, make sure you look at sets in the store at that distance. I think general opinion is 1.5x the diagnol measurement for optimal viewing. Just make sure you don't get something too big. It's no fun sitting on the front row of a movie theater and it's no fun having to run your eyes back and forth around the tv to see everything.

Rear projection comes in the forms of CRT, LCD, DLP, H-DILA, and one or two others. The image is projected onto a screen from the back.

LCDs also come in flat panel designs along with Plasmas. These are the super thing TVs you'd hang on a wall.

CRTs involve a big heavy tube to make the initial image. Heavey units. LCDs, H-DILA, and DLPs use a much smaller light engine to make the image and then mirrors to project it. Usually under 100 lbs. and a bit deeper than flat panel displays (DLPs are usually somewhere around 12-20" deep).

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: rh71
who can set me straight with all these terms ? I see them being used interchangeably and it's confusing...

CRT vs. LCD vs. plasma I know... but how does rear projection fit in ? I thought rear projection = CRT (with the big backside). What else is there ?

This should be helpful to you.

only thing it doesn't talk about in that link is DLP.

thx - so that makes it clear to me that it's difficult to visually tell between a regular LCD and a rear-projection LCD (which is also flat in the back). Or did I misunderstand something ?

I'm using an LCDTV as my monitor and I couldn't tell you if it's rear-projection or not unless I looked it up. 😕

 

[royaldank]

Originally posted by: rh71
only thing it doesn't talk about in that link is DLP.

thx - so that makes it clear to me that it's difficult to visually tell between a regular LCD and a rear-projection LCD (which is also flat in the back). Or did I misunderstand something ?[/quote]

Maybe picture wise, but the rear projection set will have a much deeper case and wont be able to 'hang on the wall' so to speak. Much deeper being a foot or two deep compared to half a foot or less.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: royaldank

Originally posted by: royaldank
Another quick suggestion...Get a tape measure and see how far back you'll be sitting during normal TV watching. Then, make sure you look at sets in the store at that distance. I think general opinion is 1.5x the diagnol measurement for optimal viewing. Just make sure you don't get something too big. It's no fun sitting on the front row of a movie theater and it's no fun having to run your eyes back and forth around the tv to see everything.

Rear projection comes in the forms of CRT, LCD, DLP, H-DILA, and one or two others. The image is projected onto a screen from the back.

LCDs also come in flat panel designs along with Plasmas. These are the super thing TVs you'd hang on a wall.

CRTs involve a big heavy tube to make the initial image. Heavey units. LCDs, H-DILA, and DLPs use a much smaller light engine to make the image and then mirrors to project it. Usually under 100 lbs. and a bit deeper than flat panel displays (DLPs are usually somewhere around 12-20" deep).

yah my 50" samsung is 14" deep at its maximum depth and weighs 77lbs.

whereas my bro got that 65" mitsubishi CRT in the OP and he said it weighs about 350lbs.

 

[Wag]

Yah, this set is HUGE. Make sure you have alot of space for it.

As far as CRT RPTVs go, I like the Hitachis better, but Mitsubishi is excellent too.