Stepping up (finally) to digital TV

I've had a Toshiba 40' 16x9 rear projection TV now since 1998. That's a long time in TV-years, especially given the advances in HD. The set itself was state-of-the-art back then and is still repectable now. I bought it at Onecall and they shipped it from WA to CA tax-free. Nice.

Fast forward to 2005. I held back on a TV in California until i had a new job, and now I'm six months in. Also, we're heading into the holiday season so TV manufacturers are providing some sweet deals on last year's models before the new units hit the floor. Good rationalization!

My old set is a CRT rear projection, but I was looking at DLP for the new one. CRT still has the best black levels, but they're huge, the phosphors fade, and they can burn in. LCD TVs are slim but the black levels just aren;t there for me. Plasma is pricey and I don't need it to be 4" thick, plus plasma does fade over time as well and can suffer burn in.

I've always like Samsung's investment in HD - they have a range of HDMI and DVI products and have really been out front in affordbale, high quality A/V gear.

I went with the 56" Samsung DLP. It's last year's model but i can;t fathom what the difference is from this year's to last year's. There are new 180p sets out there (thsi is 1080i), but I really need to see a proliferation of cable and HDDVD/BlueRay content before I jump in on that premium.

I thought about the 61" but 56" just made more sense for the room. I use a screen size formula that is (seating distance)/2 = maximum screen diagional. Works for me.

Costco had this model for $2499, which included the stand. This compared really well even against eBay listsings (once you figure in the $300 worth of shipping, the 6% additional shipping insurance,  the lack of a stand, etc.). Speaking of big TV's, Costco had a 62" Toshiba CRT rear projection for only $1499 - yowza!

The stand with its glass helf is heavier than the TV, but the TV is huge. I couldn't fit it in the Quest at all. A friend of mine helped me unload it and I was able to put the shelf together and get the set up there pretty easily.

It set up quickly and I piped in my Media Center PC. Wow - fantastic. Now once you have a DLP set you need to look at getting an HD signal in there, which I have done, but that's another post.

Comments

[Phil]

I just found your site through DadTalk and am glad I did... I'm looking at new TVs. We've been watching the same RCA 27" for fifteen years. It still works fine, but I'd like something bigger and with crisper picture. I hope to learn more about LCD, plasma, projection, and DLP through your site.