Home > Consumer Reviews > Akai PT5598HD 55-Inch Widescreen Projection HD-Ready TV

We were looking for a ralatively low cost big screen for our weekend house and found this at Costco. They did not have their demo hooked up but assured me it was great.

This TV proves the maxim "you get what you pay for". It has, without question, the worst TV picture I have ever seen [we have Direct TV]. Figures actually blur and wash out as they move across the screen.

It also has limited connections - there is no way to run it through external speakers unless you run it through a receiver or pre-amp first.

Fortunately you can return anything to Costco but unfortunately for me Costco is 180 miles from our weekend retreat. And this is a bear to move, particularly un packed!

I picked one of these units up from a local retailer and wow was I underwealmed. After 10-15mins (less if you are walking any closer than 3 meters from it) The convergence goes totally out of wack. The manual calls for the user to turn the unit off for 1/2 hr and then run the perfect picture feature. That would be cool if it actually worked. Looking at the screen reminds me of watching an old 3D movie. Yes for you videophiles out there I tried tuning the convergence manually. What will really disturb you though is that when I called Akai to get a service rep out all I got was a machine. Wouldn't you know it after three calls no one returned my messeges. Great product support! In fairness this unit may have just been a lemon. Even Sony has lemons. However the price was right and the one on display at the store got my heart pounding. I am getting it replaced by the retailer because they have a no hassle policy. I will repost with the results on PT5598HD # 2. Keep in mind though unless you are buying from an awesome retailer that is local to your area. Based on AKAI's complette lack of customer support I can't recomend this or any other AKAI product for that matter! BUYER BEWARE!

Overall great value for the money. Very good picture. No issues, everyone in the house loves it. Set up with Dish Network and everything is flawless.

This T.V. i would say is more like 4.5/5 stars as it has a great price tag, has a good picture, and has a nice size. When hooking up DVD player in component it is gorgeous, i have yet to see better. Also the satellite picture is quite good as well. A couple of minor problems i have had is that there is a faint blue streak when the DVD player has a full black screen. I am not sure what causes this, but it seems to make me more mad everytime i see it. I have not yet tested any of the cables or the DVD player, so it could be that. All in all for the price it's definitely worth it.