Need help buying a TV

 

Duane W.
Unregistered guest
I'm interested in buying a large screen TV.
I do not have cable or dish, just antenna tv and DVD player. Sam's Club has a Hitachi 51" projection TV, model 51G500 for $ 999. Do you guys think this would fit my needs ? The store person says it will work off my regular antenna. My viewing is from 12' to 15'. If this is not right for my viewing needs, would you recommend a DLP or LCD ? Thank you in advance for any light you can shed on this matter !
Duane
 

RandyM
Unregistered guest
Duane, I'll give you an opinion, but I'll admit I am biased. I work at RCA in Product Development. The 51G500 does not have a High Definition tuner at that price, which might make a difference to you if you can get any HD material over the air. Our HD52W59 at Circuit City is the same price and includes the HD tuner.

Something in the 50" range is about right for 12-15 ft viewing distance.

Only you can decide if you want to go DLP or LCD. They both have better pictures than a regular projection set, but they cost about $700-800 more.
 

DuaneW
Unregistered guest
RandyM, Thanks for answering my post. TV buying didn't use to be this complicated. Will the HD tuner you talk about, that's in the RCA HD52W59 give me a good picture off my regular antenna and DVD player?
That's all I need. In the future they will probably come up with a HD antena. (like the antenna change when they went from black & white to color). Then again with dish available, maybe no one will enter that market. Thanks again !
Duane
 

RandyM
Unregistered guest
There are two tuners in the W59, one for HD material and one for older analog signals. So you would be ready for either. The DVD player will have either composite or component output that will go into one of the aux. inputs of the tv.

It only takes a regular antenna to receive HD material over the air. Good luck!
 

DuaneW
Unregistered guest
RandyM, is the RCA HD52W59 a new model coming in or an old model going out. I checked circuit city and they are out of stock. I decided to check other stores and B.B. don't list it at all. Thanks.
Duane
 

RandyM
Unregistered guest
It has been out for a few months, but I think it will continue through this whole year. Christmas is big for tv sales, so CC may be temporarily out, but should be getting more soon. I don't think BB sells this model.
 

A Samsung rep
Unregistered guest
If you want a Large Screen projection HD TV don't bother looking anywhere else but Samsung. As the industry leader in development of DLP technology with Texas Instruments no other company can offer the level of expertise in DLP television. Plus RCA just sucks.
 

Silver Member
Username: Fyi

Dallas, Texas

Post Number: 538
Registered: May-05
That wasn't nice.
 

Bob Toshiba
Unregistered guest
It certainly wasn't and we here at Toshiba would never stoop to such low tactics. So when you think big screen HD, think Toshiba. The company that cares.
 

Silver Member
Username: Fyi

Dallas, Texas

Post Number: 539
Registered: May-05
hehe
 

DuaneW
Unregistered guest
I'm open to all models, but samsung seems to have an attitude problem and didn't mention any model numbers to check out, and toshiba could post some model numbers also. I've also checked on a Phillips 60pp9100d. For $1299 at Sam's Club, it's interesting. Further productive input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !
Duane
 

New member
Username: Ryanr

Post Number: 9
Registered: Jan-06
I don't men to condesend Duane but it doesn't seem to me like you know a lot about all this techno stuff. To get the best help here, you need to tell us exactly what you are looking for. If you don't care about HD content, then don't be looking at these DLP, LCD, Plasma sets. Their main draw is the ability to give you a superb picture by placing more lines, resolution, on the screen. However without the HD content, your normal stations usually look worse than what you see now. Most people use the term grainy. Now if you like HD but don't want to pay a company, sat or cable, there are already HD antaneas you can buy to capture OTA broadcasts. You can get one like rabbit ears to put on or by your tv or you can get one for the top of your house. Going the OTA way, you will need a set that has a built in HD tuner. If you don't get one like that, called HD-ready or HD monitor, the seperate HD tuner, looks like a DVD player, will cost about 350-500. If you want to watch DVD's in a better resolution, HD, then save some money and just get a tv that is HD-ready.

So it sounds to me like you will be watching normal tv signal for now so I would stay with a projection set or regular TV for cheaper like you planned on first. See if you can think about some of those ??'s I asked you & give us an update if you need more help. Best of luck.
 

Silver Member
Username: Fyi

Dallas, Texas

Post Number: 546
Registered: May-05
It seems that you are looking solely at rear projection CRT sets in a budget price range. That's fine if you can't see the difference in resolution to the micro-displays.

I disagree with RandyM about the viewing distance on the 50 inch size. If you get back too far from a 50" at 720P format or the CRT's 1080i format your eyes won't resolve the HD detail. It sort of defeats the purpose. The 720P sets are still eye-popping in the 46 to 56 size from a distance of 8 to 10 feet. After that the new 1080P sets have the extra progressively scanned lines to show you the detail on 60 to 70 inch displays at a greater distance. It all depends on your eyes and your viewing distance.

Don't look for anyone to tell you what to buy. Don't let a poster steer you toward or away from any brand, either. Let your eyes and your wallet do the convincing.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Ryanr

Post Number: 11
Registered: Jan-06
Well said FYI. Brands don't matter to anyone but you Duane.
 

DuaneW
Unregistered guest
Thanks for the answer back guys ! Your right RyanR, I don't know much about the techno stuff.
I was around when TV's first came out with their rounded green looking screens and we got to watch test patterns until noon each day. And yes, since I'm retired, I guess I have to agree with FYI, that I'm looking more for a budget set. I'm not adverse to cable TV or dish. We've had both and after a couple years, no one watched them anymore. I've gave some thought for some questions to ask like you suggested. Here they are.
1. Can I get as good a picture OTA with a 50-52 rear projection tv as I now get with my 27" tube tv ?
2. It would seem to me, I would want to look for something with a HD tuner so if an OTA program is broadcast in HD, I'd receive it in HD, Right ?
Or will non-HD broadcasts be grainy, as RyanR mentioned above ?
3. If non-HD broadcasts will be grainy, would I be better off with non-HD a tunner ?
4. If I go with a TV that has an HD tunner, do I need to buy a HD antenna like RyanR mentioned above or will my present antenna (10 years old)pick up HD signal OTA like RandyM suggests ?
5. Are there enough problems in rear projection TV's to consider buying the extended warrenty ?
(I've read the posts that say circuit city makes more proffit from extended warrenties, than they do on the TV's themselves. I think that's probably true of about any type of ext. warranty or they wouldn't sell them.)
If you guys can answer some of these questions, I think it will really help me make up my mind.
Thank you very much !
Duane
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