I'm looking for a new RPTV due to my current 5-year-old Hitachi dying again for the 3rd time. It's actually working again due to a service plan I have through GE. They have been great by the way if anyone is looking for extension on your warranty. The TV is going up to the game room so now I'm looking for a new RPTV for the family room.
The reason for the title of this thread is due to so many negative threads I have seen on line about premature bulb failure or other common failures. It seems that there is no brand that is immune to this problem. I have read several reviews on line discussing the quality of picture, color etc. but these reviews only discuss up front quality and not the back end...such as bulb failure.
Does anyone know of a RPTV that has had a good track record? I'm looking for:
55" -- 61" screen size DLP/LCD RP/LCOS etc. Price...this one is tricky as I'll pay more up front for a good TV and not have to shell out $200-$250 every year for a new bulb.
No such thing. DLP=$. There are some real nice HDTV crt sets out there now. I would be looking at them if you don't want to have your set in the repair shop more than it is in your home.
Joe, A little over a year ago I bought a JVC tv. After a short time ( days ) the bulb blew. I took it back and got a refund and started my search all over again. I was going to buy a Hitachi crt rear projection at Sears but they had a special on and after waiting a month they still had none in stock. ( I think they have that tv in 51 inch right now for 799.99. )So I looked and bought an RCA R52WH74 at Walmart for 894.00. It is 52 inch. For 58.00 I got an extended warranty; 2 years over the manufacturer warranty. Many people have been criticizing RCA ( I think mostly dlp ) but so far mine has been great. And with the warranty I bought if it gets repaired to many times they will refund my money or give me anothr set. There is also a time clause ( I think 14 working days ) where they would do the same. Now picture quality. If I stand up the picture is slightly darker but not much. But I do not watch tv standing up. Compared to other sets I think it is so close it does not matter. When you go to a store to see a set in operation make sure you compare aples to apples. I see in many stores they have a dvd playing in one set with a movie that has brilliant color.I think all the sets would come close to looking the same with this dvd playing. I think this is the set they want you to buy. The other sets will have different programming on them. In some of the electronics stores they will have the crt rear projection up in the air where the viewing angle is not good. The big money sets are set perfectly so they stand out. I backed away from the display and when I got a good view thre was not much if any difference between them. Some people will argue this but it is my opinion. Besides you are not going to have 2 sets at your house side by side. If you buy a crt and have hd programming it will look great. I will leave with this one final thought. Even if dlp has a slightly better picture the worst picture is on a broken set whick dlp certainly seems to have a lot of. Also with a dlp you should let the bulb cool down before turning the set on again. to me that is a real inconvenience. Bob
Bob, your rite on the money. I had a RCA r52wh74 in for repair due to shipping damage and they're an excellent set. RCA's DLPs suck and wouldn't give you 2 cents for one. I can't say that about the crt set. 4 1/2 stars on the R52WH74