I took the plunge - bought a Hitachi

[aj327]

Hey all,

Well I had no intention of buying a TV today. My friend and I were just killing time before going to the movies so we went to Circuit City to do some manly browsing.

First thing that was apparent to my eye...and this could just be the way they had the tvs set up...but the Hitachis looked to have the sharpest image among the projection tvs. Anyway, I had decided to wait until after Christmas to actually buy anything, but that's because I hadn't considered the whole "open box" possibility.

Hidden in a a smaller display room was the Hitachi 43UWX10B - and I fell in love with it...as did my friend. We quickly went to a computer and checked internet prices and the lowest we could find was around $1850. We managed to talk the manager down to $1,299.97, because the front panel had been broken off (I'm hoping Hitachi will be able to send me a replacement part). With tax and delivery charge the total came to $1,450.51.


I'm still all giddy and stuff, but I want to make sure that this was a good deal. I'm pretty sure that the price was good, and on the internet this particular series seemed to be the most expensive, so I'm assuming it's supposed to be of high quality. But I just wanted to get some final oks before I actually get it delivered - which won't be until after Thanksgiving. (I'm in the middle of exams so having a new TV in my room would not be a great idea.)

Anyway, does anyone have any opinions on this TV or own one? Anything seriously wrong with it that I should be aware of?

Oh and Circuit City's service plan ranged from $249 for two years to I believe $399 for four. I'm going to check with Hitachi to see what they offer. Still not convinced that I need the service since these projection TVs are less costly to fix - but without the in home service it seems like it would make for a huge pain in the neck if something did go wrong with it...and since I did get it at such a steal maybe I should just go ahead and get it.

Anyway...would like to hear any and all comments people have about this TV.

And thanks for all the help walking me through all this. I couldn't have done it without you guys.

-aj327

[blackrain]

I just bought the same TV 2 days ago. At first after playing with it the 1st day, I was going to take it back because of the picture quality (Just wasn't what I expected), but after a whole lot of tweeking with the picture format adjustments and the video controls itself, I'm definintly sold to this television. I'm a happy purchaser. Of course you know that projection TV's don't look as good as Direct View TV's but this in it's class is a keeper to me. I hope I helped you out!

[aj327]

Did you use the avia disc to tweek you settings? What did you need to do to make it right?

Thanks,

-aj327

[blackrain]

I never heard of an Avia DVD Disc until last night. My only tweeking was just setting the video settings, such as contrast, brightness, sharpness est... I recommend using the picture perfect feature, the smooth wide feature, cool color temperature, and then adjust your video settings pertaining to your taste. DVD's look very good. Put to see even better quality, I recommend a progressive scan DVD player with/or a superbit recorded DVD or (It's kind of kiddie and all but this is for my little boy) "A Bug's Life" DVD. I played that because it is an all digital picture quality transfer right out of the studio that shows a brilliant picture! Note: Don't forget the component cables.

[57U]

aj, glad to hear about your new purchase.

1. Hope you know this is last years set. It's a very good one though, very similar to mine, with a very good picture. It does not have DVI, but that may not matter, mine doesn't either.

2. Go read the FAQ post - "What you need to do to your new HDTV". Black rain is not correct about leaving the "perfect picture" mode on. Turn all the auto settings off and follow the other recommendations in the FAQ. The picture will look a lot better. Blackrain, you may wish to consider doing the same. No-one has ever done a proper setup and regretted it.

3. When you get the time, you can catch up with the other FAQs, which are helpful to those new to HDTV.