RD50 at Costco

[sderden]

Hey guys, I just bought RD50 from Costco.com waiting for the thing to be delivered soon.. I was woundering if anyone has bought one from there that has recived an RD50H. I know that costco got a huge deal from optoma and bought about 10,000 units thats why its for sale at $1,699 right now. I know the RD50 doesnt have HDCP but the RD50H does. Any info on it would be great since it seems they dont have much info on the web or the internet for that matter. Also which unit has the HD-2+ chip?

[sderden]

No One? WOW!

[branchbouncer]

In our area you can get the Optoma RD65 for 1699.00 through 5/23/05 from Costco.But try calling the Optoma service center,I tried over the last weekend was unable to get through to a human and they don't anwser E-mail either.I was interested a first but after the apperant lack of support I decided to keep with my Sony

[sderden]

Ya I just got the Tv and Im taking it back. Mostly for the LACK of HDCP and HDMI. I emailed Optoma and they said that they could upgrade it for a mear 400.00 HA! Im going to get the Panasonic PT50LC14 Better deal. To bad the TV looks good but I dont want it as a monitor for my PC.. I need it for everything else. I just wounder how Optoma thought that making a TV without these connects would sell?

[roverdisco]

I have an Optoma DLP. When I started looking, I saw the Costco price. I was able to use the price to leverage for a SV50. All of the Optoma DLPs are not HDCP compliant and all have DVI. DVI with HDCP is the same as HDMI except there is a seperate audio cable and the DVI is larger. I am using a LG LST3510A for OTA HD and Upscaled DVD. I love the set up, especially for bright rooms.

[roverdisco]

I ment to say on my earlier post the all current Optoma DLP sets are HDCP compliant. This is the RD50H and all of their Custom Series. Sorry for the mix-up.

[hxn12]

Hey guys. I'm in the market for an HDTV and the two models that I'm considering at this time are the Optoma RD50 and the Sony 50" Grand WEGA LCD TV. I really want to get the Optoma but I'm concerned about the lack of HDCP in these units. The price is unbelieveable, but I feel that it is so low because they are trying to liquidate their old stock.
I have read that all RD50s made after April 04 have the HDCP card in them, but seeing that sderden bought an RD50 as late as one month ago makes me think they are only selling the old tvs. What I want to know is if anyone who ordered from costco.com has received one of the newer sets with HDCP? Otherwise, I don't want to bother returning the set after spending $200 for shipping and handling and then having to rent a truck to take it back. Do you all think the price of the HDCP installation will come down in the future?

Thanks in advance for any info.

[hxn12]

FYI for anyone stilll interested in this thread. I purchased the Optoma RD50A from a website called visual apex. This site is very highly rated and seems to be trustworthy. I even ordered over the phone and got a discount. Price for the RD50A is 1695!!!

RD50A comes with the newer HD2+ chip and also has HDCP included. For the same price as the RD50 that Costco is selling, I couldn't believe it! Shipping is $100 cheaper and no tax for me. Check it out if you are interested. I can't wait for this tv to get here. :hyper:

[jeffisajedi]

I actually didn't have much difficulty contacting Optoma for my service question.

Basically I asked them if my Optoma RD50 that I bought from Costco in October 04 was HDCP compliant. Their answer was to have me look at the manufacturing date, which was March-04, which was about 2 months before they started making all of their sets HDCP compliant.

SO..... If you have an Optoma DLP that was manufactured after May of 2004, then it is most likely HDCP compliant --- no matter whether it is an RD50h or regular RD50 (RD65 series included here).

I was using mine as a HTPC and could not get the RD50 to sync with 800x600 or 1024x768 as they advertised it would.

Normal HD and DVD picture was magnificent however, so I wasn't planning on upgrading..... but then, Costco.com (where I purchased the RD50) dropped their price on the RD65 from 2999 to 1999!!!

Well, then between the HDCP compliance issue and the video sync issues, I felt justified in returning my RD50 to my local Costco retail store for a prompt refund, which included my shipping costs fyi.

I ordered the RD65 and had it delivered right before the website dropped again from 1999 to 1699 for the promotion.... :-( -- but anyway -- The RD65 syncs up great at any resolution they advertised and has a wonderful picture as well.

I am totally impressed so far! I keep going back to retail stores to see if there is a better deal anywhere or a new set with a noticeably better picture, but have found NONE!

Between Costco's price, return policy, and use of imho great merchandise, I will try to not buy my electronics at any other location.

Sorry for the long post, ENJOY!

Jeff

[rlb187]

I ordered the RD65 and had it delivered right before the website dropped again from 1999 to 1699 for the promotion.... :-( -- but anyway -- The RD65 syncs up great at any resolution they advertised and has a wonderful picture as well.

I am totally impressed so far! I keep going back to retail stores to see if there is a better deal anywhere or a new set with a noticeably better picture, but have found NONE!

Between Costco's price, return policy, and use of imho great merchandise, I will try to not buy my electronics at any other location.
Hi Jeff,

Like you, I am totally impressed with the Optoma picture quality, but discouraged with the lack of HDCP. I currently do not have a HDTV source, so the lack of HDCP has not yet been an issue, but I am concerned about HDTV connectivity in the near future.

I did purchase our Optoma RD50 at Costco last December, but the Mfg date of the HDTV was April 2004, which means no HDCP. I got the display model for $1,500. When I was in the checkout line, an off duty costco saleman in line behind me mention how great Costco's return policy is for TVs. After hearing that Optoma wants $400 for adding on the HDCP, I have been pondering returning the RD50. After reading your post, it sounded like I could get the HDCP to future proof, plus a 65" HDTV for less than the $400 it would take to upgrade our RD50. I checked Costco's website and could not even find the RD65 model. They had the RD50 listed, but no RD65h. I guess my questions are: 1) How long ago was that RD65h $1,699 promotion? -and- 2) Did it specifically indicate that it was the RD65h model? I would hate to make the switch and find-out that I still have the same HDCP issue.

[jeffisajedi]

Hey,

First off, I contacted costco.com's sales-team once and they indicated that their website content fluctuates according to availability of a product - which scared me a bit when I had decided to finally turn in the RD50, to get the RD65 and it was not listed on the site.

After another couple of days, I checked again, and the RD65 was again available.

If I were you, I'd contact their Sales department and ask if the RD65 is going to be stocked again, and if so, when?

Also, to reiterate another post, I was told by Optoma tech support that all TV's manufactured after a specific date which I believe was in May 2004 are indeed HDCP compliant on their DVI ports.

If they are still selling RD series TV's that were manufactured before May of last year, then that really sucks!! Otherwise, you should be fine with the purchase.

The lowered regular price for the RD65 was $1999 when I purchased it - down from $2999 I believe - and there was a $50 difference in shipping costs because of the added weight and bulk.

Costco was great to deal with at the refund counter as well, fyi.

Jeff

[rlb187]

I ordered the RD65 and had it delivered right before the website dropped again from 1999 to 1699 for the promotion.... :-( -- but anyway -- The RD65 syncs up great at any resolution they advertised and has a wonderful picture as well.
Jeff
Jeff,

What was the manufacturing date of your new Optoma RD-65? Was the model number on your Optoma HDTV labeled RD-65, RD-65H or RD-65A? I understand from your prior postings that RD-50 and RD-65 models manufactured after May 2004 may actually support HDCP, but how does one verify that HDCP is actually included in these later sets? From what I can concluded from the specifications:

RD-50 & RD-65 ... do not have HDCP and use the HD2 DLP chip

RD-50H & RD-65H ... supports HDCP and use the HD2 DLP chip

RD-50A & RD-65A ... supports HDCP and use the HD2+ DLP chip

Unfortunately, after checking with a tape measure, I think the RD-65 will be too big for my room, so now I'm leaning to the RD-50A model. Costco does not presently carry that model, but like you mentioned... their inventory changes frequently. I am not planning on getting an HDTV source (either DirectTV of DISH) until this fall, so I'll just monitor Costco's website and local store until then. At that time, I should know if not having HDCP is a real issue.

Here is a website on the RD-50A model that I am considering.
http://www.visualapex.com/RearProjection/RearProjection_details.asp?chPartNumber=RD50A&MFR=Optoma&SE=Pgrabber&KW=RD50A

[jeffisajedi]

Yeah, what optoma's tech support told me is that it was all about the manufacturing date of the unit --- not the model number.

Basically, on the RD50, I emailed them the serial number, and they were able to tell me what the date was from that info.

So, I know that doesn't help much, but at least if you buy a TV from Costco - like the 50", it will be fairly easy to take back if you aren't completely satisfied, or if you find out that the TV you just purchased was produced like a year and a half earlier.

:lurk:

Enjoy!