Sony, Mitsubishi, or Hitachi?

[ksatterwhite]

Hello All-

I'm new to this board. I've been looking at RP HDTV's for a little over a year now. I can get Sony at Best Buy or Circuit City, Mitsubishi at BB, and Hitachi at CC in my area. I've read good and not so good reviews (comments) for all. My viewing distance will be between 7' and 10', depending on how I arrange the room. My preference is just over 7'. With this in mind, I'll need a model under 50". I've noticed that Sony has a 46", Mitsubishi a 42" and 48", and I think Hitachi is 43".

I'd like to know your opinions (drawn from experience) with these brands. Does one out shine the others in certain areas?

I look forward to reading your input.

Keith

[57U]

Welcome to the forum. Have a look at the FAQ section. In there are a few posts that may help you with some decisions.

"How large an HDTV to buy" - you seem to be in the right ballpark.

"If only I'd have known" - help you select on the basis of some features.

I believe the latest Hitachi is a 46".

Sony has not exactly excelled at RPTVs, but some people like them.

My biases are probably already beginning to show, so I'll leave it at that and let you decide and let others on this forum assist you.

[jnhorner]

I'm like everyone else on this site - did lots of research, got confused, but returned to the tv that I felt had the best picture. For me it was the Hitachi 57swx20b. I've had it for about 2 weeks now and I'm still blown away. Absolutely no problems from the first day! I'm having a ball with it.

[Mackie]

Whichever rptv set you decide on, consider room reflections on the screen. Can be very annoying especially during darker sceens in the program you are watching. If you see any reflections as you are watching the tube set you are now useing, you will see them big time on the large screen tv. Of course these disappear from late evening on. I now know, they have models that are anti-glare. I don't know what improvement they will make but it might be something to look into if you think you might have a reflection problem.... My 2 cents

[Jester]

Instead of changing the RPTV I wanted to suit the environment, I decided to change the environment to suit the RPTV. I installed hidden light blocking shades (coil behind the window dressings) in all windows that emitted light into the TV room and positioned an indirect light adjacent to the entertainment center to provide soft light (better than total darkness for TV viewing). In addition, I made sure that the model I selected had at least a moderate glare reducing screen in combination with a great picture.

I can watch at any time day or night and I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

[T-Rage]

Originally posted by ksatterwhite
...With this in mind, I'll need a model under 50...

Congratulations for getting this far. I have a mitsubishi 55" WS-55411 (I paid $2199.00 at Tweeter) and I am very happy with it and after months of having it I am still blown away. You mentioned you wanted something under 50". You may want to really make sure you can't fit atleast a 55". Think hard about this as I would hate for you to regret only getting a 46" and wishing it was bigger.

I was torn between a 55" and 65" and ended up going to the store and actually measuring how far I had to be from each one for a perfect picture, etc. The 65" was too big for my house but the 55" was perfect. I know plenty of people with 55" and 57" tvs in apartments and they are fine.

[gparris]

I just ordered a WS-55411 from Tweeter over the weekend for my master bedroom suite and got it on "sale" for $2399 from $2599 - How did you get it for $2199 and when was this?

(Also, does the Quadfield focus and Diamond Shield do the job?)

Mad and Curious...Thanks in advance.

[T-Rage]

Originally posted by gparris
I just ordered a WS-55411 from Tweeter over the weekend for my master bedroom suite and got it on "sale" for $2399 from $2599 - How did you get it for $2199 and when was this?

(Also, does the Quadfield focus and Diamond Shield do the job?)

Mad and Curious...Thanks in advance.

I bought it around 2 months ago. I first found the best price I could online. I didn't want to purchase from someone online because of the risk but I wanted to use their prices as leverage when talking with Tweeter. I called Tweeter and said, "I can get this for 1999.00 online, what's the best price you can do for me?". The man came back and said $2199.00.

Also, Tweeter attempted to charge me for delivery and I said, "Your website says free delivery", and they said, "Oh, ok then we will waive the delivery charge".

I paid 2199.00 plus an additional 350.00 for the extended warranty.

Also, remember they have a ton of these things in the warehouses so it is a buyers market. For instance when the salesman was checking on availability he said, "Yeah, I think have some available...over a hundred actually". I told him if I had known that I would have bargained with him some more and he laughed.

Call them up and say you found a better price online and ask them to match it. I bet they would. You have nothing to lose.

In terms of quad focus and diamond shield...

All I know is that HD and DVD movies and shows look amazing. Actually I went to see the Matrix and was very disapointed in the picture. These tv's are amazing. Of course with all RPTV's regular cable is just ok.