Well, I'm finally breaking down - New TV

Shino

Time to move on.
I'm sick of playing Motorstorm in 480p and I've pretty much given up that the asshats at Sony are doing anything about the scaling problem on the PS3. And... honestly... I just can't play Heavenly Sword at 480p. Even though it still looks better than anything I've played... I want more!

I've been thinking about a new TV for a while, started looking last week. Yesterday, the $hit hit the fan when the Blue gun in my CRT Projection f'ed up. Glad I have an extended warranty on it. But they aren't coming out until Wed to fix it. Which means... no gaming for me until then. Sad

Anyway. I currently have a Mitsu Diamond scan CRT from 2002. I still love it and it's an awesome TV. The 1080i signal is still better than most TVs I've seen in stores. So I was looking at Mitsus again.

Originally, I was looking at the WS57831.
This is the highest rated Projection TV on cNet and the second highest rated TV overall (review is for the 65" model). That's pretty good when you're going up against Plasmas and LCDs.
Well, the TV has been discontinued. You can still get it online for a pretty good price. Easily < $2000. However, I'm interested in financing and extended warranties.

In comes the WD57734.
This is a new model that is actually released this week. It's not a diamond scan like the 831, but it does have all the same picture quality features as well as a few new ones. It also features 4 HDMI ports that hit the 1.3 standard whereas the 831 has 3 ports at the 1.2 standard.

I called up an online retailer called Onecall.com. I spent some time on the phone with one of their specialist and from what he said, the new x.v.Color system that is in the new Mitsus was developed by Mitsu in conjunction with Sony. Which means, the PS3 will take advantage of it. It will also take advantage of the HDMI 1.3 spec which enables "Deep" color. With that said, he thought the better choice for me was the 734.

They have a new Diamond scan coming... the WD57833, but chances are that the sucker will be around $2500 where I can get the 734 from Hifi Buys for $1800. And if you look at the pages I linked, the spec sheets are identical with the picture performance features. Things that the Diamond will probably have over the 734... PIP (which I don't use much on my current TV) and Cable card which isn't really necessary for me.

Looked at the Samsung LED DLPs too. But they are still having a problem where the center of the screen is really bright compared to the edges. Every review I've seen said that it's really obvious in dark scenes. Well, 300 is a 2+ hour dark scene. Yeah... can't have that.

So, I went ahead and ordered the sucker from Onecall. They matched Amazon's price which was $1819. Sure, $20 more than HiFiBuys offered, but ... no shipping ($60 at HiFiBuys), no tax ($126 savings) and the 5-year warranty from OneCall was $300 ($450 at HiFiBuys). Still bought the stand from HiFi though. They had last years stand for the 831s still in stock HUGELY discounted. So I took the risk.

Anyway, the Total ended up being $2120 and I have 12-months same as cash.

Got someone here at work buying my old TV for $750 most likely, (after they fix it of course). We've even figured out a way to make it so he can still take advantage of the 8 months left on the warranty. Good stuff.

Anyway, just thought I would share. Hoping I'll get it next week sometime. I'll be sure to let you guys know what I think.

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

Blackmage · Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 5:59 pm Post subject:

Heh reminds me at looking into new monitors at the various selections of 24" 1920x1200 and 30" 2560x1600 resultion monitors. I finally came down to the Viewsonic one is the best looking hands down, as well as has all the nifty inputs like HDMI and such in. I was really looking forward to the 30" but there are no video cards in excistance that do dual-link HDMI nor do any of them offer HDMI in for plugging my eventually PS3 and 360 into. So I'm going Viewsonic 24".

Shino

SirGunslinger · Rebel without a clue Gender: Joined: 21 Jun 2007

I have an HP projector that I have been using for the past 4 years. I really enjoy it despite the increased maintenance compared to a TV. It can go all the way up to 1280 x 1020 resolution, but unfortnately at the time I bought it, true high definition did not exist yet so I max out at 720p unless I do some funky voodoo via the VGA port =D

You might want to consider a projector, despite having to buy a new bulb about once every year or two, the projector itself is pretty inexpensive, and if your willing to drop around 1500 on it, you can get a very nice one.

Shino · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:45 pm Post subject:

Blackmage · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 5:02 pm Post subject:

Not only that Shino imagine the cost of a 1080p HDMI HDCP tuner card if they ever come out :p

GD · driven to tears Age: 48 Gender: Joined: 19 Jan 2005

I just bought a brand new Sony Grand Wega 50" LCD Projection set last month. I got a hell of a deal, $999 and free delivery from CircuitCity.com. I guess they were clearing them out. See, it's only a 720p/1080i set, and they're making room for the new 1080p sets.

You don't have to spend 2k on a TV. You can cheap out like me and buy last year's stock for half price. If you're not set on a 1080p set that is. I really don't care about 1080p, my Bluray movies look amazing in 720p, and there are no current X360/PS3 games running in 1080p natively are there?

I compared BD's running on a 720p and a 1080p and I cannot tell the difference. My set has all the same options including mutliple HDMI and component too. Just ask yourself how much 1080p is really worth to you.

Shino · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:04 am Post subject:

Ninja Gaiden Sigma is 1080p as will be Lair.
Besides that... Virtua Tennis.

I got the newer set mainly so I didn't have to buy a new TV in 4 years like I am after my last purchase.