Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater My dream TV has arrived

I'm w/ Ray, I have a 6UY and LOVE IT. My only regret is that I didn't get a bigger one. The 65" Panny's are now under $9K I believe. I've seen similar sized plasmas at Magnolia and I can't help but stop in awe.

I'll be at CES and at MacWorld so I'll definitely be doing some shopping...

1080p plasma's are coming soon, no?

I'll just throw in a plug for front projectors. I get a 80" screen with 720p, for a total cost (projector + screen) of $2500. Simply beautiful picture (Panasonic AE900U LCD).

The main selling point for us was that with a projector, a big honkin' set need not take over your living room. When we're not watching, I collapse the screen (it's a portable DaLite Insta-Theater) and everything goes in the closet when not in use. In our case, we're talking the ultimate in WAF: M3Ti mains in the top corners of the room, Hsu TN-1220HO sub invisible behind the armoire, VP100 center placed in front of the screen when we're doing HT otherwise put out of sight, and screen & projector there only for HT but gone for music.

Since it's a slight production to get set up for watching movies (5 or 10 min), it's more of a special occasion, so that when we watch a movie as a family, the kids don't just take it for granted.

If you have a permanently installed projector and drop-down screen, you can get much the same "invisibility" of your HT when it's not in use.

Anyways, even if WAF isn't an issue, front projectors offer by far the most screen area per dollar, and inherently the most theater-like experience.

--Martin

At the present time we are looking at replacing our bedroom tv with a new Toshiba LCD for $1500.
It was a toss up b/w the Panasonic TC26LX50 and the Toshiba. The difference of $200 may not be worth any of the feature differences, but we are going to check out the picture on both soon.

Our basic dilemma:
With the basement reno being completed, our 50" Toshiba RPTV is going into the main media room leaving our upstairs family room empty. The present bedroom tv is an old 20" CRT so using it downstairs temporarily is not nearly big enough for this room. Secondly, we have a big wall of light to one side and do not want to replace the light coloured shades for darker versions b/c we do like the light in the room. However, you cannot see the screen esp. late in the afternoon, too much light.
The options?
Buy a higher contrast set, like plasma, and use it in a slightly different spot such as over our fireplace mantle (wall immediate to the left of the windows rather than the wall facing). Problem? Cost.
Option two was to leave the Toshiba RPTV in the upstairs and get a FP for the main media room. I was looking at the Panasonic AE900U but again the problem was cost and the light issue (the RPTV cannot go over the mantle... .

We are hoping that keeping our present bedroom tv and using the new 27" LCD flat panel in the family room will suffice until i can put together enough savings for the FP in the media room or a plasma for the family room. Those darn FP screens can be pricey.

I'd love to have a FP. In our last condo it would have worked perfectly, and if they'd sold to us, that's what I'd have. But, in our new place the room simply won't work for it.

I was looking on drplasma.com and was shocked at how inexpensive some of the smaller (37-42") plasmas are now. If they get much lower, something like that would be incredible in the bedroom.

Chess, you might also check the picture on the 26" Sony.

Hey New,
I'm curious about your great picture. Is that on DVDs, cable, everything? I have a 46" and I'm very unhappy with my pic. I haven't calibrated everything yet but it's more than that. Part of it is our cable input but I'm wondering if there is something else we're not doing or haven't done. Even with DVDs, the picture isn't what it ought to be. Any ideas??

charlie

Unfortunately the Sony is $500 more than the Toshiba. That puts it out of our immediate price range. If they have a Sony around, i'll try to have a look just for comparison.

Chess, you might want to consider this LG on sale at Futureshop now. According to a few people I've talked to LG makes a lot of the screens for many of the big manufacturers. Also Interesting to note that LG is the only company that offers a 2 year manufacturer's warranty on LCD tvs.

LG

yes they are coming. I think the first sets are Samsungs DLP's. I just saw a review of Sony's 60" in the SF Chron via CNET. They rated it as the best true HDTV they done.

I'm sure CES will be overflowing w/ 1080p. However, that means you need HD or Blu Ray DVD. You can stack them up next to your DAT, miniDisc and Betamax... HA!