Need home theater TV - help pick 65"

[spidey07]

I've been doing a lot of searching for a TV for a home theater I'm building. Already got the room ready wired/grounded/sound proofed etc. Got the audio and all speakers mounted. Now I just need to get a TV.

The room is 16x18 so that is a factor in whether I get a 55, 65, or 71. Must be HD, must support multiple component inputs. Must be reliable with a great picture. I've always been a fan of mitsubishi but the ones I'm looking at are 4000-5000 dollars. Then along comes toshiba with a pretty good looking 65" picture for 2800 bucks. Price really isn't the biggest concern as a good value is...meaning great picture for a resonable price.

Any ideas? seems like new models are coming out that bring the price lower. The main purpose of this TV is home theater DVD, and every video game system imaginable, also for regular TV watching.

thanks for the insight...as much as an AV nut as I am this is getting confusing because of the myriad of choices and price points.

 

[Sugadaddy]

I'd ask here, you'll probably get better answers.

A few that I'd like to have:

Toshiba 65H81
Mitsubishi WS-65819
Panasonic PT-65WX51

More expensive:
Mitsubishi WS-65908
Pioneer Elite Pro-610HD (DROOOOOL)


The Pioneer is probably the best, but it costs ~4500$. Personally, I'd be happy with the Toshiba. Great TV for the price.

 

[The Stigenator]

I know several people who have mistubishi's and love them. Go to a big screen store and check them out personally.

 

[Sugadaddy]

Yeah, that's what I forgot to say... Don't buy these things online! Trust me, paying a little more is well worth it if it means you'll have good service afterwards. You don't want to be sending 65inch TVs back and forth with UPS...

 

[spidey07]

yeah, online is a nono for this one.

The thing is I have always liked the mitsu but even they have a lot of different models/differnt tubes etc. I'm probably gonna go to my local AV store (not CC or best buy of course) and have my salesman of 10 years try to convince me to buy a high-end mitsu over a low-end mitsu or toshiba/sony.

plus with this much cash involved I want RELIABILITY and maintenance/tuning. yeah, I always turn down maintenance plans but will purchase one for this if it includes tuning and lightning/power.

 

[Sugadaddy]

And make sure you pick up an Avia or Video Essentials DVD to tune it properly...

 

[spidey07]

linkage?

 

[hungrypete]

Right Here Baby

Cuz everyone wants a 60" monitor!

 

[spidey07]

funny that avia is made by ovation...that's were I've always done my shopping.

THOU SHALT NOT PAY RETAIL!

 

[The Stigenator]

go to CC and best buy to check what they have got. You dont have to buy from there as you will be price shopping. but you can always buy from there later if the prices are good.

Go to sears, and also if you got "the good guys" store near you go to that one.

 

[Ameesh]

i was at magnolia hi-fi a while ago and comparing a lot of nice tvs side by side i would either get a mitsubishi or a pioneer elite, the pinoeer elite imo was a little nice and had a nicer menu system.


this is the model i like



if you can afford it check out projection cause its the last step in having the ultimate home theater.


lucky you! im jealous!

 

[Ameesh]

<< go to CC and best buy to check what they have got. You dont have to buy from there as you will be price shopping. but you can always buy from there later if the prices are good.

Go to sears, and also if you got "the good guys" store near you go to that one. >>




skip those stores they wont have the right selection that your looking for, goto defenitive audio or magnolia hifi or some other speciality store to see all the models your interested in and talk to slaes people who are very knowladgable.

 

[spidey07]

projection?

nice to have but - too much money for a good one and I don't think my room is big enough. I'm having trouble deciding between 55/65/71. Want 71 but think it is too big.

<edit> elite is very nice but not in the price/performance range I want. too much price with marginal improvement in performance.

 

[Ameesh]

id look at mitsu's then, they have really nice rear projection hd's

 

[NeoV]

go for a widescreen model......even if you have to go down in size a bit....the difference is very apparent with DVD's.....

 

[spidey07]

bumpety - just got the go ahead for the TV.

Want mitsu high-quality tube. price cap is 4000. 71 probably too big for my room. 65 more like it. last chance to prove to me that I can get a great picture for that price other than anyting but a mitsubishi diamond series.

anybody?

<edit> 16:9 HD of course...but the thing is I've seen toshiba/sonys for 3000!!!!??????

 

[AaronP]

LOL TV's are for SUCKERS! Front Projection is the way to go! Check out some of the theaters on this page to see what FPTV is all about.

Instead of 65 inches, you get 90 or 100 or more inches, AND the picture quality is HIGHER! HAHA the big secret of FPTV is that there's a lot of great used front projectors out there that can be bought for 1000-2000 dollars that make a new RPTV look skank!

check out these babies HTF Front Projector people

 

[spidey07]

<< you get 90 or 100 or more inches >>



sounds great...how am I gonna get a HD picture at the size in a 16x18 room? provide the solution and I'll follow.

 

[AaronP]

simple, hang a projector on the ceiling, and put a screen on the wall. You can shoot a 100 inch image from only about 7 or 8 feet away. Look at some of the rooms in those pics, there's a lot of smaller rooms.

And don't worry about the screen size, unless you're within about 8 feet or less from the screen, you'll have no problems with a huge image.

 

[Wallydraigle]

<<LOL TV's are for SUCKERS! Front Projection is the way to go! Check out some of the theaters on this page to see what FPTV is all about.

Instead of 65 inches, you get 90 or 100 or more inches, AND the picture quality is HIGHER! HAHA the big secret of FPTV is that there's a lot of great used front projectors out there that can be bought for 1000-2000 dollars that make a new RPTV look skank! >>


If they are so great why are there so many useds ones out there? I'm curious becasue I thought about getting one of these.

 

[goofygrin]

I have a 61" Toshiba HDTV and a Sony 1271q projector driven with an HTPC on a (probably 130") ~120" screen. My room is 20x20 (over the garage, I know, square is bad for sq...)

Anyway, I MUCH prefer the projector to the tv. I am thinking of returning the TV there is that big of a difference!

Cost analysis:
TV:
Toshiba 61H70: ~$2300 (after tax, extended warranty)

Projector:
Sony Projector: $250
New green tube: $200
(needs new blue, not totally yet): $250
Remote: $100
HTPC (Athlon 1g(266), k7master, 256megddr, radeon, dvd, cdrw, video capture, sq1500): ~$375
Screen materials: < $100
Cabling: < $100

Seriously, if you can control the light in your room *completely* then go FP. If you can't... I dunno what to tell you!

If you were local I would show you the difference .

The reason there are so many projectors on the market is this: Companies spent $20k+ on the projectors, but their sales guys can't lug around a 200lb+ projector, so they are replacing them with LCDs and DLPs. While great for presentations, they tend to lack for HT (but many people use them with mixed results).

 

[NeoV]

when I heard "projector" I was turned off, but after going to that forum and looking at the pics....WOW!!

Am I reading correctly that newer versions are HDTV compatible? How much do the screens cost?

WOW!

 

[AaronP]

newer versions? haha, there are projectors 15 years old that can project high enough resolutions for HDTV. My friend bought a 11 year old Sony projector for 1300 bucks, and it shoots a 92 inch widescreen image, with progressive scanning and can do HDTV 1080i easily. It is simply awesome.

One great thing about the older projectors like that is that they are industrial and business products and not consumer products, they are built like tanks and can last a LONG time and do 30,000 hours easily.

AVS Forum is a AWESOME site for projector info. You can learn about the older CRT projectors, and some of the really new high end digital projectors. You'd be suprised that the old CRT projectors can really hang with the digital ones, and most movie purists prefer CRT projectors.

 

[AaronP]

if you buy a screen, most of them range from about 300 bucks up to thousands if you get one of the real fancy motorized ones.

BUT, this is the great part, that message board has a DO IT YOURSELF make your own screen forum, and I made a screen using their info, and it cost me about 30 bucks for materials, only took about 1 hour for my dad and I to make, and it looks perfect, it looks like a professionally done thing.

 

[AaronP]

yeah, the reasons there are so many used ones is that companies (and universities) need to spend their budget money, and they replace their perfectly working CRT projectors (which they bought new for around $20,000 dollars!) with smaller brighter digital ones.

THe digital ones are brighter, but up until the newest ones, have been behind CRT for making a film like experience.

It is AWESOME that these companies are surplusing projectors that were $20,000 to $50,000 new for sometimes in the hundreds!

New digital projectors don't cost nearly as much as their older CRT ancestors, there are some nice new digital projectors for as little as about $2000 - about $10,000 dollars.
----

don't get me wrong though, for family viewing in a high traffic room, or with kids, a tv is the better way to go. Projectors are for dedicated home theaters only. (you can still watch football and play Counterstrike on em though!) hehe they are so flexible, TV, movies, comptuter, you can run anything through a projector.