Well, I've had my 61" Samsung DLP now for over 4 1/2 years and I think the bulb has gone out again. I replaced the original bulb (its was getting dim) and the color wheel at about 3 years but the replacement bulb only lasted about a year so I stuck the original back in. On Saturday, I was catching up on 3 weeks of missed DVR and the TV puked.

Anyways, I've been wanting to replace it with a 1080p and HDMI solution and have been following technology closely but I was hoping to put it off until early next year. Oh well.

So I bit the bullet and got these:

Yamaha RX-V863
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/p...0&CTID=5000300

Samsung PN58A650 58" Plasma
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/d...PN58A650T1FXZA

I'm pretty excited and hopefully should have them by Friday. Of course I also purchased come HDMI cables from Monoprice.

I'm still up in the air on a Blu-Ray player. I almost feel like going out and buying a second PS3 because it's about the same price as low end players. Either way, at the moment, I only have a couple of Blu-Ray movies. Maybe it's time to subscribe to Netflix or Blockbuster so I can at least rent them.

I'll post some pics when I get it all hooked up.

 

Led Dlp Ftw!!!

 

^^

 

Unfortunately, the viewing angle of a DLP just won't cut it in my living room. Been there, done that.

 

^^ Have a Sammy LEP DLP as well!

 

I am not happy with the 140 degree horizontal and 60 degree vertical viewing angle of the LED DLP. I would like to be able to see the TV from the kitchen as well as one of the recliners that is right at 150 degrees.

 

should have went lcd its viewable at any angle perfectly... we have a 52'' sony lcd in the living room the picture is amazing.

 

congrats!

 

Well, i got the replacement bulb for my old TV today. It came without the cage so I had to do a fairly simple swap. After this, i put the new bulb in the TV and nothing. TV tries to start up for 30 seconds, shuts off, turns back on , then the 3 blinking lights which can usually mean bad bulb.

Of course the TV is way out of warranty and the live chat with Samsung is useless. I've never met East Indians with names like Sam and Anthony before.

So, after putting the bulb in another replacement cage that I had from the last time it went out, still nothing.

To make a long story short, i spent about three hours before I finally came to the 90% certainty that the Ballast board is bad. Since I'm selling this TV for $600, i don't want to have anyone come out and diagnose so hopefully I'm on the right track. I ordered a new one for $80.

In 4 1/2 years with the TV, I'm now on my 3rd bulb, 2nd Color Wheel, and soon to be 2nd Ballast.

If anyone needs help with their older DLP's, let me know. I know way more than I wanted to about this damn thing.

 

I have a 46" Samsung 1080p LCD in my bedroom. While I enjoy it, their is still something that bugs me about LCD viewing. My friends just bought a 52" top of the line Sony LCD and with theirs and mine, I can sometimes see lines refreshing- almost in slow motion, only while watching HD content. Usually while the camera is panning. It's odd and most people don't notice it but it bothers me.

Besides the fact that I still wanted something bigger than 52", which put me out of LCD territory.

 

Well I didnt want to start a new thread about this so figured I'd just post this in here.
I'm looking into a TV for my townhouse at school this year and don't want anything highly priced. Looking in the $1000 range or so. Mostly will be used for xbox 360, movies, and watching sports.

I've found 2 samsungs on buy.com
the 50" DLP goes for around $1000 and the 56" goes for around $1300 (both shipped)

here is the link http://www.buy.com/prod/samsung-hl56...207900170.html

I've seen some 42"-46" plasmas and lcds for around this price but I rather have a larger screen. Will I be sacrificing that much of a picture difference?

 

^^ Neither.

Get the & series LED DLP

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HL61A7...7883184&sr=1-1

 

Going from 46" to 56" within the same type is a sacrifice in picture quality, especially in a small room. The DLP that is not LED is another sacrifice in PQ. That being said, it depends on where you are coming from. If your current TV is something like a 32" CRT, then either DLP will be just fine.

If you insist on bigger than 46" at your budget you really have no choice but DLP. I personally would rather have a slightly smaller LCD, so I would also recommend you go to a Best Buy and check out the differences in person.

 

Sears has a Panasonic 50" 720P plasma for $1299. My mom got it last week for $1099 on sale.

 

^^ 50" @ 720p is too big for 720p...needs 1080p at that size IMHO

 

Really? For regular TV viewing or for Blu-Ray and video games? I still can't tell the difference at 46". And I don't think a college kid is in a position to be worrying about resolution.

 

At 50" in a side-by-side comparison I noticed the difference.

 

What was on the screen?

 

Some random nature stuff....whatever the store was running in the loop.

 

So it was 720 resolution. Interesting....I would say the picture looked better because the model was more advanced.

 

Who cares? In your house you're not going to have another TV right next to it. It will still look good depending on your source.

 

Damn so don't go for it huh? I'm gunna go to some stores tonight and check it out. The only thing on some DLP's that I've seen is from certain angles it seems very dark and hard to see. The LED powered one is way too big and expensive.

Honestly, I don't need anything spectacular and flashy. I just want a pretty large screen with good picture quality. I don't get HD on my cable at school anyway, unless I get an antenna (which is a whole entirely different issue).
So HD would only be seen on the 360. So it's just gunna look like shitty cable as usual.

 

DLP's have limited viewing angles, but you have to be way off center, and if you get a 50" up against a wall or in a corner, there will be plenty of space to view it. FWIW, LCD's have a greater viewing angle, but start to look whiter the farther around the edge you walk. I'd go with the cheapest Samsung 50" DLP you can find, especially if you are just watching SD cable.

 

Thanks for the input. Well unless I somehow rig up a HD antenna it will be regular cable but I cant hep that
Don't know what to do, because even an LCD or plasma is not going to look any better besides maybe with 360 in HD.

Any other suggestions?

I'm going to look at some later on tonight

 

I'd get that HD antenna. All your locals will be in HD. Probably cost you $30 if you live near the broadcast towers.

 

Went around to a few stores last night. The samsung DLPs are pretty nice but obviously a plasma or lcd would be better, but the prices are just entirely too high for the most part.

I saw some floor models in electronics expo that were 50% off, but I don't think I would do that for a DLP since it probably has been on for a longgg time.
But they did have a samsung lcd 50" for dirt cheap but I don't think it was 1080p

Anyway, I'm liking the samsung 56" DLP. Price is about $1300 which is about what I'm looking to spend. Does anyone know what the 6 series is and the difference between older samsung DLP's?

 

I'd go with:
Samsung HLT5087SAX 50-Inch Slim LED Engine 1080p DLP HDTV

versus the 6 series....color wheel and lamp FTL.

Amazon may still have a few of them left. They are "last years" model...back when Samsung made 50-56" LED DLP....now the LED DLP is at +60".

You can get one for around 1200 bucks.

 

Amazon doesn't have much of that one. It would cost about $1500 shipped which is kind of over my budget, also I wanted to get a 56" but like you said they are not available in LED models.

ah don't know lol

 

If color wheel and lamp don't bother you.

If "rainbows" don't bother you.

If a "less bright" picture doesn't bother you.

If having to swap out bulbs every 2 years doesn't bother you...................

Then get the 6 series DLP.


Is the 6 series bad? but IMHO LED DLP is far and away the better choice.

 

I know your def right. I shouldn't do it