65"
Wall mountable
1920x1080

...now all we need is the price to drop - a lot.

65" Sharp Aquos

Yeah

My 65" weighs 330 lbs and would cause the wall to collapse.

it also sticks out about 27" from the wall; right about where my M50s sit.

The top of it is so heavy and so wide that the wall is too far behind it to mount the center on, so I have to set it on top of the TV.

Sitting the screen so far from the wall puts it so close to the viewer that the angle of sight that the viewer has is the same as in a regulation movie theater. If it were hung on the wall, it would seem too far away, and me and grannies ageing eyes would have a hard time seeing anything clearly.

But well,...the price was right.

Uh,....why am I frowning

If I had the spot for it, I'd very, very strongly consider a old school CRT RPTV. But alas, I don't.

How much does it cost?

I did a google search and came up with a an msrp of $20,999.99 dollars.
True or false???

Yeah Mike, but it's available for a mere $15,499.99, so no need to hesitate.

That is a sweet tv. All the moey you saved on Axioms will help.

spiff,

I have a Commercial (no tuner, no speakers) 42"Panasonic TH-42PWD7UY (ED rather than HD) that I hung over the fireplace in the great room as our second setup.

Do a search on the Panny Commercial and you'll find they are regarded as the best for PQ and the prices are excellent. I am thrilled with mine. The current commercial Panny 65" HD (TH-6PHD8UK) is also getting very high marks

Having said all of that, keep your eyes on the January CES in Las Vegas. Panasonic will be introducing the next generation in true HD (1080p). It has been sold in Japan for a few months and is apparently stunning (they'll have a 50" version as well). Rumor has the 65" MSRP around $12,000 and the street price will be 25%- 33% less. Once I finish the basement Home Theater (the lumber is being delivered on Tuesday ), the new 50" or 65" will hang on the wall.

1080p is the only set that I'll bother buying. 50" is as small as I'm willing to go as well.

So right now, my options are quite limited, and what's out there is really pricey. *sigh*

Eventually I'll get exactly what I want.

I just got my Samsung 61' 1080p DLP TV about 2 months ago. I payed $4,000 for it. I really cant imagine a picture more clear then mine already has. The picture is so sharp, clear, and bright that it almost hurts your eyes! It is by far the clearest picture I have ever seen. I just cant see a TV that is like 15 grand more then mine being any better then mine already is.

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!

Yeah chess, that is a bit pricey. I was looking at about $1,000 U.S. for the Toshiba vs $1,100 for the Sony.

Chess, I read an article in the paper that claimed the prices on all the flat panel direct-view TVs will be dropping for a while due to a breakthrough in the mfg methods of larger sheets of glass.
I've been eyeing an LCD for the bedroom for about a year and the price drop has been insane in that time. 19" was about $750 - I think Costco has a 30" for that price now.
I'm inclined to keep waiting.

Inevitably the more one waits, the more the price drops on older technology.
I've found one often gets a more immediate 'deal' when buying last year's model clearouts before next year's models arrive.
However, i'm in a bit of a time crunch. We want to get the big screen tv downstairs before New Year's (big party) but we need something in the morning for our daughter to watch Sesame Street.
She doesn't watch alot of tv, but some shows are worthwhile. She calls Elmo..."Melmo".

Anyways, with that time constraint at hand, we need to purchase something this week. Considering this LCD will eventually become our bedroom tv, i'm not as concerned about paying bigger bucks for better picture. If we decide on a plasma eventually for the family room (or the FP for the media room), THEN i'll take some more time and effort to put out the cash and do some more thorough researching. For now, $1500 is really about as much as we would want to put out (plus taxes). I will take a gander at that LG that Lorenzo mentioned. Only $1200.
There is also a Sharp Aquos for $1300, 26".
I've heard reasonable reports about that lineup.

Chess,

There is also the 23" LG that is on for $999 at Futureshop. To be honest I looked at them and I didn't really think that the size difference was that noticeable. For the $300 difference it might be worth considering.

LG23