He wanted my opinion on these two TVs:

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&oid=74893

and

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8041&qp=0&oid=69934&m=0

He watches LOTS of DishNet TV and a few movies. He can't go any bigger due to space limitations and I know he doesn't want to spend much more(if any).

Does anyone have an informed opinion that could help us out? Thanks.

Without knowing anything specific about those two models... it sure looks pretty close. I doubt you could go *wrong* getting your father either one.

I guess I'd go SONY unless the price ended up being more than 200$ more.

The Sony had higher ratings from Circuit City customers, for what it is worth. They didn't give it high marks for sound quality, but the Sony I heard at Best Buy seemed to have pretty good speakers. I suppose all the RPTVs of this kind are going to be pretty similar by now, eh?

RPTV's can actually differ quite a bit, if you're willing to wait, Samsung's coming out with their HLP model's soon (thus the current HLN models will be cheaper, thus saving your dad money). DLP is an awesome technology. Many people over at AVSForum's have been quite happy with Sony's GWIII and the Samsung Series in any size. Mitsubishi is also getting a look too... It depends on how much HD content your dad wants to watch, as some TV's suck ass with SDTV and other's are OK at it, but maybe once he see's HDTV he'll be like "why was I ever watching this other garbage?"

Samsung: http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8041&qp=0&oid=71920&m=0

yeah so it's more expensive... but they're damn good TV's, and with the Samsung's you can put them on a shelf of some kind, then put his DVD player and dishnet box under neath that, thus giving you more room :P


- D

I just came back from CC. The DLPs, plasmas, etc... are all WAY too expensive. Even at twice the cost (for the DLP) the difference in picture was minimal/unnoticeable, IMO.
And why all the silver cabinets?

I hate the curent trend towards silver plastic. Just give me plain old black or dark grey. Better, go back to the brushed aluminum look (but not for TVs!).

ive had a hitachi for quite a while now,the picture is still great and ive had no problems at all,when i do decide to get a new tv i will definetly see what hitachi has to offer....ron

I know where you can get a 42 inch Gateway ED Plasma for close to 2800.00 .. Its new and in the box. PM if you have interest. I have the 46 inch and love it and for the price, I choose it over the DLP.

BigWill, think about this one. Trek on out to your local store and take a look at the 42" EDTV Plasmas next to the HDTVs. You'll be surprised at how little difference there is and you can get a good brand (Panny?) for excellent $$ without giving much up. I think my second setup will follow that route.

If you want HDTV, I really like my Sony GWII LCD. A 42" GWIII will come in pretty reasonably. Just thinking out loud.

Y'all are forgetting... this is my Dad's TV that HE will be buying. Retired, grumpy, brewing coffee at 10:00pm type of dad.

Story: We had a 27" Hitachi console TV when I was a teen. Somebody spilled a glass of iced tea on top and knocked out the top 20% of the picture. He didn't care, the old man watched it that way for years until I finally got a job and bought him a 30" Toshiba.

He's not real particular when it when it comes to PQ or fashion - any HD big screen will knock his socks off, probably. My only concern was whether those two that he was looking at had obvious flaws (built-in obsolescence, history of problems, over-priced, etc...). I looked around and told him to buy the 51" Magnavox for $600 less, but it doesn't have a DVI input (whatever that is) and it has only one set of HD inputs. No way on the plasma.