I think this can count as advice from Axiom owners, even though it's not about Axiom stuff...

I'm wondering if anyone has or has experience with the Samsung 61A750 LED rear-pro HDTV. I've been checking out TV's for a while, and am down to the Panasonic Plasmas (the 58" preferably) or the aforementioned Samsung. The Panny is approximately twice as much, and I can't imagine it is twice as good. Hanging a TV on the wall is not a huge deal to me, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with that set or series of sets that I could get a little input on. Going with the Panasonic would put me back a bit timewise, but I know the quality of those sets is amazing. Thanks in advance!

Oh i would definitely check out the 150 INCH Panny

Oh well naturally that will be my living room TV. I'm talking Bedroom/Bathroom of course for this one

Steve, I don't have any comment other than what you already know: the Panasonic plasmas are excellent. In my view they're significantly better than any rear projection set that I've seen, but the price difference is something that each buyer has to make up his own mind on.

Yeah that's the trouble. Deciding if it's worth the wait vs. a cheaper, slightly bigger screen. I should just forego it all and get the Pio PRO-151 (I think that's the right model number for the new 60" elite Plasma) then I can't complain at all

For me with questions like that, it always comes down to, "what would I notice more for the extra money?"... i.e. let's say the top of the line set costs $2k more than the other set you think you'd be happy with, but are not sure.

I have a friend going through this now... he wants to get a new Pio Plasma that runs about $5,500. His alternative is to get an LCD RP TV for about $2,500 (both TVs he's looking at are big)

This makes up his entire HT budget for the year... His audio system right now is quite meager... old Klipsch tower speakers with a single woofer & tweeter, no center channel, no surrounds, and a decent sub. My question to him was... if you save 3K on the TV, think about what you could do to the rest of the system. Entirely new speakers plus a receiver if you shop right.. once he started thinking of it that way, he realized it'd be hard to get $3k worth of extra quality from the Pio that would outmatch the effect of completely replacing his entire current audio system.

Like JohnK said, it's comes down completely to personal choice, but you might ask yourself a question like the one above to help line up your choices.

Jason

The other thing to consider is that whatever the shortcomings of the RP are, your mind will adjust to them over a relatively short period of time.

I really like my 50" sony LCD RP that I bought 2 years ago... BUT I have been REALLY wanting a bigger TV (65"-70") and 1080p. AT the time when I bought my LCD rp I had a set budget. I could have gone with a 32" or 36" LCD or plasma, or the 50" LCD RP so it was a no brainer for me. I love teh bigger screen size and the cheaper price tag. I dislike the crappy black levels of the LCD RP.

I seriously think my next TV will be an LCD (Or maybe plasma). I don't want to hang it on the wall but I do want the better viewing angles that come with LCD or plasma versus any rear projection set. Unforunately the price tag for a 65"+ lcd or plasma is in the range of $4-5K... so I am going to wait a while Fortunately my 720p 50" TV will hold me over much longer than my 19" magnovox CRT could.

You might want to look at the Samsung PN58a550. It costs around $2600 via Amazon and you can check it out at Circuit City. I was just about to purchase the Samsung ln52a650 LCD when I saw this and had to have it. 58 inch screen is nice and I think it looks better than lcd technology, colors are considered very accurate, blacks not quite as black as the Kuro of course but they are pretty black. And it doesn't break the budget like a Kuro would, don't know what the Panasonics go for, those may be a bit better depending on the model, and of course there are better Samsung plasmas as well, but for me it was a good price point. How much are you budgeting to spend?

David, which Sony do you have? I spent several hours at BB watching the same feed on a Pio Plasma right next to an Sony A2020 (both were 60") and I found very little difference in black levels between the two.

I have been quite happy with my 50A2020.

What about the SAMSUNG HL67A750? I currently have a 60 in. Hitachi and vowed that I would never go any smaller. It's now time to upgrade and that's the TV that I will be getting; once I pay off my 3808 .

It is the sony KDFe50a10- the 50" LCD RP. Bought it two years ago right before they quit making them.

LCD Rear Projection TV's have horrible black levels compared to most DLP's, LCD's, and Plasmas. It really only bother me when watching a horror movie.

I have one, and am absolutely thrilled so far. Excellent picture, no bowing. I researched for 18 months before I bought one. Looked at HP Toshiba, Samsung and Sony (LCD). Best Value, least problems of all leading manufacturers. 4-5000 post thread on AVS.

Great suggestions all around guys, thanks!

David I think i have the same TV as you actually, mine is the 50E2000. I have to agree, it's the "gray" levels of the TV that get to me the most, along with the silk screen effect. I got it on a killer Black Friday deal which made the set less than anything 42" and over at the time.

SatKartr I believe both that Samsung and the Panasonic (both 58") are pretty comparable price wise. It would be good to know which one performs better. The budget is probably around 1500-2k at the moment, due to the fact that we are house shopping and if we end up finding a house then the budget is probably shot to nothing for now. Otherwise I'm happy to wait and see what happens in the next few months, as sales happen in this time of year, as well as some companies introducing newer models in the late spring. I mean in 2006 a decent 42" plasma was about $1400, right now a great 50" plasma can be had for a little over $1k. So it could continue this next year.

In short who knows what I will choose, I am in a holding position here for a while I think what with WBAF (Budget Approval factor) and WWAHF (Wife wanting a house factor) overriding my TV choices at the moment.

When I was looking at TVs I was surprised that 52" really did not look appreciably bigger to me than 46", and 58" or greater is where I wanted to be.

CNET loved the Panasonic 58pz800u and stated in their review today, or yesterday: "The Panasonic TH-58PZ800U produces the second-best overall picture quality among flat-panel HDTVs we've tested this year. Its black level and color accuracy tested a notch below those of the Pioneer PRO-111FD--a 50-inch plasma that we assume matches the performance of the 60-inch PRO-151FD--and several notches above anything else we've seen in its class, including the THX-certified 60-inch LG 60PG60."

But they also conclude: "For folks just looking for a massive screen, regardless of form factor, it's still difficult to justify the higher cost of plasma over rear-projection. Our current rear-projection EC is the 61-inch Samsung HL61A650, a superb-performing LED-based DLP model that can't quite match the overall picture quality of any of those plasmas, but costs a dark sight less."

I believe you are on the right road regarding screen size, but if you don't feel like waiting it appears you would be well served by the Samsung RP.

That was the exact paragraph that made me come back to thinking about the 61A750. Why does life have to be so hard?

That's the Panny I have been looking at as well, just can't afford it yet.

Yeah it's a little spendy, But I just keep thinking that if I get the 50" I will wish I had saved up more for the bigger size. I have this thing about always going bigger, which has got to end sometime i suppose...

Well I can't comment on this specific tv or any of the other makes in the thread but I purchased my Samsung 6189 led RP about 14 mths ago and have been very happy with the unit

I recently purchased the 67 inch Samsung LED, DLP. I had an earlier version HLN61 from Samsung. I absolutley love the new 67 inch Samsung LED. For the money, I just don't think you can beat the Sammy DLP's. I got the 67 for right at $2,000. I also got the new Sony 350 Blue Ray player. Together they are fabulous.

The HL61A750 ?

Yes. I have this TV. I freakin' love it. I bought it from Amazon about 4 months ago.

I made a long post about it here.

In a nutshell, I had spent the last 3+ years shopping for an HDTV. I've looked at Plasmas, DLP's, and LCD's. Even projectors. I have spent hours comparing sets at big-box stores, friend's homes, reading reviews, etc.

In my research, there were two flaws with this set. First, there were complaints of 'drooping' screens. That is, the geometry wasn't quite perfect with the edges sagging. This seems to have affected only the early builds when this model was first released. Mine is completely fine, and the screen is flawless. The second complaint was of random power resets. Samsung released a firmware update sometime back in May to address this. My set came with an old firmware. I didn't have any problems but I went ahead and updated my firmware back in July. Requires a USB thumbdrive and takes about 5 minutes. Easy. I haven't had any problems before or after.

I have absolutely zero regrets and would highly recommend the set. Of course, with all HDTV's, you've got to tinker with the picture settings. This one was no different. Out of the box, the settings were a bit weird. Too bright, too much color. But after just a bit of tinkering, colors now look fantastic and black levels are great. No problems at all with glare or ambient light, even in my brightly-sunlit den. I've never noticed too-bright black levels at night while watching a dark movie, especially in 'Movie' mode. It just looks darn good to me.

Is a $5k+ Kuro better? Maybe. But for the $1,600 that I spent on this thing (no tax, delivered directly to the TV stand in my den), I'm completely satisfied.

If my HLN617W (now 5 years old and still looks fantastic) were dying...I would be buying the 67" LED Sammy. 6" more and 2G's less than I paid for my 61" 5 years ago. No brainer! Watched one the other day at CC and the picture was stunning. Can't be beat for the money. I sorta wish mine would die already!

This was actually one of the best LCDRP sets Sony made. They later made the A20 series which had a soft picture, because of a cheap videoprocessor.

Their next move was the SXRD A2000 series which used a similar cheaper processor and the standard def didnt look great. The Sony XBR series of SXRD was their top line, but was discontinued because of a light engine problem and class action lawsuit from owners with green blobs on their screen.

Sony RPTV sets scare me, but the A10 was and is a great LCDRP.

thefwam.....you should ask yourself some questions. Like, is the TV going to be in direct sunlight, basement or lighting controlled area?

If in direct light, then RPTV will have less glare and be good. If in areas of controlled lighting or dim, then plasma will be fine and the reflective screen is not an issue.

Next, ask yourself what type of picture you prefer....RPTV, Plasma, LCD?? You have also said wall mounting isnt a big deal, so either will work.

Figure out what type of pic you like the best and what the price range is. Dont get hung up on paying extra $$ for brands if you dont care about it. The differences in pic quality between Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung plasma are minimal when they are side by side.

I have a LCOS based RPTV and love it. I just helped a friend put in a Sammy 50A450 plasma and its great. Also have friends with the Panny plasmas and they too are a great picture. I visually compared the picture of the Samsung to the 720P and 1080P Panasonic and couldnt notice a big difference. My next TV will be a 42" plasma for the family room....probably the Samsung. Great picture, black piano finish, great price.

Now you're scaring me! I bought when the Samsung LED RPs just came on the market, and the A2020 had the fewest issues of any of the newer RPs at the time. They did not have the issues of the earlier A20.

Do also consider that RPs in general have more problems. Failure rates for Plasma and LCD are on the order of 1-2%. RP is around 10% and much higher for those models with problems. I really really wanted to replace my 19" monitor with something big, and RP was what I could afford.

You are comparing apples to apple-pears. A10, A20(LCDRP) are not the same technology as the A2020 (SXRD)

The Sony A10 and A20 series were LCDRP sets that used their 3LCD technology. Fairly reliable LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) projection sets.

The Sony A2020 was a year newer version of the Sony A2000 and 2 years newer than the XBR1. They are LCOS RPTV's (Liquid Crystal on Silicone) and use the Sony SXRD technology. There was a class action lawsuit against the XBR1 series for an optical block issue(created a purple blob on screen) and Sony offered upgrade or refund towards the A2000 or A2020. The A2000 later reported problems with a "green haze". I purchased LCOS RPTV, but not Sony. Although the XBR2 sets were great looking TV's.

Best bang for the buck used to be RPTV, but you can get large plasma's for a great price now and the price gap has narrowed.

Here is a link to the details of the class action lawsuit on the Sony SXRD sets

http://www.breakitdownblog.com/class-act...b-sxrd-problem/

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=219&mdl=KDSR60XBR1#

Dang, I'm getting old. I knew all that stuff a few months ago.


I noticed that the last time I went in to BB to pick up a printer cartridge. There really are a lot of affordable good choices I didn't have 10 months ago.

It's amazing(ly depressing) how fast the market changes, that sweet TV you got 6 months ago is all of a sudden not so cool. Damn the free marketplace!

After watching movies on a 19" (or was that 21"?) screen for two years, I am still thrilled with my 'old tech' itty bitty 50" RP.

I blame people like you for encouraging the companies to keep making bigger and better TVs. I'm still operating on decades old technology here, waiting for holographic technology to come out before I take the leap.

Uh, that's what I'm doing, too. Um. Yeah.

Maybe the two of you should be making 10,000 posts on some other forum...

Hey, man, I've got a lot of speakers, at least.

I know. The best price on my RPTV 3 years ago was $4800. I got mine for $3k and now you can get one for $1500.

The longer I wait for my 42" plasma, the easier it is to justify spending too much on speakers

Hey, mayby by the time our RPs die, they will have roll up oled FP sets. Though how you would put an upside down M80 over one of those is beyond me.

I've decided to decrease my wait and am now aiming for a laser TV.

It should be on shelves any day now. Got your pennies rolled up and ready to go?

I can't imagine the repair cost if one of your super-fast moving lasers breaks... sounds like too many moving parts for me!

Yea, but just think, if there is nothing good on TV just pull out one of the lasers and... pew, pew pew. JP otta love this tv.

Just thought I'd chime in since I bought a 61A750 a little over a month ago. I'm really happy with mine, the colors seemed noticeably better than the older Samsung 56" DLP it replaced (just moved to a new room). I have not had any geometry issues, it runs cooler than the bulb DLP's, and is incredibly energy efficient for a tv. Price to size wise I don't think you can beat it, with price guarantees from Best Buy I'm down to almost $1500 for what I paid. I don't hesitate to recommend it, but of course you have to decide what features are more important to you. I use mine every night for everything from tv, xbox, bluray, pc games and surfing the net, no complaints from me.