I'm in the market for a new HDTV and have settled on the Samsung HL-Sxx87W model range. The 50" would be perfect for me, but currently the only brick & morter store that seems to carry it is Circuit City. Best Buy carries the 56" and 61", but currently not that 50". Does anybody know if and when Best Buy will begin to carry the 50"? I don't know why, but for some reason I prefer BB over CC.

6/12/2006 4:31:33 PM

I think you should check this bad boy out

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1946366&CatId=0

6/12/2006 5:35:48 PM

^ seconded

6/12/2006 5:37:47 PM

Hmm... I don't need one that big, and all the research I've seen points to the new samsungs as the best dlp. I'll look a bit more into the Toshiba, but can anyone answer my original question?

6/12/2006 7:24:14 PM

i bet bb has a phone

6/12/2006 7:43:18 PM

Get the Sony SXRD.

6/12/2006 9:27:05 PM

I like the Sharp Aquos 1080p TVs.

6/12/2006 11:52:04 PM

have you been to http://www.avsforum.com I just saw a 70 page thread on there on that specific TV alone. A few folks say they got it at BB but I dont know how reliable it is. I think they started shipping back in april maybe. dont know which stores will have ordered them.

6/13/2006 4:13:10 AM

Quote :

"samsungs as the best dlp"

The 4th gen ones (or is this 5th gen now) are all pretty much the same.

6/13/2006 9:04:18 AM

I appreciate all the input. This is one product segment that is flooded with good options.

6/13/2006 9:42:57 AM

I know I am biased but PLEASE, if you are looking at 50'' plasma TV's, at least stroll by and see the HP TV's. 10,000:1 contrast, high fidelty, tone adjustment for every scene, over the air HD, loads more

6/13/2006 10:39:20 AM

He is looking at DLP's, not plasmas (a man after my own heart).

Just a word to the wise, make sure you get a 1080i or 1080p native DLP tv. The 720p native ones have really bad upconversion problems (audio sync issues, less than optimal upconverting) which blows for watching HDTV on em. I returned two Samsung DLP's that were 720p native before I finally figured out it was just an inherent issue with the tv at 1080i

6/13/2006 10:52:38 AM

FWIW I've been following the HL-Sxx87/88 series pretty closely since they started showing up. I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on one based mainly on avsforum threads and the 'true' 1080p ability. I'm torn right now between a 50" and a 56".

I'll be retiring my old Samsung CRT HD set to the study

6/13/2006 3:38:10 PM

Noen - Definately looking at the 1080p native DLPs, wouldn't even consider 720p right now.

sheldavie - I'm in the exact spot you are. I've been following the avsforum pretty closely, which is why I was leaning towards the Samsungs in the first place. Now I just have to figure out what damn stand to get.

6/13/2006 3:56:53 PM

I'm telling you guys, find a place that stocks the Toshiba's before you go plunk down more for the Samsung. They also sell a couple of smaller models too.

AVS is great, but there's no way I'd go for a blind buy of any HDTV.

6/13/2006 4:13:24 PM

Quote :

"AVS is great, but there's no way I'd go for a blind buy of any HDTV"

Agreed..

Quote :

"I'm telling you guys, find a place that stocks the Toshiba's before you go plunk down more for the Samsung."

At the price I'm considering, the $ difference is negligible. Any places other than Tiger that stock Toshiba's around here?

6/13/2006 4:53:48 PM

grrr...stupid circuit city...weekly ad featured a 50" Samsung DLP TV for 1999 before an additional 200 off. top corner of the tv had a logo that siad "1080p full HD" and the tv was featured right beside the Sony SXRD with 1080p. Checked online and the tv shown is really only 720p..the 1080p is 2500. bastards

http://circuitcity.shoplocal.com/circuitcity/Default.aspx?action=browsepageflash&storeid=2397163&rapid=279100&pagenumber=1&prvid=CircuitCity-060611&promotioncode=CircuitCity-060611

6/13/2006 5:33:41 PM

Yeah, Circuit City is all dongs sometimes.

6/13/2006 5:44:39 PM

Quote :

"AVS is great, but there's no way I'd go for a blind buy of any HDTV."

Lol, and you think you would have better luck in a best buy or circuit city. Heaven forbid you deal with some tweeter asshole.

6/13/2006 6:48:12 PM

you damn right.

I didn't say to take the advice of anyone at those places, I said LOOK at the tv's yourself.

6/13/2006 7:51:24 PM

Wait... so you're telling me you guys don't trust the BB or CC reps? They seem so knowledgable.

6/13/2006 9:46:55 PM

You should get the Sony.

6/13/2006 9:54:27 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, Circuit City is all dongs sometimes most of the times."

6/13/2006 11:46:51 PM

Excuse me while i mess with color , saturation, sharpness, brightness and contrast for 45 minutes then leave to order it off the internet.

6/14/2006 12:11:49 AM

I'd love to order it off of the internet, but with a DLP, for some reason I like the piece and mind that I can return it to a store if needed.

6/14/2006 7:23:33 AM

Only for 14 days bub

6/14/2006 10:06:31 AM

30 days at best buy

6/14/2006 1:27:07 PM

Not to mention this is one of the few situations where I would probably buy the extended warranty (on the condition it covers replacement lamps, of course).

6/14/2006 1:28:54 PM

You'll probably buy a new TV before you'll need a new lamp.

6/14/2006 1:34:00 PM

doubt it, most people will need at least one new bulb over the life of their tv

6/14/2006 1:43:40 PM

Friend of mine has a DLP TV and his lamp went out after just over a year. Bought it online and got the extended warrenty that was linked with the tv, and the text mentioned covering lamps. Turns out that the "mentioning" part was just talking about different things you could get covered, and not what was covered in the warranty linked. He was pissed...but yeah, the lamps will die, and 80 or whatever for extended warranty is much better than 200 for a light bulb. If you get it online, make sure that the warrenty you get covers what you want it to, they can be sneaky about that shit.

6/14/2006 2:41:12 PM

The HL-M Samsung's were getting anywhere from 4-6 (sometimes 8)k hours on a bulb...

Extrapolate that out to your average tv viewing. If you replace the bulb yourself it's not really that big a deal. If I've spent between 2.5 and 3k on a tv, I can live with a couple hundred bucks maintenance every couple years.

[Edited on June 14, 2006 at 2:42 PM. Reason : .]

6/14/2006 2:41:31 PM

Well, my want for an extended warranty that covers additional lamps is based on my dad's experience with his dlp. He's had some iffy luck with power surges, etc and has been already been through 3 bulbs in a year and a half. None of which he's had to pay for due to the extended warranty from Best Buy. Matter of fact, that tech that normally comes out to service the tv just gave my dad an extra bulb "in case."

6/14/2006 3:12:19 PM

then your dad needs a decent surge protector.

I've had my dlp for a couple years now and never had a problem.

[Edited on June 14, 2006 at 4:40 PM. Reason : .]

6/14/2006 4:40:34 PM

Right - he bought one after the 3rd lamp went out, hasn't had a problem since then. In any case, it's nice to know he made his money back on the warranty.

6/14/2006 4:59:05 PM

Im looking into purchasing a Samsung or Sony in the next few days. My question is how big a difference is the 720p from the 1080p??? price wise its like 800 bucks difference but are their any sources that are actually useing 1080p?? Not only for watching TV but Im upgrading so I can get the most out of my xbox 360 is the 720p good enough for now???? and yes I have direct tv so no wise cracks.

9/6/2006 10:40:27 AM

Lots of things are 1080i which definitely look a lot better on the 1080p (because they all usually display it as a p signal anyway).

So, if you can, get the 1080p Sony.

9/6/2006 11:47:51 AM

I would say the opposite. You can get a newer version of the tv I bought for less than half the price now.

That said it depends on you. If you buy something every couple of years anyhow, then save your money. If you keep it until it dies, then possibly pay the extra.

I would buy a cheaper model now, wait until everyone gets forced to go HD, and then sell it to someone else. HDTV has hardly moved in my opinion and anything more is going to take longer to become mainstream.

If you don't have an HDTV now, you are already getting a large step up. If you look at the two side by side you might see a difference, but I doubt day to day it is worth it. Technology has to keep moving forward and unless you are an early adopter for everything, you will be better of trading up after a couple of years.

9/9/2006 11:22:11 PM

1080p is pointless right now since nothing is broadcastd in it and upconverting to 1080p wouldnt make it look much better at this point

9/10/2006 9:23:52 AM

^ Did you forget about HD-DVD and Blueray?

9/10/2006 3:15:42 PM

^umm are you really gonna spend $999 on a hd-dvd or blu-ray player? thats probably the worst investment, $30 dvds...also, ps3 will have 1080p but theyve already said that there probably wont be any games in true 1080p for awhile

9/10/2006 5:30:39 PM

so I bought my Samsung 50' DLP yesterday. Am pleased so far as this is my first HDTV. I dont have HD programming yet and was impatient so I went to walmart and spent 20 bucks on an OTA antenna just to see if it would work. to my suprise it did. Just in time to watch Texas lose last night my problem now is tryin to calibrate the damn thing. Are those video things worth it to use like video essentials, aria??? or what not. or should I just look at the pic and see what comes out good. Can any of you give tips for a colorblind person like myself? I spent a good hour going through all the "temp" settings and adjusting contrast, brightness, ect and I think I keep making the picture worse Theres so many darn options on this thing besides the normal stuff. I was on some menu that showed this split pic of a attractive girl at the beach and gave me options to change "pink", "green", "blue" and what not. doing so I saw slight changes to one pic but I was thinkin which way looks best!!!

9/10/2006 11:08:30 PM

I have Digital Video Essentials. Both are roughly equal in my opinion. For the price of a dvd either are worth it even if you only use it once. You could argue either way if it is worth it.

Be warned though, once you start along the lines of a reference system it can be hard to stop. My setup could be better, but not worth the extra $$ to me.

Hd is such a step up from SD, but to the reality it is all diminishing returns from here.

9/10/2006 11:30:38 PM