Big Screen TV

[Calgary28]

Hello all, thanks for all your input on the projectors, I had the installer come and take a look at my room and due to the fact my homebuilder would not let me pre-wire, it was going to cost me a lot more to get a projector in the room than originally thought. So that puts me back to square one for a TV. I've heard good things about both DLP and LCD rear projection TV's and I am right now leaning towards a 60" DLP. any thoughts????

Be using it for digital cable, HDTV, DVD, and gaming.

Thanks again

 

[av-man]

DLP would be my choice over LCD

 

[Mark Duncan]

I had a 56" DLP for the past couple years and loved it. The only thing I would warn you on the DLP, check the price of replacement bulbs before purchasing your set. The majority of the DLP bulbs are rated for 6000 hrs, and cost hundreds of dollars. The quality control on these bulbs is not the greatest from my experience, and the life expectancy has been exagerated I fear. I was one of the few owners of the DLP that I knew that actually got 5000+ hrs out of one bulb, but my second bulb only lasted 1800 hrs. They were 400 dollars a piece. I decided to not spend 400 dollars on another bulb and instead did what I should have done in the first place, and bought a 55" Hitachi Plasma which although more costly will cost me less in the long run by not replacing bulbs.

Just my .02

Mark

 

[BMXTRIX]

Mark, I think you made a great decision.

I was using my projector as my primary viewer for a few years, but then the bulb went and I realized that I would likely be replacing 2 bulbs every year forever. It was about 500-600 bucks a year in bulbs and it just made more sense to go with a non-bulb technology for daily viewing and save the projector for movie nights & HD sports.

So, now it's a 50" plasma on the wall with a screen that drops in front of it. Works fantastic and the plasma should last me half a dozen years... If I don't replace it far before then.

I think if I had the room for it, I would have gone with a CRT rear projection TV. The quality of many of the rear screen CRTs is still pretty much unmatched by DLP/LCD and the price tends to be better. But, for the same money, there are really nice CRTs that include automatic convergence and just look phenomenal.

To bad your builder didn't realize that YOU were paying for the home, not him. F'n builders.

 

[Calgary28]

So I assume you will get more hours out of a LCD but sacrifice a better picture?

 

[av-man]

Man if you guys can burn a 6000 hour bulb in 2 years or less you are watching a lot of TV. To burn 6000 hrs in 2 years is like 8.22 hrs a day every day. But BMXTRIX is right on. If you are going to use it a lot figure in the fact that you will eventually change the bulb, and not all are user changable. I have found most people use them a lot at first but back off quite a bit after a couple of months. HDTV is however causing them to be used more frequently. There is nothing like watching a good HD program on a 100" or larger screen with a good projector.

 

[Mark Duncan]

I use mine for my computer monitor. The thing I didn't like about the DLP is that it took 30 to 40 seconds to start up and then had a cool down period that you couldn't turn it back on if you shut it down accidentally. So when I checked my e-mails or whatever, I didn't ever shut it down because I didn't want to wait for it to boot everytime I wanted to check e-mail, so it was basically on all day, then I watched tv on it and surfed my AV forums until the wee hours in the morning about every night. I was burning up a bulb about every 6-9 months, but the last bulb was the straw that broke the camels back - it lasted 3 months and 2 weeks, just 2 weeks past the bulb's warranty... And only had 1/3 of the estimated life used on it. I wasn't going to pay 400 dollars for a new one that quickly. The picture on the DLP was great though. It is for sale if anyone is interested....

Mark

 

[RJB]

Just curious...

Calgary28, just curious, but do you happen to be in Calgary?

If you are, I would be interested to know who your builder is ( was? ). As you can see I am from Calgary and had my home built 11 years ago. At the time I had some additional wiring done ( anything was possible for a price ) but I chose to do some rough-in stuff myself.

My builder, one of the biggest in the city, wasn't keen on the idea but I pointed out that I was the one paying for the house and that all the materials and labour would meet or exceed code. You MUST do any wiring before the rough-in electrical inspection.

The actual sales contract didn't say I could do this stuff myself but it didn't specify I couldn't either. I just "leaned" on the builder pretty hard. Basically I told them I would not be willing to let anything slide on their part if they didn't co-operate. If they wanted to be difficult I would hold them to the letter of the contract and absolutely everything in the blue prints.

Most builders are the same, there are always some things that get done wrong and it costs them money to fix it. That's where you get "room to negotiate"....

 

[Calgary28]

My builder was Excel and there was absolutley no way they would budge. They said if I did anythin myself they would rip it out nad charge me for it. Wasn't impressed.

 

[e73bass]

Rethink the projector again. Sony makes some projectors with a KEYSTONE feature that maybe others here can expand on. I was told it allowed a projector to be put in back corner of room above your electronics and and still fully project onto screen--this is for when wiring into ceiling is near impossible.


If not go with one of Mitsubishi's 73" DLP micro displays.

 

[Privateer]

Calgary28 I assume you live in calgary? if so stop by sounds of music and see what they have.
http://www.sounds-of-music.com/

 

[Calgary28]

I've decided to get a TV for now and when I build my next house i will commit a room just for theater. As for now I'm just trying to decide if there is going to be a big difference between the LCD and DLP or if D-ILA should be an option.

 

[Calgary28]

I'm leaning towards the 60" Panasonic DLP, any comments???