Talk me out of a Samsung HL61A750 LED DLP

[corey]

I'd looking for a TV > 55" and < $2000. The Samsung HL61A750 LED DLP seems to fit the bill, without having a lamp to replace (it uses an led).

Am I missing something in thinking that this is a better deal than spending $3500+ on a thin TV?

 

[zumbo]

My brother owns a Samsung DLP, and loves it.

I own a Toshiba LCD, and hate it.

My neighbor owns a Samsung plasma, and hates it.

 

[allargon]

Just make sure you put the money you save into calibration (and maybe an extended warranty). The colors of the Samsung are spot on after calibration! The LED DLP's tend to have major off-angle viewing issues (more so than the modern Mitsubishi lamp units).

 

[jostenmeat]

I'd looking for a TV > 55" and < $2000. The Samsung HL61A750 LED DLP seems to fit the bill, without having a lamp to replace (it uses an led).

Am I missing something in thinking that this is a better deal than spending $3500+ on a thin TV?

While Sammy has good blacks as far as RPTVs go, they're not going to be as good as a plasma. A lot of folks might say that black level is the most important thing in a tv today, as its not really correctable the way colors might be.

Just for kicks and giggles, I might recommend seeing if there are any Sony SXRD tv's around. They've been discontinued... for nearly a year?.... I think they look very good for the money. A lot of folks bemoaned the discontinuation, as they saw this line as a real bang for buck, for the budget minded videophile. Of course, they sometimes had their issues too, particularly with the earliest 2000 line. (There's also 2020, 3000, XBR2).

My brother also has a Sammy DLP. Its a big one... I think 67"... from Costco...

I'd personally go plasma if we are talking 50-60". Sure, at 65-72", keep that $3000 in the pocket. But plasmas can be rather "affordable" in the 50-60" range.

Price the 58" Pana plasma. I would definitely take it over a Sammy dlp. My guess would be roughly 2.5k, and maybe you can land a better deal during this time of year.

jostenmeat

edit: ok, it appears I was a bit too wishful with 58" price. However, if you are at a seated distance where 1080p rez does not matter, visual apex seems to be selling the 58" 720p model for 2.2k? (check out what the models exactly are, as they sell "commercial" models often).

IIRC, the ISF puts resolution at around #5 in importance. Color accuracy, color saturation, contrast, and blacks will definitely be ranked as greater in importance...

 

[jostenmeat]

BTW, re SXRD, I helped my bro shop around. We went to the stores together too. He completely agreed with me that the Sony's looked better. He just wanted a bigger display, period, and was willing to give up PQ to do so.

I have heard it said here that if you land one of these, you should stock up on bulbs though. I think it was annunaki that said this.

 

[DMD123]

As an owner of an SXRD I would advise against it. Getting the light engine replaced on the XBR1 was not fun. The fact that some newer generation SXRD's after mine also appears to have this problem would also be a good warning.

For around $1500 through on-line authorized dealers you can get that Samsung LED. That is a much better buy than a time bomb Sony SXRD.

 

[corey]

Thank you all, for your thoughtful replies. It's great to be able to check with others on something like this. I didn't really need a new TV, the trend is towards thin screen TV's, and with the economic outlook..... Well, any way, my new Samsung HL61A750 was delivered today. Got it at CC for $1530.

I'll post more feedback after getting it dialed in, but my initial impressions are very good. I started out with 300, one of the free HD-DVD's I got with my Toshiba HD-A3. I watched the opening scenes, and really liked the detail. I put in The Incredibles, ran thru the video part of the THX setup, and watched part of the movie - quite nice. I watched a bit of football, and the colors were too much, so I've still got work to do.

I've been re-re-re..... reading The Lord of the Rings, and watching the parts on TV (extended edition) after I read them. Last week I watched the company try to cross the mountains after leaving Rivendell - the scene where their climbing up a snowy ridge. Much better detail with this set. If you see smooth white expanses, you're missing the details, which I never saw with my old TV.

My old TV was a 51" Sony CRT RPTV, and so far, I'm thinking I got my money's worth - this is a nice step up. Bigger is better, brighter is better, greener (led set, uses less power) is better, screen being less reflective is better.

The one big drawback I've found is that this TV doesn't have (or I haven't found) a good picture mode to fill the screen with 4:3 content. My 6 year old TV has a mode that squeezes the top & bottom, and stretched the left & right edges, and mostly leaves the center alone. This set just wants to do a simple zoom. Even if they can't make it better, I expected to get at least as good processing in a newer TV.

 

[poutanen]

Hey, I realize it's too late, but I just posted comments about the 67" brother to this TV in this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=492457

I ran through the THX setup screens at the start of one of my Star Wars DVDs, and it was relatively well setup out of the box when run in "Movie" mode with the LEDs set to auto (which always seems to be full bright). I haven't played with the black level adjust yet or any of that...

Good TV so far...