So what should I get? (Television)
 

I bought a new 36 inch HD TV in January of 04, two guesses why. :) Anyway I have had a lot of trouble (four break downs in 13 months) and have been successful in getting the manufacturer to take it back through Best Buy. ($1600) I do not like any projection TV that I have seen, thus I bought 36 picture tube model mentioned above. At that time the LCD units were well out of my price range. Does anyone have a recommendation? HD is a must, insights are appreciated and it has to come from Best Buy.

May i ask what brand of tv you bought that is giving you such trouble?

Toshiba, 36HF73. Incredible picture when it works. Damn thing weighs 160 lbs.

Tell me about the weight thing. Im going to buy a flat screen sony tv LCD when those things come down in price. The one i want (32 inch) costs currently $2200. Too much be be to justify spending at this point.

I was going to get a 34 inch Sony flat creen both those things way too much and are bulky.

Every review i read point to Sonys for best picture and quality etc. So personally im going with that brand. Which i have 2 and both have been very good.

The weight grows proportionately with the screen size on a cathode ray tube. The glass thickness on the front part of this 36 is probably close to an inch by my guess. (I was in the TV business from 74-82, now they have progressed well past my competence)

Being a USA product homer, I bought this unit because it is made in Pennsylvania. The last time this thing broke down one month out of warranty, I took the chassis out and took it to the repair shop without the cabinet and tube. They sure did give me funny looks when I brought it in that way. ROFL

I am leaning towards a 50 inch LCD unit, but have no experience with them.

Projection tvs never impressed me at all. Thats good you're not going that route. Jeez Hemied i thought all tvs were made outside the US these days. Are you sure they still produce some in the states?

I will pay real close attention to the Sonys, tired of problems, appreciate the information.

I am positive about the Pennsylvania production. It says so right on the back of the unit, on the picture tube and it also stated it on the box. Toshiba has been very cooperative once I got around Best Buy. They paid half of the labor and all of the parts without much grief on the out of warranty claim. (still cost me $153)I told them they would hear from me again. I think I wore them down with my Fed Ex letters and phone calls. :)

I have a 36" Sony Wega flat screen and will keep it for 12 to 18 months more when Plasmas should go about as low as they are going to. My father is in the business so he could tell me exactly what is best and why for what you want to spend and recommend something really reliable if you want me to ask. I am going to talk to him Sunday as he is traveling now. Let me know if your interested.

http://www.larsonshomefurnishings.com/electronics.htm

I would truly appreciate it Big Daddy! These things have passed me by but I am pretty sure I want a plasma. thanks.

I was going to suggest a Toshiba.

I have the exact same model you have, and love it. Like you said, the picture is amazing.

What kind of problems have you had? Hopefully you just a got a lemon, and mine will continue to perform well.

It started out with going dead after a month. A power transistor went out. The tech said you should wait a least a minute between switching from high def to regular and back. (I was doing that a lot trying to get my wife to see the difference but she still can't)
2nd, it went just white. It was the high def board.
3rd, it lost horizontal sinc, another transistor.
4th. it lost blue. The people turned green and when you adjusted the hue to make them look right, the Jayhawk blue was muddy looking instead of blue. turned out to be another high def board. I did not believe the tech though, I think it was probably a color output transistor or something like that and he was soaking me and Toshiba since he knew we were jointly paying the bill.

I just asked them to extend my warranty for a couple of years and they decided to let me return it. Best of luck with yours, I agree I got a lemon.

Whatever you do, get a big screen... porno rules on big screens.

Interesting. Sounds like a lot of your problems were related to hi def. I don't have a hi def tuner yet, so who knows if I'll have problems. I got the extended warranty, so it shouldn't matter.

Oh man, you are really going to like the picture when you get the high def.
This is the one time when I was wrong not buying the extended warranty. They wanted about a third of the price of the TV for it. I have a 12 year old 27" RCA that has never broken down and a 6 year old 32" Philips/Magnavox that has never broken down. I thought it would be a waste of money to buy the extended warranty. I guess I should be glad all of this crapt happened early. Best of luck with yours, get the HD when you can, you will love it.

Have you looked at the DLP and LCD Rear projection sets?

Something like this would be nice.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1077628470384