Sony KDL-52XBR6 LCD........

I wasn't looking at spending this much either, but I'm not one that can skimp on quality (over cost) when I do a purchase, so as much as I want the 65" DLP, it's not nearly as crisp and vivid as the Sony is.......

I know Samsung is a good set.......it's just the reflective issue that would drive me nuts....

Pioneer = Plasma = No

I've watched Plasma's before and while yes, they look good, they're heat sources (and they're virtual mirrors due to their glass screens)......

The Samsung 65" DLP that I was going to get was LED as well.......that was it's other selling point for me........and while those are designed to "last the life of your TV" the bulb will eventually HAVE to be replaced, and those (especially because of how new they are) are $7-800 to replace, but they last 3-4x as long as the LED lights........

A question about Flat Panel LCD's though........do you have to (can you) replace the bulbs like in the RP sets? I would think that bulb would have to be replaced, but it's a differently designed bulb design i believe.......

Conradicles wrote: »

I am looking for a new stand as well. Have you seen any good deals online, or are you going to get one local?

I've been all over this site for the past few days going over WAY too many stands, but they have free shipping......http://www.tvstands.com/

The stand I'm leaning towards heavily (pending some glass cutting capabilities) is the one linked above in post #9.

polkatese wrote: »

Great deal, Brett. The guy who will do the ISF calibration, make sure he knows what he is doing. They won't waive the delivery charge, especially since you bought the extended warranty?

Best Buy has only 2 people in the state that do the ISF calibration and that's all they do. The prices that i listed were retail.......after taxes, I should have paid about $1200 more......delivery was free, ISF was dropped to $199, Blu-Ray was $100, TV was $2650, 4 yr ESP was $399..... The benefit of going for their higher ESP was that IF a panel has to be replaced or the set replaced, the new set would be ISF'd as well, whereas the lower plan for $399 wouldn't. Also, their warranty covers any 5 pixels out over the whole set they will replace it with a brand new set........that's awesome.........(praying it doesn't need to happen, but ya know)

Glare is definitely a room specific issue, and I know that where I will be that reflections (on the glass screen non-anti-glare sets) would be an issue so that put them out of the running.

The Samsung DLP was an LED set, and while I liked the size (67") and LED factor, the bulbs ARE going to have to be replaced at some point....just not as often as the other DLP sets. When that bulb does have to be replaced though, it's gonna be much more expensive than a DLP bulb, but that tech is still pretty new......

What I'm most excited for will be 60" plasma's in the 2-3k, or LED LCD's like THIS. Hitachi has ultra slim sets (never even knew that Hitachi made LCD's until yesterday), and another slim that's about 1" thick is the Samsung series 8 LCD (unsure if it's LED or light panel driven.....though pretty sure it's panel)

The irritating thing about calibration is what they go into to configure your set are things that you as the owner have no access to, nor the equipment needed to do such calibrations.

In looking at 2 identical sets side by side, I could tell a big difference in the details of what was showing (running same program on both sets, one calibrated and one not). The non-calibrated set was very dark in the details (shadows primarily) compared to being lit up and seeing shadowed detail whereas the calibrated set's color flow was more blended than blocky/striped........and atrifacts were minimized in motion shots..........

They were looping the Planet Earth DVD's and there was a scene where the elephants were walking towards you and on the uncalibrated set, the elephants almost had no face because they were shadowed out so badly.......but on the other set you could see their eyes, dirt all around their faces, etc.....everything was just more detailed.........(again this was on 2 identical sets).

How much of that is them tweeking the settings on one set vs. the other I don't know.....I asked specifically about the CD's like AVIA and stuff, and the response was basically what you're calibrating is your set to your particular DVD players optics.......makes sense......

Agreed....it all looked more dim......I'm sure you can crank up the light level on the tv (at the risk of shortening it's life), but it was a more muted look.......

I'll have to ask about that in more detail to be honest.....the detail was just a big enough factor to me (the ENTIRE point of having a 1080p set is to get that better detail) so I figured a calibration should pretty much go hand in hand with it to get the best out of the set.

It's a segment of the industry that exists solely to screw customers out of more money though........if I buy the set, let me have control over all that type of stuff, or set it correctly at the factory.