There's a guy coming with cash in hand to pick up my tv in 15 minutes... replacing it in the next 24-48 hours.. Here's the situation, just looking for opinions...

Current set up:

65TWX20B hithach rear projo, great tv.. time to move on
full b&w surround set up.. 5.1


What I do with my TV:

Windows Vista media center hooked up, 3.4ghz P4, 7800GT.. used for music, photos, movies and surfing the web. Want to run at 1920x1080 on the new tv...

Xbox 360, probably PS3/Wii in the future as well.

Main PC - Core 2 duo 3.0GHZ, 2GB ram, 8800GTX, 2x150gb raptors in raid.. Used for gaming, want to run it on the big screen at 1920x1080 for online gaming as well...

HD PVR cable box... for regular cable and HD content..

TV's im considering so far, which as far as I understand can all accept 1080p for the above things I want to hook up to the TV...

HL-S7178W
HD-70FN97
KDS-R70XBR2

Now, i'm able to get all 3 of these at a dealer cost, with out going into pricing details, samsung is cheapest, jvc is a bit more, sony is a little above the rest..

I'm leaning towards the samsung... is there something about the lcos i've overlooked? I want 1:1 pixel mapping 100% for sure as there will be 2 PC's hooked up to the tv.. I'm not really worried about the price difference, just quality... i don't buy the whole "wobulated isnt real 1080p" so it's mainly a quality or feature difference..

Thanks guys.. you guys are all great...

Why did you leave out the Toshibas, top rated by Consumers, and the JVC which also has the lcos 3 chip design which produces the full 2M pixels just like the Sony?
I'm still struggling. I also have a RP Hitachi, 60" which I planned to sell on Craigs list - value???

I would love to know how you get wholesale?

I'v seen the 70" sony, the 70" JVC and the 73" mits. They all looked the same to me. I saw a Toshiba in Costco and it looked terrible, but I assume it was set up wrong because Consumers thought they had the best picture.

The three chip tech. seems like the best, but Samsung wins a lot of votes without it.

Sony is coming out with the xbr3 series soon and JVC is coming out with a slimmer depth set very soon. This could bring down the current model prices.

The online sellers are way below the only two stores carrying the large sets here in san diego. Have you read anything about dealing with those guys? Some of the customer posts are pretty bad. I assume Amazon would be OK and maybe Vann's. Any other safe names?

I'm leaning toward the Sony. 3 chip true 2M pixels, 200 watt light, better scaling. The only real negative here is the price - around 5 large.
Gary

I didnt leave out the JVC, it was one of the three models I mentioned above. I live in Canada so the mits is out, we don't have mits electronics... The reason I left out the tosh is from what i've read up on it, it doesnt accept 1080p through the inputs like the samsung does.. (correct me if im wrong). As for the dealer pricing, I used to work at a couple home theater places a couple years ago and still know some of the people that work there... Because they are willing to still give me the dealer cost pricing I don't want to be a bother and ask them a bunch of questions, also, they lack the knowledge that this web site has... and the only thing they can give me is a personal opinion, which I dont want from a 17 year old commision salesman that will probably be working there for 3-6 months and has never sold TV's before... Thanks for the input though, I keep changing my mind between the 71 inch samsung, and the 70xbr sony... I don't really want to wait for the new models to come out as my TV is no longer in my house and I want a replacement.. living in canada, we don't get the TV's as fast as you guys in the states, so i'd have to wait at least 6 months before the new stuff comes out...

I like the Sony 70XBR2. The Samsung is great too, if you don't see rainbows.

I don't have much experience with the JVC.

I'm leaning towards the samsung... is there something about the lcos i've overlooked? I want 1:1 pixel mapping 100% for sure as there will be 2 PC's hooked up to the tv.. I'm not really worried about the price difference, just quality... The Sony and the Samsung are both great TV sets. I don't know about the JVC either.

Keep in mind that you will have 1:1 pixel mapping with about 2% overscan even after you go into the SM on the Samsung and turn overscan OFF.

Here is some Samsung "overscan" information that I've collected. I haven't followed HTPC topics with the Sony XBR sets. You might want to check the owner's theads for all three sets. The Samsung you are looking at is identical to the "88" models and except for the "overscan" issue it's also identical to the "87" models. There are a lot of HTPC users with 1080p Samsung sets.

The Long Overscan Story (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9034992#post9034992)

One problem that you will still have is that there is still "physical overscan" that will cut off some of the Task Bar in Windows. There are two ways around this problem. You can double the size of the Task Bar. That's the easy work around.

Turn off overscan and adjust vertical and horizontal image location with these instructions.

Samsung 1080p Owner's Thread --- HLSxx87W/HLSxx88W DLP Models (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8345218&&#post8345218)

You can also use a program called PowerStrip to customize your desktop resolution. I haven't used PowerStrip myself but it's very popular with HTPC owners.

You can get PowerStrip 3.7 here. (http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm)

One problem that you will still have is that there is still "physical overscan" that will cut off some of the Task Bar in Windows. There are two ways around this problem. You can double the size of the Task Bar. That's the easy work around.

Turn off overscan and adjust vertical and horizontal image location with these instructions.

Samsung 1080p Owner's Thread --- HLSxx87W/HLSxx88W DLP Models (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8345218&&#post8345218)

You can also use a program called PowerStrip to customize your desktop resolution. I haven't used PowerStrip myself but it's very popular with HTPC owners.

You can get PowerStrip 3.7 here. (http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm)

Wow, thank you soooooooooooo much... I found a stupid stupid deal for the 7178 which includes the stand and delivery :P By this time tomorrow i'll be posting my results on my new sammy 1080p :)

Wow, thank you soooooooooooo much... I found a stupid stupid deal for the 7178 which includes the stand and delivery :P By this time tomorrow i'll be posting my results on my new sammy 1080p :)You're welcome.

got the 7178 sammy with matching stand set up.. MCE looks freaking amazing :P

Thanks again all, not just for the adivce in this thread but all the info i've learned in the past 6 months :)

Take a look at O.n.e.C.a.l.l the Sony 70XBR2 is at a great price

Hi tictactoe2004

I'm in Winnipeg Canada. Can you please share where you got the deal from.

Thanks

VG

vise_guy --> You got PM.

Good thing you got the sammy. I'm actually not 100% sure on the HL-S7178, but on the HL-S6187's and 88's, all of the inputs accept a 1080p signal (Component, HDMI, and VGA). You, having an XBOX360, future PS3 and using a computer for gaming on an HDCP compatible video card, really did buy the best TV for all of your external hardware to display 1080p.

Even though Sony's XBR2's have (what I think to be) the best color and cleanest picture, I believe you can only do 1080p over HDMI on these sets. That is the deal-breaker for me.....and fortunately, I dont see rainbows :D . So for me, it's DLP FTW!

Congrats on the set! I'm sure you will enjoy it.


P.S - HTWAITS.........Does Powerstrip even work with Vista?

Hi tictactoe2004

Thanks for your PM and telling me about the store and price for HL-S7178 (under CAN$4000 incl. stand TR-71B!!!!!!!!!!). Called them but they do not ship outside of Calgary. Anyways, got a quote from them and my local (Winnipeg) Best Buy matched it. Thanks a lot for your help.

If any Canadian is looking to buy HL-S7178 and needs help (copy of receipt/reference to get a price match done) let me know and I'll gladly be of help. I wish all stores in Canada had great deals like USA!

VG