I spent a considerable time yesterday reading the official threads for the Toshiba 65HM167 and the Samsung HL-T6187S.

My existing CRT RP Mitsubishi 55" is on all day (I like the house to look like someone is home) and if I owned the Toshiba I'd blow through 8000 hours in less than two years. People have been getting far less than 8000 hours though - I'd probably have to replace bulbs every five months and unless I could find an unlimited bulb warranty plan that could get expensive. Never mind the hassle of having to take time off work for a service call and the downtime in between.

I like the sound of the Samsung with its long-life LED light source and no color wheel. But, it's a smaller screen (granted, still a large screen) and costs more. In the long run, it would probably be more reliable and cost less though.

I'm going to some retail outlets today (Best Buy, Circuit City, Ultimate Electronics, and American Furniture) to see them both so I can get an idea of size and picture quality. But, what I'm also looking for are some cold hard technological facts as to why I'd put up with the unreliability of the Toshiba over the Samsung.

Also, can anyone answer whether the Samsung properly de-interlaces 1080i sources / handles IVTC well? areyou4real did some tests on the Toshiba and there was some question as to whether it could do so.

I know this is longwinded but all (polite) replies are appreciated! Thanks.

Thank you all for your responses. I think I've come to a conclusion. Firstly, after seeing both models at Ultimate Electronics today, the Samsung definitely looked more vibrant to me. After reading the article in the NY Times about LED DLP (link posted by mnilan & seanraf in the official owner's thread), my mind is pretty well made up. For "bulb" life and vibrance, I'm going with the Samsung.

PS2Wanted69...Im in the same boat as u and have the above 2 sets in mind....except that I have a good working 57" Hitachi CRT TV right now so after further contemplating, I've decided to save up for the Sammy LED instead. The other thing I didn't like about the fact with the Toshiba is that it only does 1080p over HDMI only and has some de-interlacing issues with 1080i sources. VGA is also restricted at 1024X 768, I think but no more than that. I have a Gen 1 XPS laptop with 1920X1200 so 1080p on VGA is important to me.

My current TV is on too for a long period of time so I think DLP's might not a good idea afterall.

Frag

Frag, I think you mean DLPs with bulbs. The Samsung is DLP with LED.

Found out today that the HL-T6187S is not HDMI 1.3 but from the research I've done, this probably will not be an issue for the foreseeable future.

I hadn't noticed any general agreement on the Toshiba owners thread about the set being unreliable. Like any manufacturer, there are no doubt a few problems some individual sets have, but I've been hearing good things about the Toshiba and I'm planning on going with it. The interlace "issue" seems to be a tempest in a teapot; owners don't seem to be aware of it and the test methodolgy has been questioned in the thread. And it's also tough to judge how a set will look in your home from a showroom floor.