How are RCA F38310 owners doing? - Page 2

13,375 hours and going strong

Bought the F38 floor model from a high-end electronics store for $1800 last winter. It had a couple of scratches on the bezel but full warrenty. Oh, also it was calibrated for free!

Not only would I buy it again, but I've been trying to sell all my 'plazma hungry' friends on this most excellent TV. w00t!

I bought mine from Good Guys on April 21, 2001, for $2830. I am very happywith it and purchased the service manual from Tompson. What I now would like to learn is the procedure for doing color adjustments. The manual has absolutely no instructions on procedures. I have used this set with my HTPC using an Audio Authority VGA-Component transcoder and PowerStrip to set the resolution at 848 X 480. I have also used the Y-Pb-Pr adapter for my ATI 9700 Radeon Pro video card to see both my desktop and video playback at a resolution of 1920 X 1080i. The desktop looks much better with the Audio Authority and PowerStrip at 848 X 480. But the video playback with a MyHD card and a Fusion HD card look quite satisfactorily at 1920 X 1080i using the ATI adapter. I am also using a component-video selector I purchased from http://www.avtoolbox.com which acomodates 4 inputs and two independently-selectable outputs. As for digital audio, I am using a 4-input 1 output optical selector with remote control I purchased from http://www.mcmelectronics.com for $50 plus S&H and plus tax.

After 2 years and 3 months, I am quite happy with the RCA F38310.

Hey MF70, You are the one I need to talk too. I have been looking for someone who has been using the F38310 as a HTPC or video monitor and haven't heard back from anyone until now. Can I get more info from you on your setup and results? I am very much interested in a similar hook up. Thanks...Jeff

Hi, Jeff!
I would be very glad to help you in any way I can. But it might be easier for us to use email instead of posts on this thread. Please, make a note of my email address: mauro22@earthlink.net

I don't have a dvd player yet for my F38310.

Would you guys recommend a panasonic xp30 or would the scalable panasonic rp91 be better?

thanks,
Rick

Thanks MF70. I will e-mail you sometime this week. Thanks so much...Jeff

Rick,
I'd go for the xp30, for the better pictue. I've got a cp72 with a zoom function, that I've never seen any difference with it on or off. I do have it hooked up with svideo for using the 38310's zoom (just in case) and component for regular use.

20,199 hours on JX4 set. I ordered my set August of 2000 and received it April 6, 2001. I got caught up in the several month delay when RCA stop making the set to fix all the known problems. Price was $3,000 for set, 24 inch dish, stand, and free progressive scan RCA DVD player.

Love the set and have not had any problems other then replacing the remote.

I had a suspicion hob, er, captain nemo was back when someone started busting out those high odometer counts for the f38310...

I have one and I love it! I faked problems to get the problem diodes and caps replaced right away. After they were changed, the OTA channel changing was faster.

I am scheduled for service next week. Someone mentioned that it might be the capacitor/diode problem for my set. I just lost picture after changing channels.

I've had my F38310 since November, and no problems so far. It's a great set, and I love the picture on HD OTA broadcasts. I do have a question for the other set owners on this forum though... I'd like to set up an HT audio system using the internal speakers of the F38310 as the center front speaker. Has anyone else been able to do this? Thanks!

Don't do it. You will not get a good sound stage using those shoddy speakers for any sort of HT sound. No center speaker is better than what you'll get from those things!

Sorny

The activation date on mine is 10/09/2000 and the In Service Counter is 28,256! And I didn't think I watched much TV

I have had ZERO problems with this unit. I love it. The PQ is better than any of the LCD's that I've seen recently. Can't wait to get cable HD programming setup this week at my new home.

I got this for $2k at Sears when they first came out. Great purchase decision, but it is VERY heavy. I did manage to get it up off the floor and on the factory base by myself, though!

-Mike

If any of you manufacturers out there is listening it is possible to make widescreen direct-view in a size this large and to make money--quit trying to pawn off crummy LCD, expensive plasma, dim RPTV CRT, dithering DLP, and give the people what they want--LARGE direct-view widescreen HDTV! Mighty Sony are you listening? Are you saying you can't produce such a TV but lowly Thompson can? What's that Loewe--it's impossible to produce it for that price? Toshiba--you pay lip service at the CES to direct-view and Joe six-pack--how about replicating mighty RCA? All you manufacturers out there do you think you can just MAKE us watch crummy LCD in this size? Give the people what they want...if plasma and DLP and LCD are truly that great I'm sure that eveyone will switch to them eventually, but in the meantime make large widescreen direct-view for all the people that are used to buying just a plain old regular television and when you count all the money you've made then thank me--if you make it I'll buy it and I will certainly thank you!

There is only 1 Hob thank goodness too bad it's me, I went to change my name to Catain No One which it is what nemo in latin means, but I came back as Captain Nemo. Trying yet again to be with my friends I made at AVS forum I screwed up Bionic Man usa to Bionic Manaus, David Bott forgave me yet again so It's still "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation"



P.S. Hob's Lane a old name for the Devil in "Quatermass and the Pit".
Hob is in the name hobby take your pick fellas, I still want my Maypo and my Alice B. Toklas Brownies (marijuana, and name where 'toke' came from)

Just go back to ole' HOB!

On February 16th I will be 57 years old, that's real old, Time to put my 12 vibrators to work and give me a total massage, I'll be thinking of all of you while your at work, I haven't worked since June 9, 1985; have a nice day at work so you can buy some more DVD or HDTV godies to relax with.

Hey John, what did happen to you 20 years ago?

Road Accident driving a tractor trailer and some 89 year old jerk decided to back up in the middle lane because he issed his exit. I was driving a COE(Cab Over Engine) and since I was passing 4 children I looked into possibly pushing them off but there were large boulders and I couldn't do it. I looked in my left frisco mirror a yellow pickemup truck was passing me and we had concrete K-rails as a center divider. I couldn't kill the kids so I deliberately jack knifed the truck so the length would be across the road and only gover a few times. The Parents stayed for the Conneticut State police and told them his number, and asked if that driver was still alive please thank him for what he did to save our 4 children. The CT police told me the story 3 days after for I was in a coma, the seat belt didn't hold me and I was tossed about the truck. I lost my index finger on my left hand, I was told my left ankle was crushed and I had 6 broken ribs and a concussion which drove me into the 3 day coma. I can read it off to you like it was yesterday June 9(Sunday) 1985, the memories and the fact that at age 38 I wouldn't be working or walking ever again.



I will be 57 on February 16 th, looking forward to buying myself a s***lode of gifts to myself, that's what birthdays are for if your not given any you treat yourself. I have ordered a bottle of Champagne from the New England
states, coming down by U.P.S. just like Mr. Bond a bottle of 1995 Bollinger Champagne at $100, h*ll I am worth it and I will drink to my friends at AVS my dead wife and my keeping my toys already paid for.

Wow! I must say that accident sounds bad but im glad you could avoid the kids. Ya know you should post some pick of that much talked about HT of yours. And maybe one of yourself too. Happy Birthday!

I look like Logan in Logans Run or Luke when it was Luke and Laura on General Hospital, I can't put a picture of myself on the last one put on was quickly taken off. Take a look at the forum do you see anyone in their wheelchair, there is a reason for this. If you want to see a pic of a RCA F338310 do a google image search and you will see a few. Mine is by itself the best way to keep the HDTV cool, not in heat producing entertainment center. Thanks for the early birthday wish.

Hey Hob!

Still enjoying this gargantuan TV... thanks to your (and others') inputs when we were just newbie shoppers visiting AVSForum for the first time almost two years ago.

In retrospect you clearly pointed us in the right direction.

Thank you for that!

As you may recall we were the crazies who got the idea to house this monster (and all its associated components) on a RubberMaid Platform Truck so we could move it anywhere in the house on a PRN basis... and time has vetted that concept (except from the interior decoration stand point)

Still have the RP91 for playing DVDs... and just added a DMR-E100H DVD recorder we are using to convert all the VHS and home movie tapes to a (hopefully) more secure medium. Or at least one that takes up a whole lot less space to store.

Maybe someday on one of our treks thru GG or BB or Tweeter we'll see something better than your wonderful old F38310... but that certainly hasn't happened yet.

I'm guessing some day we'll end up with an FP unit due to it's inherent flexibility (any time, any size, anywhere) but that technology is a long way from cost effective or even competitive with DV right now in the areas we care about.

So, for the months of enjoyment when we might otherwise have waited for "something better", we say "thank you"... and Happy Birthday, Hob!

offsite123 Still a happy camper owning that thousands of good viewing movies, last one today was "The Day The Earth Stood Still" in the 19.5 inch high and 34.125 inch width. These are inside glass measurements of a 39 inch diaginol and thousands of DVDs later than 2001. Thanks for the birthday wish; too bad I have to drink that champagne alone as usual.

14 months of constant use and still going strong. I recently learned something new about this set. The dreaded "pincushion effect" is introduced when the internal scaler converts 480i and 480p sources into 540p for display. I had bought an iScan to create the best possible 480p from my sources, only to have the set's internal scaler introduce geometric errors. So, I'm selling the iScan on ebay and just bought a Momitsu V880 DVD player. This player is one of the rare players that will output 1080i on its component outputs. Thus, the 1080i signal is natively displayed by the F38310 without running the signal through the crappy scaler -- no more pincushion effect! on DVD.

My DirectTivo is still affected, but in a few months the HD DirectTivo will be available and it scales everything to 1080i. Then everything I display on my set will be 1080i, I'll never use the internal scaler and everything will look perfect.

tommylotto, I pm'ed you about your upcomming Momitsu.

My JX4 (purchased December 2001, with new DM1 board in June 2002) is still running fine. Odometer must have been reset with new DM1 as it starts in June with 14,500 hours.

Question, did I have my caps and diodes replaced when the DM1 was replaced? The shop said it was a remanufactured board.

11,355 hours and still running strong. Bought December 2002 at Circuit City, price paid was $1499.

2 years old and working like a champ! I have had no problems at all. I keep toying with the idea of moving it to the gameroom and buying a 50" Plasma. Then I go to the LCD/Plasma Forum and I am easily talked out of it!

My F38310 is doing fine after 3 years of heavy usage. I recently acquired a Sony SAT-HD300 to complement the built-in DTC-100, and it has revealed substantial overscan at the sides of the screen when 1080i is input to the component input of the F38310. Perhaps this is why the "edge compression" disappears with the Momitsu V880 as tommylotto describes above. It has simply been pushed off the screen into the overscan area! When the HD300 outputs 480i, the edge compression is seen as usual. This seems to validate conclusions in this forum about 2 years ago that the only way to eliminate the edge compression is to move it offscreen by increasing overscan. I don't care for this "solution" personally. Could anyone tell me if there are adjustments in the service menu that will get rid of the increased overscan on 1080i sources connected to the component input of the F38310? Thanks.

Edit: Reducing the overscan on component input to the minimum (1% at all 4 edges per Avia) still leaves a noticeable difference (for example, in the position of a logo) from what is seen via the built-in tuner. This is due to the greater edge compression on the component input rather than a difference in overscan.