Sanyo HT30746 - Best under $500?

I actually think those SlimFits are quite cheap. Hell, in April Samsung is releasing a new 27" version for $500. I've already told you what I think about the Sanyo. I truly believe that if you buy it you'll be extremely disappointed, especially if you see someone else's HD display...any other HD display. But if a picture that looks like it is made out of glowing sand is your thing than have at it.

Why does it have to be one of those two? Can't you wait a little bit and save up $200-$300 more? That extra couple hundred dollars would make an ENORMOUS difference in quality.

By the way, have you ever been to dealnews.com? They always give info. on lots of HDTVs that are pretty damned cheap, mainly LCD. The other day I saw a 32" model there for $480. I don't know if you like CRT more but considering how poor that Sanyo is I'm guessing these cheap LCDs look better than that. Just scroll down the page until you come to "displays/TVs".

here's a 27" slimfit for $500

http://www.electronicexpress.com/product?prod_id=9391

I've found that with my 26" CRT< I have to sit further away (around 9-10 feet) then I did with my 26" LCD before it because of the lower resolution. If I sit any closer then 8 feet, the dot pitch around the left and right edges becomes painfully obvious and annoying (to me).

I'd take the Sanyo over the Samsung TXS2782, and I don't know why you would even be considering those Toshibas.

Have you actually seen the Sanyo? Yes, the SlimFits are prone to geometry problems but at least the picture quality is watchable.

I wonder if some of you may be offering advice about the Sanyo this member is asking about based on what you've seen of the Sanyo 30744. The 30744 and 30746 are totally different when it comes to PQ. Sanyo cut costs on the 30746 by a couple hundred dollars and the PQ is absolutely horrible as a result.

Yeah, I brought up the new ones coming out in April because hopefully Samsung might have fixed the geometry with these newer ones...but I doubt it. It sure would be nice if they did because I personally believe these sets are awesome with the exception of that one big problem.

I think your wife is going to be more upset when she sees that you spent $500 on a Sanyo that doesn't look any better than your current TV. Really, you need to talk to her and make her understand that the PQ difference is bigger than the price difference.

As ridiculous as it may sound to you that Sanyo isn't really going to look better than that 20" Apex. The SD will look worse ( We're talking grain on a grand scale. ) and a HD feed through it looks only marginally better. I had that Sanyo for App. 2 weeks and I was like, "This is HD? What's the big deal?" HD through it looked only a little bit better than my 19" RCA SDTV and SD looked far worse. Then I took it back and got a Samsung SlimFit and was absolutely blown away. The difference in PQ was staggering. But I ended up returning the Samsung as well because of geometry problems. Then I got the Sony XBR970 and am now satisfied ( Although it too has some slight geometry imperfections but every CRT does. ). In terms of PQ I rate it equal to the SlimFit but it doesn't have the bad bowing problems and the screen is 4" bigger.

I assume I was looking at a HT30746; it was about five or six months ago. I'd take whatever I saw over my SDTV, those Toshiba SDTVs, and pretty much any other SDTVs. The Samsung is 4:3, and it doesn't even have a vertical squeeze, right? Bleh. I wouldn't pay $500+ for that thing.

I live right by a Wal-Mart and go by there pretty frequently, so I'll try to look at the Sanyo soon and see if I agree with you about it. I thought the one I looked at a few months ago seemed fine, but maybe I'll change my tune.

If you can get one cheap, then I understand why you're considering them. But the MSRP isn't cheap at all, IMO. Also, I haven't looked at either of those models for more than 3 seconds myself, but everything that I've read here would indicate that Toshibas are not "top tier." And I've been hearing that the new Toshibas are really unreliable. I just don't trust Toshibas based on what I've heard from other people, and I think those retail prices are way too high.

The Samsung I had was 16:9.

I too am considering this tv. I saw it at Wallymart, and the pq doesn't look that bad. The colours definitely don't jump out, but I figure it's not set right.
They had Superman on, and I don't understand how the other tv's they had on it were displaying it in HD (I guess?), but this one didn't go wide all the way (maybe it wasn't showing it in HD?). Anybody know what it'd be displaying if the picture was like that?
I want a tv that's HD capable, but I've got digital satellite, that'll probably output in S-Video, so I would like a good picture. It has component out, but it's not HD.

Ok, I may not have that much hands on experience with the new Sanyo HT30746 but I did own the HT27745, the 27" HDTV 4:3 and it looked AMAZING. Shortly after I bought that TV I decided I had to have a widescreen CRT so I returned the Sanyo and bought a Panasonic CT-34WX15 (the speakers actually did not work and two of the inputs would not accept a signal so it went back) next I picked up a new Sony KV-34HS420 which although was VERY good I still do not think that it looked as good as the Sanyo did on both SD AND HDTV. The Sanyo tube was really quite stunning in HD whereas the Sony and Panasonic were just very good looking. The way it sounds Sanyo must have totally dropped the ball on the new 30" or there are just a few lemons out there as I preferred the Sanyo to every other CRT I owned. I guess if the Sanyo's have one inherent problem it is, of course, doming, since they do not use invar shadow masks but other than that they seem to be great TV's.

Also, I think I said this somewhere else but I have yet to see any problems with the actual CRT on any of the Sanyo's whereas I have seen MANY newer Toshiba's with problems that make me wonder how the TV ever got passed inspection.

One more thing, something that surprised me with the Sanyo was that I really did not HAVE to enter the service menu to get the colors to look right on SD material. With the Panasonic I had to adjust the R-Y angle and other parameters in the NTSC color decoder section of the SM to get it to look right and still was not as "right looking" as the Sanyo, I will admit the Sony was very close to the Sanyo in that regard but I could tell that the RGB drives and cuts needed to be adjusted on the Sony because the blacks were crushed and the picture did not have as much contrast as the Sanyo did. Considering my friend and I both bought HT27745's and they had both been on display at Wal-Mart for pretty much non-stop (as they are open 24 hours) for close to 6-8 months and they both basically looked the same (as in to say equally great) I find that quite impressive that such a somewhat low-mid level CE company put out such a dependable and consistantly great product for such a good price.