50-56" 1080p DLP... What to buy...

Mitsubishi 833 gets lots of respect for DLP.

I'd also suggest Sony A3000. It's SXRD, not DLP, but may be best picture bang for buck around.

I agree, reading forums while informative can be counter productive when you get the videophiles involved. I just want a tv thats a great bang for the buck and looks better than what I have...pretty much everything thats out now

I have 4 yr old 42" Toshiba HDTV rptv monitor Im getting ready to replace. I like the Samsungs myself but I've read that they have a hotspot (led versions) that could turn into a problem. I just returned from Circuit City and Bjs looking at tvs yet again and I didn't see anything that resembled a hotspot but I've read it online enough to believe its there.

Also I've read a couple posts in this forum where Samsung owners are having a hell of a time getting customer service.

My wife prefers the sharpness of the lcds but they are very expensive when you get to the 50"+ range.

I looked at some Mitsubishis rptv at Circuit City. The one linked in particular. It looked better than the 55" Sony A2020 but could have been becuase of defualt settings. However with only 5 reviews Im very hesitant to give it a try. http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Mitsu...Detail.do#tabs

Im still up in the air after 3+ weeks of looking. I think my wife and I are just going to go and get one and be done with it. If we don't like it we'll return it. It'll probably be a Sony.

thast my problem choosing between the mits 833 and the sony A3000

Hl-t5689s Led Dlp

I can see it, but I think some people are nit picky, while others don't seem to mind.
I stare at monitors enough on a daily basis to know what I like, and what I dislike.... I don't have a problem with lamp-based DLP's, but the Samsung LED ones drive me batty.

i would get the mitubishi wd 57833 way before any samsung.

Are there drawbacks to SXRD vs DLP?

Not really, more of a personal choice thing, some think SXRD is better, some DLP, both have great PQ, both have their + and -.

I'm considering the Samsung LED/DLP series and the Sony SXRD series , but I am so far unable verify what the replacement costs will be for the LED engine when it becomes necessay to replace. I know that the standard bulbs for the Sony run between $200 and $300 dollars, but so far all I've heard about the LED board is that they're being replaced under warranty for a reported value of something like $1,200.

The Sony A2020 has a reported bulb life of 8,000 hours tops. The Samsung LED engine has a reported life expectancy of 20,000 hours. So..at $250 per bulb every 8,000 hours, and $1,200 per LED engine every 20,000 hours...where are the savings from the LED? Granted, the Sony may get only half of the 8,000 hours of life, but what about the LED? Have they been out long enough to prove they will last for 20,000 hours?

I'm still very interested in the Samsung, but I don't want to spend 50% of the ticket price for a TV when it goes dark, and a LED engine can fail right after the warranty expires just as a bulb can. Maybe I'm wrong, but without strong data to verify the long-term costs, I'm not itching to jump into a new and potentially expensive design.

Congratulations on your new purchase!

I'm blown away by my new Sammy 5087S, too.

The life of the LED engine is life of the set, or if you go to the LED vendors data sheets they all say +60,000 hours MTBF, with a side note that they now claim 120,000 hours. Who can answer this question on how long they will last on the average won't probably be known for a few years. The same about how long plasma's rated at 60,000 hours will last.

The entire light engine replacement cost per Samsung has been said to be $1200, but what about just the LED's themselves? IMHO if you encounter a bad light engine it will fail early in its life, otherwise it should last almost forever. There is news that we might be seeing other vendors that produce LCOS displays will be using LED engines also, along with LCD flat panels. Guess we have to wait until CES to find out what will occur next year. BTW if you buy your display with a credit card, then that will double your warranty to two years.

Thanks for the heads up, I got the 20,000 hours from a C-Net review. Further searching turned up a Samsung Press Release that defines the 20,000 hours as being free of any degradation of brightness. If the LED's can last 60,000 to 120,000 hours, then it's a huge advantage over a bulb.

As far as replacing one LED, I've heard that isn't possible. None-the-less, the life-span still makes it very cost effective.