[Wade_JR]

I've narrowed my choices down to these two TV's. I've pretty much seen the Sony everywhere but the Hitachi is a little more scarce. Sears sells it but the two stores I've been to only display the 51". The picture is nice on the 51 so could I expect the same from the 57? The Sony is a little deeper than the Hitachi but I can live with it sticking out of the niche a little.


Any comments on either set would be greatly appreciated.


Wade

 

[jonwww]

Hit. is definetly more scarce but work the searching in my opinion. Sears sells it but check out Hit. website dealer locator to find smaller shops that sell it cheaper. Alot of people love their Sony's & for the most part really good sets, but I've had problems with Sony products in the past that left a bad taste in my mouth & to some extent you're paying for the name.

Just my 2¢ though.

 

[Tigerriot]

Wade,


You've definitely narrowed it down to the 2 best choices in the CRT RPTV arena. From everything i've seen these two sets offer the best deal in CRT RPTV right now.


I chose the Sony myself only because I know the Hitachi doesn't do pure 480p. This makes a difference for DVD viewing. The Sony offers truly outstanding 480p performance. The Hitachi seems to lose just a touch of the clarity when viewing DVDs. On my Sony I can honestly say I don't think you could find a better DVD picture anywhere else. I am truly blown away by the DVD performance.



As for HD performance the Sony is also stunning but the Hitachi is as well.


Also worth noting are the inputs offered on both sets. The Sony offers 2 component and 1 HDMI. The Hitachi offers 2 component and 1 HDMI as well but if you use the HDMI you cannot use one of the component inputs as they are on the same switch. Therefore you can hook up an extra item to the Sony with a high quality input.


Just remember that either way you go you can't lose.

 

[The_smokester]

Wade_JR

I basically agree with Tigerriot...You can't go wrong qualtiy wise with either of these sets. It will come down to how you value the individual features of each set. Is the depth difference important? Is the number of component inputs critical to you? Only you can judge that. But whichever one you choose, you will be getting comparably excellent performance and value.


The Sony and Hitachi were the two contenders left on my short list. I ended up with the Hitachi.

 

[Wade_JR]

Thanks for the replies folks. It took me awhile to make my decision but in the end I chose the Sony over the Hitachi. It basically boiled down to the wife and I liking the look of the Sony more than the Hitachi.


We've had the set for a few days now and we're both pretty happy with it. Overall the picture quality is good but I think the convergence is a little out of whack. When the set was first turned on and the setup box was on the screen I noticed a slight image shift to the right. I don't really know how to describe it but it looks like ghosting of the image that's not really one color but more like a slightly transparent image of what's to the left. This is more noticeable with text, a ticker box or the sides of unstretched 4:3 material. It's harder to see when a moving image is on the screen but it's still there. I ran the flash focus feature but this didn't really solve it. I'm going to tinker around with the manual focus a little to see if this helps. Does this sound like a convergence issue or something else?


Also, how does one get into the service menu on a Sony? Not that I really need to be in there but would like to know anyway.


Thanks

 

[Artwood]

A better choice would be a Medallion series Mitsubishi 55615 with EDF lenses and Firewire which the Sony and the Hitachi do not have.

 

[captenblack]

This might be a stupid observation, but I thought the Sony has firewire port(s). When I looked at the specs it said something about "iLink" ports which are firewire.


I have no clue what they are used for, does anyone know?

 

[slick1ru2]

I really love my HD picture on the Hitachi 57S700 (similar to the 57S715), can't imagine a better picture. The SD has much to desire as on most if not all HD sets.


I looked at the Mitsubishis, but they don't support 720P, at least they didn't when I looked at them and FOX is broadcasting in 720P.


Also, there was a Sony I liked when I was at HiFi Buys this past spring. But the salesman on the floor said that the green CRT guns kept going out on the Sony. Plus the Sony's didn't have a deep top to set anything on.


You won't regret the Hitachi.

 

[Artwood]

Sony RPTVs had I-link up until the latest models came out. The WS655s do not have I-link. The only Rear Projection CRTs that have both Cable card and Firewire outputs are JVC, Philips, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi. The Toshiba outputs only work with their Symbio Recorder--not anyone else's. JVC and Philips look like junk which only leaves Mitsubishi. All their sets that don't have EDF lenses look like junk which leaves the Mitsubishi 55615 as the cheapest Rear Projection CRT that has both Cable Card, Firewire, and good Picture Quality. All the Mitsubishi Diamond Series sets are similiarly equipped. It's a shame you can't get a Cable Card Firewire equipped Hitachi or Sony because they have made some great sets in the past and it's also a shame that Toshiba downgraded the lenses on their latest offerings and that the Firewire outputs only work with Symbio recorders. Bottom line: Buy Mitsubishi if you want Cable Card, Firewire, and good Picture Quality--sadly there's no other place to go!

 

[bsm]

Quote:

Originally posted by Artwood it's also a shame that Toshiba downgraded the lenses on their latest offerings

I have a 2 year old 50" Tosh Cinema-Line RPTV and love it. Looking to get a larger one now and am back shortlisting TVs all over again. What lenses did Toshiba end up downgrading to? What other issues do the new Toshiba sets have? Thanks!