[proufo]

From an ebay auction:


"THIS AWESOME TV WAS PICKED A HOT TICKET PURCHASE IN THE NOVEMBER 2001 HOME THEATER MAGAZINE! AT A RETAIL LIST PRICE OF $3,499.00 THEY GAVE THIS SET 97 OUT of 100 POINTS TOTAL IN THE VALUE CATEGORY. YOU WILL SAVE $1,500 FROM THE LIST PRICE. DO NOT DELAY THESE SETS ARE RUNNING OUT


Are they being discontinued?


Is there a third generation coming out?

 

[Gary McCoy]

The RCA and ProScan 38" direct-views and 65" RPTVs have built-in DirectTV receivers. EchoStar (parent corporation of Dish Network) has just bought out Hughes Electronics (parent corporation of DirectTV) and has stated they will migrate DirectTV subscribers to Dish receivers. This is of course a good plan for anyone with a DTC-100 or other external HD DirecTV settop box, because they get to exchange their box for the latest technology Dish receiver. However, if you wanted an integrated HDTV for the convenience of not having a seperate receiver box, you would be foolish to buy DirectTV right now - they went instantly obsolete yesterday.


If you want the set only for progressive DVD and over-the-air HD broadcasts, one of these integrated HDTVs might still be a good deal - try offering them 1/2 the MSRP. If they say no, come back in a week and offer them 1/3 the MSRP - maybe they'll have figured it out by then.


Gary

 

[[email protected]]

I saw one of these sets on sale today for 1770.00

 

[Rick Fehnel]

Hey guys! Is this true that the RCA 38" TV is not a good HDTV to get now? I am about to buy one this week. Please let me know.


thanks,

Rick

 

[b4z]

The price is $2499 at BB. I was there last night and this set looks great evrytime i see it. it looked much better than the Panasonics that were on either side of it.

Since the direct tv receiver will be obsolete can another one go into the component input?

Which would leave you without another component input, right?

 

[NightowlKY]

I wonder if these price drops are due as much to the past problems of the set as with the DirecTV announcement.


In any case, $1770 for this set is a very good price. It's a 16:9 38" tube HDTV-ready set fer cryin' out loud! Try finding a Panasonic 34" 16:9 anywhere near that price. Even if you do, it's smaller.


And, doesn't the DirecTV receiver that's built-in offer OTA HDTV reception? A big selling point to many people.

 

[Rick Fehnel]

I do not believe that the $1,770 price for the RCA 38" HDTV is for a new one. That is a price for a refurbished unit, correct?


thanks,

Rick

 

[NoelAV]

Yeah, I saw one of these for $1770.70 (salesperson said that anything ending in .70 means it's being discontinued), at one of the Price Clubs in MA where I was visiting. Does anyone know when the DirecTV takeover will commence, or rather, when it will affect us consumers? I was about to get DirecTV over Dish because of the WNBA SeasonPass, so I guess I need to find out what's going on with that.

NoelAV

 

[Gary McCoy]

Like I said in my message above, the RCA 38" direct-view and the 65" RPTVs are good sets - the built-in DirecTV is what's going obsolete, not the display.


I would not hesitate to buy such a set if I got a huge discount - as long as it's new in the box, not refurbished. The problem with refurbished tube TVs is some get returned due to geometry problems that can't be adjusted out, because they are picture tube defects. I would go for this deal if they are on closeout, but not if they are refurb's.


But it would not annoy me at all, if I saved $1000 on the purchase of the set, to have to hook an external Dish receiver to it in a year or two - most of my use would be progressive-scan DVDs, anyway.


Gary

 

[NoelAV]

Rick,

These were brand new factory fresh units, not refurbs. I asked specifically. That fact made me believe that they are indeed being phased out for whatever reason.

NoelAV

 

[Ken H]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gary McCoy EchoStar (parent corporation of Dish Network) has just bought out Hughes Electronics (parent corporation of DirectTV) and has stated they will migrate DirectTV subscribers to Dish receivers. Gary

Not quite accurate. What has been said by EchoStar/DirecTV, is that they will develop new IRD's, even cross platform IRD's, and have set aside $2 billion to offset the cost of subscriber hardware that requires replacement. This will take place over the next 4 years. This information is direct from the joint press conference this morning.


The internal DirecTV receiver in the RCA HDTV may or may not be obsoleted, and it'll take years before this is known. The e-bay auction (and others) are trying to taking advantage of the GM/Echostar deal by this type of 'sale'.


Worse case, the new company will give you a new IRD (probably free, or at very low cost) to use with the RCA HDTV, to get all of their combined programing. If you choose not to go with a new IRD, you may have to settle for the programming available to you at this time.

 

[Rick Fehnel]

Anyone seen these 38" RCA HDTVs at Price Club in southern California for $1,770?

 

[DTVisCool]

I disagree:


It will be impossible to cross platform IRD's since the signals are of different types. An IRD made for Dish will never work on DirecTV.


The internal DirecTV receiver in the RCA HDTV will be obsoleted, if the merger is approved, at the completion of the IRD swap out.


If you choose not to go with a new IRD, you will not be able to display or listen to future DBS content.

 

[Ken H]

Quote:

Originally posted by DTVisCool I disagree: It will be impossible to cross platform IRD's since the signals are of different types. An IRD made for Dish will never work on DirecTV.

You can disagree all you want, but perhaps you should listen to the analyst press conference from earlier today. It was clearly stated cross platform receivers are coming, within 6 months from close of the deal. The relevant part is between 17 and 22 minutes. A tip of the AVS hat to Alan Sh for the link.

http://www.vcall.com/NASApp/VCall/Co...=0&urlID=73382

 

[tonyb100]

so what price club had these rca sets so cheap?


thanks

--tony

 

[Ken H]

Quote:

Originally posted by DTVisCool I disagree: The internal DirecTV receiver in the RCA HDTV will be obsoleted, if the merger is approved, at the completion of the IRD swap out.

From Fox News tonight, Neil Cavuto asked Charley Ergen, who will own 18% of the new, merged company:


Which platform, DirecTV or Dish Network, will be used in the future?


Mr. Ergan said "We made our choice in 1995, now it's 2001. We will look at both platforms very closely and our engineers will pick the best one."

 

[NoelAV]

Tony,

I saw it at the BJ's Wholesale Club in Framingham, MA a few days ago. The price was $1770.70 for a brand new unit and they had a few of them in stock.

NoelAV

 

[J.Mike Ferrara]

I saw the RCA at Best Buy, and after dropping contrast/sharpness a bit, the HD picture looked very good.


But for me there is a serious limitation: lack of mutiple component inputs. I am a Dish subscriber, so how do I get the output of my Dish 6000 HD receiver as well as the output of my Sony 9000ES progressive DVD player into one input?

 

[Kipp Jones]

Ken H,

thanks for keeping the stories straight. There have been so many rumors out there, its crazy.

 

[Kipp Jones]

Quote:

Originally posted by J.Mike Ferrara I saw the RCA at Best Buy, and after dropping contrast/sharpness a bit, the HD picture looked very good. But for me there is a serious limitation: lack of mutiple component inputs. I am a Dish subscriber, so how do I get the output of my Dish 6000 HD receiver as well as the output of my Sony 9000ES progressive DVD player into one input?

Simple, use a component switcher and be done with it.