We have an aging (8 year-old) Panasonic 42" RPTV that is no longer acceptable in terms of picture quality (as you can imagine!). It was quite something to behold in its haydays, but now it's time to buy another TV as replacement. This time, we are going back to tube for reliability and picture quality. Of course as with all things, we do have a budget for this TV. I've been told the budget is roughly $2K for this new set. The aspect ratio of this new set hasn't been decided yet, but for 16:9 widescreen, I was thinking of either the Panasonic 34" tau or the Toshiba 34". I am also aware that Sony also has a 34" widescreen tube, so does RCA with a 38 incher, and the exotic Loewe Aconda (way out of budget
). I am sort of leaning away from the RCA set as I've read about reliability concerns with that brand. Besides Panasonic, Sony, and Toshiba, who else makes a decent sized widescreen tube within that price range? As for 4:3 aspect ratio, I was thinking of the 36" Sony XBR800 set. Are these choices pretty good? Am I missing anything else? Your helpful inputs would greatly be appreciated.
Also, we just got a Panasonic 42" plasma about a month ago for another room. I haven't seen any of the afforementioned direct-view sets in action yet, but this plasma PQ blows the RPTV out of the water. How realistic is it to expect those listed models to match the picture quality of the plasma?
Also, we just got a Panasonic 42" plasma about a month ago for another room. I haven't seen any of the afforementioned direct-view sets in action yet, but this plasma PQ blows the RPTV out of the water. How realistic is it to expect those listed models to match the picture quality of the plasma?