Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

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The Samsung is bigger and in my experience their products are better than Sony's and cheaper since when you buy a Sony you're really paying a surplus for the brand name.

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I agree that there's generally a Sony premium in the price, but from what I've seen, the LCoS (SXRD) technology is just plain better than DLP. It makes for better colors, no rainbows, and better blacks. If resolution was everything, I'd take the Samsung, but it's not. I think the Sony is the better set.

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

I bought my TV a few months ago and those were the 2 TV's that made my short list as well. I ended up going with the Samsung because the price difference was much larger at that time and I had previous experience with a DLP set and was happy with the technology.

I also got spooked after reading about "green blob" issues on Sony SXRD sets on AVS Forums. I'm still not sure how real of an issue it is with the technology, but I had just gone through 2 months without a TV in my living room while trying to resolve some problems with my previous set, and the idea of getting another problematic display got to me.

I've lived with it for a few months and I still love my Samsung and have no regrets about choosing it over the Sony. I have 3 friends who range from technophobe (doesn't even have an HD source fed to it) to technogeek (bought one for the living room to watch when he doesn't feel like going downstairs to the SXRD front-projector media room) and they all love their Sonys. And they haven't noticed any "green blob" issues with their TV's.

Both also get excellent reviews from people who seem to know a lot more about this stuff than I do. As long as you don't see rainbows on DLP displays I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

yeah, that's the kicker. I respect Astro's views on the Sony, to be sure, but at the same time, everyone is raving over the Samsung as well.

Obviously, the only thing to do is go see both of them at the same time and see which one I like, but it's frustrating. I posted here and within two posts get two opposing points of view.

[censored], used to be a tv was a tv. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for the comments folks.

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

I have that Sony (only the 50" though) and love it. From the reading I've done it is probably a slightly better TV. Unless you can see the DLP rainbows you will probably love either one... in fact you probably would anyway.

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

Sony KDFE42A10, 42" rear projection LCD

Sony NS-70 DVD Player

Onkyo 304s receiver -- in retrospect, probably should have purchased a higher model, but I jumped on this at $99

Pair of Athena B1.2 bookshelves

BIC H-100 sub

Don't really have the room for a full 5.1 right now, so I figured I'd build it up over time. Quite happy so far with the 2.1 setup.

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

[ QUOTE ]
yeah, that's the kicker. I respect Astro's views on the Sony, to be sure, but at the same time, everyone is raving over the Samsung as well.

Obviously, the only thing to do is go see both of them at the same time and see which one I like, but it's frustrating. I posted here and within two posts get two opposing points of view.

[censored], used to be a tv was a tv. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for the comments folks.

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Did you check out www.avsforum.com ? It's the most thorough discussion of electronics I've ever seen. Hope it helps.

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

Buk,

Yeah, I'm wandering around AVSForum. Gawd their layout is crap.

[img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

FWIW, I have the 60" Sony and its great. I compared the two side by side over Christmas (Circuit City had them set up that way - I know that CC's setup isnt perfect, but it gives a good comparison), and I liked the picture better on the Sony. I also did a fair amount of research at AVS, CNet and Home Theater Mag, which lead me to getting the Sony. I also was able to get it before Christmas from CC and get 2 years, no payments from Sony, which actually made it cost less than the Samsung.

FWIW, I just helped a friend setup the Samsung, and while it was nice too, I just like the menus and operation better of the Sony. The one nice thing about the Samsung's menu is when you make picture changes it splits the screen and shows a before and after picture, so you can really see what your changes do. That's about the only feature I wish the Sony had. Also I like the Samsung's shell (black) better than the Sony (silver), but it wasnt a deal breaker for me. One drawback to the Samsung that I noticed (and I could be mistaken because I didnt look super close) was that it didnt appear that the Samsung had front A/V inputs. My Sony has front component inputs which is nice for when I pull out the old PS2. It wont matter if you use HDMI to connect your game systems since both sets have the HDMI inputs in back, but having front access is nice.

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

The problem with AVSForum is that it is so busy, it makes OOT seem like Other Poker. Their Samsung DLP thread has something like 15,000 replies! And people get very defensive of whatever technology they choose. The DLP people hate the LCOS people. The Blu-Ray people and the HD-DVD people don't get along. It's really weird.

You can find good information there, but it takes diligent use of the search function.

BTW, I got the exact Samsung DLP that you chose. It gets rave reviews and you can't go wrong with it (unless you see rainbows, I don't).

The Sony is a good set also. You could just flip a coin. Or you could realize that the $200 difference can nearly buy a stand for the TV (which is necessary).

Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today
 

So I just hooked up my new Panasonic 42" and it looks amazing. Thanks to everyone who recommended it, since it seems to be all the rage on 2+2 and everywhere else. I looked at a ton of TVs and spent a couple weeks reading up, and although I considered astro's advice of saving up for a 50"+, I figured that I was too impatient to wait and too poor to splurge for something like that now.

The Vizio was just a bit more washed out and I didn't want to sacrifice quality to save a couple hundred bucks. The LG and Samsungs looked almost as good as the Panasonic, but I went with the consensus choice. Anyway, it looks incredible and will look even better once I get my HD satellite receiver to watch broadcast in hi def.