Sonny, Nice pickup. Samsung has been puting out great sets the last few years. Now that you have an HD set you may want to check if your dvd player can output progressive scan. You will get a better picture with progressive that you likely didnt get with your old tv. Also make sure that you hook it up with component cables (the three colored ones).
I'm buying a house sometime this year and one thing I'll definitely be looking for is a big screen tv. I've been ok with my 27" non-flat-screen old tech 1998 ProScan so far. I have a fairly large living room for an apartment, but man, putting one of those behemoths in my apartment just seemed odd. Anyway, happy viewing. My research into a new tv will start in a few days/weeks.
They are kind of pricy right now but you may look into the smaller models (42-50") of the Samsung DLP and Sony LCD rear projection (grand wega). They are much more compact than the standard crt rear projection and have a picture quality that is very close to that of gas plasmas.
I haven't done much research into this yet and am fairly ignorant about home entertainment stuff, but what advantage do these big tv's have over the 40 or 50 inch flat panel tvs that weigh about 100-150 lbs? Are they just cheaper? Anything else? I would much rather have the flat panel tv's since they seem to take up less space and are wall-mountable. But of course they seem to cost about 2-5 times as much.
Display model...I would ask how long that has been on display as display models sometimes have burn-ins and the tubes worn out faster due to the brightness and contrast cranked up for customer viewing. You generally don't get a better picture with the plasma or LCD screens as they don't show a true black, instead showing a dark gray.
DLP and LCD rear projection is a newer technology for rear projection tv's. They are much more compact than the huge crt rear projection sets that weigh 250lbs+ Sony's 50" and Samsung's 50" are both about 85lbs and only 18" deep. The sony is around $3100 and the Samsung $3400. Compair this with a good 50" plasma which is about $8500. They also dont have a limited life span like plasma. The sony has a bulb you have to replace every few years but noting else about it has a limited life. And as i said the picture is really close and better than traditional crt rear projection. I did a lot of rearch for my dad when he was looking around and we both came to the conclusion that if you dont need to hang it on the wall the DLP or LCD rptv was the way to go. Here the links to both models at circiut city. They may be cheaper elsewhere: Sony Grand Wega Samsung DLP
One place I really like to go to to see reviews is www.audioreview.com They also have reviews for video at this site including big screens.
I did get the insurance. The set was in great shape. Thanks guys. btw - those dang component cables are expensive!
My bosses are starting to sell me on the 61" Samsung DLP TV. I'm going to go take a look at it at lunch today. Anyone have one and could tell me if regular cable looks good on it (I live in one of those apartment complexes that makes exclusive contracts with small cable companies, and of course TVMAX does not offer HDTV and their digital cable service IS NOT DIGITAL... I found this out the hard way, after ordering the service and being forced to use coax cables for audio and video... digital my ass!) Yes, I'm bitter.
Drapg, Do you live inside the 610 loop? If so, I know a place where you can see one hooked up to the TVMax cable. These are great TV's from what I've seen/heard.
