Deckard, I have a Hitachi 42" plasma that was the generation before the one you're looking (42HDT51). At the time, it was probably the best looking plasma you could buy and got good reviews on AVSForum. I have Comcast cable and the SD stuff looks a bit grainy, but the digital and HD stuff is great. Read reviews on AVSForum - it's probably the best source of info on the tv and usually by people that have at least viewed if not bought the set.
i paid 400 when that thing came out....i proly cant get much if i sell it so i just buy laser disc movies online for like $2 wherever i can find them...
im waitin for the WD-62927 62" DLP Projection TV to go down i bought the 70 inch sony xsrd......thats the best tv out!
Thanks for the input. Those are still on the market, and I was looking at them, when I figured out that there was now a 42HDTV52. Not real sure what the difference is, but I'm a bit confused as to whether either one of them inputs a PC, which is a must. (I think they do!) I thought the power swivel was a gimmick, until I saw one being used, and imagined sitting in different places in my living room, and what an advantage that would be. It's really a cool feature. I'll check out that site... thanks again.
The power swivel is the only thing that stopped me from mounting it on the wall... lol. It's kinda geeky cool. The reflectivity of the screen also played a role in me not mounting it on the wall. I have a window behind me that caused glare on the screen... I just power-swiveled it a bit to the right and.... perfect.
No kidding? I figured that was removable! I have so many windows in my living room, that what you did looks to be a real asset.
no no... the swivel is removable... I meant I needed the swivel, so of course I didn't mount it on a wall.
Just because Blu-Ray is the superior format from a technical standpoint doesn't mean people aren't gonna go with HD-DVD. Trust me, my family had a Betamax player way back in the day and learned that lesson the hard way. First of all, HD-DVD is available right now. Blu-Ray has been delayed repeatedly and is reportedly due out next month or June at the earliest. Secondly, the Toshiba HD-DVD player is only 500 bucks. Blu-Ray players are gonna cost twice that amount. And before anyone mentions the PS3, it's not due out til the fall(for now) and we still have no idea how effective a player it'll be. So thanks at least in part to Sony's ineptitude, we basically have a full scale format war on our hands.
Why Sony's ineptitude? If anything, I'd blame the HD DVD companies for the format war since like 90% of the industry is supporting Blu-ray. Even if you wanted to pin the format war on the Blu-ray side, I think Panasonic was the most vocal about not giving in to a unified format a while back (back when the two were in serious talks to create a unified format).
They're inept cuz this "war" should've been over before it even started. Every major studio save for Universal has committed to Blu-Ray, even Warner. Their technology is superior. Yet they've done such a poor job getting their players to the marketplace in a timely and affordable manner that it's left the door wide open for HD-DVD to establish itself as a formidable opponent. The only significant edge Sony has at this point is the PS3. I wouldn't be surprised if they find a way to mess that one up too though.
As a previous betamax owner, there is no way Sony should have lost that war but they did. I'd wait for the smoke to clear before I dropped semi-serious money on a new player.
Actually, Toshiba (and the HD DVD camp) are the ones that have done a poor job of getting their players to the marketplace. IIRC, the original plans were to have HD DVD available sometime in late 2004/early 2005 I believe. Hehe...and technically, BR technology has been on the marketplace in Japan since like 2002-2003. IIRC, I think the roll out of BR as we know it has always been scheduled for an early-to-mid 2006 launch (may have been some talk of a late 2005 launch, can't remember). It is just kind of a coincidence that the two formats are launching at around the same time. Going by original plans, HD DVD has typically had a time advantage, a cost advantage, and a movie studio advantage. Just about all of them are gone now, or at least not quite as much of an advantage as it was once thought to be (~2 months as opposed to ~2 years; $20 movies to $21 movies; don't even need to mention studio support). Thanks to the AACS licensing taking so long, both sides have had to wait a little longer into this year in order to launch their products. And as I mentioned earlier, several of the BR players will be using the Broadcom chip to decode 1080p streams, and that won't be available until the summer anyway, when a few of the BR players are scheduled to launch. Contrary to what I said in an earlier thread, it seems like most of the players are now supporting 1080p (Samsung and some other companies have recently upgraded the specs of their players), so they kind of had to wait until the summer to launch these products. The Samsung BR burner (about $500) might be out before then though I suppose; I think TDK announced recently that they're ready to ship discs, so I guess that might be ready soon. As for price, I still don't see what the big deal is about the BR prices. We've only seen the suggested prices for a few players, all apart of the elite/high end lines from various CE companies; plus, I'm not even sure a price is set in some cases. For example, I think the Sony BR player had a price of around $1200 at CES, but a Sony PR guy made it sound like it would be more like around $1000 in a semi-recent interview. I wouldn't doubt it if the BR players cost about the same as the HD DVD players cost to make, but the HD DVD camp is forced to cut down on potential profits just to stay alive. The BR camp is just overcharging for their products, similar to the launch of any other format (like DVD). If this thread is any indication, it seems like more people are worried about a possible format war than the price of the machine anyway. BTW, one pet peeve of mind is associating the decisions with Blu-ray directly to Sony and only Sony. It is true that they have a lot of power in the BDA, but companies like Panasonic (probably close to equal to Sony), Samsung, Dell, the other movie studios, etc., have plenty of power too. For example, just because there is no BR player available now doesn't mean that Sony is to blame; that should go to the BDA (which would include Sony). If the BDA thought it was important, Samsung or some other CE company could have put out some crippled players to go alongside the HD DVD players. Warner and a few other studios could have probably put out movies on both formats (HD DVD and Blu-ray). That's basically what is happening on the HD DVD side I think (Toshiba is putting out a player or 2 now, the other HD DVD CE companies will put out players later in the year). Apparently, none of the members of the BDA thought it was that important to put out a player this early or else one of the companies would have done so. If Sony is inept for not putting out an affordable BR player in a timely matter, then you might as well say the same for the rest of the BDA (Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic, Pioneer, Dell, NEC, etc.). 90% of the industry is inept.
here you go deckard, this would be a good one: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060419...Fj.uutk24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
I figured I'd resurrect this old thread in case anyone was still on the fence about getting an HD-DVD player. If you're a OnePass member, the Toshiba HD-A1 can be had for $363.86 shipped + 100 Continental frequent flyer miles I found this info on another message board: "For those who have Continental Airlines miles: Got to www.continental.com Log on to your OnePass account. Select the Frequent Flyer tab. Select Use Miles->non-travel rewards Click on Miles for Merchandise After you create your Miles for Merchandise account go to electronics --> dvd players." I think there's sales tax for certain states including TX, but it's still a huge discount from the $499.99+tax price it's going for in most B&M's and e-tailers. With the initial Blu-Ray launch pretty much an unmitigated disaster and studio support for HD-DVD picking up lately, a price like this is certainly tempting.
I bought a Toshiba 37 LCD 5 months ago for about 1800 and am very happy with it. Not sure if they make a 42 though.
I ended up with a Westinghouse 42" 1080p LCD, Sam, that was between $1800 and $1900 on sale at Best Buy. They threw in an off-brand DVD recorder that actually works very well. Plus, I got a hundred dollar gift certificate. I think they screwed up, but I'm not complaining. I'm very, very happy with the display, but if anyone is thinking of getting one as well, they need to be sure and get the latest firmware. I have an up-converting HDMI DVD player, showing all my DVDs at 540p, which is awesome. My Superbit version of The 5th Element is amazing! I had big reflective issues, and 10 and 15 year old kids, who would have had the thing on all the time, and forget to turn it off, so I was glad to find a good, cheap, non-reflecting HD display, with no burn-in worries. I had looked at the Hitachi's, as I mentioned earlier with DoD, but the Westinghouse was just much better for what I needed. Got the extended warranty for about $300 bucks. The display has only one HDMI input, so I'll end up buying a switching box at some point, I guess. Now I just wish it was hanging on the wall in front of our bed, instead of in the living room. That'll come later.
I haven't been paying as much attention to this as I would like. By studio support picking up for HD-DVD, did you mean that studios are announcing support for it which they didn't do before (like say Fox or Lions Gate), or that the studios that do support it are putting out more movies? I'm guessing the later, but maybe I missed some BR-exclusive studio(s) announcing support for HD-DVD. You are right about the BR launch being a disaster (although both were to a degree). The BR group certainly aren't doing anything to make it seem like it is superior to HD-DVD...in fact, it would probably be an accomplishment to be on par at this point (although the only player on the market would still be $500 more just for an equal experience). They'll probably be OK in the end of the year once the PS3 and a few other BR devices launch, 50GB discs hit the market, and other studios put out movies (preferably with MPEG4-type tech like VC-1 or AVC unless they use 50GB discs). One great thing that I've seen from both camps is that it seems like movies aren't too expensive. I've seen a ton of movies priced around $20 or less at Amazon.com and a few other places. I remember when people were expecting $40-$50 HD movies.
