Who makes a good reliable DLP big screen television?

[jwilliams3]

I ask this because I am now in the market for a new DLP television.



A while back my Samsung 46" DLP unit that is a little over 2 years old starting acting up. I diagnosed the problem being the "color wheel" from info I gathered on various websites and replaced the part.

Now the initial problem is gone but the ignition system to start the lamp is dead from everything I have gathered.



By the way please whatever you do, DO NOT BUY A SAMSUNG BIG SCREEN!!!



They are plagued with problems and I dont mean having to buy a new bulb after a couple years. There are numerous picture quality issues, noises, processor, lamp issues etc.



It seems that alot of people are in my boat and po'ed about these TV's failing prematurely.

 

[p-Bar]

I was seriously considering a DLP and came to the conclusion that they have a verticle issue and they aren't fast enough. But if you want to buy another one I would do the Mitsubishi. My friend is an engineer and spent plenty of time doing home work on these . It is a great picture

 

[jwilliams3]

Well I do have an update:

Ole' dumb arse here forgot to plug in one of the harness connection that I had neatly tucked away during the dismantling of the TV for the color wheel replacement.



The TV is working well (I think) for now... .



This repair cost me about $110 taking it to a shop would have been in the $400-600 area.

 

[mberry]

Glad you got it fixed. We have a Toshiba HD projection tv. So far it's worked great and does have a great picture. We are planning on getting a new 65" Mitsubishi flat panel sometime this year. Mitsu's are good TV's.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Justin:



I'm glad you got it fixed for cheap. I'll be in the market either for a DLP set, DLP projector or a plasma/LCD set in the next year or two.



The thought of having a $300+ metal halide lamp with only a ~3000hr rating scares me a bit... amongst the other things that can go wrong in those sets.



My current 27" TV that my ex-gf bought used during grad school has over 14000hrs on it according to the menu-driven warranty clock.

14000hrs / 3000hrs (per lamp) = 4. 6 lamps

4. 6 lamps @ $300 (without labor) = $1380 ouch!



I prefer the DLP technology over LCD projection any day of the week, but I'm still gun shy of those darn bulbs. With plasma/LCD (direct view), if something goes out with the screen, you're in the raging river without oars and little hope of fixing it short of complete replacement.



In the end, I just hope to get something that'll accept and display 1080p native without having to refinance the house and call it a day.



Later,



Matt

 

[jwilliams3]

Justin:



I'm glad you got it fixed for cheap. I'll be in the market either for a DLP set, DLP projector or a plasma/LCD set in the next year or two.



The thought of having a $300+ metal halide lamp with only a ~3000hr rating scares me a bit... amongst the other things that can go wrong in those sets.



My current 27" TV that my ex-gf bought used during grad school has over 14000hrs on it according to the menu-driven warranty clock.

14000hrs / 3000hrs (per lamp) = 4. 6 lamps

4. 6 lamps @ $300 (without labor) = $1380 ouch!



I prefer the DLP technology over LCD projection any day of the week, but I'm still gun shy of those darn bulbs. With plasma/LCD (direct view), if something goes out with the screen, you're in the raging river without oars and little hope of fixing it short of complete replacement.



In the end, I just hope to get something that'll accept and display 1080p native without having to refinance the house and call it a day.



Later,



Matt

Matt,

Thanks. Yeah its a relief to have it fixed now.

The bulbs can be had for around $150 or so if its a samsung. I also prefer DLP over the LCD units (I went out and looked at some this past weekend).

1080 is great, that will be what the next one is.

 

[Morphious]

If your looking at DLP, take a look at LCOS as well. For action flicks, I found it had a better picture than DLP. I bought a 50" Sony SXRD this past summer and have been really happy with it. It doesn't do 1080p, but then again I don't have anything that supports it either and won't be buying blue ray or HD DVD until the format war is over. There can be only one format, one format to rule them all..... I did shop for a new TV for about 6 months and finally decided on this Sony after comparing plasma, lcd, lcos and dlp sets for features/price.





Morph.

 

[rubberneck]

I have a 62 mitsubishi DLP and a 52 mitsubishi DLP. Both are about 3 years old now and I dont have any idea how many hours are on each. The 62 is in my family room and is on several hours every single day, still on original bulb (KNOCK on WOOD) The 52 is in my master bedroom, and only sees a couple of hours a month probably, so original bulb may last the life of that one. LOL So far I have been very pleased with them. I am looking to do a projector for my theater room, going to stare at the DLP's on those also. Dont know much about projectors or screens, so I am going to start doing some research.

 

[nickleinonen]

i haven't looked much at the dlp's since they first came out, and hopefully they have gotten much better. . the rainbow effect of the early ones [projectors] drove me nuts. .

i personally have an older sony 61" 480p/1080i crt, and my next tv will be an lcd or plasma that can accept a native 1080p signal so i can run my pc on it too. . hopefully SED will be out when the time comes for my new one. .

 

[Alphacowboy]

ya'll might want to look into the JVC models with the HD-ILA processors. I just setup a 61" model last week for a customer, and it was sweet! I liked it so much that I just bought the 70" model today for myself. Had a optoma 65" DLP that has not been right since the day I got it. (had a high pitched whistle) and the seller agreed to buy it back from me for what I paid for it 6 months ago. So, going to give the JVC a run. Also read that the ILA engine is based off the LCOS system and does away with the Rainbow effect of the early DLP systems. I never saw the rainbow on my DLP, but my wife did a couple times, and a friend of ours couldnt even watch a DLP system without seeing rainbows constantly.



TigerDirect.com actually has the 70" model for 2200 bucks! Its a refurbished model, but still has a 18 month warranty anyway! Hopefully mine will be here in a week so I can get this whistling nightmare out of my house. Has a great picture, but if you are not watching something with stereo up, you can hear it. Its not really that bad, but I know its there so it bugs me.

 

[Sled Puller]

Any up dates? Looking for a42" Vizio attracted me by the price..... just not sure.

Sony?

 

[Ken55]

lots of places on the net to compare tv's. cnet.com is one. consumer reports did a comparo in their dec or jan issue. your library should have a copy.

got my ma a new sony kdl26m4000 in dec at best buy. it was on sale for $400. xx, the next day it went up tp $500. + it doesn't support 1080p but it's a good picture. we've got a 3 year old sony 40" lcd and haven't had one prob with it so far.
ken

 

[WDixon27]

i went shopping a couple months ago and found a online place where i got my 65" mitsu... (ain't gonna spell it correct no way no how) with a 5 year extended warranty delivered for 200 less then the shelf price at best buy for the same model of which tax is then added without the warranty. OneCall.com - HDTV, Home Theater, Camera

 

[AHarris]

Any up dates? Looking for a42" Vizio attracted me by the price..... just not sure.

Sony?

Check out the Sony Bravia KD-S4100 40" set. You can get one for around $1K ($900 at Wal Mart) and they have an awesome picture, full 1080p, and an excellent contrast ratio/picture. Next to the Sony, the Vizios, Toshibas, etc looked washed out. The only other LCD TVs that compared with the Sony for nice deep clear picture were the Samsungs.

 

[fest3er]

... (ain't gonna spell it correct no way no how) ... [/url]

M'itchibushi? My wife has one of those... .



(Old joke)

 

[Sled Puller]

The Sonys are nice, defiantly.

Checked out cnet, lots of opinions, no doubt.