This week we reviewed three tube based HDTVs and continue our first look at 1080p TVs. Today we look at the Samsung 1080p DLP (HL-R5688W).

 

Philips 30" Widescreen Flat-Tube HDTV (30PW9100D) $799.99
Sony FD Trinitron WEGA 30" Widescreen HDTV Tube (KV-30HS420) $999.99
Toshiba 30" Widescreen HD-Ready Flat-Tube TV (30HF85) $799.99
 

 

Features:

• Built-In HDTV Tuner
• HDMI
• 16:9 widescreen tube
• 1080i native resolution
  

What we liked:

• Good Color
• Black blacks
• HDMI interface

 

What we disliked:

• Size of cabinet
• Weight (122 lbs 55Kgs)
• Speakers

Sony FD Trinitron WEGA 30" Widescreen HDTV Tube

Features:

• Widescreen 16:9 Aspect Ratio
• Direct Digital II Circuitry DRC MultiFunction circuitry
• HDMI/HDCP Interface 

What we liked:

• Very sharp picture (sharpest of the three)
• Great color
• Black blacks
• Good SD picture

What we disliked:

• Speakers
• Size of cabinet
• Weight 154 lbs. (69.8kg)
• No HDTV tuner

Toshiba 30" Widescreen HD-Ready Flat-Tube TV (30HF85) $799.99

 

Features:

• HDMI/HDCP Interface
• 16:9 widescreen
• FST PURE flat-tube design

What we liked:

• Price
• Good picture
• Sharpness
• Best cabinet size (lightest too, but still heavy) 115 lbs, 52.3 kgs
• Very good up conversion of 480i and 480p material to 1080i

What we disliked:

• No HDTV tuner

 

All in all these are good HDTVs and they can be had at a good price. No one can say that SONY does not build good tube TVs but is it worth the extra $200? We don't think so. The Toshiba is a very close second in picture quality and unless you have the SONY side by side with it no one will ever know the difference. The only knock against the Toshiba is that it does not have a built in HDTV tuner, neither does the SONY for that matter. But most people use a cable or satellite box for their HD programming anyway so this is not a big issue. The Philips TV was pretty decent but in this shoot out it comes in third, which is a disappointment because they make great LCDs and Plasmas.

 

We give the final nod to the Toshiba. It's picture is almost as good as the SONY and its $200 cheaper. We like the cabinet size and speaker layout of the TV as well.

 

Before buying the TV try to bargain with the retailer. One listener wrote us to say that he got the retailer to reduce the price of the 34 inch version of the SONY by $300 and he got them to haul the TV up three floors for free. The 34 inch SONY weighs in at a whopping 195 lbs (88 kgs).

One last thought on this subject though. If a TV that weighs 150 lbs is too much of an issue for your furniture but you really like the price, we suggest you look at the Proview 32 inch LCD.  We took a cursory look at this set in our Costco round up a couple of  weeks ago. It retails for $999 and comes with a bigger screen than any of the tubes we reviewed here and it is smaller and lighter, which makes it easier to place in your home. We will provide a full detailed review of the Proview LCD (RX-326) in the next few weeks.

 

To purchase any of these TVs from BestBuy.com, click here:

Philips  30PW9100D 

Another 1080p TVs has hit the market, this time it's a Samsung DLP.  We were expecting to find a Mitsubishi, but as of August 9, 2005, it still hadn't arrived at our local favorite hang out. Just like last week and the Sharp LCD, these is not a full reviews, it's just our observations and opinions. We do try to adjust the TVs to get the best picture we can. For this look we watched the standard 1080i HDTV loop that was running at Good Guys.

Features:

·     Samsung's Cinema Smooth 1080p light engine

·     Next Generation DLP chip

·     CableCARD ready

·     Up to 10,000:1 contrast ratio

After watching the TV for quite some time, we left scratching our heads and asking "why?"  Understand that this is an awesome picture, HDTV looked great, but really not that much, if at all, better than the 7th generation (720p) Samsung DLPs.   Good Guys has the 1080p TV marked at $5000, and the 720p version (model HL-R5677W) is priced $1500 less, at $3500. 

 

When we looked at the manufacturer's advertised specs, the difference in contrast ratio was staggering, 10,000:1 vs. 2,000:1.  Honestly, we didn't see that much difference, but the material we viewed tended to be very bright.  Right now you can only get 1080p content from an HTPC using Windows Media Player, so we have no way to tell how much better the 1080p set will perform with 1080p content.  Also, gamers may like the 1080p set for it's 60 fps of full 1080 resolution, but not being serious gamers ourselves, we can't comment on that either.

 

Overall, our opinion is the same as it was after the Sharp review last week.  If you really want a 1080p TV, wait for the prices to drop.  If you need an HDTV now, save some money and get a 720p TV, you won't be disappointed.