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July 28, 2005 - Podcast #18 Our email address is hdtvpodcast@mac.com Thank You for staying subscribed!
This weeks show This week we bring you our Costco Special. We reviewed three off-brand plasma and two lesser known LCD TVs that are available at Costco. These models were available in Orange County CA as of July 28th 2005. Not all Costco stores carry identical inventory so availability will vary. For our listeners who don't know what Costco is, it's a club warehouse store in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Japan. All TV's were reviewed with identical material. When possible, we adjusted the TV settings to optimize the picture. We like to think the displays looked better when we left than when we arrived. Plasmas The three Plasmas we looked at were: Akai 50 inch HDTV Plasma PDP5006H $3000 Vizio 42 inch EDTV Plasma P42HD $1500 Akai 42 inch EDTV PDP4296HD $1500 They all had similar features and inputs. None of the tested plasmas had an HDMI port, although all supported DVI. All three shipped with NTSC tuners for basic cable or standard definition over the air broadcasts. If you want to watch HDTV you'll need an external cable/satellite box. All three support picture in picture. These plasmas sport a lot of features (check out the links above) but it really doesn't change the fact that the execution of these features leaves much to be desired. With that said, here is what we think: What we liked:
What we disliked:
The bottom line is that these units are cheap, both in price and construction. There is really nothing else we see that is redeeming about these TVs. Colors did not look right. The sharpness compared to a Pioneer HDTV plasma made you think you needed glasses. All three TVs were displayed right next to a 50 inch Pioneer PureVision plasma display. It really showed you the flaws in the three we are reviewing. The Pioneer's blacks were actually black, the picture looked sharp, and the color was accurate. The Pioneer is available for $4700 after rebate, which is a pretty good price. If you're in the market for a Plasma, we don't recommend buying any of the three we reviewed. Instead we recommend shopping on line and finding a good deal on a first tier unit. Any of the three we reviewed in our shoot out a month ago are far better than these three. But if you have to know which of these three we disliked least, it goes to the 42 in Akai. LCDs The LCDs were much better in quality for both picture and construction. We looked at the following: Maxent 26 inch HD-Ready LCD MX-26X3 $799 Proview 32 inch HD LCD RX-326 $999 What we liked:
What we disliked:
Both units looked good with decent color and sharpness. These units should not be compared with a Sharp or Philips. However for the $500 difference in price between the Maxent and a Sharp, you won't be dissatisfied. The Maxent has a 12 ms response time, the Proview is stated as < 16 ms. Both should be OK for gaming. Although we did not test games it is generally accepted that an LCD with a response time of < 16 ms should be acceptable for gaming. The fit and finish of these LCDs were better than the plasmas and on par with name brand LCDs. The Proview LCD did very well with black levels. Both units come with NTSC tuners so if you want to watch HDTV you will need an external tuner. Both units have the basic inputs including DVI/HDMI. All in all, we'd give the LCDs two thumbs up. Costco also sells a Sceptre 37" 16:9 HDTV LCD television that has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 with a refresh rate of 8ms and HDMI. The thing looks great on paper and costs $1700. We will try to get a hold of one. In the mean time if anyone out there has one please drop us a line and let us know what you think. Send your email to hdtvpodcast@mac.com
Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) We really cannot recommend any home theater systems available at Costco. The systems they had on display were not anywhere near the quality you would want next to your HDTV. Remember HDTV is also about the audio. Maybe you think we are audio snobs, we are far from it. We receive emails everyday from people that have dedicated rooms for their equipment. A good audio setup will cost about $2500. We know this is expensive so we recommend a compromise. Buy a good HTIB system from a good electronics company. They will skimp on the speakers but you can replace the speakers in a year or so. Good speakers will turn a decent sounding system into a great sounding system. Here are some recommendations for HTIB systems and when you are ready we also recommend some good replacement speakers. Yamaha's DTX-5000 Home Theater in a Box system MSRP $1249.95. Six piece surround sound speaker package and a powered subwoofer 6.1 channel A/V Home Theater receiver with built in Dolby Digital and a DVD player Harman Kardon CP 15 6.1-Channel Home Theater System MSRP $999. The system consists of AVR 135, DVD 22 and HKTS 8. When you are ready for speakers we recommend: Klipsch Reference 10 for a 6.1 system you will need 1 RC-10 ($200), 2 RB-10 ($250 each), 3 RS-10 ($200), and 1 RW-10 ($500). For a total cost of $1800. |
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