I HATE PEOPLE!

[Gisser]

Are you an idiot? So unless you wanna pony up the money to pay his fines, or volunteer to take his place in a Federal Pound Me In The Ass Prison, STFU and sit down.

Ah, my good friend Niceguy...just the man.... 

Cuz, I'm about ready to pull the trigger on the Toshiba 52HM95 DLP ($1999 @ Sears).  http://www10.shopping.com/xPC-Toshiba_52HM95

I am worried about the reliability of this technology.  Toshiba lamps in particular have a reputation of bursting like popcorn (at $250 a pop!) although the company claims a bad batch and offers replacement bulbs for models up to a specified serial number.

Still...if the price of bulbs (rated for 8000hrs or 2-to-3yrs of normal usage...supposedly) doesn't come down and/or longevity go up, then the true cost of ownership over a period of time cannot be overlooked.  And who knows for how long those color wheels can keep spinning @ 10,000 RPM's?  Or for how long those wobulating chips can keep switching microscopic mirrors on/off every fraction of every second before the hinges snap?

My safe option is the Panasonic 42" Plasma EDTV (TH-42PD50U) ($1795).  http://www10.shopping.com/xFS?KW=Panasonic+42%22+Plasma+EDTV+%28TH-42PD50U%29&FN=Projection+Televisions&FD=3

Great picture, just not the screen size I had in mind...

...any thoughts would be appreciated...

[Gisser]

But, I'm not gonna risk getting the company involved in a million-dollar lawsuit just because I wanted to get a $20 sale for myself.

Does the OP hear the police sirens yet?    Get real...they're not coming to get you.  That babble printed underneath the copyright is merely the publisher's declaration.  Actual law is far more conditional, complicated, and selectively enforced.  That's why there's an entire branch of law that specializes in that field.  Can you honestly say you know the law well enough to lay it down without any company guidelines?  Don't you think if there was a credible threat of a lawsuit that your company would have explicit rules to follow to protect themselves from these multi-million dollar lawsuits (which would as common as traffic fines under your scenario)?  And what is the difference between the customer using a coin-op copy machine or your dept with a clerk?

But that's all beside the point.  You argued with a customer and you took it personally.    It's just a job...service with a smile....life goes on...   

[Old Mr. Wilson]

+1 ??

Post Whoring at it's finest

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Are you an idiot? So unless you wanna pony up the money to pay his fines, or volunteer to take his place in a Federal Pound Me In The Ass Prison, STFU and sit down.

Ah, my good friend Niceguy...just the man.... 

Cuz, I'm about ready to pull the trigger on the Toshiba 52HM95 DLP ($1999 @ Sears).  http://www10.shopping.com/xPC-Toshiba_52HM95

I am worried about the reliability of this technology.  Toshiba lamps in particular have a reputation of bursting like popcorn (at $250 a pop!) although the company claims a bad batch and offers replacement bulbs for models up to a specified serial number.

Still...if the price of bulbs (rated for 8000hrs or 2-to-3yrs of normal usage...supposedly) doesn't come down and/or longevity go up, then the true cost of ownership over a period of time cannot be overlooked.  And who knows for how long those color wheels can keep spinning @ 10,000 RPM's?  Or for how long those wobulating chips can keep switching microscopic mirrors on/off every fraction of every second before the hinges snap?

My safe option is the Panasonic 42" Plasma EDTV (TH-42PD50U) ($1795).  http://www10.shopping.com/xFS?KW=Panasonic+42%22+Plasma+EDTV+%28TH-42PD50U%29&FN=Projection+Televisions&FD=3

Great picture, just not the screen size I had in mind...

...any thoughts would be appreciated...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... sorry... but thinking a Plasma is safer than a DLP?  Plasma TVs, in my experience, are fantastic. However, repair costs for plasma TVs are NOT. In a plasma TV, if a single wire snaps in the screen, or if a phosphor burns in, there is NO repairing it. If there is any sort of problem with the screen, burn in, dead pixels, weird pixels, you can't repair it. About the only serviceable piece on a plasma TV is the power supply, the TV tuner, or the fans. Any other issues, that TV's gonna need to be replaced.

DLPs, on the other hand, are easy (and WAAAAAAAY cheaper) to service, and almost any single part in a DLP can be replaced easily. Anything from a lamp all the way up to the DLP chip can be replaced. As for Toshiba bulbs going out, yeah, it happens, but it will happen with any brand. The bulbs are freakin expensive, you're right, that's why I recommend a service plan.. BUT, check the service plan before you buy. Some are worth it, others are just plain rip offs. Make sure to ask questions regarding in-home service, consumables (i.e., bulbs), deductibles, trip charges, etc. The other big contributing factor to blown bulbs is power outage. I highly recommend you get a UPC for your TV/cable box/dvd player/vcr/whatever. The bulbs in a DLP get extraordinarily hot. If the power goes out, the cooling fans no longer blow on the bulb, and it will shorten the life of the bulb considerably, if not cause it to blow altogether.


And An... I'M NOT ALPHAFIRE X5!!!!!!!!!!!!!! C'MON!!!!! 

[ajgs500]

Huh??? I am sooo lost..... damn daylight savings screwing everything up


Oh yeah I HATE PEOPLE TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[annguyen1981]

And An... I'M NOT ALPHAFIRE X5!!!!!!!!!!!!!! C'MON!!!!! 

ARRRGHHH!!  You and your damn avatar!

Do you not have a real life of your own, so you have to steal someone elses?  Hoping to have their quality of sex life too?      j/k  (a little boost for the real AF)

[Alphamazing]

Do you not have a real life of your own, so you have to steal someone elses?  Hoping to have their quality of sex life too?      j/k  (a little boost for the real AF)

Alright, this oughta farm this thread real fast.

My girlfriend surprised me by coming into town on Friday.

I am so tired right now. She's cleaning off in the shower at the moment. Interpret what you will out of all THAT

[ajgs500]

Score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Phaedrus]

She's cleaning off in the shower at the moment. Interpret what you will out of all THAT

Cool, you guys went mud bogging   

[Alphamazing]

Score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. Yes indeed.

She's cleaning off in the shower at the moment. Interpret what you will out of all THAT

Cool, you guys went mud bogging   

Come on, we live in Austin. City + no rain = weird mud.

[annguyen1981]

Score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gisser]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... sorry... but thinking a Plasma is safer than a DLP?  Plasma TVs, in my experience, are fantastic. However, repair costs for plasma TVs are NOT. In a plasma TV, if a single wire snaps in the screen, or if a phosphor burns in, there is NO repairing it. If there is any sort of problem with the screen, burn in, dead pixels, weird pixels, you can't repair it. About the only serviceable piece on a plasma TV is the power supply, the TV tuner, or the fans. Any other issues, that TV's gonna need to be replaced.

DLPs, on the other hand, are easy (and WAAAAAAAY cheaper) to service, and almost any single part in a DLP can be replaced easily. Anything from a lamp all the way up to the DLP chip can be replaced. As for Toshiba bulbs going out, yeah, it happens, but it will happen with any brand. The bulbs are freakin expensive, you're right, that's why I recommend a service plan.. BUT, check the service plan before you buy. Some are worth it, others are just plain rip offs. Make sure to ask questions regarding in-home service, consumables (i.e., bulbs), deductibles, trip charges, etc. The other big contributing factor to blown bulbs is power outage. I highly recommend you get a UPC for your TV/cable box/dvd player/vcr/whatever. The bulbs in a DLP get extraordinarily hot. If the power goes out, the cooling fans no longer blow on the bulb, and it will shorten the life of the bulb considerably, if not cause it to blow altogether.

This has nothing to do with hating people (although your evil laugh did hurt my feelings.   ).  Having done some research (as advised) I did want to point out that plasma screens are rated to last 7yrs of continuous play (if all else goes well).  And no consumables as hidden costs.  DLP's, OTOH....well a poll on the AVS-forum reveals that the Toshiba DLP bulbs went poof for 33% of the owner/respondents before 2000hrs, 43% by 3000hrs, while only 15% have bulbs going after 4000hrs.  Do the math--running a DLP 7yrs continuously will optimistically require 14 bulbs at a cost of $250 per for a grand total of $3500 in consumables!!!    If all else goes well--and DLP's do have a lotta moving parts which can and do go wrong compared to plasma.  Needless to say, I could buy 2 more new $1750 Panasonic 42" plasmas with that $3500 of hidden DLP running cost.

I dunno.     I was almost sold.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Sure that Plasma will last 7 years. Make sure you've got not only a UPS, but a nice line conditioner. Oh yeah, the half life of that TV is only about 3.5 - 4 years... which means at the end of that time, the phosphors will be 1/2 as bright as they originally were, so bump your brightness up. That's the beauty of a DLP, the light is constant, until it goes off. But whatever, buy the TV that makes you happy, it's going in YOUR home, not mine. Whatever you go with, I hope you have good luck with it. Also, just to reiterate... GET A UPS AND A LINE CONDITIONER!!!!!!!!!! (I don't know why I called it a UPC in my last post.. I was tired, I guess)

[Egaeus]

I haven't actually seen a DLP screen personally, but if it has similar picture quality to a plasma, I'd probably go with that.

Plasmas are a throwaway technology.  You use up the phosphor to the point where you can't stand the dimness, and then you toss it out.  I have a fundamental problem with that philosophy.  I can't stand to throw things out.  Just the idea of paying thousands of dollars for something that I'm going to throw away in a given amount of time just pisses me off. 

I will probably just wait for LCDs to improve.  Given that I just bought a new CRT TV, I won't be in the market anytime soon anyway.

[Gisser]

A good DLP like Toshiba or Samsung puts out a beautiful picture in HDTV but is only just tolerable in SDTV depending on the feed. 

Neither DLP nor Plasma is like TV we're accustomed to--the type you just leave on all day while catching glimpses at your convenience.  I don't know that LCD is going to be that either.  Later this year, however, Samsung is bringing to market a DLP w/long-lived LED lamps to replace the current color wheel & UHP bulb setup.  This may turn the tide toward DLP in the war of competing technologies.  We shall see. 

Walmart had a terrific stopgap option for the transition from SDTV to HDTV in the form of a Sanyo CRT HDTV w/32-inch screen in standard 4:3 aspect for $570!!!   Can't beat CRT!   Can't beat direct view!   Can't touch the price!   Turn it on and walk away!   And the advantage of the 4:3 aspect is that widescreen signals can be zoomed to fill the screen with the resulting figures appearing much larger than on a comparable 32-inch 16:9 aspect--and without making people look fat as happens when you stretch a 4:3 aspect to fill a 16:9 screen.  Alas, the Sanyo was discontinued last month.

Filling the "they ain't dead yet" option is the news that Hitachi is coming out with a new line of technologically refined CRT projection sets later this month with great screen-size/price ratios.  Hmmmm.

A UPS & Line Conditioner....got it!

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

One other note... get a nice UPS and line conditioner, they're well worth the money, but don't get ripped off either. I know best buy will try to take you for the top of the line monster LC, for about $300 or so... You should be able to get a good 10 outlet LC with a $1,000,000 guarantee for about $200 or so, give or take. The nice one I sold was fantastic, and was a deal at $199.99. If you want, I can look and see if I can still get a hookup. When I worked there, I was able to get that same LC for about $80, my cost. So that'd be worth paying shipping for the difference. Lemme know if you want me to check.. I can check on a UPS too..