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Sony vs. Toshiba
- Thread starter Trek
- Start date
When it comes to HD TV.
Only way to really tell is to go to a hign end store that sells HD TV's.
You will need to view a tru HD feed (720p or 1080I) inorder to decide.
Unfortunately most retail stores do not use a true HD feed and also will turn up the brightness..contrast and picture settings in order to artificially make the picture appear better.
In order to appreciate your HD TV. It will need to be calibrated by you once you get it inyour house.
ALso a DLP option for HD is the best bet.
I currently have a plasma..because you cant beat the pq quality and how thin it is..plus it hangs over the fireplace.
For my next purchase it will definately be a DLP (less chance of burn in)
I currently am a member on www.hdtvoice.com please visit that forum and read their FAQ's you will gain a wealth of knowledge and will than be able to make a good sound informed choice..
Also you cant go wrong with brand loyalty!!
Only way to really tell is to go to a hign end store that sells HD TV's.
You will need to view a tru HD feed (720p or 1080I) inorder to decide.
Unfortunately most retail stores do not use a true HD feed and also will turn up the brightness..contrast and picture settings in order to artificially make the picture appear better.
In order to appreciate your HD TV. It will need to be calibrated by you once you get it inyour house.
ALso a DLP option for HD is the best bet.
I currently have a plasma..because you cant beat the pq quality and how thin it is..plus it hangs over the fireplace.
For my next purchase it will definately be a DLP (less chance of burn in)
I currently am a member on www.hdtvoice.com please visit that forum and read their FAQ's you will gain a wealth of knowledge and will than be able to make a good sound informed choice..
Also you cant go wrong with brand loyalty!!
AVB
Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2003
- Messages
- 23,042
Actually, a 3 tube projection has the best picture still although the digital ones are getting better. If you measure by color temp, ability to do blacker then black (which digital can't do yet)and a host of other items 3 tube is still king. The digitals are brighter and much smaller so that does make them more popular.
With any tube projection TV if your tube goes out you can get a new one although it may be cheaper to upgrade at that point. Most projection tubes are rated to 10,000 hours and can still look good out to about 15,000. What do you do if a half dozen of the micro mirrors goes out and you have dead pixels one the screen? There is no choice but to replace the whole set because that won't be a warrenty item either. Every technology has it's pluses and minuses.
Well....yes they are just 3 tubes not 1 if it is a tubed projector of course.
With any tube projection TV if your tube goes out you can get a new one although it may be cheaper to upgrade at that point. Most projection tubes are rated to 10,000 hours and can still look good out to about 15,000. What do you do if a half dozen of the micro mirrors goes out and you have dead pixels one the screen? There is no choice but to replace the whole set because that won't be a warrenty item either. Every technology has it's pluses and minuses.
KayakinBoy said:
Well....yes they are just 3 tubes not 1 if it is a tubed projector of course.
mhortsch said:
A properly calibrated Mitsubishi tube projector has a much better overall picture than any microdisplay but not many people understand that they have to be calibrated and that makes a big difference.
I chose to go to DLP just because of size.
I chose to go to DLP just because of size.
Just to add some fuel to the warranty debate!
I bought a 36" Toshiba Flat screen 2 years ago this October. The picture has begun to "sag" in the corners. If I have a widescreen movie on, the black bars will actually drop down on the sides, leaving it bowed in the middle. Common issue among Flat Screens. Just called someone up from my extended warranty, being fixed on Tuesday!!!
Hopefully, they can't fix it and I get a new TV...wishfull thinking, but won't happen.
On another note more closely related with this thread, sort of. I spoke with an old friend who I worked with in the Home Theater dept at BB, he's been there for about 8 years, just started working out in the field doing installs. I asked his preference, Sony Grand Vega LCD, Samsung DLP or the Toshiba DLP.
He immediately said the Sony LCD, but the Samsung is a close draw, if not just as good.
Doesn't help your dilema much, or mine...with the exception of ruling out the Toshiba.
I bought a 36" Toshiba Flat screen 2 years ago this October. The picture has begun to "sag" in the corners. If I have a widescreen movie on, the black bars will actually drop down on the sides, leaving it bowed in the middle. Common issue among Flat Screens. Just called someone up from my extended warranty, being fixed on Tuesday!!!
Hopefully, they can't fix it and I get a new TV...wishfull thinking, but won't happen.
On another note more closely related with this thread, sort of. I spoke with an old friend who I worked with in the Home Theater dept at BB, he's been there for about 8 years, just started working out in the field doing installs. I asked his preference, Sony Grand Vega LCD, Samsung DLP or the Toshiba DLP.
He immediately said the Sony LCD, but the Samsung is a close draw, if not just as good.
Doesn't help your dilema much, or mine...with the exception of ruling out the Toshiba.
Honestly, after sitting through MANY hours in front of several differnt TV's at several different electornic stores, i decided to get a 56" DLP widescreen HD Samsung(HLR5667W)....the picture in my opinion was sharper, had better contrast and more vivid colors vs ANY Sony i looked at. Ive had tons of problems with Toshiba so i dont really recomend them...one TV would burn out a projector once every couple months...the other had the circuit board(or whatever the heck its called) replaced twice in a years time. Ive had 6 rear projection big screens over the last decade...most of which had a projector go out, so id at least spring for the extended warranty. Its nice to know that if your stuff breaks, your not the one who has to worry about it.
TBaGZ
I'm around...
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2005
- Messages
- 1,314
I have a 52" Toshiba... I could not tell the difference in picture quality from it and a Sony. I feel with Sony you are paying extra for the name. The guy at the store actually recomended the Toshiba and Mitsubishi over Sony.
It is no longer stuffed in that lil corner either... Been moved to the room it was supposed to go in but at the time that room wasn
t finished.
It is no longer stuffed in that lil corner either... Been moved to the room it was supposed to go in but at the time that room wasn
t finished.
jgohlke
My other hobby
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2004
- Messages
- 990
We just bought the Toshiba DLP 63" at Costco a couple of weeks ago. Doesn't look that big at Costco, but damn it's big in our family room! Then of course we had to get the HighDef cable package, upgrade our DVR and eventually ended up buying a new programmable remote control. I think I spent more on the remote than I spent on my first car!
We didn't buy the extended warranty. I stopped buying them several years ago. I have bought a few of them in the past, but mostly find them to be a waste of money for me. I have difficulty tracking all the pieces of paper and just ain't organized enough to take advantage of the "free yearly service". In fact, I've started telling the salespeople, when they ask me if I want to buy their warranty...."No thank you, I can't track all the little pieces of paper. I'll have the thing for a year, it will break and then I won't know where I bought it, if I have a warranty on it or who to call and I won't have any idea of where that little piece of paper is."
The TV rocks. The picture in high def looks more like a doorway than TV. It doesn't look like a picture, it looks real. We watched a travel show on London and some of the shots of the streets looked like you could just walk right in. I have to say that TV in high-def is really astounding. I'm not a big TV watcher and not easily impressed (the TV is mostly for the family....that really means "wife" for those of you not married!), but the improvement in the picture quality is really noticeable.
The DVR (Brighthouse cable box, Explorer 8300HD by Scientific Atlanta) is so-so. It's noisy and reboots itself a couple of times per week. We had several non-high-def ones and they don't last very long. On the other hand, we rent it for a couple of bucks per month and they replace it, no questions asked.
The new remote really kicks a$$! It's a Logitech Harmony remote. It has soft keys for activities like "watch tv" that run macros to turn everything on and set up the inputs, etc. It plugs into the computer via USB cable and you program it on your computer, using their software from the Harmony website (they knew all my components, some of which are brand new, others are 5-7 years old). It took us about 20 mins to program the thing and I've gone back twice to add/move features. If you can follow instructions and navigate the web, you can program this remote (you will need to know your model numbers for you components).
On the cigar front, I smoked a Victor Sinclair last night. It looked almost like a AF Short Story, except it was darker and square pressed. Very tasty! I sat outside, drank a weak scotch and listened to the ran. I live in Central Florida...we got a few rain bands from the hurricane, but that's it.
Happy Friday.
Cheers,
Joe
We didn't buy the extended warranty. I stopped buying them several years ago. I have bought a few of them in the past, but mostly find them to be a waste of money for me. I have difficulty tracking all the pieces of paper and just ain't organized enough to take advantage of the "free yearly service". In fact, I've started telling the salespeople, when they ask me if I want to buy their warranty...."No thank you, I can't track all the little pieces of paper. I'll have the thing for a year, it will break and then I won't know where I bought it, if I have a warranty on it or who to call and I won't have any idea of where that little piece of paper is."
The TV rocks. The picture in high def looks more like a doorway than TV. It doesn't look like a picture, it looks real. We watched a travel show on London and some of the shots of the streets looked like you could just walk right in. I have to say that TV in high-def is really astounding. I'm not a big TV watcher and not easily impressed (the TV is mostly for the family....that really means "wife" for those of you not married!), but the improvement in the picture quality is really noticeable.
The DVR (Brighthouse cable box, Explorer 8300HD by Scientific Atlanta) is so-so. It's noisy and reboots itself a couple of times per week. We had several non-high-def ones and they don't last very long. On the other hand, we rent it for a couple of bucks per month and they replace it, no questions asked.
The new remote really kicks a$$! It's a Logitech Harmony remote. It has soft keys for activities like "watch tv" that run macros to turn everything on and set up the inputs, etc. It plugs into the computer via USB cable and you program it on your computer, using their software from the Harmony website (they knew all my components, some of which are brand new, others are 5-7 years old). It took us about 20 mins to program the thing and I've gone back twice to add/move features. If you can follow instructions and navigate the web, you can program this remote (you will need to know your model numbers for you components).
On the cigar front, I smoked a Victor Sinclair last night. It looked almost like a AF Short Story, except it was darker and square pressed. Very tasty! I sat outside, drank a weak scotch and listened to the ran. I live in Central Florida...we got a few rain bands from the hurricane, but that's it.
Happy Friday.
Cheers,
Joe
Here's some quick advice to when shopping, to get the TV settings where they are suposed to be for optimal viewing.
Switch video mode to VIVID
Tune Contrast UP
Tune everything else near the MIDDLE
Tune Sharpness DOWN
Switch temp to COOL
That is suposedly a quick fix to get the tv's looking how they are suposed to.
Switch video mode to VIVID
Tune Contrast UP
Tune everything else near the MIDDLE
Tune Sharpness DOWN
Switch temp to COOL
That is suposedly a quick fix to get the tv's looking how they are suposed to.
hydro-terp
Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2005
- Messages
- 180
Im a pretty big Sony fan.
Sony dig camera
Sony Surround Sound in a box
Sony DVD with progressive scan
and my Baby the Sony 36", 200lb Gorilla in the corner, Vega flatscreen
More then once people have come into my house and asked me if I had HDTV the picture was so good.
I dont go for the warrenties either especially when they try to sell me one on a $20 portable phone. They did talk me into one on the TV because its so damn huge you just dont want to have to take it any where to get worked on.
Russell
Sony dig camera
Sony Surround Sound in a box
Sony DVD with progressive scan
and my Baby the Sony 36", 200lb Gorilla in the corner, Vega flatscreen
More then once people have come into my house and asked me if I had HDTV the picture was so good.
I dont go for the warrenties either especially when they try to sell me one on a $20 portable phone. They did talk me into one on the TV because its so damn huge you just dont want to have to take it any where to get worked on.
Russell
A final thanks to all for the info...
I ended up picking up the Sony. I looked at the DLP, but the price was a pretty big jump from the $1200 Sony I ended up getting. I was only going to get a 32 in. then figured I'd need a new entertainment unit to fit the larger tv for a couple hundred dollars..so might as well spend a couple hundred more and get a big screen. I couldn't make another jump to DLP.
I chose the Sony because looking at the tv at different stores with different hookups the Sony picture always looked good..and the wife liked the case of the Sony better than the Toshiba :whistling:
I did get the warranty just for the piece of mind, and they'll clean and calibrate the tv when needed.
I bought it at Best Buy and learned something new. I guess their new policy is to match any offer they have at Bestbuy.com. The only benefit I had with the policy was that they gave me free shipping which saved me $50, but other tvs had better deals online compared to what they advertised in the store. An employee there didn't know about the policy, but his supervisor did. Check online before buying from BB..you might be able to get a better deal.
I ended up picking up the Sony. I looked at the DLP, but the price was a pretty big jump from the $1200 Sony I ended up getting. I was only going to get a 32 in. then figured I'd need a new entertainment unit to fit the larger tv for a couple hundred dollars..so might as well spend a couple hundred more and get a big screen. I couldn't make another jump to DLP.
I chose the Sony because looking at the tv at different stores with different hookups the Sony picture always looked good..and the wife liked the case of the Sony better than the Toshiba :whistling:
I did get the warranty just for the piece of mind, and they'll clean and calibrate the tv when needed.
I bought it at Best Buy and learned something new. I guess their new policy is to match any offer they have at Bestbuy.com. The only benefit I had with the policy was that they gave me free shipping which saved me $50, but other tvs had better deals online compared to what they advertised in the store. An employee there didn't know about the policy, but his supervisor did. Check online before buying from BB..you might be able to get a better deal.