HDTV Reviews

I bought my Sony Grand Wega 60" TV in March. Up until 4 days ago I enjoyed the most beautiful picture quality that anyone could ask for. While I was watching a program in High definition and surround sound, everything went black. The bulb went out. I have kinda been expecting this after reading all the problems that Sony has been having with the bulbs going out. There is a article in HOME THEATER MAGAZINE, That states the Sony engineering team has found that there is a combination issue between the lamp and the circuitry in the lamp block,causing the inability for the TV lamp to power on. A service bulletin has been issued authorizing Sony Service Centers and Authorized Service Centers to replace the lamp and /or lamp block in affected units at no cost to the consumer.Consumers who may be experiencing this symptom should contact Sony at (800) 222-sony to schedule a service call.

MY REVIEW ON THE KF60WE610 SONY VEGA:

I WAS STUCK IN THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD OF TELEVISION FOR TOO LONG. MY 1997 27" SHARP WAS SO DATED. THE OLD OAK ENTERTAINMENT UNIT WAS ONLY BIG ENOUGH TO SHOW OFF A 27", BUT BIG ENOUGH TO COVER A WHOLE WALL! OH, MY GOD!

I STARTED GOING TO AUDIO VIDEO STORES IN MY AREA AND STARTED MY SEARCH FOR A LCD/HDTV. THE INTERNET WAS A GOOD SOURCE OF INFORMATION TO HELP ME MAKE A DECISION. I DID THE SAME YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW, READING OTHERS OPINIONS ON AMAZON AND OTHER WEBSITES. BEWARE OF THE NEGATIVITY AND RESENTMENTS YOU'LL READ OF PAST SONY BUYERS! THEY POO-POO SO MUCH, IT'S DEPRESSING. IT ALMOST MADE ME BUY SOMETHING ELSE.

TODAY, I CAN SAY I HAVE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE. MAGNOLIA DELIVERED MY 60" GRAND VEGA YESTERDAY. WHAT CAN I SAY, BIG SCREEN, BIG SOUND, BIG ENTERTAINMENT! I DO HAVE A LOCAL CABLE COMPANY (TIME WARNER) THAT IS SENDING MY SIGNAL. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS THE PICTURE IS SO CLEAR. SO TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT WHEN BUYING YOURS. THEY HAVE HI-DEF CHANNELS THAT KICK ASS! INHD, INHD 2, HD NET, HD MOVIES AND MOST LOCAL CHANNELS IN HI-DEF SIGNALS. SPORTS, TRAVEL, WORLD NEWS AND MORE.

OK, THE TV. NO NONSENSE. I BOUGHT THE MARCH 2004 MODEL KF60WE610. I READ ABOUT BULB BURN OUT PROBLEMS AND ON-OFF SWITCH PROBLEMS. SONY SAID THEY HAVE CORRECTED THESE IN THE NEWER 2004 MODELS. I WILL SEE IF THIS IS TRUE. I WANTED THE HIGHEST LCD SCREEN RESOLUTION MY MONEY COULD BUY. THE SONY VEGA HAS A 1366 X 788. IT WAS BETTER THAN SOME 1200 X 700 FOR LESS MONEY. THE VIEWING DISTANCE IS VERY IMPORTANT. MININIUM DISTANCE IS 7.2 FT. MAXIMIUM IS 12.5. I AM VIEWING FROM ABOUT 11 FT. THIS IS FOR THE BEST "IMMERSIVE" TV VIEWING POSSIBLE. MY FIRST DAY OF HD VIEWING I WAS STUCK! MY AMAZEMENT PARALYSED MY SENSES. THERE SHOULD BE A WARNING TO NEW BUYERS OF THIS SHOCK AND AAH. REMEMBER, I WENT FROM A 27" BLURRY TUBE TYPE TO A 60" (16:9 ASPECT RATIO) HI-DEFINTION WIDE SCREEN LCD FLAT PANEL. NEEDLESS TO SAY, I AM IMPRESSED. THANKS SONY FOR BRINGING ME INTO THE 21ST CENTURY OF TV VIEWING.

AFTER WATCHING HD CHANNELS, IT IS HARD TO WATCH THE OLD ANALOG SIGNALS. HI-DEF VIEWING IS HERE. HI-DEF CHANNEL COMPANY'S ARE THE NEWEST AND MOST HI-POWER PROGRAMMING. THE COLOR, THE SHOOTING LOCATIONS, THE DIGITAL SOUND, HD CHANNELS RULE!

IF YOUR CLOSE TO BUYING A NEW FLAT SCREEN, GET LCD, NOT PLASMA! PLASMA'S ARE CONSIDERED DISPOSABLE TV'S. ONCE THEY BURN OUT- THERE OUT. THAT'S THE A V GUYS RESPONSE TO PLASMA. LCD WILL AND ARE GETTING BIGGER AND MORE AFFORDABLE, (DROPPING 2% A MONTH...A QUOTE FROM THE CES CONVENTION IN LAS VAGAS). BUT DON'T WAIT TILL YOUR IN THE PINE BOX. GET A LCD/HDTV AND LIVE! AFTER READING THIS REVIEW OVER AND OVER, IT SOUNDS LIKE I WORK FOR SONY. I DON'T. I AM JUST SHARING MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS WITH YOU SO YOU CAN TAKE IT FROM THERE. NOTHING IS PERFECT, BUT THIS LAST 24 HOURS OF HI-DEFINITION TV IS CLOSE TO THE REAL THING.

I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO POO POO TOO, IF NEEDED.

ROGER H.
CANOGA PARK, CA.

this would be nice ot have in my new living room, but it wont fit on the moving truck with the rest of the things we needed first.. AND the most

I bought this from a retail store around here (MI) back in October for around 2700 with a 5 year warranty. Its a great TV.. picture is great, what's really neat is watching 2 games at the same time. I would highly recommend this TV to any one looking for one

Firstly, I love the TV. I bought it because I wanted good contrast, bright colors, and no burn-in (I play a lot of X-Box games) and it delivers all those. But I'm giving it only three stars because it's just not very reliable.
- it is incredibly sensitive to signal quality. I have digital cable; there was heavy snow on many channels and I was getting dropouts - the channel suddenly missing - on the others. The cable company diagnosed a bad ground line, replaced it, and everything was fine. But during the entire time, my spare TV (CRT) looked perfectly fine - no snow, no dropout. So it's this TV that's sensitive.
- It needs a lot of service. It blew the lamp (a $239 dollar part) after three months, the color wheel after six, and now, at 11 months, it's just blown the lamp again. I'm about to get a warranty replacement of the whole light engine.I am kicking myself for not buying a 3-year extended warranty from the dealer.

And just as a FYI, I bought Samsungs HDTV DVD player and use the DVI conenction and the picture quality is awesome.

The TV is great but you do need HD TV service, either from satellite, off the air, or cable, to really appreciate how good the quality is.

The TV arrived a couple of days before the cable folks came by, so all I had was my progressive DVD, which was a bit disappointing.

I also use it for my X Box and the quality of the games that are HD ready is amazing

I've had this set for 8 months now and I am still impressed with it's performance. I did allot of research before deciding which set would be my first HDTV. After weighing all of the pluses and minuses (for me) the Samsung DLP's came out on top.
No burn-in means you can watch your standard definition (SD) programs in their normal 4:3 aspect ratio (no need too stretch the picture). You could leave a static image on the TV 24/7 and it will not affect the screen. Also DLP's are not affected by magnetic fields, which means you can put non-shielded speakers right next to them. I would highly recommend a DVD player with a DVI output (like the Bravo D1 or Samsung's 931 ) which will provied the best possible picture with these TV's (I've run some tests). Be aware that with DLP's the better the source the better the picture. Now I'm not talking about high dollar cables (a $25 DVI cable will perform the same as a $100 one), what I mean is High Definition programming looks spectacular as do DVD's through a DVI enabled DVD player, but SD programming can look anywhere from good to preety bad. Very happy with my decision.

3 weeks after we received our TV, it exploded (we heard a "pop", the screen went blank, and an acrid smell filled the room). And guess what? Amazon DOES NOT HANDLE RETURNS on televisions larger than 27 inches. Huh? Yup, you heard right. If you buy a TV larger than 27 inches from Amazon, they COMPLETELY WASH THEIR HANDS OF IT once it reaches your door. That's it. Done. Thanks for buying. Even if it EXPLODES IN YOUR LIVING ROOM, well, tough. The nice folks at Amazon will simply tell you to call Philips or "check your manual for troubleshooting tips" and, oh, thanks for calling. Where does it say this? It doesn't. You have to find and click the tiny little link that says, "Shipping rates and policies". Never mind that I've bought hundreds of items from Amazon over the past 7 years and that I've never had a problem returning any of them. They expect you to guess that their return policy might be completely different when it comes to televisions and to seek out the information on your own. No where during the entire sales cycle do they ever so much as hint that you can't return it and that they'll have nothing to do with it once it leaves their warehouse. Oh, and what did they do after I sent them a strongly worded letter calling them out on a very bad business practice? They sent me a form email saying that they're sorry I'm unhappy with my new TV but that they can't accept returns and that I check my user manual if I'm having problems. Are you kidding me??? To add insult to injury, the form email stated that I could respond to the email for further discussion on the matter. I did and 5 days later got a "return to sender" email telling me that my email had permanent fatal errors and could not be delivered. Wow. This might actually be the worst customer service experience I've ever had, with any company. Oh, and in case you're curious, Philips finally delivered us a new TV...4 MONTHS after we dropped it off at a "factory authorized" repair shop. Wow, Amazon and Philips - what a team!

I purchased Philips 34PW850H 34" Digital Widescreen HD-Ready TV three weeks ago, and I have to tell you I am very impressed with the picture when watching a movie using a Denon 2200 progressive scan DVD player. To be honest I purchased the TV primarily to watch movies, and I have not been disappointed in the least. The picture is sharp, and without a doubt clear, very clear. I have only to watch the same movie on a friends regular TV to be reminded of its perfection.

AS for regular or digital cable, I cannot say I care for the stretched look on the screen, which is a by product of "all" widescreen TVs at this time (except when watching a true High Definition signal), but as I have chosen not to go with the High Definition signal for now, the strethed version on cable will have to be gotten used to, fortunately for me, I watch very little cable TV, and as the future is widescreen friendly, I know this will improve. I cannot therefore comment on the Philips viewing pleasure in High Definition, but seeing the DVD quality (clarity) in the picture, I have no problem admitting to myself it must be incredible. I would expect the picture to be better than movies on DVD, as DVD movies are in the 480 or so resolution range, and HD can be as high as 1000 or over resolution range.

I had considered the Sony and Toshiba 34" widescreen, but... Philips won out. The Philips was $1400 (CAN) less than the Sony, which I could not justify for a Sony. AS I see it, the only "real" sacrifice is not having a DVI plug on this TV, but having found new DVD movie releases near my home for only 99 cents, this drawback will quickly be forgotten. If you are like me, be prepared to accept some movies will still have a bar on the top and the bottom of the screen, but I can see myself forgiving even that (soon enough) as I get to enjoy more, and more this great picture, and viewing perfection. Good Luck in your shopping adventure. Glad mine has turned out to be such a success.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this TV set. I ordered it from amazon for $1300 with free shipping which was cheaper than anything that I could find on the net. I was thrilled by the features that this tv had. The most important was the 2 Component Video connections. This allowed me to hook up both the digital cable and a progressive scan DVD player. The picture was awesome, and it was nice that ALL my dvd could be watched in wide screen without those annoying bars. Basically, I'm really glad that I purchased this tv set.

PS- getting a home theater with this tv is also a nice touch.

extrememly dissapointed. bought the 30" phillips widescreen hdtv because it sounded like a good price. I won't buy for price vs. quality again. The whites are very yellow and it actually reminds me of an old tv where the tube is getting worn out. my old sony flat screen has better color actually and the phillips is very hard to adjust the tints. I'm selling it for a loss and will buy another hdtv from a different manufacturer.

In an almost identical manner to another reviewer, 6 months after purchase the color went out on all inputs except the hdtv. Customer service (people in India pretending to be in the US by giving you an American name) were totally clueless. After several calls, they refer me to a local authorized repair center. Since it was out of warranty for labor, that meant $200 for me. The part, cost $700 but was covered under warranty. $65 so that I didn't have to haul the set to the repar place. It has taken 3 service visits and 1 month and the set isn't fixed yet. Adecent (not great) set when its working, but this experience will keep me from buying another Philips / Magnavox product again.

I bought the Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HD-Ready TV from Costco for $799 (a real bargain, especially with Costco's lifetime return policy.) I needed to replace a large older analog projection TV that was taking up too much space in my family room, and wanted to move to a smaller widescreen HDTV. The Philips Widescreen has not disappointed me. The digital picture from DirectTV is very crisp (I'm currently using s-video connection as I don't yet have an HD satellite receiver.) From a progressive scan DVD the picture is beautiful and near-HD as you would expect. The set has two component inputs and two s-video inputs (one in the back and one on the side.) My wife likes to watch the local channels, so I tried to prepare her for what I thought would be relatively poor picture quality on these over-the-air broadcasts. However, broadcast TV looks great on this set as well - apparently the "Eye-Fidelity" system helps upgrade the analog picture. There are no visible lines nor is there the grainy appearance I had expected to see. The widescreen formats are easy to switch between using the remote. The set is attractive and has a small footprint. If you are looking for a widescreen HD monitor that doesn't dominate a room and you want to stay under $1000 in price, this may well be the TV for you.

This is my second week with this TV, purchased for $799 - an UNBELIEVABLE deal when compared to other sites and other TVs. Haven't tested dvi but the component hd signal is outstanding - dvds are very good and hd tv signals are very clear and crisp.

The sound is very, very good for an "all-in-one" set. This unit includes a subwoofer that has its own settings, very impressive.

Decent remote although I am having a little trouble with it commanding my jvc dvd.

What a deal -

The Toshiba 30HF83 offers many great features that can be hard to find at it's size. I was looking for a 30"-34" Widescreen HDTV Tube that would fit in my existing entertainment center, and this Toshiba is perfect for me!
The 2 sets of component inputs were just what I wanted to use to connect my Xbox (The Monster Cable XGL-400 works wonderfully) and for receiving a High Definition signal. The picture clarity for each is more than I had hoped for! Widescreen DVD's look superb in comparison to the 4:3 aspect ratio, and my Gamecube also looks amazing connected through the S-Video input.
You can switch between all of your inputs through the front panel of the TV or through the remote control. Individual picture preferences can also be saved for each input. This is a great benefit when switching from playing video games to watching movies or an HDTV signal. The Onscreen Menu is remarkably simple and through the use of the 'Auto Aspect' feature you won't need to frequently adjust your picture size. Standard TV also looks quite good, but it is a bit harder to watch after experiencing some HD channels.
I highly recommend the Toshiba 30HF83 to anyone looking for an amazing quality Widescreen HDTV, complete with many great features, to acommodate a smaller viewing area.

I bought this TV even after looking at the negative reviews and I'm glad I did! Good picture quality and features and the sound with the subwoofer is better than any other TV built in system I've heard, although it can't compare to a good surround system.
When I took delivery, I unpacked the TV and tested it before signing the acceptance form - not a big deal. The delivery guy was quite nice and even helped me put the TV in my entertainment center. This 30" widescreen fits where a standard 27" Sony used to, as the Toshiba speakers are wisely mounted beneath the screen.
Set up is easy, the instructions clear. Don't worry about burn out on the sides - the available options to set up the screen result in a good picture and the horizontal streching on the sides for "theater 1" (which is what I use for standard format TV) is almost unnoticeable. Great picture from digital wide screen sources!!!
The other TV I was looking at was a Gateway 30" LCD. Without the optional side speakers, it would have fit my entertainment center as well. It's lighter than the Toshiba, but I don't think it's worth spending $1500 more than the Toshiba. Plus, if I'm lazy and don't use my surround system, I can just turn on the TV and listen to a reasonably good sound and look at a great picture. The Gateway without the side speakers would have forced me to use my sound system every time I turned the TV on.

Lugged it home and re-wired my home theater system for componet connection, turned out the lights ,hit the DVD and was amazed at how well the picture looked right out of the box. I made some adjustments and got aquainted with the remote and it's controls and was really impressed. Watched it for about 45 min., turned everything off and felt like I had made a great purchase. Came home the next day and was planning to really enjoy my new toy but was really upset to see in the daylight that all around the dark gray collar, surronding the glass, had divits all around it. I was bummed but figured that a service call would take care of this so I sat down to enjoy a movie. When I turned it on, right as the picture was viewable I heard a static pop. I was concerned but still not ready to through in the towel. I started to play around with the PIP functions and all was working fine when the right side picture went snow-city, with cable, and then went blank. Then I went to turn the set off and investigate but I got two more static pops and then it turned off. I wonder if this set is made in two differant plants since the folks that are having problems are experiencing similar defects while others are having no problems at all. When I took mine back, I noticed that there were two of these units on the floor already, marked as open box specials so I didn't exchange it. I haven't bought anything yet because I'm so bummed out and confused, this was everything I was looking for and then some. East Coast Best Buy Shoppers BEWARE

this is a good tv. the HD picture is very sharp. the dark is very dark and the bright is very bright. the sound is quite good, with 2 surround mode. for this price, with a built-in HDTV tuner, that's a pretty good for this price.

there are something the tv can improve on:
1. the power cord is coming out from the front-left side of the tv. it is less messy if it is coming out from the back of the tv.

2. the tv still does "overscan". that means all left, right, top, bottom of the screen is missing 5% of the picture. try watching a DVD on this tv and on a PC, and you will see that you see things on the PC that you don't see on the tv. i think the tv should have a "non-overscan" mode to let people choose how it displays.

3. there is no program guide... my other HDTV over-the-air tuner box has it (Samsung SIR-T351).

4. The composite output cannot down-convert the HD video into the 640 x 480 NTSC signal, for recording the program to VHS or DVR.

5. there seems to be no way to let me choose between 480p and 1080i myself. the tv set chooses whatever it sees fit. but i want to be able to set it myself too, such as when hooking up my computer with DVI output to the tv.

But it is a good tv set. Enjoy HDTV ahead of schedule! The 1900 x 1080 resolution on PBS Channel 9-1 at night makes this tv worth every penny.

Also note that some stations are broadcasting in 720p and some broadcasting in 480p.

Bought this over the holidays because of all the features, picture quality, and price. We do not subscribe to cable or satellite so the built-in HDTV tuner was a real plus. Nearly every local channel in Dayton has SD and HD channels broadcast over the air. The PBS station has 5 digital channels. All I needed was an amplified HDTV antenna. The quality is incredible. Also used the optical audio link as an input to our Koss DVD Home Theatre system so we can listen to the HDTV broadcasts in dolby digital. The progressive scan DVD input required a composite cable but the playback quality was worth the price. For the price, this is an incredible buy.

Only dislikes are the slight delays when switching channels and the built-in speakers are just OK. Of course, we just turn on the home theater system to correct this. Manual was a bit complicated and hooking up to the DVD took a while (due more to the KOSS DVD player and me not reading the manual closely). All in all, this is an awesome system. Out of the box quality was great. Highly recommended.

I recently got a Samsung TXM3096WHF (30" 16:9 HDTV 1080i) TV form Best Buy for $$$ and man does this thing do a job. I had a digital cable box from Comcast and got ABC, NBC, HBO, Showtime, and CBS in 1080i. [Bad.] The signal must have been weak or something because it looked like widescreen 480i. At any rate, I got this little guy, hooked it up to my NON-DIGITAL amplified antenna and immediately got Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, and the WB in perfect HD. (Fox is in 480p, which is just as as a DVD). Only ABC broadcasts in 5.1 surround sound, so that was kind of a dissapointment. Everything else is perfect. I like not having to pay $...a month for less channels that I would get for free.

An elegant solution that works very well. While perfectly suited for HDTV-ready sets, I've been using it with a standard 4:3 non-HDTV Sony. If you have a TV with composite, component, or s-video inputs, this thing will work, assuming you can receive digital signals over the air. For HDTV purposes, it must be amazing.

In fact, I don't know why more people don't buy these things to watch PERFECT digital TV from free over-the-air signals--even on standard TVs. (Of course, not all cities are broadcasting all their channels in digital, but many are ...) Even at 480p (the unit's lowest resolution) the video is DVD-quality. Try switching between ... analog cable and OTA digital--the difference is stunning. Again, even on a standard TV.

Easy, intuitive menus. Many different output options for video AND audio. Overall, an excellent investment: Use it now with a standard TV, use it later with an HDTV-ready set.

I got this items in October 2003 and I am very satisfy. If you don't want specific cable channel and want quality this is an amazing device.

I've owned this model for about four months. Before buying it I read the reviews in Stereophile Home Theatre magazine, and looked at multiple brands including Sony, JVC, sand Toshiba. I agree with Stereophile and Home Theatre's assesment. The set comes from the factory set with too much gain. But if you are willing to spend a few minutes setting it up with the Video Essentials DVD you'll be well rewarded. On HD and DVD sources the picture is truly superb. On regular broadcasts (NTSC) the picture shows all the reasons to hope the switch to HD occurs faster. The sound is OK, but I'd use an external sound sysytem if this is your primary home theatre tv. In a bedroom, the sound is fine.

My wife and I have been nursing along a 21-year old, 19-inch GTE/Sylvania color TV, that she had purchased as a Freshman in college. Single speaker, retractable rabbit antenna . . .
the unit is probably coal-burning.

Enter the world of "INVAR Shadow Masks", "Anamorphic DVD Detection", and "3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter". While these sounded like instruments of a CIA field agent . . we just wanted a great picture. Not wanting to look like total imbeciles, we researched the Net, including the Amazon site.

After going to numerous stores to compare 36-inch sets, we can say without qualification - the picture clarity on the Panasonic CT36HX40 literally spanks the pants off anything else we looked at . . with the possible exception of the SONY XBR250 - the set we originally considered.

The problem with the SONY XBR250 is that at 40-inches across, it's impossible to find a well-made entertainment center large enough to hold this digital mausoleum. The only alternative was to have a cabinet-maker do a custom-build . . or order a Contemporary glass/chrome TV pedestal/settee...

We have hooked up the Panasonic set to a SONY DVPNS700P DVD player/ w progressive scan, and so far, the the picture has been astonishing. For those who don't want to hire the Army Corps of Engineers to install a 5-channel home-theatre/ video receiver/AC3 experience, or go throught a pre-flight check before turning the unit on, the Pansonic provides a nice 3D surround sound built right-into the set.

Do yourself a huge favor and have it home-delivered. [The set is] 242 lbs...

The first thing i noticed about this Tv when i was comparing it to the Sony 36 inch HDTV was that the picture was so much clearer on this one...also it was easy to hear the sound even in a noisy place like Best Buy.. It wasn't hooked up to a surround sound system but simulated 3-d surround sound. I have it hooked up to a Panasonic Dvd player and progressive scan looks great!!! BUY THIS TV!!!!!!

I BOUGHT MY APEX 65" PROJECTION TV ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO ....HAD IT FOR LESS THAN A MONTH AND ALL THE WHITE COLOR IN THE TELEVISION WENT "PINK" YELLOW IS NOW ORANGE IT LOOKS HORRIBLE! BARNEY THE DINOSAUR MAY BE PURPLE ON YOUR TELEVISION HE'S LILAC ON MINE...KINDA SUCKS! I HAVE BEEN WAITING 5 WEEKS TO GET IT FIXED AND GETTIN THE TOTAL RUNAROUND! YOU HAVE TO WAIT ON HOLD FOR HOURS AT A TIME TO GET THROUGHT TO CUSTOMER SERVICE IT'S RIDICULOUS...I HAVE CALLED 10 TIMES AND BEEN ON HOLD FOR A TOTAL OF 11 HOURS!!!!!! BUY ANOTHER TELEVISION SPEND THE EXTRA BUCKS AND SAVE THE HASSLE ....I JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK THE TV SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to write this review because all of the other reviews were very informative and helped me inevitably decide to buy the TV. Just like everybody else, i thought the same thing... oooooo a big-screen for $1500 (and a 65" to boot), but "APEX"....hmmmmmm i dont know.

Well i shopped around and did my research. Any other TV of similar size was at least $1000 more. Also, there were several customers who loved theirs and only a few that dispised "APEX" for various reasons. My feelings were that with anything you will have a few unlucky or just generally pesemistic people, so i focused on the positive feedback.

I finally decided to give APEX a chance and i purchaced the TV.

i intended on giving the tv every chance to look its best. (i highly recomend that whatever TV you decide to buy you do the same). Before i even opened the box when it arrived (and this was extremely hard) i went out and bought a good quality progressive scan DVD player w/ component outputs and a good quality but modestly proced home theater system. (note: neither the TV nor the video components i purchaced came w/ component cables, so save yourself a second trip and pick them up while your there the first time... lesson learned)

I unpacked the tv (WOW that is a BIG SCREEN!) and plugged the rest of the components in. I read all of the instructions (for a change, again, just to make sure i was getting the most from the tv).

The first thing we watched was the cable. i was expecting less that stellar quality based on other reviews, but was pleasantly supprised that it was pretty good and that screen is so big that you just gaze at the tv and dont even notice anyway. The different zoom options change the screen in different ways, and you will find one that looks good to you.

Next was the DVD/progressive scan/component cable hook-up test. Drum roll please... first movie was "Pirates of the Caribbean". The picture was unbelievable. Clear, crisp, just all around very impressive. However, from a cinematography stand-point, "Pirates" is a litle dark, hazy, and monochromatic in the begining. So i put in "Finding Nemo" figuring that ought to have some vivid color. Let me put it this way, after watching for about 10 minutes, i finally picked my jaw up off of the floor. And every neighbor has responded the same way. Absolutely beautiful. You definately want this TV.

Bottom line: i was as sceptical as the next consumer, but took the leap of faith and was rewarded with a low-cost, humungous, beautifully clear picture, TV. i have ordered SBC HDTV today, and i will update this review if i get some spare time in the future. If you have your heart set on another popular brand name, then buy that one. But if you are like me, and are not sure about buying this TV because it says "APEX" on the front, forget about that and buy this TV before you procrastinate too long and they go on backorder. Just take the time to buy the proper accompanying components and set up the TV properly as per the instructions to get the best picture, and get a truck load of popcorn! This is how movies were meant to be watched.

Had the TV in home for about a week now. So far just a wonderful TV straight out of the box. Hard to pass up a $1400 price!!! Widescreen DVD come alive and regular TV programming takes on a whole new experience. Had been looking at other compariable models from Sony and the like, but with these in the $2K price range as well as another $400+ for like an extended Warranty decided would take a chance on the Apex. With a shade over $100 for an additional 4-Year RepairMaster Extended Warranty Policy, can't beat ~$1500 for this TV.

Only minor complaint that can't totally fault Amazon for was the shipping situation. I live in the SW Colorado region and the TV was shipped via Eagle Global Logistics from Atlanta to Denver and Eagle had to farm this out to local RAC Transport to deliver. Well RAC doesn't do in home delivery so ended up having to have a couple friends come down to a location with a trailer to pickup the set and we carted it back home. After lugging the TV (yes at 380 shipping pounds its quite large) up the stairs and into the home, once out of the box quite easy to move around. As believe will fall to Amazon's credit (once I see it finally appear on my credit card as they promised), after I contacted the customer service and expressed my unhappiness at not being provided the In-Home Delivery as their policy for large screen television holds, they agreed to credit me back the shipping charges for the purchase. Can't ask for more than that !