Projection-TV Reviews

I purchased this TV after reviewing all the big names, Sony, Hitachi, Pioneer, Toshiba, etc. After careful consideration and hours of sitting in Circuit City and Best Buy, my wife(she's awesome! She wanted this just as bad as I did!) and I narrowed it down to 3 65"Sony, 53"Hitachi and the 61"RCA.What I wanted was basically a great picture. I don't care what audio features they have because I run that through my reciever anyway. Well, We decided on the RCA because we found it to be the best deal. The HD,DirectTV reveiver came with it. It was larger than the Hitachi, The picture was excellent, It was a great deal and we are both very happy parents of "Monster".

This is my first big screen television and I must say that I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I researched several other models including Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic. In my opinion the RCA possesses the best picture and the lowest price. I found the television on display next to a similar Toshiba HDTV and the RCA's picture seemed noticeably better in my opinion, I even had the salesman surf through some local channels to compare the picture quality of both of these video behemoths.

The picture is clear and crisp as is the audio. The unit has plenty of input connections including composite video and s-video as well as standard RCA type audio outputs. The built-in DirecTV receiver is very nice and certainly necessary as there is no place for an external unit on top of the television. Unfortunately, I cannot record DirecTV programs utilizing my VCR because the built-in DirecTV receiver does not have an output for this purpose. The only other minor concern that I have is that the unit has a lot of depth, about 24.75 inches, something to consider if you have limited floor space. I would highly recommend this television to anyone.

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.

Sony's XBR has long been their flagship. It has unparalleled quality, and a good price. It has lots of inputs, and decent built in speakers. But Sony released a comparable model in June 2000. It is the KP 61 HS-10. It is substantially clearer and has twice the scan rate. It is HDTV ready, and boasts more powerful speakers. And what's more, the retail price is far lower. I would look into both before buying, and actually go to a store and see them side by side before buying online.

this tv is the most exceptional tv in the marketplace today. if you really love to watch your tv programs on the big screen you cant miss with tis one!

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

You will get your money's worth with this tv. The picture is crisp and clear with a sattalite, clearer still when viewing using the s-video input and just super crisp using a dvd! the SBS gives the sound some umph on the base end. the menu functions are very easy to use. I am very pleased with this tv excellent entry level model!

This is an excellent television. The wide-angle (160 degree) viewing is very nice if you have many people watching at the same time...Note: Make sure to get an extended (in-home) warranty, if possible, since these things aren't easy to move around!!!

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.

Just purchased the Toshiba 42H82 and couldn't be happier. The picture is great, but if you buy online be sure you're aware that only the newly released 2002 models will be capable of receiving the DVI upgrade as this will be the very best technology before long.

According to Toshiba's website, "DVI is an uncompressed (base band) digital video connection. It provides a secure digital interface for connecting a Digital Set-Top Box to an HD Compatible TV. It is not made to replace IEEE1394, which can still be used to connect the Digital Set-Top Box to a Digital Recording Device. 2002 H82 Wide Screen PTV models can be upgraded to an optional jack pack that includes a DVI input with HDCP for a true uncompressed digital video connection.

This is only to prepare for the future when all major network HDTV broadcasts will supposedly require the DIV connection so they can protect their copyrights easier.

All in all we're thrilled with the stunning picture and easy to use menus-a true deal at this price level.

I purchased this TV back in August after about a month of research. I am very careful when making large purchases so I like to read up quite a bit on the products available. After reading reviews from professionals and consumers I had decided on the Toshiba 41H81.I could not be happier with this set. When I first got the TV I was a little disappointed with the picture. I decided to let it go for a while and after the 100 hour recommended break in period the picture was a million times better. I also had to change the settings on the picture quite a bit. When you look at TV's in the store they will tend to change the settings of the higher priced TVs to the optimum settings so they can talk you into spending more. With some quick adjustments (I highly recommend buying the Avia guide to home theater. It is a must have for setting up your home theater and adjusting the picture on your TV) the picture on this TV was amazing. As for the features... I love watching TV in widescreen. I was initially worried that the picture would look distorted but after about a day you really don't notice it. Another thing I enjoy is that instead of picture in picture this TV has a feature where you can split the TV screen in half. I can watch and listen to the TV while my friends can play video games on the other half of the TV. I definitely like that feature. As for the sound, I can not really comment on that. I listen to everything through my surround speakers. I have the TV sound turned off. I have heard reports of a light "hissing" sound but the few times I turn up my TV's volume I do not hear it. All in all I could not be happier with this television. Like my title says, It is the best thing I own (sorry car).

After careful and I mean a year of careful web searches on info on large widescreen t.v's in crt, plasma and lcd we took the plunge and with our hard earned dollars purchased a 42H83 the latest model offered by toshiba. I believe we made the correct choice. Sure its not 6 inches deep like plasma but 18 inches is pretty slim. The picture quality after our adjustments is as good or better than plasma or lcd. Watching standard broadcasts takes getting used to on a widescreen but no big deal. We have it hooked up to a DTS 5.1 receiver and a progressive scan DVD and watching widescreen movies is awesome.

Yes, Sony IS the best. All my home electronics are Sony, and this is about a good a TV as you can buy. But!, Only 2 days after watching my beautiful TV my picture went Black!! I called Sony and after a huge run around I was told someone will contact me to fix the TV within 48 hours. Well, It was getting close and Superbowl Sunday was 2 days away. So I had a local Sony authorized repair shop come and fix my TV (which they did after 2 hours). Now it's Saturday morning and I'm watching cartoons with my kids and ZAPPO!!! It goes black again. Try to find someone that can repair this TV on the Satuday before superbowl on that moments notice. Didn't happen. Well, anyway, no Superbowl party at my house. Now I sit here and write this on Monday night, 4 days after I called Sony (for the first time) and NOTHING!! No calls, no repairman, NOTHING.
Well, maybe not nothing. I've got my box tuned into a digital music station and I can listen to the nice surround sound system that comes with the set. And that big black omnipotent looking TV does look nice sitting by itself at the end of my livingroom. I'd just like to be able to watch something on it.
Well, I have the repair man that fixed it the first time coming over tomorrow. Wish me luck....

Look I know alot of people are saying why pay extra $$ for the Sony XBR, well the color and quality is 2nd to none. I've looked at all of them and the only one that comes close is the... Pioneer Elite series. I don't want to spend that kind of money to see what I can see on my Sony XBR.
I've owned this TV for a year and a half now and am still impressed with it. And no, I do not work for Sony or any of it's affiliates. Add Direct TV Satellite and your looking at the best picture the industry has to offer.
Trust Me!

Get the entire Screen you paid for with this SONY 4 by 3 TV set. The current television market is in a state of flux. We keep hearing about HDTV or High Definition Television but what does it all mean to you? High Definition Television refers to a complete product and/or system with the vertical display of 1080i (interlaced) or higher lines of resolution. The aspect ratio has to be capable of displaying a 16:9 image at the minimum resolution level. (All HDTV is in the 16:9 image). The current standard for color television in the United States is called NTSC (National Television System Committee). It is based on 525 horizontal scanning lines capable of displaying a 4:3 image. Many cable companies are resisting the change to HDTV and want to carry only the NTSC standard. The FCC wants the networks to start broadcasting HDTV but they are now also resisting because they can't settle on a conversion system. Currently satellites are carrying a few HDTV signals, but they are far and few in number and show little signs of increasing. Don't forget HDTV signals have to be converted so you can watch them. Then you have Television manufactures that are getting way ahead of themselves. Many are pushing the HDTV formatted screen on most of their projection sets, which is 16:9. If you are still watching cable TV, VHS videos and Laser Discs you are in big trouble. You are only going to get a picture in the center of your 16:9 set with big black bars on the sides. The best way to go is with a 4:3 projection set, like this one, which is going to give you the full frame. You are going to get the entire screen you paid for.

At first I thought the RCA D52W20 was an excellent purchase, but over the next few days of ownership I started to notice the many, many flaws that ultimately led to my returning this product after 20 days and buying a Samsung instead.

In order of importance, the significant problems with this set are:

1) The screen edge regions did not produce a sharp image.
2) The convergence needed to be adjusted twice daily as there was a marked drift on both the blue and red projectors.
3) There is only 1 (center) manual convergence point. Similar sets from Sony, Toshiba, etc give you 9 points to adjust.
4) Ghost streaks appeared to the right of bright objects in high contrast situations.

This being said, the RCA generally produced a "good" picture, and who really watches the edge of the screen anyway, right? ;-)

Bottom line - this set is available at a discount price, but it also delivers discount quality.

I bought the RCA D52W15, which is essentially the D52W20 without the screen shield. The price, quality of picture and overall style were the selling points for me. Normally I would buy a Sony or other Japanese brand well known for quality, but this set just looked better than any others I had seen. The cabinet styling has a very slim look. Many sets looked big and blocky from the front as well as the backs being made with particle-board where the RCA is build like the DPL receivers using light but sturdy looking plastic. I noticed also that every set with a screen shield (just about all) was reflecting the lights of the showroom where the RCA has the mat finish (D52W15 only) and barely reflected any room lighting giving a better picture without distraction. I don't have kids or pets living in the house so I'm not worried about the screen being damaged. I am very happy so far with the performance and look in my home. As of this writing I have had it a little over a month. I bought a service contract, With a large purchase like this and being an RCA, I don't want to take chances. I have experimented with the settings and have gotten satisfaction in viewing even poor quality video. I notice even on the same stations some shows look stunning while others look poor and out of focus, so it's not the TV. I am sure the more expensive HDTV sets have more features for setting the picture parameters, but I find this set has enough to get great viewing. I find the "Cinerama" screen format is best for most 3:4 ratio broadcasts where you want the whole screen filled with least distortion on the edges. I find when watching widescreen DVDs, to eliminate black bars still seen because of being filmed in a non standard aspect ratio, I use the "16:9 up/down" mode and center the picture and loose very little picture while filling my whole screen. I hate seeing black or grey bars. I have set the contrast down to about 35%, it will save on CRT phosphor wear and then juggling color and black levels it looks better to me than the factory settings that tend to be over saturated in most cases. The audio is good, but It doesn't matter, being I am hooked up to a good A/V receiver with surround sound. Even commercials sound and look good.

I just had my TV arrive last week. So far I couldn't be happier. The picture is ok in regular mode and the HDTV picture is outstanding. The look of the TV is very sleak and modern. It has some cool features like PIP and push button recording to your VCR (I have tivo so I wouldn't use that feature). All in all I'm very happy with the TV. Also, I paid just $1050 for it on sale at Circuit City. I think it was mismarked. Can't beat that deal! I just hope it proves to be reliable in the long term.

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 !