TV Reviews

Great picture until it went black after 2 years. Looked inside and found it cheaply manufactured. The tag inside read Made in Tijuana, Mexico. That old sucking sound coming back to haunt us.
That's all I have to say

the picture on this tv is fabulous, especially if you use it for air reception rather than cable. the color is perfect too, i use it as a standard for judging the color on my other sets.

HOWEVER--as mentioned by other reviewers, the sound volume is not as great. i think the problem is that the sound is not stereo. STILL GREAT for kitchen or bedside use.

This is one of the finest 'nine-inch' TVs from Sony. All Sony's 9inch TV sets have very sharp and crisp images. Sony's Dynamic Picture Processor and Automatic White Balance increases picture fidelity. However, the fact alone that this is a 9" inch set means that the electron gun has a very short distance to aim and deliver a precise image against the phosphor screen. The closer the electron gun is to the back of the tube's screen almost always guarantees a good picture. This picture is exceptionally crisp and sharp resulting in incredible fidelity.

After I connected my Toshiba CZ27V51 27" to my stereo and to my Toshiba 2109 DVD player with monster cable (S-video), I watched The Negotiator... I felt like I was in a theatre. Tempted to stay up and watch some other DVD's, I went to sleep happy, I had to work the next morning. In short, this is a great buy at a very reasonable price. I've heard a lot of positive things about Toshiba, so I went with it and I'm glad I did. This model has sharp picture and the color quality is very lively. I particularly like the back-lit buttons on the remote. The only thing was that the batteries that Toshiba included were dead. Nonetheless, this Toshiba Color Television is an excellent buy.

I chose this TV over the standard Sony 27" Trinitron because of all the nice extras: still frame PIP, S-Video input, larger, more powerful speakers, simulated surround sound (that actually works very well), a better universal remote, and perhaps most important, automatic closed-captioning when the mute is activated. Being a consumer of multiple media types (Internet, CD music, and television), the automatic closed captioning allows me to follow what's going on television, without interfering with my music and internet browsing experience. There's one minor drawback: this TV is really meant to be viewed straight-on. Unlike the Sony, which has a vertically flat screen, the Toshiba screen is not flat. When viewed at more than a 40 degree angle, there is a very slight blur at the corners (like older TV sets). But that shouldn't be applicable for most people who place their couches directly opposite of their televisions anyway. The Surround Sound was developed by a Massachusetts firm, by the way (Cambridge Soundworks, I think). And Toshiba sets are nortorious for longevity. I still have a 1985 13" flatscreen Blackstripe TV is perfect working condition. Highly recommended for busy people who appreciate big sound when they want it.

If you own a DVD player this TV is perfect for you. FORGET the S-Video hookups! Save that for your satellite! The real beauty of this set are the COMPONENT VIDEO hookups for your DVD. This option gives you superior quality video from your DVD when compared to the old S-Video plug!It is important to understand this. This is the only set in this size that I am aware of offering them. Leave the S-Video input to those poor saps who bought an inferior DVD without this option. Nuff said?

Good picture, sound, ez setup.
Why I gave only 4 stars
1. It takes some seconds to switch the channels
2. Remote not easy to operate
3. The front speaker part is not sturdy.
4. Not picking up all the channels which my regular TV used to pick.
Over all nice deal. I got it from Circuit city for $449
Hey who can complain when you get a "HDTV" for under 500 bucks.

Didn't buy this as a main TV, so only needed basic hook-ups. Very pleased with what I got for the money, like the design and "wheelable" weight, and very happy how well it works with rabbit ears.

Once you go HDTV you can never go back. It's true. And this HDTV is an excellent start into the world of high-end video. You could consider this the poor-man's HDTV.

Why buy this TV? Well for the price, you can't beat it-a typical 27-inch flatscreen by Sony or Panasonic will cost you ... What do I get for that extra [money]? A world of difference. Quality that is simply mesmerizing.

The major benefit of going this route is progressive scan mode for game consoles (Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube); DVD players; and HD cable. You get only one HD input, but that's easily solved by getting the JVC component switcher..., which gives you the option of inputing 3 progressive enabled components into the HD input on the TV. And you also get a VGA input (same as on a computer monitor)-so yes, you can run your Sega Dreamcast or other VGA enabled components into this.

All I can say is that I am very happy with this purchase. An excellent upgrade for a decent cost (once you factor in cable upgrades, extended warranty, and the switch box). Plus it doesn't have the bulk of those large projection-based HDTVs (only weighs 100 lbs.)

At just 2 years after purchase this TV stopped responding to the remote control. An authorized Philips service center informed me that the computer chips were cracked and would cost more to replace than the TV was worth; Philips said it was out of the 90 day warranty, so I would have to pay all costs. The TV is useless without the remote. Since this TV has never been dropped or damaged, the defective chips must have been there since the beginning and deteriorated with use over time. I would not buy another Philips product.

I'd been eyeing this TV as a bedroom TV because of it's great looks. The light up "feet" and clock are eye catching but once I brought it home, I found that the clock didn't work. This item is now out of production so I couldn't find a replacement for it.

Attractive and classy television with a clear picture and easy operation. The lighted feet and clock face are a nice touch. Has the neat feature of allowing you to set the alarm to wake up to any tv channel you set or to three different programmed sounds. Good sound quality with the speakers located on the front sides of the TV, it projects the sound around the room and towards the viewers unlike tvs that have the poorly designed speakers just on the sides. If looks matter to you buy this tv -it looks great. Not compromising performance for them here. Great for bedrooms.

Inside of a year I had to have this TV repaired three times. I had the TV replaced based on the lemon law. I was givien the newer model, the KP43-T90. Now it too has broken. I don't mean that it doesn't work correctly. I mean that it doesn't work, period. The TV repair shop has now had it for two weeks and so far they don't know what other circuit to replace. Looks like I'm stuck with another lemon.

I've always held Sony up on a pedestal in the world of electronics so I thought buying the Sony KP43T75 would have been a great choice. The picture quality in the sales store seemed to be just as vibrant and brilliant as the Tube televisions. It was just the right size for my apartment with the minimum 5ft viewing distance and 130 degree vertical viewing angle. So I bought it. From the day I hooked this TV up I've had nothing but problems with it. I have time warner digital cable and when ever I wanted to watch HBO I would get this weird rolling of colors on my screen that would come and go sparatically. I called Time warner and they sent someone out that said nothing was wrong with the cable. I then called Sony. Sony sent out a technician who put a new resistor in the TV and said that would fix it. Nope. Three weeks later the Sony tech returned to replace the entire board in the TV. That fixed the color rolling problem but now the TV had a convergence problem were it would rapidly jump in and out of convergence making it impossible to watch anything. Two weeks later the Sony tech came out again with another replacement board. This has seemed to correct the problems mentioned above but the Sony tech did not completely go through and set the TV up correctly and now my picture is not centered and I have about 1 inch of black(no picture) along the left side of the screen. The Sony tech said it would be another week before he could be out to fix it. Also during this entire time when the TV is working alright the convergence was never to my satisfactory. It would look good for about two days after the Sony tech came out and adjusted it then it would start getting worse after that, no matter how many times I pressed the flash focus button. I guess this is expected though with any projection TV. From the other reviews that I've read it seems that I may have gotten a lemon of a TV. I just thought this might help someone else before they bought this TV. If your a person that expects perfect picture quality then this is not the TV for you. Get a Wega or atleast a tube television. I don't think that picture quality should have to suffer this much to get a larger screen size. It's hard to rate this TV since I think that my problems may have been an isolated incident. I would give it 3.5 stars if it worked, but for my TV, I'll have to give it 1.5 stars.

i got this tv as an open box from circuit city, and it has been great since the day i got it. The tv is very big but takes up less space than a 36in tv. The qualtiy is very good. Exceptional with dvds and video games. A must buy unless you wanna wait for some money for a plasma.

This is my first review on Amazon, although I have been referring to them for years. After going through the pains of purchasing, then returning this television, this is my act of altruism towards you, my anonymous friend. Does it really deserve only one star? No, that was just to get your attention. So then... this TV did have a few pros:
1. Clean design, especially the front.
2. It makes a cool "Mario Brothers" sound effect when you turn it off or on.
3. When a progressive-scan DVD player is hooked up to it with component cables, the picture is dyn-o-mite.
4. That's about it.
Now for the cons:
1. You may have seen references to the 'purple line' on the screen... it is true, especially when viewing movies in a darkened room. You can't ignore it... it's about 3-4 wide, it migrates, sometimes there are even two of them. Reason enough to return it right there.
2. 4:3 viewing mode. A lot of options to choose from, and they all suck.
3. X-Box compatability. I'm not a very technically-savvy guy, but I can hook things up... I never was able to get a satisfactory image, even with the X-Box High-Definition pack.
I nearly ruptured myself getting this thing back to Circuit City, where I exchanged it for the infinitely superior Sony 30" FD Trinitron® WEGA® HDTV Monitor (Brand/Model: SON KV30HS420). To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, it's so choice, I highly recommended it. And it was exactly the same price! Now, I implore you - go forth armed with this knowledge and the world will be your oyster.
Your fellow consumer,
Kenneth Talmadge Stacks

I'm not sure if anyone responded to Martin Crull's comments about this set having a blurry picture from a progressive scan DVD player. He wrote he hoped he wasn't doing anything wrong. Well it seems he was. He wrote that he used composite video cables. Wrong. Use good quality COMPONENT video cables from the component (or progressive) DVD output to the TV's component input. Make sure the DVD player is set to progressive output, AND for a 16x9 set. With a few picture setting tweaks, you should have an exceptional picture.

I would be extremely careful buying a large screen TV from Amazon.com. They have a no return policy on TV's larger than 27" that I was not made aware of upon purchase of the product. I received the television and realized after I had signed for delivery that there was some cosmetic damage to the TV's cabinet. I contacted Amazon.com the next day (which you can not do by phone; only e-mail) and was then alerted to this policy. They refused to provide me with a replacement TV.

The customer service was less than impressive and I would recommend buying this product from Circuit City or some other company that will guarantee the product and provide reasonable customer service. If you insist on purchasing from Amazon.com, I recommend you inspect the set thoroughly before signing for delivery. This is important b/c it is your only chance to refuse the product and Amazon.com will not make you aware of this.

All that said, it is a great HDTV monitor for the price point. It is a good anchor to a starter home theater setup. It displays progressive scan and HDTV signals very well. One thing to consider is that the set does not allow you to scale the aspect ratio for any of the HDTV inputs as many Sony sets do. This means that a full screen DVD will be stretched by the TV.

I would recommend this set for anyone looking to enter the world of HDTV at the sub $1000 price point. However, I would strongly urge you to consider buying from a electronics only dealer such as Best Buy, Circuit City, or Tweeter as Amazon.com can not match their level of customer service in this arena.

I purchased this set and was extremely happy with the picture quality, brightness and features. However, after setting it up, I found that if there is any ambient light source directly in line with the set and the viewer (in our case an overhead living room light), there was a large white glare in the center-top of the screen.

This glare was so pronounced that it made viewing in a non-dark room unacceptable.

I went to the local electronics dealer with a flashlight and did some experimenting with different light sources on different sets. I found that all rear projection sets have this glare to some degree or another (there was some speculation on the electronics' rep's part that this is caused by back scattering reflection from the lenses in front of the projectors), but the 42H83 was easily 10 - 20 times worse than any other set.

To see the problem, stand in front of the set with a standard flashlight and shine it directly at the screen. Start in the lower left corner, and sweep the flashlight to the right, then up, etc... - you'll find one spot (about 1 foot by 5 or 6 inches) where the reflection from the flashlight is significantly brighter than anywhere else on the screen.

If your home theater room has no overhead lighting in line with the viewer and the screen, then this set is fine - but in the case of an overhead ceiling fan light, you might be dissapointed.

I called Toshiba technical support and asked about this - the rep denied that a problem existed, and that if there were manufacturing defects, the warranty would cover the problem. I asked about design deffects, and he pretty much said that was my problem not theirs.

Needless to say, I returned the set immediately - I think it says a lot when a company is not willing to stand behind their product, even if it has a design defect...

I hate to knock a product that has such fantastic features/price point, etc... but this one design problem, at least in my living room, was a deal killer.

After a brief but intense period of widescreen HDTV comparison and study, we picked the Toshiba 42H83 rear projection HDTV (HD-ready). Tons of features, lots of inputs (including a DVI input) and it looks great. On the showroom floor, its picture outshone many other tv's two or three times its price, very bright, detailed, intense colors. The 42H83 is very compact depth-wise, and weighs only 130 pounds - pretty amazing. I have a small viewing room, and went with the 42" (once it was placed in the room, it was clear 42" was plenty, almost too big). GREAT price, got a 10% discount, with the money left over (plus a little extra) we also grabbed the new Samsung DVD player with DVI 1080i output.

Got it home and fired it up. I believe (if I read the manual correctly) that the 42H83 upconverts regular signals (S-video, etc.) to at least 540 lpi (?) Scan lines are non-existent, even on regular broadcast/cable signals. Picture is brighter and has more accurate color than my old Panasonic Superflat CRT. The picture using the Samsung DVD with DVI connection is like looking at a Kodachrome slide - no scan lines whatsoever. The Samsung HD931 upconverts DVD to 1080 lines interlaced and the picture and color are absolutely stunning.

The 42H83 has different screen modes to allow widescreen viewing of 4:3 signals. One in particular stretches the sides of the image but leaves the center relatively unmodified. This provides for a pleasing widescreen view of non-HD signals, and the effect is more or less transparent - nice. Also featured are multiple Picture-in-Picture modes, which go far beyond the small image in the corner that you might be familiar with.

Due to the built-in resolution, any flaws or artifacts in the signal will be magnified; it is easy to tell which cable channels are strong and clean, and which are not. Plenty of rear inputs, including two sets of component, two S-video, coax, etc., as well as DVI input (DVI is the ultimate input for HDTV signals - requires a very expensive computer cable). Also has front panel S-video input set for easy connection of your camcorder or console video game box.

This TV has scads of features that I won't try to recall at the moment, but it is a complete package. I haven't delved completely into fine-tuning the picture yet, but the adjustment menus provide plenty of tweaking if that is desired. The set also features Touch Focus which automatically adjusts the focus quickly and accurately with the push of a single button - for most folks, this handy feature is all that is needed to obtain a good, sharp picture. The 42H83 has a very full-featured and advanced sound system, although I've bypassed it altogether to use my home theater sound setup, so I can't describe here how it actually works.

Reservations: By using the 9 point manual convergence, color bleed can be minimized to a large extent, but there seem to be some types of signals where it isn't completely tuned out (although it comes very close). Some DVD's have a lot of dark scenes, which do not come out pure black, but have a dark grayish tinge - although this may be particular to RPTV's. These might also be remedied by going deeper into the picture settings. Much of it depends, of course, on the quality of the signal... One last nit-pick - we've had some experience with occasional momentary signal "dropouts" using the rear S-video input - it's possible these are due to a complex home theater switching system I'm using, but time will tell on that one.

But I'm being a perfectionist here - the picture is truly amazing for a RPTV. We are very happy so far with the 42H83 (we hope we don't have any reliability problems, but so far so good).. Huge amount of features, small footprint, gorgeous picture, and a truly reasonable price. We can't wait until ESPN HD comes to our area.
Update: 1 month later of steady use, and no quality or reliability problems. Still churns out a big, beautiful widescreen picture - Monday night football is truly satisfying and DVD's are like going to the theatre without getting gum stuck to your shoes. Forgot to mention - we were a little shocked to realize this set was "Made in the USA." Nice surprise these days.

Thanks in great part to the helpful other reviewers on this site, we selected this set after about a year of research on HD-ready tv's. Prior to checking this out, I'd looked mostly at flat-screen 36-40" CRT's, but since most of the best-reviewed were Sony, and I've had bad recent experience with Sony electronics (an expensive 5-disc DVD player that completely died 1 month after the 1-year warranty expired...which I'm reading is all too typical these days), I decided to seriously consider alternatives.

My spouse & I decided impulsively to toss our Christmas lists out the door last December and instead splurge on a big-screen tv as a mutual gift to each other; it was to replace our 10-year-old 27" stereo Zenith CRT. Having the reviews/specs in my head for the few models I'd narrowed to, we went to the showroom of a large local retailer who had dozens of brands and models so we could compare, and yes, as another reviewer noted, this Toshiba had the clearest, sharpest picture of any other RPTV's its size. Though a bit concerned about the "black" issues of RP's that others have commented on, we just couldn't overlook the value for the price. Plus, we have a very small space -- barely 12 feet from one wall to the other in the viewing area we favored -- and the narrow depth of RP's meant we could get a 42" screen where with a CRT we'd probably have to go smaller. (But it's true; there is a slight graying of the blacks, evident mostly on non-HD signals and from our PS2 when playing DVDs over its standard cables. My spouse doesn't notice it.)

Right out of the box, we thought the picture looked great. But, as another reviewer noted, it looked even better after playing with the foolishly-easy menus. And it had stunning sound; crisp in the upper ranges (i.e. dialogue), solid midrange, and a rather surprisingly impressive bass. We've since hooked it up through a new A/V receiver (Yamaha HTR-5650 -- very nice also, although a bit more brilliant & less mid-rangey than I'm used to), and are even happier.

Pleasing remote, with larger, intuitively-grouped buttons, backlit.

As one of the other reviewers mentioned, there are several screen appearance settings, and I agree: The one that stretches the edges of non-HD images does so imperceptibly. The tv knows when you switch to an HD station, and adjusts accordingly, so we leave it on that setting at all times. Wonderful.

As for the glare that the disgruntled reviewer mentioned: We hate overhead lighting, especially in our viewing room, so we can't comment on that. We have ambient, 40W incandescent lamps, one stationed above-right and others to the sides of the room. (If you have overhead lighting, get a dimmer on the light and maybe that would solve the problem, if there is one. Who wants to watch TV or a movie while there's an overhead light on, anyway? :-)

There are tons of hookups on the back of the set, so if we wanted to, we could hook VCR, DVD, PS2, cable, etc. directly to the tv instead of going through the A/V receiver. We just ordered a Toshiba progressive-scan DVD player (& of course component cables) from Amazon today, and can't wait to get it & hook it up. (We've been using our PS2 to play DVDs ever since our Sony DVD player died, and have been waiting for progressive-scans to come down in price before replacing it.)

And just wait 'til you see HD on this set! Our local cable company provides an HD receiver & the DVI cables "free" (well, their usurious monthly fees subsidize that), and we get several channels in HD. Jaw-dropping clarity. We'll even watch shows we have no interest in just to be transfixed by the amazing picture, and this unit with its great price is a fantastic, value-crammed way to experience HD.

Footnote: As mentioned before, this unit can shine as a stand-alone, but we have it hooked into a home-theatre setup that we've built over the years, that includes the Yamaha HTR-5650 (which replaced an older Pioneer A/V), a DCM center speaker, 5-1/2" Advent front speakers, Sony 5-1/2" rear speakers, and a Sony SAWM500 subwoofer (overkill for our little room, but the smaller one was out of stock so we got a discount...being a Sony we are nervous whether it will last, because we love it -- rounded, customizable sound, great features including a 20Hz basement, good price).

One little watchout re the universal remote: Our cable box is labeled a "Pace" brand, which the Toshiba owner manual doesn't show as a programming option. Closer scrutiny of the back of the box showed it was made by Pioneer, so I programmed the Toshiba remote for the Pioneer setting that successfully turned on/off the box. Later we discovered it somehow squirrels the cable box when using certain commands, so that the standard cable picture was loused up, & HD was completely deactivated. (To correct, we'd have to disconnect the cable box from its power supply to reset it.) We've never had the problem again once we stopped using the Toshiba remote to control any cable-box functions on this hybrid, private-label box.

Toshiba Projection TVs are the worst in the market. And when calling their customer service, forget it. They are just too ignorant and clueless as to how to resolve any problem.

After the 6 month of possession, this TV went down miserably. Oneday, while I was watching the tv, I heard the 'pop' noise from the speaker and the picture went out. After a second or two, when the picture finally came back on, I noticed the semi-transparent vertical streaks across the screen. The artifact was like watching the tv through a screen door. The picture still goes out time to time but the vertical streaks remain the same.

Toshiba tried to have someone come out to repair the tv for 3 month without success (couldn't find a repair shop near by Topeka, KS). After I filed the complaint to AG's office and BBB, Toshiba finally decide to give me a refund but it will take another 4 more weeks.

When this tv works, it works great but now I have serious doubt about this product and Toshiba's customer service (one of the worst I've ever had). I just hope that nobody has to go through what I have been going through for the past 3 months.

This is a 2 year old model and the new model is $[money]less and is alot better. Model number on the new one is 65HX81, it is now called the cinema series, and it is toshibas top of the line. I own the 50 inch model and it is awesome. If you buy one, make sure you buy it from a dealer with ISF certification, that is needed to calibrate the set after a burn in time of 3 months. It is usually around $[money], but if the person you buy it from has the certification and the equipment, it might be free. Mine was. All projection tvs need to be calibrated after burn in, then every 1-2 years. Picture quality is greatly increased, and so is tv life. Only ISF trained people with the proper equipment can do this. ISF.com.

I purchased this product from Costco. It was borken the third days. I called two of their service centers to look at it. Both recommend me to exchange for a new one. Since I have to pay the delivery (Costco doesn't delivery big item TV), I called Toshiba customer support and try to get the refund for the delivery. They just refused and their attitude was very bad. Since I got a defective product up front and I just want to exchange for the same product, it is fair to ask for refund for the delivery. Toshiba support doesn't want to even accommendate this. It is very bad customer relationship management and their attitude is just arrogant. I won't recommend this product based on my experience with both the product and its services.

They may mention 16:9, but it's actually a 4:3 set that can play 16:9 on it. Heck my 32 inch tube can do that. I can't stand when they put deceptive information on product descriptions.

We had reservations about the purchase of so complicated a product by E-mail. On arrival our fears seemed justified, the picture was rotated about 15 deg. Several calls were required to Toshiba before a local service center could be found that would perform warranty work on a set not purchased at their facility. One agreed but said they couldn't come for three weeks!? Finally, we located one that came in two days. The serviceman aligned everything; color, symmetry, focus, etc. It made a tremendous difference in the picture. Actually, we were fortunate that the set required adjustment. This procedure should be part of the delivery of every television set!! Sound is good for built-in speakers but no match for the clean, transparent sound of a good quality component system. (Bose for example.) Reliability remains to be seen, but initial picture quality is so good, (at least the equal of anything, regardless of brand, we have seen at shops and friends,) that the several anxious days we spent wondering if we had made an expensive mistake, now seems worth it!

I previously purchased a VisionTek Ti500 for $400 when it first came out.

Within a few months, the fan failed and the card overheated. Rather then send me an RMA, they sent me a new fan without any instructions on how to replace it - it was no straightforward and the install chipped a ceramic on the board.

They replaced it with another card whose heatsink simply fell off of the card.

When I requested an RMA, they said that VisionTek had gone bankrupt and that they were the new VisionTek who was not required to honor the warranty. They offered me an upgrade option with several cards - all but one resulted in a higher price for the upgrade then to buy the card at Best Buy.

I offered them to exchange me their lowest-priced upgrade card, which would have cost me $40 (mind you, my original card was $400), or I would escalate and FedEx the company CEO at the following address:

Hartford Computer group, 1610 Colonial Parkway, Inverness, IL 60067

and post my experience on online store reviews.

They failed to respond in 2 days, so here is the result.

Please note that I am neither advising or dissuading anyone from buying their cards, but simply posting a truthful and unbiased account of my experience with VisionTek.

I've been a consistent ATI graphics card user from "way back", since the old ISA based VGA Wonder and Graphics Ultra Pro days, circa 1988. ATI has never let me down in reliability, compatibility, and sheer performance. ATI's video chipsets always seem to be the best and most stable performers on the market. I purchased the Radeon 9800 Pro card as a replacement to a newly purchased Radeon 9700 Pro, which is now running top notch in my wife's Athlon 64 3200+ machine. The Radeon 9800 Pro's AGP 8x interface and Direct 9.0 compatibility makes this graphics card a top-notch graphics and gaming performer. The card has its own power plug instead of drawing power from the AGP slot, the first such setup I've seen. When I saw that, I knew I was on to something special in performance. The graphics board is an outstanding performer and the drivers seem compatible with all my software under Win 2000. MPEGS, streaming video, web browsing, scanning and modifying JPEGS, and games just seem to fly around the screen. I plan to buy a 3-D game soon and check out that aspect of the card's performance. I did have some problems loading ATI's Linux Redhat drivers for the card. Redhat natively sees the card as something entirely different (VESA graphics card, 128 Mb). But the card works just fine in Linux, in spite of not having dedicated drivers, so it's not a big deal to me right now.

Its amazing how the nvidia fans jump on here and knock the Radeon Series. I bought this card when it first came out. Smokes nvidia in image quality, and yes I tried the 5900 Ultra, the FX cards are no more than a hopped up GF 4 Ti with DX 9 capabilities..the funny thing is, Half Life 2 wont be able to use AA and AF with the FX line....LOL. Get a grip. Radeon = Mature Adults that like great picture quality. Nvidia = Kids that like the little butterfly on nvidias web site. 8)