I'm in the market for a new big-screen (projection or tube) TV, and I thought maybe HDTV-ready was the way to go. I've read the horror stories about the Wega, and I'm not so interested in those anymore! =)

But, awhile ago, there was a small consensus that HDTV wasn't ready yet. Has this changed? Should I be looking for a $5000+ HDTV? Or can I save a bunch of dough for a nice, non-ready screen?

What are the penalties, too? When all the TV networks upgarde to digital by 2006, I assume there will be converters available for those without HDTV-ready sets?

Basically, I'd like to hear you experts talk with me about this. I'm looking for a new set, and I'm wondering if HDTV-ready is important, or if it is still imperfect. Besides, I'd REALLY like to go for the 16:9 aspect, but I ain't got a lot of $$$.

If it isn't ready yet, then who out there loves their bigscreen? It would be really easy to convince my wife of $2000, but any more is pushing it.

Thanks for any/all the help!!

*Phil

I'm not one of the experts, but I wouldn't waste my money on one of the HDTV Ready sets, or the $2000 digital sets that don't look much better then a good normal 36" set. If you have money to burn spend the 6k on a decent HDTV, otherwise wait 2 years until the prices and standards fall further into place.

I accidently stumbled upon an HDTV reciever while looking to upgrade my DSS system to Dolby Digital. I bought the RCA DTC-100 and it recieves all the terrestrial digital & HDTV broadcasts, the normal broadcast & the DTV broadcasts. I'm told it does analog cable as well, but I haven't tried that.

I'm using it with a 3-4 year old toshiba 32" via S-video cable. Although it's downconverted for my old TV (better than it's ever looked) it looks just about as good as those $2000 digital TV's do in the showrooms. No it doesn't compare to the Real HDTV monitors, but at least I get to view more channels and in 16:9 wide screen format and Dolby Digital too.

Funny thing is everywhere I went that sold these set top boxes told me that they wouldn't work with a normal TV and they just wanted to sell me a new TV. The few that admited that it would work told me that it wouldn't do 16:9 wide screen on my TV.

Anyway take a look for yourself here. [Link: rca.com]

check out the princeton graphics af3.ohd at [Link: princetongraphics.com] bigger than wega half the cost, built in line doubler for ntsc and svideo . $4100 msrp

Philip,
You say that you are in the market for a new set... well, how long did your last set last?? is it still working?? most consumers keep their tv sets (tube or projection) for an average of TEN years!!!
Oh, by the way... stop going to Best Buy and Circuit City to talk about HD-upgradable sets.. they don't know crap. The Sony Wega sets are not HD ready. They cannot receive a digital signal whatsoever. Only the 34" widescreen set is HD (watch J Leno with his pop-up set).
HD set are becoming more and more inexpensive nowadays.. you can get yourself a 40" Toshiba HD-upgradeable projection set for a mere 2500! Or a 46" Mitsu set for 3000. If ya think about it.. if you have the tv for 10 years.. 300bucks a year??
If you are in a market for a nice big widescreen set with the most amazing picture available... do consider an HD upgradeable projection set...
Philip.. if ya have any questions.. please feel free to email me...

John

Phillip,

I am one of the experts. Check out our webpage. It will tell you everything you need to know about HDTV. We don't sell over the net, so I'm not trying to sell you anything. If you haven't seen HD, make sure you see it at a real A/V store, not Circuit or Best Buy. I'm assuming that's where Jeff saw one if he says it's not much better. It is DRAMATICALLY better. Anyway, let me know what you think about our site.

http://www.homedia.com

Greg

Greg & John,

I know you guys are the pros and yes you are correct, I have visited the Circuit City & they're equals where I live. I've also, visited the High end shops as well and I have to agree the Real HDTV monitors smoke anything else available.

I think if your going to buy at this time you should go all the way with the 3 to 6k HDTV monitors and not bother with these halfway sets that's all. I just don't know why anyone would wan't to pay 2 to 3k for a Digital set that doesn't display the 16:9 without bars etc.

For those of of us that are not pros it is very difficult at this time, because there are so many different versions of resolutions, screen sizes, connectors, and some sets have more choices available then others. I know some of you guys trade your stuff in everytime the next best thing comes out, but most of us do want something that we can be satisfied with somewhere between the 3-10 year range.

I for one am watching and waiting and I will buy one of those HDTV monitors sometime between now and 2 years.

jeff

Greg,

I like the site - thanks for the info. I'm not sure why it's slow though, I running DSL and your graphics are comming accross pretty slow.

jeff

I can vouch for Greg being one of the experts. They don't sell over the net, but they have sold me a ton of stuff since I live nearby. Great people, great advice, easy to work with.
With regard to slow web sites, here's a cool link www.gifwizard.com. They have a free online web site analyzer that measure the efficiency of your site. Pretty cool tool.