Toshiba 57H82 57 in. TV

Ok, this is my first big screen TV and I am totally hooked. I looked at a lot of rear projections tv's which are the cheapest way to get a big screen bang but most of them simply lacked a sharp picture like the plasma sets. I checked around on some of the videophile sites and this set had some very positive comments about the picture quality. Sure enough this set is crisp and clear, ok its no plasma TV but its better than my two regular 27" TV's. For that alone I recommend it highly. The second thing I like is the size...its immense! Third, the casters on the bottom work well even on carpet and are a must since this set is over 200lbs.

The features are very good and I have no complaints in that department (not having had another big screen TV I really cant compare). Sound is good but I will be hooking up a stereo and more speakers for the theater experience. One excellent feature is the different viewing modes, since this is a wide screen TV (rectangular/16:9) and most broadcasts are regular (squarish/4:3) you would normally have to tolerate bars on the sides of your picture, just like you see the bars on the top of the picture when you watch a DVD on a regular TV. The TV has four modes for stretching the picture to fit the whole screen. I especially like theater mode 1 which stretches the sides more than the center so the picture looks more natural than just a standard stretching of the picture to fit the screen(theater mode 3).

Anyway I have only had the set for three weeks. So far I have only three complaints: 1) the screen protector (essentially a clear plastic barrier) is highly reflective and if it is picking up a lot of glare on a sunny day you cant see parts of the picture. The second is that from certain angles the picture appears to darken and weaken. This is intentional since the TV is designed to be viewed looking at it from sitting level and from straight on. Still it holds its quality for like a 120 degree radius even though it can be seen from a broader set of angles, just the picture is not as bright or crisp. 3) The "universal" remote only covers VCR and Cable boxes. It should at least control DVD players too. But these problems, in my real world usage, are minor.

Purchasing Info: I bought this TV at best buy. The tech who sold it to me spent a lot of time and was quite knowledgeable. One thing he told me was not to buy the 65" tv since I told him I would mostly be viewing the set from about 15'. Too big he told me and I'd say he was probably right, this set is more than fine. Also make sure you have the measurement for where you want the set since, have I mentioned, this sucker is HUGE? It wont fit just anywhere. Finally, I bought the Purchase protection plan (PPP) since the tech SWORE it covered cleaning and alignments which the videophiles on the web insisted were necessary over time to maintain the best quality picture. Supposedly they are expensive (like over $100) so it seemed worth it at about $299 since its a 4 year plan and I was told I could get an in home alignment every 6 months if I wanted it. Plus everything else is also covered.

Finally Best Buy offers price protection for 30 days and wouldn't you know it last night I noticed it was on sale for $111 less! (So make sure if you get it from there you keep your eye on the web site and circulars for a coupla weeks) Guess who owes me $111?! Oh, and it came with a free toshiba DVD.

Price below is without PPP and with credit I will be getting from Best Buy.

UPDATE 5-28-03: Best Buy now selling for 1999. ANother 88 dollars back. You gotta love that!!