SimonJT Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 (edited) Hi guys.... Im after an opinion.... Ive seen both the Hitachi 50" (1920x1080i) and Sony W series 40" (1920x1080p)..... Is it worth sacrificing the screen area for the 'p' over the 'i'? The sony comes with the PS3, so i can watch bluray etc..., but i like the fact i can rip DVDs to my NAS DVD library and watch from there. Anyway, which would you choose? Edit: I forgot to say they are both around the $2700-3000 region rrp Edited January 14, 2008 by SimonJT
OzyDave Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Hi guys....Im after an opinion.... Ive seen both the Hitachi 50" (1920x1080i) and Sony W series 40" (1920x1080p)..... Is it worth sacrificing the screen area for the 'p' over the 'i'? The sony comes with the PS3, so i can watch bluray etc..., but i like the fact i can rip DVDs to my NAS DVD library and watch from there. Anyway, which would you choose? Edit: I forgot to say they are both around the $2700-3000 region rrp If the picture quality was equal just comparing the tvs to each other, I would definitely go for the 50". I have seen 1050i and 1050p on my tv and I'd be a liar if I said I could see the difference. However, I also have a PS3 and I think it is a great machine. If 40" was sufficient (based on viewing distance and room size) I would probably go for that package. I am running the PS3 on a 60" Sony SXRD and the games are unbelievably good.
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 Well, I had the same question in my mind a few weeks ago and i went with the hitachi Hitachi can be had for $2500 - comes with a free GPS or a free dvd video camera sony can be had for $2300 (cost price for HN is $1950 or there abouts)
hobotivo Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 After reading the huge thread on the Hitachi on this site I decided that i or p didn't matter and bought the Hitachi because it had everything I wanted. I couldn't be happier! Cheers Ron
SimonJT Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 I measured the viewing distance, and from the front of the telly to the middle sitting position is about 2.3m. the lounge room (although open plan) is quite small.... roughle 3-3.5 x 3-3.5 m or something off the top of my head.... I have not seen the 2 in the same room.... also, i have only seen the sony playing a blu ray, and the hitachi playing HD TV. so its a hard comparison.... what made you decide deeps?
hobotivo Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 also, i have only seen the sony playing a blu ray, and the hitachi playing HD TV. so its a hard comparison.... I've seen the Hitachi playing Blu Ray (in store, I don't have one yet) and it looked great. There were no 50" plasmas that looked better (including Pioneer) and the price was phenomenal, so I went for it. I needed 50" and there were none that I could afford that even came close to the Hitachi. Cheers Ron
SimonJT Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 fair enough... i thought the picture quality of the hitachi was awesome for tv..... i guess the question is, do i need 50" or 40" for my space....? and will i benefit from the p over the i?
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 what made you decide deeps? A number of factors really. Everyone has a 32"-42" plasma, I wanted mine to 'different'. 50" is noticeably larger than 42" Once tuned correctly, There was little, if any pq difference between the two. Sure, the Sony was brighter, but who wants things THAT bright. I love my sport, and even on my mates Sony XBR 48" there was noticeable (albeit slight) motion blur. This was not at all noticeable on the Hitachi. Having owned my Hitachi for around 2 weeks now, would I change my mind? no I certainly wouldn't. Everyone that has seen it so far has been well and truly amazed by the PQ. Playing a normal DVD through it is pretty awesome quality in itself, and even divx doesnt' look too bad. The colours are very realistic on it, I love it. Note that most stores seem to have it calibrated poorly, and only Rick Hart let me actually adjust the settings to my liking. The swivel function is handy, but it is good to amaze the guests
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 fair enough... i thought the picture quality of the hitachi was awesome for tv.....i guess the question is, do i need 50" or 40" for my space....? and will i benefit from the p over the i? you wont notice p over i at all from what i've read and from what ive seen so far
SimonJT Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 thanks for the reply deeps.... how far is your viewing distance? what did you need to do to calibrate it?
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 Well at HN the pq looked pretty bad. Went to rick hart and same deal. I then looked at the settings and contrast and brightness were both up on max and things like that when i got mine out of the box, it was near perfect already. So just adjust those settings to what you like, and voila, amazing
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 oh, and viewing distance is something like 2.5m at the moment, but it will be 3m very soon
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 the 2.5m was an estimate, I'll double check for you when i get home.
SimonJT Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 i guess what im asking, is the tv too big for that distance/viewing area?
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 My distance isn't over3m at this stage, so its between 2.5-3m and no, its definately not too big. At first i was like wow this thing is huge. I wouldn't go over the 50" size for that room thoguh get a big box and cut out a piece of cardboard that size, stick it where you plan on putting the tv, and you can see for yourself
SimonJT Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 ok...just went to harvey norman... they didnt have the sony 40" W series, only the XBR......(the salesman said that the sony are LCD...i didnt know that...i assumed they were plasma.) anyway... got talking about the hitachi...they had the red bull air race hitachi promo dvd playing.... i couldnt flaw the picture.... i mentioned the price that ron got for it, and he went away to see what he could do.... he came back and said he could drop it by $50..... can you believe it.... jerk hehe... so that made it $2949......
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 go to JB Hi-Fi they will get close to it. Then take that price, and go to Rick Hart, they will match it OR PM Ron for a receipt, take it straight to Rick Hart
SimonJT Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 i already got the receipt from ron :-)ill try and get to JB with it this afternoon. Whats Rick Hart?
monkeymajik Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 2.5m is definitely not too close for a 50"
hobotivo Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 (edited) 2.5m is definitely not too close for a 50" Agreed, we'd be about 2.5M and it's perfect. I wanted a 60" really, but my wife put her foot down and said no more than 50" in our room size. But she's pretty understanding about my techo purchases so I shouldn't complain... "You earn it, you spend it" she says. Pretty good wife really I was in JB's Woden at lunch and they had a 60" LG (ex display I think) for $3,900 plus change which is a pretty good price, and I was tempted but it was only 1366x766 (I think) and at our viewing distance I think the comparatively big fat pixels would have been too obvious. Wife was probably right! Cheers Ron Edited January 15, 2008 by hobotivo
SimonJT Posted January 15, 2008 Author Posted January 15, 2008 Dropped into JB on the way home.... didnt mention Rons price as they didnt have any in stock, and its a 3 week wait til they come in.....but they gave me $2500 straight up..... if only they had them in stock..... that was without extra warranty though.... its like $150 for LCD and $400 for plasma.....not sure why.... They had the lower spec 50" (cant remember the model number).... i didnt think it played normal TV very well.
deeps Posted January 15, 2008 Posted January 15, 2008 Go back to HN and tell them the price, i'm pretty sure they do price matcH?
SimonJT Posted January 16, 2008 Author Posted January 16, 2008 Coolio... will do.... i might try a different HN though... Will have to wait til thursday night shopping..... thanks for all the advise guys....
SimonJT Posted January 17, 2008 Author Posted January 17, 2008 ok.... went to HN last night.... Not so good... i showed rons receipt and a quote for $2500 I got from JB..... Basically he said that they could get no where near that......and to get it from JB. back to the drawing boards......
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