Gotta get a TV to complement my HDTivo! Help me decide!

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Ok, I have a big room 20'x30', sitting about 15' away from the TV, with lots of ambient light, not all of which I can easily control (i.e. two big skylights and a big octagonal window about 14 feet up.)

So I've preliminarily decided that LCD is the way to go, both because of brightness issues and reflective issues. My prior TV, a flat screen (not flat panel, regular tube) Sony tv had some serious reflection problems that makes me shy away from any kind of glass/reflective surface. Nice picture, when you could see it, though.

At any rate, we're goin' HD, and would like something in the 50" range. We're borrowing a 52" Samsung DLP and like the size and are loving the HD picture.

The current idea is to get the Sony KDL52XBR4. There's a nice Samsung in that range, and also highly rated, but with a reflective screen. What do you folks think? Assuming this is the TV to get, anybody have any ideas for saving money? Amazon.com has the TV for the best price (no shipping, no tax) but I'm always willing to get creative (say, open a charge somewhere, save 20%, or use coupon codes.)

We'll also be needing a receiver to drive the system, but earlier help on this matter has me centered on the Onkyo SR605. If anybody has any issues in that regard (wait for the new systems, or buy something else), now would be the time to tell me.

Thanks!

 

I do want to mount it to a wall, and hide the cables. The DLP occupies an alcove next to the fireplace that I would rather make into a reading nook.

 

Well, that's kind of why I wanted to get a feel for things around here. Over there, the sheer volume of information makes it hard to generalize without a few days worth of effort, kwim? It's a great resource, I've used it in the past, I appreciate the recco, and I will go there, but hopefully armed with a little "off the cuff" advice from 'round these parts first. Just to get my mind wrapped around the salient issues.

 

Well, my parents own a beach home, and that TV is in our wing of the house. It's February, and the beach isn't so inviting right now, so I'm borrowing it for the off season, with the intention that I could then wait until after the holiday price drops and then strike when the iron was hot. That sweet spot seems to be riiiiight about now.

We got the FIOS and the HD in September--I couldn't have HD and no TV to watch it on until now, now could I?

During the summer, however, that TV is just sheer overkill for the crappy analog Comcast they insist on subscribing to down there. Many a year I've wanted to drag down my DirecTV dish in a cement pot and let that TV do what it does best: show a really nice HD picture! It likes our house. It gets to have FIOS and TivoHD, which it's never had in all of its existence. It doesn't want to go back. It told me so. But back it goes.

 

Those are, indeed, the sets I'd narrowed the field down to in my travels through the reviews.

I wonder if the V3000 is worth doing when the XBR is down to $2999. I'm going to look into that. No need to overbuy just to have the right "line."

 

This is a good point. It's one of the reasons I'm steering well clear of the various no-name online electronics estores, though saving $600 is tantalizing. I do not trust them as far as I can throw them. And I'm a lawyer. I almost always manage to hold retailers to their warrantees just by virtue of knowing how to navigate the whole process, not being intimidated by confrontation, and knowing to what things I am entitled. But I don't want to have to fight if I can just get it at a reputable company and know that if something goes wrong, good customer service can be expected.

It's good to know newegg is not one with a very friendly policy--I would have considered them without too much reservation. I will look into Costco. Amazon.com has impressed me immensely in the past with their customer service. And Best Buy/Circuit City are no-brainers, but you just pay for the privilege, though when they have coupon codes and the like, you can really score.