Are Rear Projection HDTVs the best value?

[JerryDelColliano]

Plasma and LCDs are more chic and sexy but even with huge price cuts on "flat pannel" sets, I think rear projection HDTVs are the best value.

Basically, you get a front projector in a contained box with lots of inputs and a pretty big screen for a REALLY low price. No, they don't hang on the wall but they make a bright, sexy image that is suitable for HDTV from your cable or sat system at 720p or 1080i as well as inputs from HD DVD and Blu-ray in 1080p.

What do you think? Are rear projection sets the best value or should people buck up for the flat pannel, the install, the hardware etc... to go for more of the custom look?

[TheMoose]

Without a doubt!!
To get a plasma or LCD the same size as my 70" Sony XBR2 would be very expensive.
Also the picture quality of my Sony is excellent.

Plasmas & LCD's do have there place, at my house it's in the bedroom.
I put a Sharp LC-37D62U in my bedroom, due to limited space between the wall & foot of my bed, being able to mount the TV on the wall was the major deciding factor on getting a flat screen, but if I'd had the room I'd have gotten a bigger screen size for less $$ with a rear projection.

I'll also say I wasn't at all impressed with the picture quality of the flat screens when I started shopping for them.
The store I was in had them lining both sides of an aisle & you couldn't get farther than about 4' from them.
At that distance none of them (plasma & LCD 35"-50" $1000-$5000) had an acceptable HD picture & the SD was horrible!!
We had to turn them sideways so I could get about 9' away from the screen before the picture looked right.

There's a lot of talk about rear projection TV's being phased out & will go the way of the CRT soon, I just don't see that happening for a long time to come.
In the price per inch value rear projection is still the best buy.

[chemrat]

What if I can't accommodate more than 40-42 inches and have other space problems? LCD seems to be my only choice (to replace a SONY 27 inch Wega CRT).

[kennyt]

chemrat,

True, you are pretty much committed to an LCD, not a bad choice nowadays, especially in the smaller size.

[hencye]

I've been saying this for years!! If you have the space, you get more bang for your buck, just don't buy the cheaper brands, (the same with anything including LCD and Plasma), and you'll have a bigger picture, great quality, and a few extra bucks in your pocket to upgrade the rest of your system!!

[deacongreg]

I agree. What is lacking is the cool, sexy and high tech factor with these tvs. Heck, I `m still a fan of CRT`s. Especially, the SONY XBR sets.

Big picture, big value.