Sony KDF-E50A10 50-Inch LCD Rear Projection Television
Great HDTV for the money if you don't want to go plasma
Overall, I've been very happy with this product. I compared it in the store to the Samsung 50 inch DLP and found the two TV's to be comparable, although I thought the Sony was a little bit brighter. <br /> <br />Bottom line: If you can afford this TV, you need to upgrade to HD on your satellite or cable unless you can settle for over-the-air HD with an outdoor antenna like I do. <br /> <br />I was horrified at first when I set up this TV because the first thing I saw were the local non-HD channels over my satellite system. These were not acceptable--so pixelated, in fact, that it reminded me of watching a overly zoomed windows media movie on a computer monitor. The other standard definition satellite channels look OK. They're definitely brighter than a regular TV, but flaws from an imperfect signal are definitely visible. <br /> <br />I realized I had gotten my money's worth when I hooked up an antenna in my attic to receive over the air HD on my local channels. Some of the programs are absolutely breathtaking, especially PBS HD which has lots of history and nature programs similar to Discovery Channel. (Yeah, someday I'll upgrade my satellite, but one thing at a time.) The \\"screen door\\" effect is noticeable looking straight on from 6 feet or less but not too bad at a normal viewing distance as long as there isn't a still, solid background. <br /> <br />DVD's look very good on my new Sony DVD player using component video cables. (By the way, I wound up returning a Sony HDMI upconverting DVD player and exchanging it for a basic one because I could barely tell the difference between HDMI and component hookups on this TV). <br /> <br />The Wega Gate user interface takes some getting used to, and the remote is a bit awkward, but I'm not going to give a TV a bad rating based on usability. My only real complaint is that the optical digital output only seems to work on over-the-air HD channels. When I hooked up the HDMI upconverting DVD player (before returning it), I realized that the optical output did not work for pushing the HDMI audio signal out to my amplifier. <br /> <br />Anyway, I think you'll like this TV. And while I wouldn't add points based on appearance, this TV looks really cool--the slim design and hidden speakers on the bottom make it look nice in a living room without it being the centerpiece.