JVC AV-56WP74 56-Inch Widescreen HDTV-Ready Projection Television
JVC AV-56WP74 56&quot; Widescreen HDTV personal review
The first time I saw this TV at Best Buy I knew it was the one I wanted.  That was around Thanksgiving 2003.  I waited patiently until the week after Christmas, and sure enough the prices dropped.   It was $1800, and dropped to $1707 at Best Buy.  I got Sears to beat Best Buys price and used my Sears card for 12 months free and they delivered it in 3 days.  <br />People should note that before buying a TV like this (rear projection) make sure it suits your own location.   I selected this to go 2-3 feet from a king sized bed only for watching while laying in bed.  It is perfect for that.   In my opinion it is not suitable for a larger living room type setting because you have to be watching the set from as near the center as possible.  It is very focused on direct viewing, and it dims just by standing up and looking at it.   For a TV right next to the bed, it's perfect.   So I am very pleased with it.  <br />I will be buying a large plasma for the living room which can be viewed from wider angles.   <br />The sound on this set is superb.   Very rich stereo with a lot of bass.  I can't turn it up over more than 1/3 of the volume or it will shake the ground through an entire 4000 square foot home.  It has an output jack for a sub-woofer but there's no way I would want to add a sub-woofer as it's fine on it's own.  <br />The cabinet is very modern and quite attractive.  The blue power light looks great and the square shape and JVC logo top it off for a very nice looking unit.   My first VCR was a JVC back in the 80's, one of the first 4 heads that ever came out, it too looked very nice and was quite durable (I still use it 20 years later).    So JVC is a favorite of mine.  <br />The remote control has a logical key layout and is very simple to learn and use.  However JVC calls it a &quot;lighted remote&quot; which is a joke.  There is one small button that lights up the 4 navigation keys for about 2 seconds.  I do not consider this to be a true &quot;lighted remote&quot; and you can not use it in the dark until you have memorized your main keys (which is not hard). <br />Since it is a rear projection, it's about 2 feet deep, but that to me did not matter because the location in a bedroom has plenty of room for the case &quot;depth&quot;.  <br />I am going to have to give this set a rating of 5/5.  For the price it is a wonderful set perfectly suited to my exact by-the-bed application and it's price is right.   I feel it's worth every penny I paid for it.<br />Greg Deeter <BR>Houston Texas