kpzbee
08-24-2004, 10:05 AM
Hey everyone, I just bought a new Hitachi 57”, CRT, RPTV over the weekend. What a crazy adventure that turned out to be! I’ve been looking for awhile now & hadn’t planned on getting one for another couple of months but things changed as I learned more about the new models coming out. I have some advise for someone considering buying a new set – RESEARCH. You just can’t believe the idiots working in the stores out there. You can’t believe half of what they say!
I had went to a few local places looking at different sets. Wanting to see more, we went to a large mall & visited Sears, Circuit City & a few other places. By talking with some of the “experts” out there working at these places, you do manage to pick up some info but Hitachi’s website was the best. We pretty much decided on a Hitachi due to their awesome picture but what puzzled me was, that 2 sets that looked the same but had different model numbers, could have such a different picture. Here’s where the research paid off. It seems there are 3 different series which are designated by a letter T,S,F & G (example 57S500). This designates the level the set is on. The T & S series have 5 color guns while the others have 3 or 4. This explained the difference in picture quality. This number was followed by a 500, 600 or 700. The 600 & 700 units have HDTV tuners in them, while the 500 series don’t. (It was amazing how many salesman didn’t know this stuff) I didn’t need the tuner, so this was a cost savings of about $400 which worked out for me being on a cable system. After deciding which model I wanted, I just shopped the price. The new 715 models are coming out now & are all bright Silver. That didn’t appeal to me, so I went for last years model which are on sale all over to clear them out. All in all it worked out & I now have one of the awesome sets in my living room. I thought that passing this on, it might help someone else. Remember – buyer beware! :p
I had went to a few local places looking at different sets. Wanting to see more, we went to a large mall & visited Sears, Circuit City & a few other places. By talking with some of the “experts” out there working at these places, you do manage to pick up some info but Hitachi’s website was the best. We pretty much decided on a Hitachi due to their awesome picture but what puzzled me was, that 2 sets that looked the same but had different model numbers, could have such a different picture. Here’s where the research paid off. It seems there are 3 different series which are designated by a letter T,S,F & G (example 57S500). This designates the level the set is on. The T & S series have 5 color guns while the others have 3 or 4. This explained the difference in picture quality. This number was followed by a 500, 600 or 700. The 600 & 700 units have HDTV tuners in them, while the 500 series don’t. (It was amazing how many salesman didn’t know this stuff) I didn’t need the tuner, so this was a cost savings of about $400 which worked out for me being on a cable system. After deciding which model I wanted, I just shopped the price. The new 715 models are coming out now & are all bright Silver. That didn’t appeal to me, so I went for last years model which are on sale all over to clear them out. All in all it worked out & I now have one of the awesome sets in my living room. I thought that passing this on, it might help someone else. Remember – buyer beware! :p