Toshiba 50HX81 50 in. TV

Pros: Phenomenal Picture Quality, Protective Screen, PIP
Cons: Power Module Died, Remote has lots of buttons

Note--see bottom for update--9/19/2002:
The original start--
I've had my little home theatre now for several months and I am just as pleased today as when I bought it with the quality of the purchase. The biggest part of it is obviously the...

Pros: Big impressive 16:9 screen, excellent picture quality, closeout prices
Cons: Almost too clear with Progressive DVD, center channel useless

Toshiba has been producing some very impressive rear projection sets for a while now...What's so impressive about them is that despite offering exceptional picture quality and innovation, they come with one hell of a price tag....To say these Televisions...

Pros: Great picture, Good Sound, Broad viewing area, Easy to move (on wheels)
Cons: Bugs inside the screen (literally)

I purchased the Toshiba 50HX81 after comparing mainly to Mitsubishi units. One of the main reasons for buying the Toshiba was I felt its stretch algorithm for playing standard TV was better than the comparative Mitsu unit. Overall the Toshiba is easy...

Pros: Picture, PIP Functions, Composite Inputs, Color Control, Did I say the Picture is awesome?
Cons: assumption logic within the Close Captions Routine, integrated sound system is useless.

I paid a lot more than the quoted $1800.00 about 1 year ago, but am completely happy with this TV. It has several preset picture sizes that you can chose from, this comes in handy with the variety of aspect ratios that are out there (16:9 and 4:3)....

Pros: nice features
Cons: impossible to repair

I have been without my TV for 9 weeks now. There have been 3 attempts by Best Buy to fix it. I should have a new one, but they said it is fixable. Well, prove it. It just went up after 2 years. BEWARE!!!!!

I have had my set for 6 months. It is the first HDTV I have owned. I love the high definition performance. I subscribe to Direct TV and only 2 channels are high def. I can't receive any over the air locally as I am too far from the transmitters. Great to watch movies with this set while using my 6.1 surround system. Works well with my Toshiba DVD player. Not thrilled with standard TV broadcasts, but this is typical with HDTV's. If you can get lots of HDTV broadcasts or own/rent a lot of DVD's it is a great set.

1st set was defective. Service agreed, the set was replaced. 2nd set also defective. Service concluded the input box was defective. Two sets - both defective - you do the math! The problems go beyond the defects. I have 4 tube TV's in the house. The 50HX81 does not come close to having as good a picture as any of the tube TV's. The TV's have all been calibrated using the Video Essential's DVD (highly recommended). If you want the best picture available, I wouldn't consider a rear projection TV. In fairness, the picture on the 50HX81 might be one of the best. But the tube TV's appear to clean up the picture, while the 50HX81 appears to magnify every problem (e.g. snow on multiple channels). Serviceman informs me that the snow is normal electrical interference, despite the fact that I ran a dedicated 20 amp line. Also the quality of picture between channels varies tremendously, and is not the case with the tubes. Be careful of this set. IMHO