Sony Bravia SXRD KDS-50A3000 or Samsung HLT5687SAX

[Metalheadisme]

Originally Posted by aqupunk

Even better!!!

http://www.preferredphoto.com/viewpr...spx?id=3550959

Oops guess the shipping makes 1531.99

Careful, some online places like these are more pain than they're worth, assuming you can actually get them to sell you the TV at that price without anything else.

I got my KDS-60A3000 from an Agoraquest groupbuy for $1725 through Abt Electronics, and I would highly suggest getting an A3000 through an authorized sony dealer if you are to get one, especially in case the one shipped to you has geometry issues or tint issues. If you get a perfect A3000, it is perfect and a ridiculously awesome TV for the price (I've never seen better blacks on an RPTV) but if you get shipped an imperfect unit, I'd much rather have the peace of mind of dealing with an authorized dealer.

Granted, my unit was perfect, but I spent enough time on the AVS forums before my purchase to know what could happen. Plus, if you get one, I would highly suggest getting a Mack extended warranty through AVS- why? because it costs about $200 and adds 3 years to the manufacturer's warranty, inculding up to 2 bulb replacements in 3 years (covering them whether they reach the rated number of hours or not). In 3 years, you will most likely need a bulb replacement, and for the price of that and about $50 extra, you get an extra 3 years of general coverage on top of Sony's warranty. That amounts to 5 years of coverage on the optical block and 4 years of coverage on everything else. It's a ridiculously good value, and the only thing it doesn't cover is damage from power surges (get a belkin PF30L from buy.com for 34.99 and you get a true power conditioner and surge protector).

Just adding my thought process in shopping for a TV... If I had the money I would go for the Pioneer Kuro 1080p, but alas, I do not, and the Sony A3000 gave me everything I wanted plus size to boot for a great price.