Over A Million Affordable Colors!
Written: Sep 13 '07 (Updated Dec 14 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Picture Quality: |
|
|
| Durability: |
|
|
|
Pros: Affordable price, better than average picture, attractive
Cons: Sound quality, remote not backlit
The Bottom Line: Affordable, usable features, better than average picture, attractive overall impression. No buyer remorse after this purchase!
|
|
|
| donc230's Full Review: Hitachi P50T501 50 in. HDTV TV |
Hitachi gives you a vehicle into the picture without busting your credit limit: 1080i HDTV resolution, wide screen, and a realistic picture without the guilt of over spending. Life-like definition relegated the antique sets to the guest room and changed our family room wall into a total sensory pleasure palace!
Disclaimer:
Please hang in there with me, I am not a techie, and therefore technology only catches my interest when it gives me something I want in return. So this review will only cover those specifications that move a movie more toward an experience than something to analyze.
Television has always been something that other people plugged into during times when real life had lost its luster. To me, watching the tube rated right up there with thumbing through the coffee table books laid out so that visitors would think I really did have some culture. But when the new Hitachi appeared in our family room I went back to the “specifications” to see why television was changing for me.
Features
The 1,280 x 1,080-pixel screen is somewhere in between a 1080p and a 1080i. If you are a confirmed Blu-ray user this could be important, but with standard HDTV cable or watching a rented DVD you will have to be the judge. The built-in HDTV tuner allows for viewing of broadcast HD signals. The swiveling stand can be real important if you have a lot of light coming in windows or it you do not want to sit directly in front of the set. There are both a HDMI and an SD card slot hidden beneath a flip up panel on the front, and on the rear there are 2 HDMI, 2 component-/composite-video, 2 composite-video, S-video, RF antenna/cable, 4 analog stereo audio, another SD card slot, and an RS-232C input. The overall dimensions are 48.8 x 34.8 x 16.6 inches. Weighing in at 117 pounds with the swivel stand, it is lighter than the old tube units but still a serious handful to lift.
In The Store
Viewing in the store is just about as subjective as you can get. This Hitachi had been placed between a 780p and a 1080p plasma. With the 1080p priced out at almost $1000 more, at least we knew what the next step could be. This time I just could not rationalize turning out the pockets that far for an almost unnoticeable difference. Sneaking the remote away from the salesman, I was able to tweak the 1080i almost to the level of the 1080p. Turning around there was a similar sized LCD playing a Blu-ray DVD, but for another $1500 (plus the cost of a new DVD player) it did not even stand a chance. My seasoned and overused eyes still found it more pleasant to watch that more expensive units. The deal was struck, and delivery scheduled!
Out Of The Box
Remember when I said “delivery” in the last paragraph. Part of the deal centered around if the box would fit in my car (which it would not), and set up. Unless you have a van or truck, I do not recommend trying to stuff in into the back seat. For $50 I saved my knuckles and leather seats. Included in the box were a remote (including batteries), an owner manual, and a quick start hook up leaflet for those who disdain wading through all those extra words.
Ah, But Look At It!
Displacing a 37 inch LCD unit, the Hitachi is impressive. The rounded black frame, slim lines, bottom mounted speakers, and modern looking swiveling stand project understated style. Hitting the power button you are immediately rewarded with the disappearance of the red standby light and the lighting of an assuring blue power on light. A few seconds later you are rewarded with what you wanted all along; the rich, natural colors, realistic flesh tones and the good shadow detail you shelled out all those big bucks for. For a plasma screen it has surprisingly little reflected glare for room or window lighting. Like most plasma units, you can still watch from other than straight ahead, since there is almost no washout when viewing from extreme angles. SD viewing was what was expected, if your snap shots are not great your picture will be poor. But then I doubt if I will ever use this feature in the future. I noticed no issues with image retention. Wait time between channel changes is very short, but the sound quality and stereo imaging is a bit disappointing. I would recommend taking the savings over a 1080p and invest it in basic home theater system. I have been able to catch a bit of picture noise and “black” tones lacked some depth, but I do not expect to ever have it bother me in the future.
Remote
A manly sized HDTV requires a useful remote and this one is about fair. One of the things I really like is the ability to switch between picture settings for daylight, daylight dynamic, and night viewing right from the remote. When I want to watch television I do not want to have to spend too much time fine tuning, and so far those three settings have filled my requirements. As a universal remote scores pretty average for me. It will control the TV, DVD, and Cable boxes within the needs of most users. The biggest drawback is that it is not backlit, so channel surfing has to be accomplished with trained fingers.
After The Credit Card Bill Comes
Living with the Hitachi P50T501 has been a pleasure! Usable features, a better than average picture, and an attractive overall impression made writing that check a lot more painless than I expected. The bit of disappointment over the sound quality is easily overshadowed by the high build quality impression and affordable price. There is no buyer remorse after this purchase!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1499.00
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.