Optoma RD 50 Reviews

soni

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Whilst still in the process of weighing up whether to get the Optoma, Tosh, or Sagem, i've stumbled across the following reviews on the Optoma RD50:-

Review: We recently purchased the Optoma RD50 TV from Cambridge Soundworks. In the store the set looked awesome. Of course, they only had Discovery Channel HD playing. When we got the set home and hooked it up, we were stunned to see just how bad regular TV looks. Even after adjusting all the settings (i.e. color, contrast, saturation, sharpenss, etc), this thing looked awful. When I changed from regular cable over to one of our HD channels, the set came alive. The colors were perfect, and the picture was by far the sharpest I've seen of any HD set. While this is great, we only get about 7 HD channels. We still watch a lot of regular TV as well, and don't want to have a horrible picture while watching this. My advice on this TV is if you watch mostly HD channels only, get this TV. If not, you may want to wait. We're bringing ours back and getting a Sony Grand Wega LCD.

Review: I have had 4 signifcant problems with the TV in the past 8 months. First a cluster of pixels blew. leaving a permanent glowing white spot on the display. Then a fan died causing the unit to overheat and shut itself off. Then 2 oval smudges appeared on the screen which could not be removed by their tech support. At that point I was given a new TV, since they apparently have a 3 strikes rule before they will replace the set. However, the new TV came with 2 areas of video noise at the upper and lower borders of the display out of the box. I am presently dealing with that issue.

Even though I think the image is terrific, I am very disappointed with reliability of the Optoma and would not recommend it at this time.
 
Soni,

This is a review of the US RD50 version, which is a generation older than the European RD50 - more equivalent to the Sagem Axium. The new US model is the RD50A. Hope this helps.

Steve
 
Dutch said:
Soni,

This is a review of the US RD50 version, which is a generation older than the European RD50 - more equivalent to the Sagem Axium. The new US model is the RD50A. Hope this helps.

Steve
the optoma looks like a great set and although i never bought it (went with toshiba) i am sure i would have been very happy with it i doubt many can complain about this set other then the physical look of the tellie which isnt the best...............BUT bare in mind that there will be 100's of people with great sets for every one that has a problem and the people that dont have problems dont report anything where as the one guy who does tells the whole world what crap he has............so my advice is to take what people say with a grain of salt
 
The physical look is incredible, i saw the Sagem Axium today which is in silver, the Optoma is black but the design is really great when you see it in the shop, the pictures on the net and in brochures doesn't justify the looks.

I was also negative about the design til i saw it and my jaw dropped, gorgeous DLP set.
 
Thanks Dutch.

Of what I’ve read on this forum, the Optoma seems to win hands down apart from its appearance.

I’m still trying desperately to track down a display model of the Tosh and Optoma. I’ve only seen the Sagem in the flesh, which I think does look quite nice. I personally think its just the bottom part of it that ruins it, but then the Optoma has exactly the same problem. I really like the look of the Tosh, at least of what I’ve seen in the brochures, but would rather have the slightly larger screen size of the Optoma or Sagem, and possibly the tab better picture of the Optoma. I'm going to Greenwich on Saturday/Sunday, aparently they've got the Tosh on display.
 
i have asked a few people who have the optoma to post a photo of the optoma in there room and i will post mine (tosh) if anyone wants....it gives a better idea of what it looks like in the room. I have seen the sagem in comet twice now and can say that the picture was good but i think everyone knows that any telly looks stunning with HDTV its how it handles SD (standard definition) material that matters. The sagem looked good but not nearly as good as the toshiba or the thomson for that matter and the samsung looks almost as good as the toshiba in the flesh (some might say better as the toshiba has the ears).
 
Yeah, that would be a good idea. The Samsung that you refer to, i havn't seen it anywhere, i assume its LCD? Therefore won't be DLP?, but is it still HD? Has anybody seen any reviews on the Tosh or Optoma yet? MAGAZINE EDITORS:- It would be really great to have double page spread of the Optoma and Tosh head to head!

I have been looking desperately for a review on the Tosh and Optoma, but only on-line. I've looked at the Home Cinema website, but they've only got about 4 manufacturers, Sim, Loewe, Sagem, and LG. Maybe they havn't updated their website yet, but maybe they have been reviewed or are going to be reviewed in a hard copy of their magazine, if anybody has any knowledge of any reviews allready released or any up and coming, can you please post it!
 
soni said:
Yeah, that would be a good idea. The Samsung that you refer to, i havn't seen it anywhere, i assume its LCD? Therefore won't be DLP?, but is it still HD? Has anybody seen any reviews on the Tosh or Optoma yet? MAGAZINE EDITORS:- It would be really great to have double page spread of the Optoma and Tosh head to head!

I have been looking desperately for a review on the Tosh and Optoma, but only on-line. I've looked at the Home Cinema website, but they've only got about 4 manufacturers, Sim, Loewe, Sagem, and LG. Maybe they havn't updated their website yet, but maybe they have been reviewed or are going to be reviewed in a hard copy of their magazine, if anybody has any knowledge of any reviews allready released or any up and coming, can you please post it!
sorry my fault i should have been more clear!!!! the samsung i saw was in the united states on holiday sorry for any confusion and it was the americian version of the sp46l3hx so same chassis and colour engine HD3 ect......
 
just a review on the optoma US version which is the same as the sagem (nearly) and the review was quite good!!!!!
but only reviews for the toshiba are the ones by the owners in the states on forums or customer feed back from retailers in the states again of course.......
 
Attention all, (esp Soni) - Samsung 46/50inch DLP specs:

Don't worry about the site being Samsung India - the set is EXACTLY the same as the UK spec (i have this confirmed directly from Samsung Korea!!) ... so enjoy the specs - even has a manual to download, as well as full dimensions and pics...

http://www.samsung.com/in/products/tv/dlptv/sp_46l3hx.asp?page=Specifications

Very tasty.

And I get it in the next 24 hours...

Hold tight everyone.... HANDS ON review to follow
 
welsh113 said:
i have asked a few people who have the optoma to post a photo of the optoma in there room and i will post mine (tosh) if anyone wants....QUOTE]

:hiya: If you could post pics, I for one would appreciate it. :smashin:
 
i will believe that when i see it......but i hope you do :thumbsup: i am so cynical about this as i had it promised to me and was actually told they had taken 2 in stock but they were prelocated to others (ya right) and waited two months before giving up hope!!! But it doesnt have anything that any other telly doesnt have.... so was not that upset about it....I was a huge fan of samsung intill the whole dlp bullsh@t and the hypervision joke (945) turned me against them
 
Hey Welsh,

I'm 100% certain about my Sammy arriving. In fact, I'll let you kno when I've got mine - in case you or anyone else wants one.

PS. What's the Hypervison 945 issue?? (I wasn't aware that there was one - except that there aren't any in the country until after Christmas)...?
Really really want an affordable HDMI based DVD Recorder...
 
are you able to say how much these are going for???
and the issue was that they were going to be availbe in 2 weeks about a month and a half ago and the date kept changing and now they say after xmas so how long is it really.............anyone waiting for one will have known my issue BUT i got the yamakawa 375 dvd player which i am happy with up to press gets great reviews too only draw back is you have to buy it from germany and i guess there would be hassle with returning it if it were to develope a fault
 
Attention ALL - Esp Welsh and Soni - SEE BELOW -

*** INITIAL FIRST HAND REVIEW OF my SAMSUNG SP46L3HX:

Dear All, including Molly, Timanfiya and Lizzard:

For some answers and also good news, see below:

Firstly, your questions answered:

1. Molly - see further below for my initial comments on my brand new Samsung's picture quality, etc...

2. Lizzard: Major difference between the 46L3HX/50L3HX and the 50L7HX (the one with the cute, but space wasting triangular pedestal underneath) is very simply this:
The L7 model is most expensive and uses HD2+ DLP chip, contrast ratio (theoretically) 2500:1, whereas the L3 models use HD3 chip, contrast ratio 1500:1 - but also incorporates other benefits such as Darkchip2 and SmoothPicture (TM) technology, which the L7 doesn't.
I can honestly tell you (having seen both L7 and L3 models SIDE by SIDE at a corporate location as well as other places), that the L3 model is a BETTER picture!!!!! Do NOT be misled by people anywhere in AVFOrums who mean well by telling you that HD2+ should be better than HD3 - TRUST ME - I've seen both for over 4 HOURS viewing and concluded that the HD3 unit has a more natural, film-like picture. And the contrast ratio thing - there really is very LITTLE difference in practical viewing - HONESTLY!!!!!!! I can honestly say that this SP46L3HX and the Optoma RD50 are the 2 best DLP units available in the UK right now - FULL STOP. And my preference between the two goes to SP46L3 - both for external looks and the SMOOTHER picture (it's still sharp, don't worry) achieved by the excellent Samsung DNIe3 and HD3 plus 7-SEGMENT technology.
Finally price - SP46L3 should set you back no more than £1750 (what I paid for it). And I have no hesitation in saying that it was worth every penny so far...

3. TimanFiya - Difference between the SP46L3HX and SP43L2HX is very simple - and very fundamental - the former is DLP (see 2 above for more details), whilst the latter is an LCD-based rear-pro. I've seen both - I assure you (and I'm sure most DLP posting members will agree) that you're best to stick to the newer SP46L3HX as the DLP technology offers so much more benefits - eg true HD (the latter doesn't), no need to convergence ever (even though some manufacturers promise so-called "auto convergence" !! ha! as well Contrast Ratio and Sharpness - both winners on the DLP unit).

Finally INITIAL OBSERVATIONS on my new Samsung SP46L3HX:

Sky picture quality (PQ) through RGB based SCART cable from a Grundig Sky Digital box - SURPRISINGLY good!! Typical tests on Channel 5, BBC1 (poss the best channel), MTV, SKY 1 etc show a remarkably good image - DEF better than most plasmas I've seen (even at people's houses with the same setup) and I'd say better than every other DLP set I've seen so far (LG, Toshiba, Sagem, Thomson; though Samsung L7 DLP + Optoma came close).

DVD PQ through RGB Scart cable from Panasonic DVDS75 - VERY VERY GOOD - BLADE and MATRIX RELOADED both looked RAZOR SHARP (without even switching to the TV's "Dynamic" mode) - EXCELLENT BLACK LEVEL DETAILS (in dark scenes, can still see knitwork on Morpheus and Keanu's black coats/jackets), VERY GOOD CONTRAST (in the scene where Neo/Keanu fights in the downstairs "reception" or landing with those 8 or 9 guys sent by that french-accent guy) - great black side by side with white/cream statues - and guess what? You can STILL SEE details in the white statues - so contrast does NOT overpower the the white-level OR black level details...
Great blacks - eg Neo's female sidekick's leather outfit is blacker than even the lovely black frame on the outside of the Sammy's screen...
NO PIXELATION and NO motion artefacts/blurring; also NO JAGGED LINES - YES - I could hardly believe it - after having compared and sadly seen jagged lines on Toshiba, Sagem, LG, and others - using same DVD and RGB scart/Components for source....

Sound Quality - GREAT bass and treble and spaciousness - as good as the Toshiba DLP (which I consider joint best for sound quality with this Sammy) - better than Optoma, Samsung L7 DLP, others.

OK - Sorry for the long post guys. Hope all this helps.
The company I bought mine from are likely to get more very soon - same price £1750 I believe, whilst they'll possibly get the L7 for less than the current RRP of £3500 in all these Currys, COmet, etc - apparently around £2,700...

Feedback welcome.

Finally - keep in mind that the DVD review above was just all through RGB SCART - haven't even tried Components with Prog scan yet!!!!

Krishna.
 
Oh - forgot to mention - NO SHIMMERING on big light areas - eg skies and wallpapers - UNLIKE Tosh, and others (won't mention to cause offense).
 
Krishna: Thanks for the link to the Sammy, and the above in depth write up. I'll have to keep my eyes open for this set, is it a new set on the market? I think somebody mentioned above that its DLP Rear Pro? I would just like to confirm that its not LCD Rear Pro? I went to Greenwich today to test the Tosh out. I took along my own DVD player - its a few years old but gives a fantastic picture on my Tosh 28" 100hz widescreen. However, i also took The Matrix along, and connected it up to how i'm used to seeing it on my Tosh i.e., with a quite expensive Scart lead and i was very dissapointed. Now, before anybody says that it should have been connected via component, i would just like to point out that when i arrived, it was allready hooked up to another Tosh DVD player via Component, and that to looked dissapointing, thats why i asked to see it running from my own DVD player, as i know my own DVD players capabilities. I've never watched a poor quality picture from my DVD player - every film that i watch is razor sharp and crystal clear. What i didn't like about the Tosh DLP was the amount of grain and bittiness in the picture. On most lines, i.e., Reeves nose, you could see that jaggyness of the line. And the fact that i was standing 8 ft away - that would be my maximum viewing distance in my lounge, i was quite dissapointed. It looks an absolutely lovely set, i fell in love with the look of it as soon as i found it, however i don't think i'll be able to convince myself that the picture is anywhere near as good as my current CRT, and based on that, i can't fork our the best part of 2K for less quality than i have at present. I was thinking of sticking with CRT - however the max size would then be 36" - i'm not to worried about the depth of CRT - but my main concern with that idea would be the fact that theres no HD CRT tubes - is that correct - are there any planned - this might be a completely stupid question - as i don't think you can get HD with CRT - can you?
 
Sounds like this model is not for you. That, after all, is the purpose of a demo.

HD CRT: you'd have to go to the States to see it at present.
 

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