Alright...after reading all of your posts in a jealous rage over the past couple of years, I've finally taken the plunge. I just picked up my 55" Sony WEGA 1080P Rear-Projection tonight. The stand is coming on Monday and the cable company is coming on Tuesday. I'm going to finally be HD!

I really did ponder the idea a long time, to the point where my kids thought that they were going to live with "caveman" technology forever. I'd been softening lately and what ultimately pushed me over the edge was my beloved, underdog Chicago Bears making the Super Bowl. At least that got me moving this week, along with a sale at Best Buy and some additional price matching.

To those of you who are already living with HD, particularly those with the Rear-Projection models, have any of you had to replace the bulbs yet? If so, I'd be interested in hearing your stories. For now, I can hardly wait to get it all set up. Sitting in the box, it looks a little overwhelming for the room that it's going to be in, but I'm sure that will change when it comes out of the box and I was told by anyone who talked to me to be sure not to err on the small side.

BRING ON THE SUPER BOWL!

walter,

you did the rght thing. you will love it and ask yourself repeatedly why you didn't buy one sooner.

my wife thought a 50" would be too big for living room, and her initial reaction was just that.....within a week she came to love it and now we both think that maybe i should have got the 60".......

HD kicks ass! the only thing is that you will want every channel in HD. regular TV looks so dull.


renny

Those of us back in the dust of the 20th century can only say, "Enjoy, Walter."

Walter: you story reminded me that my family got our first color TV in 1969 so my Dad could watch the Mets in the World Series. Congrats and enjoy the Big Game!

yeah, you will be blown away by HD in your home and that little Bears game thats coming up next week, wait till you watch football in HD. Wow!

That is the HD lament. "I shoulda gone bigger!".

My 50" is also looking smaller every day. My next will be at least a 60"er.

To tell you the truth, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the size right now. It's not set up yet, because I won't have the stand until Monday and the new cable box until Tuesday, but it's out of the box and it sure looks BIG! My first inclination would have been the 50", but I have some out-laws who have 50"s and said that they wished they'd gotten the 55", so I decided to go a little bigger and reduce the chance of regret. When I see that 55" set out of the box though, wow, it looks enormous! I'll be sitting about 10-12' from the set, so hopefully it's not too big.

I was a little surprised about the cost of accessories, like the HDMI cable and such. Wow...they sure nail you for everything. Still, if I was going to make the investment, I want to do it correctly.

So...only a few more days until everything is hooked up. I can't wait!

You can get good quality HDMI cable at http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2 so if you still have expensive store bought HDMI cable in its packaging, send it back and order from Monoprice (its what I use...6 feet of HDMI cable for only $5.84!!!).

55" is fine from 10-12 feet away. Because you'll be watching mostly HD programming from now on you can sit closer to the TV than normal....the picture is that clear and non-fatiguing.

Oh, man, thank you so much for posting that link. I've got the satellite guy coming Monday, and I just realized I never bought another HDMI cable! (and it's not like they're just gonna give me one)

$8.76 shipped. Sweet!

Walter, congratulations on the new baby! I haven't yet taken the plunge myself - currently holding steady with a Toshiba 32" widescreen - but I'm sure you won't spend too much time looking back.

Just out of curiosity, are you planning on investing in either HD-DVD or Blu-ray at this point?

I've slowly entered the HD-DVD field by buying the XBOX 360 HD add-on. I'm not to impressed with the quality of the stand alone players at this point so the "add-on" is a safe play at this point.

I just picked up a 42" Panasonic Plasma but have not switched to HD yet. Here in Canada there have been complaints about the quality of HD picture supplied by a major network that carries (and mutilates) NFL telecasts. My only other option would be to get a US Dish.

No...I've still got my standard DVD player. I'm going to settle for HD programming for now and I'll wait to see how things shake out with the competing formats.

It's going to be nice to watch the Red Sox in HD. I'll be sure to get good looks at Dice-K's wife.

Congrats Walter. I have been with HD for about 4 years now and it is impressive. I still marvel of its clarity and even normal DVDs will look so much better.

Have fun!

Rick A.

4 YEARS?!?!?! Damn, I feel like I'm so far behind the curve on this one. No wonder my kids were accusing me of being a caveman just because we didn't have one.