upgrade the Panny or not?

[Telemundo]

I got the Panasonic PT53WX52 and are about to make some upgrades on the speakers and pre/pro and amp combo and are thinking about upgrading the TV also. The Panny can display either 1080i or 480p. I can sit about up to 15 ft. away from the TV, and seen alot of great reviews on the Toshiba and Hitachi line. The model numbers are Hitachi 57X500 and Toshiba 57HX93 and both has 1 or 2 DVI inputs. Would DVD or HD look that much better that i should spent more on these new models and spent about 500 to 2000 on a DVD player that has DVI output? Personally i like the Toshiba better than the Hitachi since they will match the RTi speakers combo that i want perfectly. On my Panny rite now watching DVDs, the black level is really bad during the darker scenes of almost any movies. On the recent reviews in magazines that i read, the Toshiba does really well with almost anything, DVD and HD. Any thoughts on this? Let me know if the upgrade is really worth it. Thanks

[begbie]

If you could get most of your investment back than I probably would make the swap.

However I'd also look into a professional calibration on your set to acheive the blacks and even for more video tweaks. Though it'll set you back a few hundred bucks.

Myself, I'm an owner of a Toshiba set(no dvi) and I know what you mean about the Panny blacks. It's like there's only grey but not solid black ?!

Don't fret too much over dvi if that's your main reason to get a new set. With technology changing so fast , dvi has another competitor in firewire and (hdmi?).

Even if you decide to get another set, I'd consider the newer technolgy out there in plasma, lcd, Lcos, etc.

Personally I'd really try to fix those blacks on your set thus hanging on to the Panny.

[begbie]

your last thread seem to have disappeared?

did you go with any of our input and went with a plasma? what brand? what size?

[Telemundo]

hi...sorry...been buzy...havent been on the site for a while....
I'm still weighing out my options because i'm still not quite sure how big the living room is gonna be in the new apartment. The people that i'm taking the lease over from told me that the dimensions is about 11x13, but it seems alot smaller than that when i checked it out. If that's the true dimensions of the living room, i can get either a 42 or 50 inch of plasma, get the Toshiba 57HX93, or just keep my existing Panny 53 inch. If i do go with a plasma, i'll probably end up with either the Fujitsu or Panasonic HD models not the ED's. Both brand makes some of the best plasmas out there at a decent price. Thanks for the interest, I'll let u know what i end up with and will try postin a picture of it in the system showcase part of the forum.