Customer Reviews

Optoma RD65 65-Inch WideScreen HDTV-Ready DLP Television

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I actually have 2 of these TVs. I purchased one for myself and one for my parents in April, from a large warehouse store (I don't want to mention the name here but it's the biggest warehouse store in the country). MSRP was around $3,000 but the TV was on sale for $2,000 plus an additional $300 off (my parents got an additional $200 off because the product sold out quickly and they had to wait an extra month for delivery).

So the Good News: The HD picture quality is excellent (this could also be viewed as bad news because I have Comcast and I'm pretty much limited to about 10 HD channels. As expected, the non HD channels on a 65 inch TV are very grainy, and once you watch HD, you don't want to go back). The RD65 comes with a lot of inputs. 2 Antenna, 2 AVI, 1 SD, 2 HD, 1 PC, and 1 DVI (I'm probably missing a couple but there are a lot). Mine shipped with the DVI input but the new ones come with HDMI. Not much of a difference because 1) the media companies can't agree on an HD DVD standard, and 2) you can buy a DVI to HDMI cable.

Now for the bad news. The remote control IR is slow. This is especially true for Picture in/on Picture (PIP/POP) and screen source changes (ie. switching the screen from Antenna to HD). And when I say slow I mean real slow. There's also a programming issue with PIP/POP. For example, if you're watching an HD show and you want to do POP (btw, POP means two pictures side by side) with an antenna show the channel surfing button on the remote doesn't work correctly. You have to change the focus to the antenna show and then you can use the remote to change channels. Not a big deal, but kinda annoying. In addition, a lot of the PIP/POP features have to be changed with the on screen menu instead of the remote control. That's sort of a pain because the menu overlays what's on the screen for a couple of seconds.
Finally, just yesterday I was at my parents house and I noticed a hi-pitch whine coming from the TV, I don't have this on mine. It's almost inaudible and the only reason I heard it was because I had to mute the TV to answer the phone. With the volume turned up just slightly, the whine is drowned out. I read somewhere that it could be the fly wheel and if so, Optoma will automatically replace the unit. One last thing, the TV does take approximately 30 seconds to power up, and I don't mean you see a dark picture which slowly comes into focus, I mean when you turn the TV on the power light flashes for 30 seconds while the TV heats up and then you get a picture. I don't know if this is true for all HD TVs but this one does that.

Conclusion:
The picture quality, inputs and features on this TV are excellent and for the price I paid, I think I got the best deal possible. There are a couple of minor inconveniences with the remote. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely purchase this TV.

Optoma normally make projector TVs. This is their first foray into the actual "normal" television realm and it shows.

First off, the RD65 does not support HDCP (High Definition Copy Protection, a protocol that HD-DVD players and a good majority of HD Cable boxes and Satellite boxes use) and requires a $400 upgrade to use your HDMI/DVI connection. Even after I spent the $400 to upgrade the motherboard, the HDCP protocol was still not supported. After numerous emails to Optoma and promises that they would look into it (with months between their responses to me) there is still no solution or refund for the motherboard.

There is also a problem with the fan and temperature gauge that occasionally causes the TV to shut itself down because it thinks it is overheating. I'm currently awaiting another RMA fix to see if the issue can be resolved.

I cannot recommend a TV that you have to live in constant fear of something breaking, despite the price.

Save your money and go with a company that already has experience in the HD realm and wait for Optoma to get their act together.

The main problem with this item and I guess any other item carrying the Optoma brand is....Optoma itself. Lack of before the sale support, lack of after the sale support; I should have stayed away when it took them a month to reply to a query I had before the purchase.

TV has been nothing but trouble: It shuts off, refuses to turn on at times wthout the switch off/unplug from the wall/plug back/turn on dance, right now it has developed an uneven vertical line on the right side of the screen. Like all the other problems it has had I was hoping that it would go away but it has been a few days now and it is still there. Do yourself a favor and do a Google search for problems with Optoma TVs and you will get a sense of their support standards.

Folks, spend your money buying a product from another company. In the long run you will get better value for your hard earned money.

First and Foremost, I am biased since I own a Mitsubishi 65" widescreen that can take flash cards in the front and will play mp3 files, wav files, wmv files and all sorts of media if you have a multi media card. Now, my TV isn't as sleek as this one folks, but I've measured the difference and I have about 13 inches of more bulk than this model....lol. Now I don't know about you, but this Optoma is only "HD" ready! For 3 grand......I want "full" HDTV and I can live with a little bit thicker TV. You get all that and more with the Mitsubishi TV's and they cost about a grand less. I paid 2 grand for my TV and It has way more capability than this Optoma.