41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
Great TV
After searching for the past year, I deceided to go with a Sharp 45" LCD. Then I saw C/C had dropped the Hitachi 55" to $3149.00, much lower than I could get even online. Went to look and was blown away by the pic. It was a no brainer, the Sharp for $3,000.00 (Costco) was good, but couldn't pass up the Hitachi for less. Only gripe was no stand. While Hitachi may not sell...
55" Hitachi Plasma TV Issue: 55HDS69
I turned on my 55HDS69 a week ago and WAAH-BOOM, No more picture but the sound was fine. The resolution underway at a local repair shop is to replace the upper & lower buffers. The TV is 2 yrs and nine months old. I did not buy the extended warranty as I expected a $3000+ TV to last longer than 3 years especially since my house is like a climate controlled class 40 clean...
This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
After searching for the past year, I deceided to go with a Sharp 45" LCD. Then I saw C/C had dropped the Hitachi 55" to $3149.00, much lower than I could get even online. Went to look and was blown away by the pic. It was a no brainer, the Sharp for $3,000.00 (Costco) was good, but couldn't pass up the Hitachi for less. Only gripe was no stand. While Hitachi may not sell the stand with the TV, retailers should keep one or two in stock. Found one at a local Hi Def TV store for $399.00. High price, but wife didn't like the idea of a wall mount.
Now to the TV. Great Hi-def pic. Standard cable fair to good when streached to fit screen. I usually don't run any 4:3 programming to avoid burn in. Sound from built in speakers better than I expected, but also have a 500w kenwood surround sound systen for backup. I like that you can plug a sub-woofer into the TV, but had to turn mine down as bass was overboosted. Standard DVD and VCR very good using high quality cables, but plan to upgrade the DVD in near future. The remote is actually very easy to use for TV, but lacks functions when controlling my digital cable box or stereo. I decided to use the cable remote instead. If using over the air or basic cable, TV remote works fine. Right now, all cable boxes and accessories are hooked up with monster cable, but have an HDMI cable on order, cheaped on-line than in store. I expect even better pic quality with this setup. The only bad experience with this purchase was a pushy salesman, who was pushing any TV but the Hitachi, and an expensive warranty.
I would recommend any who like large plasma units to take a look at this, or the other 55" Hitachi units. A great TV, that even my wife likes.
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
Pros
The picture quality is unbelieveble. HD quality is second to none. It is probably the sharpest picture I have seen (researched plasma/lcd tvs for over 2 years). It has lots of inputs for all devices and the setup out of the box is pretty easy. Picture in Picture quality is great.
TV comes with a WIPE functionality. This allows you to clean the plasma screen and prevent any burns. (Usually available with much more expensive models)
Cons
Remote is bit antiquated for the price of the tv. Picture in picture works only if one of the feeds is HD. Base needs to be bought (add $200 to the price.)
Bottom line - I would recommend buying this tv. Shop around and you should be able to find it for less than $2500.
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
All I have done for 2 months is research Plasmas, and this bad boy is the one I picked. I am a techno freak and for the money ($2,300 at HH Gregg, nothing holds a candle to it. The TV uses the same glass technologies as the Pioneer, costing less than 1/2.
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
After a year of research and several visits to BB and CC, I have come to the conclusion that Panasonic 50 inch plasma is the best there is-- until I saw this Hitachi 55 inch. Being the brand-conscious buyer, I wanted my first plasma to be a Panasonic, a Samsung or a Pioneer. But I couldn't get my eyes off this TV. Side by side with the Panasonic 50 inch, the Hitachi looked bigger, sharper and richer in color vibrance. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but my brother had the same observation. What sealed the deal was the price; for 3 grand, this TV was a steal (the Panasonic was $600 less but then again, it was also 5 inches smaller); the stand or wall mount is sold separately (I got the stand for $150). This TV is a dream come true! It has tons of cool features like the anti-reflective glass screen which takes away the glare when watching daytime shows. The picture mode can be automatically programmed to shift from day to night mode with a timer. Another cool feature is the zoom; I could remove the black bars when watching 16:9 widescreen DVD and HD-DVD formats (which practically prevents premature burn-in). It's a 720p/1080i resolution TV (1080p may be better but all HDTV broadcasts nowadays are still 720p; it may take several years before real 1080p shows arrive-- when that time comes, it's probably time to buy another plasma). I have watched Discovery HD theater and boy, it was eye-popping! Watching football on ESPN-HD feels like being there. My HD-DVDs, especially 'Superman Returns' and 'The Last Samurai' were totally out of this world! I can't believe I have waited this long to buy this plasma TV. For the quality, picture and price, nothing beats Hitachi!
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
I did over 6 months of research and found this set to be the best bang for the buck. I was able to get it for $1729 at Tiger Direct and was lucky enough to be just out of state so no tax and I picked it up so no shipping. I put it on the wall with a Peerless Tilt mount rated to 200lbs and it was the easiest install I had ever done. The only word of caution: This is a huge set and it takes 2 big guys to lift and install.
Now I am into professional video and work closely with video reproduction on computer monitor and other screens so my eye is more critical than most and I have one thing to say. There are purchases that don't live up to your expectations, products that come out about what you expected and the few that far exceed your expectations. My experience was the latter. For the cost, this set blew me away. You can't get a better looking image from a set this size for this cost. I paired it with a Toshiba HD-2A HD DVD player and though the Toshiba is a little clunky, it has awesome image upconversion and features (an obvious early adopter box). The SD DVDs I have played on it look awesome. I will let you know how the HD DVDs look once I pick a few up. I plugged my XBOX 360 in and WOW, there is nothing like it (there were audible gasps from my friends)...even from 3 feet away!
This set is being phased out by Hitachi and replaced by a smaller 50" 1080i 401 series set now which I hear is also very good, but I was quite happy to save a grand and have 5 more inches on my wall.
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
This is my best purchase. I bought this as soon as it came out in 7/2006. I only had one issue and it was when I moved out of state. I plugged it in when I got to my new home and it worked then after the movers left I went to set it up and it would not turn on. I called a tv repair man and at a high expense they would come out to check it out and fix it. They said it most likely was the power cord. I called Hitachi instead and turns out the repair person was wrong. Under the name HITACHI at the bottom of the tv there is a little compartment that opens and you can reset the tv. I did this and it turned right on. Make sure you check that before you go and have a service person come to your house as they will not tell you to do this. Great buy and great picture.
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
I turned on my 55HDS69 a week ago and WAAH-BOOM, No more picture but the sound was fine. The resolution underway at a local repair shop is to replace the upper & lower buffers. The TV is 2 yrs and nine months old. I did not buy the extended warranty as I expected a $3000+ TV to last longer than 3 years especially since my house is like a climate controlled class 40 clean room and the TV is not over used. The parts are ~$225, The labor is ~$225. Hitachi would have sent the parts for free had I been within the 2-year window (1 yr regular warranty + 1 yr grace period). It was absolutely silly of me to think HITACHI would do the right thing and send me parts at 2 yrs and 9 months (sarcasm). I can tell you one thing......There is NFW I will ever buy a Hitachi product again and that includes anything even affiliated with Hitachi (inc. imbeded electronics). I will steer every person on the planet away from them in the future. My original plan was to ship the TV to the Hitachi CEO to make a point but the Hitachi folks don't deserve that kind of respect (Unless it blows out again) :(
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
After reading a recommendation from Consumer Reports, I shopped this unit around and purchased it off the internet for $2,000 (freight incl.) and am very happy with the quality of the picture- although as with most high-tech electronics; my lack of understanding of all of the ways to connect to your cable box, DVD recorder, surround-sound, etc. made set-up a very confusing and time-consuming ordeal. If you are not an audio-video technophile, you may want to consider hiring a professional to come in and do it right.
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This review is from: Hitachi Ultravision 55HDS69 55-Inch Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
All I have to say is wow! Like some of the others have said, I too did a TON of research on this TV along with every other TV in its's class. Hitachi is a fantastic manufacturer and this is an incredible TV. Amazon's price of $1,999.99 is completely fair for a machine of this quality and their price is consistent with other retailers fortunate enough to have a couple of these TV's.
I watched my first Blu-Ray movie on this TV last night and I was blown away. Watching sports in High-Def is truly amazing. I just cant say enough.
Also, if you happen to own a PS3, this TV really brings out the quality picture in your games.
WORD OF ADVICE: Don't wait on this too much longer. These TV's are in limited supply and, as you can imagine, are selling out quickly. Also, be prepared to spend around $200 for either a stand or a wall mount kit.
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