Recieved this from Tosiba today:

Hello ,

Thank you for taking a moment to contact Toshiba customer support with your inquiry.

All specifications are not available on our website as of yet. Yes there is a mistake on the HD chip the 85 models have the HD4 an not the HD2. This has been noticed and will be corrected shortly. I will fax the specifications on the DLP later today.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to be of assistance.

I did get the fax of specs for 52HM85, 62HM85, 46HMX85, 52HMX85 and 62HMX85. Also they advised that Toshiba Canada is not offering the 46HM85.

The specs indicated:
All of the above DLP TV's have HD4 chip.
All of the HMX have TWO (2) HDMI inputs... including 46HMX85.


Skrumpy... are you sure you have a 46HMX85 with only 1 HDMI input??... doesn't make sense.

The 46HMX85 only has 1 HDMI. I thought they had 2, so I got a FS employee to pull it out and checked myself. Only 1.

So if I hear things correctly, the 46hmx has 1 hdmi and no pc input and the 52hmx and larger have 2 hdmi and a pc input.

I was really eyeing that 46" model but for the price difference to a 52" it just seems you're gaining other useful options. I may only need one hdmi right now but I can't be sure I wouldn't wish I had another in a year or two.

Greetings

That's what HDMI switchers are for. ;)

Regards

And that was my rationale for getting this TV. It's still a stunning TV. However, isn't there only 1 HDMI switcher and doesn't it cost around 250 USD?

The 52"+ have 2 x HDMI, but i didn't check for a PC input.

Greetings

That's what HDMI switchers are for. ;)

Regards

Greetings

I suppose there never will be any other HDMI switcher suppliers beyond this in the next year or two ... as the poster was looking at.

There was a time a few years back when people couldn't find component video switchers ... and how many companies provide switchers now?

Regards

I thought talking people out of smaller televisions was anathema on these boards :p

But as was mentioned, why pay $$$ for a switch that could of paid for a bigger tv. The pc input is another big plus. I really only wanted a 46" but I'll take another look at the 52" from 8' away and see how I like it this weekend and may finally pull the trigger. My only reservation is the side mounted speakers taking up too much space for the 52.

Greetings

The point is ... don't let the fact that a TV has one or two inputs for something sway what product you end up with. There are much bigger issues at stake.

It's not like you are only ever going to have two components that need hdmi ...

Some used to think that about component video inputs on TVs too. Well I have 8 items in the chain that need component video ...

Regards

My only reservation is the side mounted speakers taking up too much space for the 52.
Received the following from Toshiba Canada today:


Hello ,

Thank you for taking a moment to contact Toshiba customer support with
your inquiry. We have faxed the spec sheets that we have available to the number that you gave us. However, we do not have spec sheets available as of yet for the 1080P sets ie. The 56HM195, 62MX195 and 72MX195 those sets are not due out till the fall of 2005. I hope this information will assist you with your purchase.

Regards,

These 1080p sets have bottom mounted speakers.

Height is 0.49 x diagonal
Width is 0.87 x diagonal

46" is 22.6" h by 40.0" w
52" is 25.5" h by 45.3" w

My rule of thumb for seating is 2 x screen diagonal so:

A 46" TV would be 92" i.e 7' 8"
A 52" TV would be 104" i.e. 8' 8"

Thanks grider for the measurements, I just cannot decide! On the one hand I think the 52" may be too big for such a small room but on the flip side I'm afraid the 46" won't be a big enough jump from my 32 to warrant the 3000$ purchase. I realize that eventually I'll just have to pull the trigger and go with my gut but MAN what a toughy.

BTW I've been in a few more times and eveytime the new Tosh's really standout as the best DLP's on the floor--and this is consistently from store to store which is rare. Also Leons was showing more SD and even it looked good. I'm down to two--JVC DILA or the TOSHHMX85's Both sound fantastic on paper. My only concerns are the banding(gradients?) and 'noise' on the DLP's. Also, while I don't see rainbows, I'm afraid guests/my gf will. Oh the decisions!!!

Thanks again for all the help(and thanks for the link heybirder)

JASON

Thanks grider for the measurements, I just cannot decide! On the one hand I think the 52" may be too big for such a small room but on the flip side I'm afraid the 46" won't be a big enough jump from my 32 to warrant the 3000$ purchase.
TV's look MUCH bigger in your house than in the store.... more space in the store I guess. A number of people on these forums have complained thier TV was too big when they got it home.

Not trying to sway the decision, but it's something to think about.

Still the best method is take a tape measure and plonk yourself down in the store at your home viewing distance and watch a combo of HD and SD on both of the TV's your considering.

well, I finally got my 46hmx85. It's interesting the topic of adequate space for the TV came up in this forum. Yes, if you haven't noticed from the tone of my typing. I too have that problem (at least my wife does). Before I started shopping for TV's I had it all measured out and we had and still have 10 ft of viewing distance!! However, I guess my wife has been so used to viewing a 32" at 10 ft all her life that a 46" is flipping insane huge. (kindda like when she met me ...lol ..j/k) Anyways, luckily she said she's willing to try it out, but I'm definitely not optimistic about the future of my 46". (I think its also because of the ear speakers.. another 6 inches?) If anyone has suggestion for a smaller good quality TV's or advice to convince my wife, I would appreciate it.

update wit y'all later :confused:

Greetings

Play a bunch of movies that she likes to watch first ... watch her warm up to the size ...

Regards

If anyone has suggestion for a smaller good quality TV's or advice to convince my wife, I would appreciate it.
I agree... play her favourite movies.

Also... TV's with bottom mounted speakers are less imposing for a given screen size.

btw. How does the picture look to you from 10ft away in HD/SD ? Given no wife... is this the right size for you or too big/small?

Just an FYI if there are people out there like me that are actually looking to buy any of these tv's in the near future.....

Futureshops cost on the 52hm85 is $2049.72, and the cost on the 52hmx85 is $2164.59.

The employees that work there have to pay this price PLUS an additional 10% on top of that.

Gives you a good idea of what kind of clout you have in negotiations anyways...

They arent doing bad with a ~50% markup!

Greetings

Also good to know that stores that sell at 10% above cost don't stick around very long. Cost+10% usually is enough to cover overhead expenses. The actual margin is 40% ... and if you can knock that down to 15-20% ... you are doing okay. Getting 10% off should not be that hard.

Regards

40%? I wish! On TVs, dealer cost to suggested selling price is 20-25%. For Toshiba, it used to be 20% on the TheaterWide, and 25% on Cinema Series. So, getting 10% off is really about all you can hope for. "Suggested selling price" is not to be confused with List price. List price is meaningless and that figure is not even known to the dealers. On the price sheets, you see "cost" and "suggesting selling" (aka "GO"). The List price is some mythical number they make up for the web site!

Mind you, I wasn't around long enough to see the pricing on the DLP sets, but I can't imagine margins have changed. Especially not to 40%.

I just cannot decide! On the one hand I think the 52" may be too big for such a small room but on the flip side I'm afraid the 46" won't be a big enough jump from my 32 to warrant the 3000$ purchase. I realize that eventually I'll just have to pull the trigger and go with my gut but MAN what a toughy.

I have been told by many people that at 52"+ you start to see the pixels on SD programing (stil a lot of that out there)

ALSO - The FS rep told me that the end of August/start of Sept is the best pricing opportunity. Some kind of back to school promo - watch for it

I am very confused about the new chips in the DLP TVs from Toshiba. The 52HM84 has a HD2+ DMD DLP chip and the new 52HM85 has the HD3 chip. Which produces a better picture or more importantly which TV produces a better picture as there could be other enhancements in the TV's as well? I keep hearing that the HD2+ DMD DLP chip is better than the HD3 chip but I have not actually seen both the 52HM85 and the 52HM84 side by side to compare.

Second question: Do you know what chip is in the 52HM95 and is it any good? I know the sets are only available in the US but I can still get one.

Thank you for your help.

HD2+ is superior to HD3. One major difference is that the HD3 has smaller mirrors, so the image has to be zoomed more, which, I believe, shows the gaps between the mirrors better (which is a negative thing).

So far, from what I've heard, HD4 appears to be superior to both HD2+ and HD3 in terms of overall picture quality. I believe this is largely due to improvements in the on-chip image processing.

I'm not 100% sure, but I thought all the new HM85's had the HD4 chip?