Mitsubishi WS-55711 55" 16:9 HDTV-Ready Projection TV
By: Mitsubishi Average Rating: 5.0 Total Reviews: 2
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 On: 2008-01-18
Ive owned this TV since December of 2001. At the time I had gotten a good discount on it and, with the extended warranty it was still $4700.00. It was however one of the best TVs out there in picture quality and craftsmanship. The picture is vivid, contrast is great, and HD looks amazing on it. This is/was Mitsubishis top of the line model for 55" (the Diamond series) and the finish on the tv is very attractive. Its not plain black, but has some pattern to it and is very smooth and shiny. Cleans up real nice. The speakers in the TV really kick and can be configured to be the center channel in a surround setup.
There are more options and connections than you can shake a stick at but my main complaint is really that it is getting outdated as far as the types of inputs it supports. When this TV came out, there were not a lot of high definition options out there. There is only one component input that accepts 1080i signal. The other component inputs are restricted to lower resolutions. This isnt much of an issue if you have a current receiver or video switcher to run multiple high def signals out to one line, but I havent bought either yet. It does not have an HDMI input or even a DVI input so it will never support full 1080p which is unfortunate with all the new Blu-Ray and HD-DVD devices out now that can put out 1080p resolutions.
The remote that comes with the TV is easy to use, buttons are in good positions and it feels natural. There is a button on the side of the remote that you can push for backlighting when watching TV in the dark.
Since this is a rear projection TV, the viewing angle is not the best, but it is better than most rear projections. If I had to guess Id say its about 120 degrees (compared to the 170 you get on most LCDs nowadays). Also it is not a TV you want to have in a brightly lit room. My room has room darkening blinds which work great, but I cant imagine having it upstairs where we get a lot of sun. The other review mentions that it is on wheels which it is. There are 4 caster wheels but you cant see them since it sits so low. They roll nicely, even on carpet and the tv is NOT 400 lbs, its more like 250 or so. Official specs can be found online.
Another thing I might mention, this TV is rear projection and therefore uses lamps which can eventually burn out. These can be replaced for much cheaper that replacing an entire LCD or Plasma tv that has gone bad. I have yet to replace mine and it has been 7 years. Rear projections also greatly benefit from professional cleaning and calibration and can look better than most of the newer LCDs and plasma screens out there.
One last thing. I own a 42" LCD and am not biased either way. I love my flat panel for its size and brightness. Just wanted to point out the positives of this TV vs the newer TV types out there (oh, and I have my very large center channel speaker sitting nicely on the top... try that with a flat panel) =)
On: 2006-01-22
About the tv:
Weve had this tv for 2 1/2 years and absolutely love it. The picture quality is better than any tv Ive ever seen - even the new ones with the newest technology. There are a couple cool features to this tv that are probably standard on many but I thought were nice. The first is the fact that this is on wheels. The tv weighs about 400 pounds so moving it around to clean behind it, plug it in etc...could have difficult if they hadnt thought to put it on wheels. It also have a protective cover over the screen for those of us with kids and pets. A little windex is all you need to keep it clean. The shape of this tv is a full rectangle meaning that its not like other tvs where you cant put anything on top of it if you want to. We keep family pictures and other seasonal decorations on top. On the front there are plugs to plug your camcorder into which makes life easier when it comes to showing off those kids and vacation videos or just simply looking back on life gone by. YOu have many choices out there when it comes to tvs these days and certainly you can find ones that take less space.
Wrapping it up:
I think the questions to ask yourself about which tv to buy is: "How much space do I have?" and "What is my budget?" If space is an issue you may want to look into another tv since this tv is 42 inches wide and 22 inches deep. If you have the space and are looking to get as big as you can without paying an arm and a leg this is your tv.
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