AT LAST, THE SET OF MY DREAMS!, July 23, 2010

I’d like to make two points clear at the outset. One, I have always been a bit suspicious of glowing reviews I’ve read out here, suspecting somehow they had been written by people associated with the company producing the product being reviewed. And two, although I have purchased other less expensive items online, I have always had a great fear of buying large ticket items, such as this television set, online.

I had resisted buying an HDTV mainly because I wasn’t comfortable with the drawbacks inherent in each type of set, e.g. burn-in for plasma sets and dropped pixels for LCD sets, plus the fact that the picture on most of these sets gradually deteriorated as each day went by. My current set had been a 45 inch Mitsubishi DLP television, whose picture was still as sharp and clear as the first day I turned it on back in 2001, despite the fact that the original lamp had never been replaced. So I was definitely a Mitsubishi fan, despite some of the problems I’d read about with certain of their earlier DLP high definition models.

But the thing which really motivated me to finally purchase a Hi-Def set was the day I watched my first 3D demonstration at a Best Buy store. It was amazing and all I could think of after that was watching my favorite sports teams in 3D. So I began a long and very arduous research process, mainly online. It finally brought me to this particular Mitsubishi 3D ready set, despite the negative reviews given to certain earlier Mitsubishi models, whose warranties Mitsubishi did extend for two additional years. And, it seems as though many people bought these Mitsubishi sets without ever being aware that, under varying circumstances, they may have to replace their lamp from time to time.

At any rate, I eventually took the giant leap of faith and ordered my new Mitsu 73 inch HDTV from Amazon.com., mainly because I had made other smaller buys from Amazon.com with no problems and I have to admit I liked the idea of free shipping and no state taxes on a large ticket item like this, which saved me around 0.00. Anyway, the big day arrived and while I had had many earlier concerns over how the delivery would be handled, I was delighted to find how smoothly the actual delivery process went. At the time of purchase, the delivery was scheduled for 7/22/10 between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM. They actually arrived at 10:15 AM on 7/22/10. As I was extremely relieved to find, the two men handling the delivery actually brought the stand and set inside my apartment, in that order, and carefully unboxed each item. They then gave me plenty of time to carefully inspect each item for any exterior damage. They then carefully placed the set on the stand and even turned on the set to make sure the initial blue screen appeared. So, it turned out all my delivery fears were absolutely unfounded. The delivery could not have gone better.

After they left, I waited for a bit and then began hooking things up. After plugging everything into my new surge protector and making the required connections, I turned the set on and went through the required set-up routine, making all the picture settings which had been recommended on several Hi-Def forums for the earlier version of this model. These seemed to give me a very nice initial picture, although I feel I may have a bit more tweaking to do to suit my individual preferences. But after briefly watching some college football and professional golf, as well as an episode of The Sopranos, I believe all my research has been well rewarded and that I have purchased the perfect set for me. There have been a few who told me they would never have anything to do with Mitsubishi sets, but as I told them, I will remain a fan until such time as this set proves me wrong. In addition, I will mention that I did purchase a SquareTrade extended warranty for this set, as I would have done for any item costing this much. The cost was little enough to provide peace of mind for four years. And, as I later learned, my Visa card automatically extends the warranty for a fifth year.

So I suppose this review is exactly the type that would have inspired me to believe it was written by a Mitsubishi employee. Nothing could be further from the truth. I just feel I did my homework and bought this item from a reliable E-tailer and hopefully, I will be enjoying my new Mitsubishi 3D HDTV for many years to come.

I’m back with some additional information as I’ve decided to include the basic settings I’ve come up with to obtain what I think is an excellent picture on this particular HDTV set. They are as follows:

Color 40, Tint 27, Sharpness 31, Color Temp. Low, Video Noise Med., Edge Enhancement On, Deep Field Imaging Off, Smooth 120 Off, Picture Mode Natural, Contrast 33, Brightness 31. I might also add most of my viewing is done in pretty dim lighting, which I think very much contributes to…

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Mitsubishi 73738, July 11, 2010

I’m no videophile, but I know what I like, and I like this TV.

First of all, I’ve read a lot of feedback on the other 73″ models before I decided to go with this later version.

Among the complaints I read about the earlier models were that “the sound was insufficient, the remote was hard to figure out, the on-screen menus were hard to figure out, and the picture was too bright”.

Well, the picture was too bright out of the box. I have to wonder if it’s because it was made in Japan, and the picture was adjusted by Japanese. I simply went to an HDMI message forum and found some settings from users of previous models. I used the simplest settings I could find, then tweaked to my taste. Took all of about 10 minutes total.

Regarding the sound, my “great room” measures 33′ x 18′, with a very high ceiling. It fills the room just fine with the factory speakers when we’re watching AT&T U-verse Cable. I had to crank it all the way up to work with my Sony Blu-Ray player, watching “3 Days of the Condor”. So maybe the problem others have isn’t with the TV, but with the source audio, be it the player or the media.

The remote is simpler than many others I’ve seen, and the menus on-screen are easily navigated. The only complaint I have, as others have mentioned, is that the remote isn’t lit. I think that’s silly, since everyone likes watching movies in a darkened room.

The Mitsubishi MB-S73A stand fits perfectly, just as the PDF for this TV’s specs says on Mitsubishi’s website.

Everyone who’s visited is amazed at the picture on this TV, even in SD. Some friends and family were over when I played “3 Days of the Condor”, and they were absolutely stunned at the HDMI picture. I can’t wait to see a modern film on this TV.

We have a Denon DHT-591BA home theater surround system, but I’ve yet to wire it in, so I can’t comment on that.

The TV recognizes products plugged in via HDMI ports, pretty much immediately.

If you decide to get one of these, I highly recommend the matching stand. The stand comes assembled, you only have to use four screws and two pins to mount the shelf where you want it, slide the TV into the matching slots, then four screws fully secure the TV to the base.

I gave it five stars, because they don’t offer a six-star option.

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Just received the 7th edition, November 12, 2010

Just received the newest version of the 73 inch DLP yesterday. I was a little skeptical coming from a plasma TV to a DLP which I almost bought last year but the picture at the store just wasn’t as crisp as the plasma. Well, I hooked up the TV last night using the cable/HD 1080i. Unbelievable is all I can say. I watched the NFL game, I felt like I was on the field, HD was so nice. I called the cable company to make sure my settings were correct on the box and was informed that they now have a 1080p HD box which I will be going to get Saturday.

3D in my area right now only has ESPN which I will check that out this weekend. This TV does not need a 3D adapter. Everything is in the TV with this version, one of the reasons I bought this TV. All you have to do is change the input to 3D, turn to the station and put the glasses on which came with my TV. I have heard that 3D sports are something to see. Also, this TV comes with 100 internet applications, including AP news, FB, Vudu, weatther to name a few, which will run as a ticker on the bottom of the screen if you choose, haven’t set this up yet but can’t wait. I am using the Sony blu-ray player with this TV, which will play 3D movies as well. Needless to say, I am very impressed with this TV and I haven’t even tapped into all of the features it comes with. If you have any doubts, don’t, you won’t regret purchasing this TV, I have had 50 inch plasma and LCD and for the price and the features, so worth it. If this was a LED TV you would be looking at arund ,000. Very impressed….

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