Video Asylum

Posted by wmaco (A) on August 01, 2002 at 08:03:46

In Reply to: Top choices for 16:9 directview CRT HDTV? posted by stumped on July 21, 2002 at 16:33:16:

Not many people have heard of Sampo (Taiwan)in terms of direct view TVs (they seem to be more well known for DVD players). I just purchased a 34" 16:9 set (SME-34hwd5), and so far I am quite impressed. I got mine off the floor at Erol's TV in VA for $1500! They sell at regular price of $1600. They claim to have a monitor grade CRT, made by Toshiba, but not used by Toshiba because of cost. I use a Dish 6000 rcvr with the OTA card and get great pictures. Especially good is the new Discovery HD theater. The landscape and macro images they produce are awesome.

Disadvantages: only one NTSC tuner, no PIP, weighs 200 lbs (remember when quality could be judged by weight?), deep cabinet

Advantages: Great picture, RGB input as well as 2 component plus 2 S-Video inputs, can be connected to a PC as a monitor.

If you are interested, check out: http://www.sampoamericas.com/sales/retailers.html