Price Paid:  $2850.00 from Spencers AZ

Summary:
Let me start out with what I don't like about this T.V. That would be the very low quality speakers that are used. They are terrible. But this is a Big Screen made for Home Theater so who would use them? I did for a few months until I purchase a nice Onkyo to complete the system. The T.V. itself is simply amazing, the color depth, the focus (even from an angled view) are incredible. The set was very easy to setup and after going through and resetting the convergence I was truly amazed. If you really want to impress people switch to an HD broadcast and watch their jaws drop. I can't say enough good things about this TV. It has just about every feature you could want.

Strengths:
Excellent picture quality especially in HDTV or progressive scan. Connections! Firewire (3 of them)was a nice touch.

Weaknesses:
Speakers are weak! It is big for a 55", make sure you have room for it. My viewing distance from the front is 7 feet, at 9ft the quality is just that much better!

Similar Products Used:
Sony..blah

Price Paid:  $3200.00 from RC Willey

Summary:
I bought my Mitsubishi WS-55859 back in February of 2002 around the time the Olympics were going on. I watched high-def replays of all the events going on and was amazed at the clarity of the picture. To be honest, I have seen many high-definition sets and this Mits I would put alongside the majority of them. This unit supports 480i/480p/1080i resolutions, has an integrated HD tuner with a coaxial audio output for 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Components I have hooked up to mine are a Denon 3802 reciever, Toshiba Progressive Scan DVD player, RCA component video DSS receiver, Microsoft XBox (component), Sony Playstation 2 (component) and a Nintendo Gamecube (component). DVD playback is crisp and beautiful in 480p progressive scan mode. I have watched many pictures, and all 16:9 anamorphic titles seem to fit the full screen perfectly leaving no top/bottom black bars. As far as 4:3 viewing, I have it set to the default stretched view. The first time you watch it you may think this looks a bit distorted, but you quickly get used to it. It's best to try and avoid 4:3 display mode due to the bars it places on the left and right sides, try to avoid that burn-in. Quality on standard 480i broadcasts is decent, but thats not why you buy a TV like this. Game systems play well on this TV. The XBox with it's native 480p support for all of it's games looks the best with visual clarity however. If you have an Xbox, you owe it to yourself to play 16:9 at 480p. The system is designed with a graphical on-screen interface wich functions quite well. You can add/delete devices from the menus, and label them. You can also switch the remote to a discrete mode of operation which will allow you to program easily any learning remote.

Strengths:
Upgradable via plug in cartridge from Mitsubishi, integrated tuner, multiple component video connections.

Weaknesses:
Lack of 720p, even though it is not a defacto High Def standard.