Price Paid:  $3610.00 from onecall.com

Summary:
I was able to get this set when the new models where coming through the door. I recommend that stategy to everyone when purchasing anything. When I unboxed this set I had to wonder what I was thinking about to have ordered a 65 inch TV. The picture size was overwhelming for about a week. Then I settled in and now I can't imagine looking at a smaller set. My viewing distance is 11 feet which really brings home the theater experience.

The consumer 9-point convergence produced a great picture until I went into Service Mode and did the (what is it 64-point) convergence. After that, the only word for the picture is awesome.

I recently purchased a Panasonic RP56 progressive scan DVD player which took the set up another notch. Bam! This set is out of this world.

I use Rotel components and speakers by Vandersteen; C1's for front and rear, VCC for center and a 2W subwoofer. All all comes together to deliver a true home theater experience.

Strengths:
Picture: Beautiful before calibration - awesome after calibration, Progessive inputs,

Weaknesses:
Input selection - you must go through all the inputs to get back to the beginning, no direct access (no big deal)

Price Paid:  $3800.00 from dynadirect.com

Summary:
I've been using this TV now for about 10 months and have loved every single minute. Owning this has been the ultimate pleasure and I truly do not regret spending the $3800 I paid at that time in Dec 2000 (you can get it quite a bit cheaper now...imagine that :-)

My other equipment is:

Toshiba SD9200 - A true gem of a DVD player
B&W 604S2, CC6, ASW1000 and DS6 speakers
DENON AVR4800THX reciever

I am using a Monster Z300V video reference component cable to connect the Colorstream HD Progressive connection between the SD9200 and the 65H80.

The picture is almost like a window into reality! Combine this with a great unit like the AVR4800 and B&W speakers to match and you have A/V heaven :-)

My cable feed is fairly clear and the 4:3 -> 16:9 resizing/chopping off does not bother me, I've become used to it!

I am very excitedly waiting for HDTV..I quite frequently see the "Simulcast in HDTV" message on some of the programs now so we're getting there :) I'm just waiting for the issues on the copyright/encryption fiasco to be sorted out and a standard finalized and also the price of the tuner to drop just a little bit more :))

One word of caution: The unit is very very heavy (413 lbs.), be prepared to deal with a very challenging task if you're going to get this baby into your house yourself...I would strongly recommend professionals if you have no experience in this area.

I whole heartedly recommend this unit. It is a beauty and its a bit less than the Mitsu, Pioneer and Sony units.

Strengths:
Super sharp picture, vivid colors, intuitive operation, good sound, colorstream HD progressive inputs gives earth shattering clarity!!!

Weaknesses:
a slightly reflective screen (no biggie!)

Similar Products Used:
Seen Mits, Pioneer, Sony

Price Paid:  $2200.00

Summary:
The best I could find, compared many tvs & always came back to Toshiba. Mits was 2nd. Toshiba just had better clarity & color. Worth every cent. Dvds come to life, & even when using it with a dish, picture is near perfect. Input selection took some time to get down, as I see others have complained about. I simply hit the number I want to select quickly,,example input button then 1 for tv.

Strengths:
Great color & clarity, nice remote, great menu selection

Weaknesses:
Input switching

Similar Products Used:
hitach

Price Paid:  $2499.00 from crazyeddie.com

Summary:
This tv has outdone the Mitsubishi in terms of resolution on dvd material. I have never seen so much detail and clarity. In normal analog sources such as a outdoor attenna, the Toshiba looked so much sharper than the Mits. The first thing I noticed when I popped in a dvd was the degree of brightness. The combination of a supersharp,very bright picture had me thinking The Toshiba was actually a 65 inch TUBE. I bought this brand new from the mentioned website above. There service and delivery was excellent.

Strengths:
super sharp picture,great color decoder,built-in line doubler,1600 L.O.R.!!!

Weaknesses:
no horizontal and vertical sync inputs like the Mits HD!!

Similar Products Used:
Mits Diamond 65 16x9

Price Paid:  $4000.00 from Local Dealer

Summary:
I have now owned this for 3 months. The picture on Anamorphic DVD is TOTALLY AWESOME. I just hooked the Toshiba
SD 6200 Progressive Scan DVD player to it a week ago. I could not believe the visible difference that it made. One heck of a combination. This is the new 65H80.

Strengths:
AWESOME

Weaknesses:
NONE

Similar Products Used:
Various rear projection televisions from Phillips, RCA.