this tv is definitly not worth buying!!! i had it for just over a year and noticed that one of the pixels was blown so i had a little green dot to stare at for the next 3 years because it wasnt under warranty and would b too costly to repair! into the 3rd year the tv started having a red overtone to it and was terrible to watch it! eventually the lamp blew and im throwing this tv in the garbage where it belongs!!

I bought this tv for 5300$
I used 5 years .After 4 years light engine gone . Very nice RED spot in the middle of tv. I leaved as is ..
Resently The bulb gone So I bought another one for 104$ .I just want to tell you this is last time i fixing it .
Next thing will be the garbich .. Dont't buy it ..Alot of many for nothing

i bought this tv about 3 years ago and i had to replace the light bulb within the first 6 months and then i have had to replace the light bulb just recently and now my light engine is gone and i have been told it is going to cost 1300 dollars to fix it is not worth it i called hitachi to talk to them about it and there is nothing they will do i heard there is a class action going on in th USA about this and i would like to know more because i paid alnost 3000 dollars and now i have to pay another 1300 plus the 300 for the light bulb, this tv is a boat anchor as far as i am concerned.

I Bought the Hitachi 50v500 approx. 4yrs ago. The Tv stopped working after 1 month, sears repair man, which are very incompetent, could not fix and sent me a new TV same model. It lasted 3 years and now light engine ($500 part) needs to be replaced. This is common as I see many other complaints about the same part. Basic lesson for me, stay away from Hitachi products as they are very expensive for a disposable TV. I have 2 unopened lamps for this model which I need to get rid of. They are $200 each and I will sell $80 each. The TV and stand are available if anyone wants to change light engine.

Don't do it. Don't buy Hitachi, we bought a hitachi 50v500 and it has been nothing but a head-ache. First we had a few bad pixels then the infamous red cloud and now it's completely blue with huge blue blobs. I know it the light engine, but Hitachi won't budge on the issue, saying it's 3 years after warranty. What a piece of junk this thing is. We will never buy anything Hitachi EVER again. Customer service, is of no help. So here we are with this over-sized paper weight.

The whole TV especially light engine and relay.

All I can say is this TV is JUNK and a waste of money! I am very diappointed. Within a week of purchase the service men were at the house because of a distorted picture. They made adjustments then 6 months later the relay was replaced. And now that it is out of warranty I have a big red circle glow in the screen. I call for service and no one wants to make a house call let alone work on the TV. The light engine is bad. The television is 2 1/2 years old and broke. Hitachi says they will not help with repairs knowing that this is a problem with the TV and I had prior service records. I will never buy from Hitachi again. They don't stand behind their products!!!

NONE

This product sucks, I would never buy another Hitachi AGAIN. They don't back up their product. DON'T BUY IT!

good picture when it works, occasionally good customer service.

Durabliity, lack of available parts, trust me you will need many of them, lack of Hitachi to notice they have a very poor build quality on this box, light engines fail on a regular basis, lamps last less than a year

I would avoid this at all cost. Great TV when it works, however this thing is always broken. I have been through 2 light engines, 3 lamps, and many ghosting adjustments. This is the second one of these as well, the first one I returned the next day for a very bad pitcure and colors that bled onto others. Should have gotten the hint there. This is after my brother in law returned his after a week for a broken light engine.

By far the most troublesome TV I have ever owned. Same the hassle, but a pioneer

has good picture quality, good sound system.

Reliability of light engine and interior electronics very questionable. Power supply is also weak. Bulb has short life.

Wife purchased this in Sept. 2004 without telling me. Used it until Mar. 2005 when sis in law turned off the cable box vice the tv. Next morning, a small blue speck was at the top center of the screen. Over the next 30 days, it grew across the top to the right, down to the bottom and across it. It eventually has enveloped the entire screen. Had factory warranty plus extended warranty, cause was a bad light engine. Though repair is under warranty, refurbished light engine: $829, labor: $227. For this, you can purchase a newer tv with better longivety and better quality picture. I have worked in the electronics field for over 25 years, I do alot of research before buying tv's, especially due to the technology out there. Best recommendation, see what your friends and neighbors have, look at it, see how they feel about the item and reliability. I would not recommend this tv to anyone, once this breaks again, I'll salvage some of it for parts.

Customer Service

Hitachi service was none existant. they absolutely refused to assist us. Warranty purchased through sears has been ok. they have fixed the tv without any charge to us other than cost of the warranty initiatly.

The picture and sound is incredible. Compared to the competition it is a no brainer.

There is a serious quality problem with the light engine and lamp unit. However, when it works, whch is most of the time there is not a unit on the market which can touch it. Because of the quality problems this unit should be at least a $1000 cheaper!!!!

Hitachi 50V500 is an excellent LCD projection display. It is breath taking in it's reproduction and the audio is nice also. The unit far outclassed other units on display.

However, the unit has quality problems. I have had the light engine replaced twiced and I am currently waiting on a lamp or a fuser or both. I cannot get Circuit City or Hitachi to commit to the fact that there is a quality problem with this series.