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Jan 8, 2013 Milt     This TV is bulletproof. Replaced a couple of bulbs over the years but that's the...

Apr 9, 2011 Dan M     I purchased this new at the Circuit City (obviously no longer there), although I...

Jun 7, 2010 HackBenjamin      I purchased this TV as a floor model at Circuit City in late 2005. It is a ...

Mar 24, 2010 mrpiano     Bought this set about 4 years ago from Circuit City (it's now March, 2010). Rec...

Feb 3, 2010 Van     I purchased this in June 2006, it is now Feb 2010. I dont even use this tv very...

Aug 26, 2009 dana     bought in febuary of 06 then in march of o7 the bulb went out. called hitachi th...

Aug 22, 2008 DENNIS     I bought this new from circuit city march 2006. The picture has never really bee...

Aug 7, 2008 Chris Leon     This TV is one of my best investments. I've owned my set for a little over 2 yea...

Feb 19, 2008 Steve     I bought my 55 VF 820 Hitachi at a going out of business sale.It was a demonstra...

May 19, 2007 Nick     So far so good. I bought this TV 5 months ago and for the price, I couldn't at ...

Apr 17, 2007 BL117     Have owned it for a year now. Not a single complaint since the firmware upgrade...

Mar 8, 2006 Dan      I have owned this TV for 4 months now and have to encounter a problem (knock o...

Feb 5, 2006 Boostfed     Purchased the 50VF820 and took it back for the 55VF820 since the price differenc...

My Experience: I purchased this in June 2006, it is now Feb 2010.
I dont even use this tv very much and have replaced the bulb twice which was $125 each time (OEM Philips bulbs). Now the HDMI ports stopped working (both of them).
Hitachi said Im out of luck since it's 3 and half years old and they will not send me the schematics so I can fix it myself, nor will they do a courtesy repair.
I spent $1100 for the set brand new from Circuit City, plus $250 in bulbs in just this short time. Now this problem, so now the tv cant dislplay movies from my computer or any digital source without expensive converting/scaling equipment. (Since the HDMI ports dont work, the only way to get HD is to do component, which is expensive no matter how you look at it, coming from a computer source)

The image quality has always been a little dark, even after setting the colors/contrast/brightness. I could watch most movies as long as they werent movies centered around night time, like zombie movies or dark rooms.

This tv was the most expensive and frustrating thing Ive ever bought. Stay away from Hitachi, they're products are considered legacy and out of service after just a couple of years.

Problems: bulbs, brightness, hdmi ports.