Which Plasma?

Furp

I'm starting to look at plasma TVs for my dad, I know a bit about them, budget is up to €4000 possibly a bit more.

Sony have a nice looking wega 40 inch model for just under 5000, but I'd prefer not to go with them plus it was in a very dark part of the shop which makes me think that the contrast ratio was quite low.

Anyway advice on where is the best place to buy, thinking of up to 42" in size, it will be used with quite a good home theatre system surround sound amplifier, so speakers are not that important, still need a tuner as on ntl cable, and preferably, one with Progressive Scan. and a high contrast ratio.

Any advice?

byte

I quite like the Samsung 42". The new model has a higher contrast ratio than it's predecessor. Also has integrated tuner, and detachable speakers.

Power City are selling them for €3749

Specs

And I obviously like the philips ( as I got one )
powercity have them for €3,500

pixel plus \0/ is a good feature for watching sat tv.
The speakers blend into the silver body on the philips.
It's a personal preference but I think the detachable speakers on the samsung look tacky.

The philips speakers have a "speech" setting which works perfectly for a centre speaker.

By the way when you are looking, make sure you are getting the latest reviewed model when buying.
Stores like power city, Curry's etc will try to sell you last years model.
Have a look at the back issues of some of the magazines available in decent hi fi shops or in Easons on the subject or in any good newsagent.

Matt Simis

Originally posted by Earthman
And I obviously like the philips ( as I got one )
powercity have them for €3,500

Philips (certainly all recent models) are ALiS screens, ie interlaced. He asked for Progressive Scan support, so that rules out Philips, Hitachi, Fuijitsu and Sony (plus a few more).

I was selling a good Panasonic 42" screen in the forsale board, better than virtually anything you can get retail in Ireland. Samsung are generally "low end" (Daewoo, LG too) and Panasonic and Pioneer are high end.



Matt

robbie1876

I would second what Matt Simis said. I install quite a lot of plasmas from different manufacturers. Without a shadow of doubt, the Pioneer PDP433 is streets ahead of anything else out there at the moment. It's native resolution is 1024 x 768, on most other plasmas and all budget models, resolution is 852 x 480. It is also the first plasma to be HDMI compatible, google to find out more on this stunning digital video format. You will pay a good bit more than 4k for one though, but I believe it is worth every cent.

After Pioneer, I would recommend Panasonic next. They are definitely the best of the 852 x 480 screens that I have seen.

Of the budget screens, I would avoid Samsung because of colouration problems. LG's PZ44 models are excellent, but I've had some lately that are faulty out of the box. When you get one that works, they are superb screens. Daewoo I don't like. Philips are good, but pricey.

With all plasmas, but especially budget ones, it is critical that you have them set up correctly with high quality interconnects from the best sources you can afford into the highest quality inputs the plasma will take. Make sure to run your DVD in component video, your Sky box in RGB and your PC via VGA using the highest native resolution your plasma will accept.

Robbie

Thumper Long

just been lookin for a plasma myself and the sony centres have a special on with their KE42TS2E model at 4500 and a dvd recorder when i was originally looking at this tv it was 8500 it has the integrated tuner and a fairly good sound with the trusurround sound, def worth a look even though its a little over ur budget...........

Matt Simis

Pricey for what is merely a "good" Plasma. Personally, Id never buy an ALiS Plasma (all Sonys), the idea of being interlaced seems like a step backward (could very well be a "mental" problem) despite their improved resolution. If I wanted high res, Id plump for the HD Panasonic models or any Pioneer.


Matt

Originally posted by Matt Simis
He asked for Progressive Scan support, so that rules out Philips,
Matt

No Matt
Philips do actually have progressive scan

Furp

I saw one of the sony ones in the sony centre but i did not ge the model number, it looked very nice, 42" screen with black sourrond and the wega engine the picture looked great but it was in a darkened part of the shop as there was a projector there, i think that the contrast ratio on screen was low.

The differance the contrast ratio makes to the picture is huge, some of the sony's where 800:1 while the Panasonic's are 4000:1 the picture just looks so much better.

Its like a cinema whit the lights turned on compared to turned off, or a slide, looking at slide without a ligfht box compared to looking at on one, the picture seems to come alive and be almost 3d like, if you know what I mean.

I had a look at the peats website they sell panasonic but the prices they charge are high, this one looked good Panasonic TH42PE30B VieraPanasonic TH42PE30B Viera

Wondering if there is somewhere else i could buy this cheaper in Ireland, must check the Panasonic website.

Edit: Curry's in Liffey Valley have a nice display of plasmas they have about 15 differant models in three rows, all with the same channel or dvd on the screens, its great to be able to see and compare them all like this, other shops should do the same, although they have one strange bran techwood, must be a budget brands, but they have samsung, thomson, and a few phillips, and i think they also had a jvc. but no panasonic.

Matt Simis

Originally posted by Earthman
No Matt
Philips do actually have progressive scan

Ahh, I was under the impression that all of Philips current range were 1024x1024 res (ALiS)...



Matt


PS: Is that an old model, the 9955 doesnt seem to be listed on http://www.consumer.philips.com/global/b2c/ce/catalog/subcategory.jhtml;jsessionid=1AJNRQPRLBMD5J0RMRCRZO3HKFSESHG4?subCatId=33_FLAT_TV_SU&groupId=TV_GR&catId=FLAT_TV_CA&divId=0