LCD's/plasmas and the January sales?

frobisher

I'm in the LCD/plasma market at the moment. As big as I can get from a decent brand with some sort of PC input for between €1000 to €1500.

So do I wait for the sales? I know it's impossible to predict what shops are going to do what. Just wondering if anyone has a rough idea how the sector handles sales? Maybe someone did sales shopping last year. Can we expect genuine bargains clearing the way for new lines? Or is it like clothing stores where they try and get ride of all the dirt that wasn't good enough to go first time round?

leex

I bought a 26" Samsung LCD in Currys in Dec 06 for 899euro. It dropped 50euro in the sale. Gradually dropped another bit during the year.

You can get similar on Komplett.ie for 550-600euro + shipping. Not sure what Currys current price is.

Am in same boat as yourself now. Waiting for a good price on a 40/42" job with PC input. Currys currently have a low end HD Ready 40" Sony for 999euro. There is a Philips 42" plasma in most shops for 999euro and you'll get 300euro back in tesco vouchers if you buy it there this weekend. It has a poor resolution though so not great for PC.

frobisher

WEll if we're in the same boat, and you don't already know about it, you should have a look here: http://www.pcwb.ie/catalogue/Displays/Plasma/Plasma%20Display

They seem to have prices alot better than the shops I've looked in.

floydmoon1

waiting myself for the january sales to pick up lcd.going to get the sony bravia 32 inch d3000 model.its about 1200 at the moment .ts a new model so not sure if they will bring it down at all.but decided will pick up ps3 his weekend as my blu ray player for 280 due to their being 30% off.

gamer

get a 32inch plasma,or 40inch. i Got a 32in plasma last year, 1080i,its got a very small tube, fantastic picture on pc,tv ,sky, xbox 360 ,cost 750 euro dixons.try and get a tv that has vga in,dvi, and hdmi. ALL the lcds i,ve seen are awful,washed out picture,motion blurring on pal tv,ntl or sky tv.
LCDS are ok for consoles or pc games,got new am2 pc ,it shold look good on games like bioshock,cod4 etc,if i ever manage to get winxp installed.
if i had to watch tv on lcd ,id probably stop watching it.LOOK at powercity.ie ,did.ie or other online stores for tv specs.
every expert says plasma is better for tv viewing.

dc69

gamer wrote: »

get a 32inch plasma,or 40inch. i Got a 32in plasma last year, 1080i,its got a very small tube, fantastic picture on pc,tv ,sky, xbox 360 ,cost 750 euro dixons.try and get a tv that has vga in,dvi, and hdmi. ALL the lcds i,ve seen are awful,washed out picture,motion blurring on pal tv,ntl or sky tv.
LCDS are ok for consoles or pc games,got new am2 pc ,it shold look good on games like bioshock,cod4 etc,if i ever manage to get winxp installed.
if i had to watch tv on lcd ,id probably stop watching it.LOOK at powercity.ie ,did.ie or other online stores for tv specs.
every expert says plasma is better for tv viewing.

are you having a laugh,power city and did electrical experts,im no expert and whenever im in ,i enjoy embarasing them with their lack of knowledge,lcd is better than plasma for hd television,plasma is better for standard def,plasmas fade over time weigh about 2 tonnes and are slowly becoming obsolite,i intend to get hd in the next year so im buying n lcd,also at 32 inch there is little difference in picture quality between plasma and lcd on standard def,anything bigger you would notice a difference,so nobody should ever buy a plasma unless its over 40 inch

311

dc69 wrote: »

are you having a laugh,power city and did electrical experts,im no expert and whenever im in ,i enjoy embarasing them with their lack of knowledge,lcd is better than plasma for hd television,plasma is better for standard def,plasmas fade over time weigh about 2 tonnes and are slowly becoming obsolite,i intend to get hd in the next year so im buying n lcd,also at 32 inch there is little difference in picture quality between plasma and lcd on standard def,anything bigger you would notice a difference,so nobody should ever buy a plasma unless its over 40 inch

Lcd is not better than plasma ,it's down to taste . What about dark scenes in a movie ,in a dark room ?

Theres good reasons to have either tv ,who ever said plasma is becoming obsolete ?

big_moe

plasma is NOT obsolete. (or becoming)

yes the plasma TVs weigh slightly more than an LCD (who cares...)

plasma is better on SD & HD content. LCD looks very sharp on HD (too sharp for me) but still cant handle dark colours/movement as well as a good plasma

the smallest plasma available now is a 37".

best 42" for €1500??

Panasonic TH-42PV70 http://www.allianceelectric.ie/products/tv/plasmalcd/th42pv70.htm

i have 2 of them.

and with a 5 year warranty (if you buy in a store) its a no brainer.

moe

gamer

THATS like saying dvds, cds are obsolete.i,d love to buy a 42 inch lcd, they are getting cheaper all the time ,they r ok for pcs,games,consoles,for watching animated films like beowolf.
One thing stops me picture quality, lcds,cant handle fast moving objects,theres blurring,washed out color, insuffient black levels, bad color reproduction,bad differention between colors across the spectrum.I WENT round 20 shops,looked at small,big ,lcd,plasma,crt, anything i could find.
Maybe theres something wrong,i could not find one single lcd tv with good SDTV PICTURE,anywhere.
I, talking about excellent color reproduction ,with deep blacks,variation in color tones,and NATURAL colors.SDTV ON lcd looks like bad video output from from a commodore amiga 84 vintage,displayed on an old crt .

From history we know the best technology doesnt win in the market,the tech thats hyped ,advertised ,cheapest,easiest to use,in fashion wins. IF you give me a brand new 50inch lcd ,i would not swap it for a 32inch plasma.IF you read the articles by robert heron ,hes on dltv video cast ,every week, he says he loves lcd, but the sdtv picture quality is superior on EVEN a cheap plasma tv. Google robert heron plasma tv quality.
I ADMIT plasma tvs are heavy,but you only buy a main tv every 7 years so big deal,bring it home set it up,with the help of a strong friend.
PAYING 1000euro for a lcd tv ,is like paying 10k for a trabant car,makes no sense to me.IT might get you to your destination,but it wont be a pleasant experience.
I Would be grinding my teeth in fury,if i was actually trying to watch tv on an lcd.I WENT to the shops ,i was told plasma,s obsolete, i should have asked for a discount when i bought one.
BUT with all respect do you expect profound technical advice on tv technology design ,from a bloke in did ,whos probably on 9euro an hour.THATS not realistic.I researched on the net for weeks be4 i bought a tv.LCD tv showing sdtv remind me of those old 90s games like nightrap, which streamed lores videoclips from cdroms ,where you could see the processor trying to keep the display moving over 10fps and not doing a good job.I suppose you could say plasmas like pentium 4 cpus, we have dual core cpus,but for the next decade millions of people will be using p4 pcs ,they are quiet adequte for office work,webrowsing,wordprocessing,
but if you wanna be on the cutting edge get a dual/quad core pc.
I dont want to be on the cutting edge if it means,watching an lcd with a hd picture that is mediocre at displaying pal standard sdtv,which in ireland 90percent of people watch most of the time.
YOU can get a fantastic 32inch plasma for 800euro or less ,with vga,dvi for pc,hdmi,scart ,av,rca inputs for tv /dvd /skytv viewing.THE tvs with,dvi pc in ,tend to be cheaper,ie pc dvi in, no vga 15pin connectors,dvi in is probably better than vga in,if you have a pc with dvi out.
SANSUNG do hdtvs plasma ,wth a very small tube,id highly recommend em.
JUSTlook at sdtv on plasma tvs say 32inch,and lcd 32inch and make up your own mind.

big_moe

Gamer, what the hell are you talking about??? you say you would NOT swap a 50" lcd for a 32" plasma. then you go and slate LCD????

good plasma TVs DO NOT come in 32" anymore... Sony had a 32" plasma about 4 years ago (KE-32TS2) and that was the last of them that i can recall.

Gamer, you say Samsung do a "nice plasma, very small tube" plasmas don't have tubes. it sounds like you are talking about those slim HD CRTs. they were that price, but they're not as good as plasma.

and the weight, that pisses me off, who cares about the weight. my 42" is 44KG, thats not terribly heavy. its wall mounted, no probs. just use a decent bracket and you'll be fine.


ANYWAY...... frobisher, my advice still stands. for €1500 (ish) you can get the Panasonic th-42pv70. excellent tv. highly recommend it. i have it with an Upscaling Pioneer DV-400H dvd player and the quality is outstanding. i tried it with the new Harry Potter film over the weekend and the level of detail and the colours were amazing.

as regards the january sales.. i'm not too sure. yes, you'll get a few quid off the TV, but with the Panasonic, they have a 5 year warranty for free with the TV until the 24th December.. so it's up to you if you wanna save 50 quid or so, or get a five year MANUFACTURERS warranty (not in-store "extended" warranty crap)

moe

big_moe

just another thought!!

Frobisher: Can we expect genuine bargains clearing the way for new lines?

no. new stuff in the TV industry comes in April/May and then again in September/October.

moe

Scobius90

moe,

am seriously thinking of getting the th-37pv70, 42 is just a lil big for our sitting room and the wife :-). I saw one in store and what with all the excellent reviews i am serisouly sold on this set
But am i right in assuming that there are many "old wives tales" regarding plasmas tv e.g. its an obsolete technology blah blah. but one i am worried about and heard today (and need some reassurance or confirmation) is the fact that plasmas need to be regassed after a number of years (2-3yrs). is this so and if so what is the usual cost of such a "service"

cheers!
Ciaran

big_moe

jaysus christ....


i HATE that one about the regassing!

there is no way to regas a plasma. panasonic plasmas have a life of 45000 hours and lcds are 60000 hours and then thats it.

LCD is a newer technology, but that doesnt mean its better! have a look at plasma and lcd in a store that has them both and you'll see the difference.

where did you hear the regas story?? just curious...

moe

Scobius90

I thought twas a load of sh one T alright

nah heard from a good mate, he a techie head but is a self professed noob with tvs, so wanted to check

thanks a mil for your quick response

will you check your PM?

gamer

I bought samsung tv, HD CRT TV 11months ago, the tube is very small,it looks like a plasma tv .FROM the research i,ve done on net ,mags etc for sd tv i think for tv viewing dvds,ntl,cable,sky tv the best picture quality is for technical reasons hidef crt ,after that but close behind is hd plasma tvs, and third, last is LCD TV.
I mean if i had a plasma tv 32 inch, i would not take an 50inch lcd in exchange ,because of the lower picture quality.
Some eejit might say plasma,s are obsolete ,thats wrong .The technology is still being refined and improved.
IF the new tech is the best we,d be listening to hdaudio discs or sacds,instead of lo bit rate cds and mp3s.
Say you are spending 1000plus on a tv ,its worth going round a few ,shops look at standard pal tv on plasma ,lcd and HDCRT and see vwhat you think is best.
I think samsung and 1 or 2 other companys distribute hdcrt tvs,you might even get a discount if you buy 1.Whats the stats, re hours lifespan of hdcrt,do you know.

PIMPHO

frobisher wrote: »

WEll if we're in the same boat, and you don't already know about it, you should have a look here: http://www.pcwb.ie/catalogue/Displays/Plasma/Plasma%20Display

They seem to have prices alot better than the shops I've looked in.

Has anyone actually purchased from this crowd before? Do you not need a VAT number to purchase? The prices are really cheap and I would buy from them instantly if a VAT number is not required.

Anyone?

Zonda999

floydmoon1 wrote: »

waiting myself for the january sales to pick up lcd.going to get the sony bravia 32 inch d3000 model.its about 1200 at the moment .ts a new model so not sure if they will bring it down at all.but decided will pick up ps3 his weekend as my blu ray player for 280 due to their being 30% off.

If ur willing to buy online i saw dat model bravia(d 1 wit 100hz) on pixmania . com for around 900..

Keith C

Zonda999 wrote: »

If ur willing to buy online i saw dat model bravia(d 1 wit 100hz) on pixmania . com for around 900..

I nearly got a headache reading that, how old are you 12?? :mad:

floydmoon1

hey zonda yeah i saw it on pixmania but anytime i click the link of that tv it just brings me back to there homepage.as this tv is new enuf do u think pixmania would reduce it much after christmas.

woodyg

its business only for that link yea need a VAT number hence the prices

Zonda999

How do you know that??I'm hoping to get that toshiba that when you click on on it. it takes you back to the home page.I've looked on pixmanias uk site and that has it for the same price in sterling and you can look at its details on that site.For ireland i assumed you'd ring them and you could order them from there??

woodyg

http://www.pcwb.ie/catalogue/Display...asma%20Display

i followed the link to buy any of the tvs and they lead to a page asking for your account with pcwb and a vat number. its a trade site

Zonda999

if you mean pixmania in general is a trade site, it aint. Pixmania have a sister trade site
http://www.pixmania-pro.com/ie/uk/home.html

floydmoon1

rang pixmania today.told them bought the problem.they said they would try to fix it.i asked could i order it over the phone but they said they just use the website to order it when you ring.will try it tommorrow anyway cause the tv im looking for is down to 913.the chepest i have found in irelend os 1300.

Zonda999

So the prices they quote are for all customers. Thats a relief. If you want to see details on the tv check out pixmanias u.k site.

floydmoon1

rang pixmania again yesterday and they said sony braia 32d3000 wasnt in stock any more.bought mine in soundstore yedterday for 1099.they are haing a sale this weekend.

Zonda999

That aint too bad a price for a shop and is much handier for returns. I hav'nt seen that toshiba 32c3030D on sale in any shop so i'll have to wait untill pixmania fix that problem

leex

Purchased a Sony KDL40T3500 at the weekend. Got it for €1350 in a local store in County Galway that were giving 10% off in an opening promotion. Looks to be very similar to the KDL40V2900. Both are full HD.