My wife - and plasma...

greve · « **on:** 31 Dec 2002, 02:26 pm »

Following some recent upgrades to the audio-side of my Home Cinema, I thought my "fun account" (governed by SWMBO) was quite empty. So big was my surprise last night in bed

, when she suddenly asked me why we weren't looking at a plasmascreen at all

I explained her that they were pretty expensive (which she already knew) and that strictly speaking the picture quality from a good CRT TV was superior to a budget-midprice plasma. She responded that the one she had seen at our local dealer was pretty impressive and that it would look good in our livingroom and it would be easier to move around than our 32" CRT TV

So what do I do now

Jay S · « **Reply #1 on:** 31 Dec 2002, 02:30 pm »

I think the picture quality of the Panasonic plasma is darn good - I wouldn't mind trading my Sony WEGA CRT tv for it. Price has dropped quite a bit in the last 2-3 months. Its down to approx US$4,300 in Hong Kong (for a 43" Panasonic). A year ago I recall that similar size models with much worse picture quality were about US$10k!

bob82274 · « **Reply #2 on:** 31 Dec 2002, 03:06 pm »

I say do nothing now but wait and go buy one in 6 to 12 months. Let the price drop some more and see if you can't get yourselves a HD plasma. EDTV plasmas are pretty but I much prefer the HD version. I say this because the difference with plasmas is much bigger to me than with conventional TVs.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #3 on:** 31 Dec 2002, 06:03 pm »

Plasma prices are falling like a rock, and the better ones do offer a pretty impressive picture. For me, the high suceptibility to burn-in pretty much nixes it for now (eg. no video games or static images ala Bloomberg TV). Still, it's an interesting technology to keep an eye on.

You have a good woman there, tho, that's for sure!

bubba966 · « **Reply #4 on:** 31 Dec 2002, 08:46 pm »

If you don't need to pick one up now, wait a bit longer as Plasma prices drop fairly significantly over short periods of time.

But if you're going to do it now, go for an HD Plasma and not an SD Plasma. The resolution on the standard definition Plasmas just isn't up to snuff yet. Even though Panasonic's new SD Plasma is quite good, it's not up to the quality of the HD sets running SD material.

Either go for it and get an HD set, or don't bother right now. But I think you'd probably regret picking up an SD Plasma somewhere down the road.

jqp · « **Reply #5 on:** 1 Jan 2003, 03:47 am »

Yeah a $5000 plasma for the bedroom in a year or two is an expensive plan! I was impressed with the Pioneer I saw at Circuit City - I think it was the Elite model. Still too many bucks for me.

Yes Close To The Edge

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Ferdi · « **Reply #6 on:** 1 Jan 2003, 09:58 am »

By all means, buy the biggest plasma you can find. I'll come over and test it for some 250 movies.

Seriously, I think waiting is the best option for now. An additional reason for this is that Europe doesn't have HD TV. We'll be in for a long wait for that so your TV may die in the meantime.

hairofthedawg · « **Reply #7 on:** 1 Jan 2003, 04:26 pm »

I suggested the budget price because that's about what I paid for my NEC 42MP3 which I absolutely love right out of the box with Sky digital. It's a fantastic picture either with the satellite signal or DVDs.

The smart thing to do though is to wait for HDTV to come out and the prices to drop some more. You will enjoy what you see with a plasma now, but like me, will want to upgrade when the capability is there.

cheers,

Dick

nathanm · « **Reply #8 on:** 4 Jan 2003, 11:36 pm »

Do plasmas have the same crappy off-axis posterization that you find on laptop-type LCDs? Does the image change if you move your head 2"?

hairofthedawg · « **Reply #9 on:** 5 Jan 2003, 12:53 am »

Just went to check since I hadn't noticed it and this one doesn't, but then again my LCD2010 NEC monitor doesn't either, so it could be my eyes.

Kishore · « **Reply #10 on:** 5 Jan 2003, 03:05 am »

I assume you have made a decision to buy Plasma.

Plasmas have been falling @25% every year. I believe Plasmas will come crashing in price from 2004 onwards with better technologies/more shipments-(imho)

CES next week might have new models/announcements though...

I'd go for 50" Plasma -50" since for me anything less would not amount to a widescreen experience (& 61" is way too much $$)

Top brands imho is 1. Fujitsu (seems to be best)2. Panasonic and 3. Pioneer all ~$8K-9K range if you look hard.

Cheers,
Kishore

shokunin · « **Reply #11 on:** 17 Jan 2003, 09:53 pm »

I've been looking at the Panasonic plasmas and although everyone says to go for an HD version, the SD version looks significantly better even with it's lower resolution. Checking out the other forums (avs) many people prefer the pansonic SD version vs. the HD version. The HD panasonic is simply no where near the quality of other equivalent HD plasmas (pioneer and others).

jqp · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Jan 2003, 12:02 am »

JoshK · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Jan 2003, 05:55 pm »

I have a 42" Panasonic SD plasma (its closer to an HD plasma than most other SD plasma) and I love it. It is quite good to my eyes. I bought it over a year ago for $4300. This is with the warranty too

Poll

What do I do now?