Plasma prices really coming down...

PhilNYC · « **on:** 28 Oct 2006, 12:21 pm »

I bought a 50" Panasonic Plasma (TH-50PHD8UK) this past July from Visualapex.com for $2799. My parents are interested in one, so I looked again at that website, and the new version of the same screen (TH-50PH9UK) is now $2059. Pretty amazing how fast these prices are dropping...

95bcwh · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Oct 2006, 01:14 pm »

Wow...

my friend bought the TH42PHD8UK for about $2300 back in Jan 2006 !

Looks like it's time for me to take the plunge..

NealH · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 Oct 2006, 01:24 pm »

That is a good price for a 50" Panasonic. I'm interested a big panel also and, I will have to look into this one. At Best Buy the other day, I liked the Sony XBR2 (LCD) the best but, it's screen was not big enough and, it was considerable more expensive. The 50 -52" is the near ideal size I believe. I need to make another run to BB and look at those Panys again.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Oct 2006, 02:15 pm »

Quote from: rnhood on 28 Oct 2006, 01:24 pm

That is a good price for a 50" Panasonic. I'm interested a big panel also and, I will have to look into this one. At Best Buy the other day, I liked the Sony XBR2 (LCD) the best but, it's screen was not big enough and, it was considerable more expensive. The 50 -52" is the near ideal size I believe. I need to make another run to BB and look at those Panys again.

On a side note, I went to BB a week ago to look at plasmas for my parents...and I'll say that do no calibrate the Panny plasmas to look anywhere near their best. I had mine ISF calibrated, and it looks absolutely stunning, whereas at BB it looks overly grainy and washed out. So...don't judge the picture quality based on what you see in the stores...

electricbear · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 Oct 2006, 02:57 pm »

Most Plasmas that you see displayed at stores will look grainy. That is because the feed is being split many times. I've noticed at my store the pictures are significantly cleaner and clearer when getting a direct feed.
When the salesman tells you that " it wil look better in your home" they are in fact not spinning you a line. All these modern display devices look very good with high def but the way to root out the good from the bad is to see what they do with a non high def signal.

JLM · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 Oct 2006, 03:01 pm »

I've heard that retailers, especially the big box folks, tweak the pictures to give advantage to whichever set(s) they want to sell that day/week. Naturally there has got to be dozens of variables, including people playing around with the settings, that would explain much of the differences.

Seems to me that sets from the same product line from the same vendor but with different screen sizes should look all the same, but side by side I've seen differences. Again, there are probably lots of legitimate reasons why they don't.

Sorry, can't recall why, but a sales rep from a commerical TV vendor told me to expect prices to drop significantly after March 2007.

JoshK · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 Oct 2006, 05:15 pm »

I'm drooling over that 65". It may be a better option for me than a FPJ since I can't go that big anyway.

ajzepp · « **Reply #7 on:** 4 Nov 2006, 10:34 am »

If you guys want to see a SICK plasma, check out the new Pioneer Pro-FHD1. I was in BB today farting around before 'Borat' started, and they had a blu-ray disc feeding this plasma. I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it. It was so damn lifelike that it was as though little LIVE people were inside the box dancing around. Honest to God, it looked that real.

I'm leaning toward picking up the Pioneer 6070 in a few months, myself. I'm not averse to paying a premium for a 1080p set like the pro-fhp1, but I really want a 60" screen. I'm more of an audiophile than a videophile too, and I could be very happy with a beautiful 720p image. 1080p would be nice, but I won't lose any sleep over it if I don't have it.

patrickperry · « **Reply #8 on:** 4 Nov 2006, 04:12 pm »

Quote from: PhilNYC on 28 Oct 2006, 12:21 pm

I bought a 50" Panasonic Plasma (TH-50PHD8UK) this past July from Visualapex.com for $2799. My parents are interested in one, so I looked again at that website, and the new version of the same screen (TH-50PH9UK) is now $2059. Pretty amazing how fast these prices are dropping...

wow...i just check the site and the panny TH-50PH9UK price is now $1837.00. I might jump on this deal!!!!

F-100 · « **Reply #9 on:** 4 Nov 2006, 04:23 pm »

Quote from: PhilNYC on 28 Oct 2006, 12:21 pm

I bought a 50" Panasonic Plasma (TH-50PHD8UK) this past July from Visualapex.com for $2799. My parents are interested in one, so I looked again at that website, and the new version of the same screen (TH-50PH9UK) is now $2059. Pretty amazing how fast these prices are dropping...

Don't feel too bad, Phil. I bought my 50" Panasonic TH-50PHD6U two years ago for $5K.

Maybe I need to pick up another one to average down the price..

Midnite Mick · « **Reply #10 on:** 5 Nov 2006, 03:20 am »

Some possibilities of why prices may be falling. Future looks good....and affordable

http://broadcastengineering.com/hd/electroluminescent-ifire-imaging-20060620/index.html

http://www.ifire.com/index.aspx?s=1

Mike

klh · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Nov 2006, 08:43 pm »

Very interesting

Occam · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Nov 2006, 08:55 pm »

I just got this via email from my wife. She wants a new TV for the bedroom.
Is this a good deal?
Is the set of good quality?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5131708&sourceid=11473056543172355204

Quote

Wal-Mart Drops HDTV Prices
First Salvo in Holiday Pricing War

Rather than wait for Black Friday later this month—when many high-definition TV sets are expected to be offered widely at drastically reduced prices—mammoth retailer Wal-Mart conducted a pre-emptive strike on holiday pricing wars by cutting prices on HD sets earlier this week.

The sale prices, valid through Dec. 31, include a cost for Panasonic's 42-inch HD plasma TV of $1,294, down from $1,794.

Panasonic is the market leader in plasma TVs, and the new Wal-Mart price is likely a record low for what's considered by many electronics reviewers a flagship HD set.

Wal-Mart is also slashing the price of the Polaroid 37" LCD HDTV from $1,297 to $997 and the RCA 32" LCD HDTV from $997 to $847.

In last week's HD Newsletter, analysts predicted that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, would see 42" HD plasma TVs fall to under $1,000 for the first time. With a leading brand such as Panasonic already at $1,294, a lesser-known set selling for under $1,000 is almost certain.

This article is part of TVWeek.com's High Definition newsletter, a weekly source of breaking HD news, articles and interviews written by Senior Reporter James Hibberd

zybar · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 Nov 2006, 09:06 pm »

Quote from: Occam on 10 Nov 2006, 08:55 pm

I just got this via email from my wife. She wants a new TV for the bedroom.
Is this a good deal?
Is the set of good quality?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5131708&sourceid=11473056543172355204

Quote
Wal-Mart Drops HDTV Prices
First Salvo in Holiday Pricing War

Rather than wait for Black Friday later this month—when many high-definition TV sets are expected to be offered widely at drastically reduced prices—mammoth retailer Wal-Mart conducted a pre-emptive strike on holiday pricing wars by cutting prices on HD sets earlier this week.

The sale prices, valid through Dec. 31, include a cost for Panasonic's 42-inch HD plasma TV of $1,294, down from $1,794.

Panasonic is the market leader in plasma TVs, and the new Wal-Mart price is likely a record low for what's considered by many electronics reviewers a flagship HD set.

Wal-Mart is also slashing the price of the Polaroid 37" LCD HDTV from $1,297 to $997 and the RCA 32" LCD HDTV from $997 to $847.

In last week's HD Newsletter, analysts predicted that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, would see 42" HD plasma TVs fall to under $1,000 for the first time. With a leading brand such as Panasonic already at $1,294, a lesser-known set selling for under $1,000 is almost certain.

This article is part of TVWeek.com's High Definition newsletter, a weekly source of breaking HD news, articles and interviews written by Senior Reporter James Hibberd

Paul,

You can get better prices for a newer model over at Visual Apex:

http://www.visualapex.com/plasma/plasmamfr.asp?MFR=Panasonic

The good news about Wal-Mart getting involved is that it drives down prices for everybody!!

George

jackman · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Nov 2006, 11:53 pm »

Quote from: zybar on 10 Nov 2006, 09:06 pm

Quote from: Occam on 10 Nov 2006, 08:55 pm
I just got this via email from my wife. She wants a new TV for the bedroom.
Is this a good deal?
Is the set of good quality?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5131708&sourceid=11473056543172355204

Quote
Wal-Mart Drops HDTV Prices
First Salvo in Holiday Pricing War

Rather than wait for Black Friday later this month—when many high-definition TV sets are expected to be offered widely at drastically reduced prices—mammoth retailer Wal-Mart conducted a pre-emptive strike on holiday pricing wars by cutting prices on HD sets earlier this week.

The sale prices, valid through Dec. 31, include a cost for Panasonic's 42-inch HD plasma TV of $1,294, down from $1,794.

Panasonic is the market leader in plasma TVs, and the new Wal-Mart price is likely a record low for what's considered by many electronics reviewers a flagship HD set.

Wal-Mart is also slashing the price of the Polaroid 37" LCD HDTV from $1,297 to $997 and the RCA 32" LCD HDTV from $997 to $847.

In last week's HD Newsletter, analysts predicted that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, would see 42" HD plasma TVs fall to under $1,000 for the first time. With a leading brand such as Panasonic already at $1,294, a lesser-known set selling for under $1,000 is almost certain.

This article is part of TVWeek.com's High Definition newsletter, a weekly source of breaking HD news, articles and interviews written by Senior Reporter James Hibberd

Paul,

You can get better prices for a newer model over at Visual Apex:

http://www.visualapex.com/plasma/plasmamfr.asp?MFR=Panasonic

The good news about Wal-Mart getting involved is that it drives down prices for everybody!!

George

George, those models on the site you reference are different. They do not come with speakers and connectors. The one on the walmart site has speakers and a stand.

J

PhilNYC · « **Reply #15 on:** 11 Nov 2006, 12:04 am »

Quote from: Occam on 10 Nov 2006, 08:55 pm

I just got this via email from my wife. She wants a new TV for the bedroom.
Is this a good deal?
Is the set of good quality?
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5131708&sourceid=11473056543172355204

Paul, that's a very good TV. The exact same model is being sold at Costco for $1699, so that's a great price, too.

BobM · « **Reply #16 on:** 15 Nov 2006, 08:08 pm »

I've been shopping for a family Christmas present also. These Panasonic's look very nice. Here's some prices I found online for the TH-50PX60U (@$2000 is the lowest I've seen), but it has no PIP, no preset color adjustments, no 1080p natively, and no cable card (I have Verizon FIOS, so not really an issue for me). Not sure if PIP is something that I really need, but better color adjustment would be nice, as would support for 1080p (but it probably does support this if the source provides it).

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Panasonic_TH_50PX60U_50_Plasma_TV,__18142958/sort_type=bottomline

Is there anything better out there at or around the same price point, with speakers and a tuner included?

Bob

Parnelli777 · « **Reply #17 on:** 17 Nov 2006, 03:25 pm »

I would take a look at the Panny TH-50PX600U. Their top 50". Currently right around $2600 at Costco and other reputable dealers.

The Pioneer Elite at $4300, imo, might be slightly better overall, but not $1800 better, that's for sure.

Levi · « **Reply #18 on:** 17 Nov 2006, 04:01 pm »

I would go with a Panny. The only detrimatal part about plasma is that they consume more power than a regular tv. You might want to put that into consideration. LCD maybe a better choice. It all depends in your source. Remember...garbage in...garbage out.

95bcwh · « **Reply #19 on:** 17 Nov 2006, 04:03 pm »

I just went to circuitcity last night and I was amazed how much better the LCD panels look now. They used to look a little wash-out compared to plasma, but now most of them are just as vibrant, some are even better than plasma. Giving the longer life of LCD panels, maybe it's time to say goodbye to plasma..?