Buy a Plasma TV or Not??

[Apex]

$2500 or so can buy you a good quality set, but it's a close call. The Panasonic 42PWD6UY is a good 42" one for just a tad more than that. The JVC GM-V42UG is one that might fit that budget.

Don't let the fanboi's discourage you. Try to go to local stores and compare models, see what looks the best to your eyes. Each display technology has its own advantages and disadvantages.

BTW, what's your viewing distance? What kind of material will you be viewing most of the time (HD? DVD? EDTV? SD feed?)? How's your ambient light control?

 

[Led Zeppelin]

Take KnightBreed's advice on this one. Stay away from Plasma. My buddy has one, and in my opinion, it's crap, especially given the crappy resolutions it offers, and the price he paid for it. To me, it also sounds like you want your tv hanging off your wall like a fireplace picture, which should be no reason to invest that much cash into a showpiece. Stick with quality, get a Mitsu RPTV, it'll wow your friends just the same.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: BostonRedSox
Take KnightBreed's advice on this one. Stay away from Plasma. My buddy has one, and in my opinion, it's crap, especially given the crappy resolutions it offers, and the price he paid for it. To me, it also sounds like you want your tv hanging off your wall like a fireplace picture, which should be no reason to invest that much cash into a showpiece. Stick with quality, get a Mitsu RPTV, it'll wow your friends just the same.

Hey now, I didn't tell him to stay away from plasma! Plasma monitors obviously have the advantage of having virtually no footprint. As it stands there isn't much competing technology against plasma in the medium sized flat panel market. LCD monitors have only recently hit the 40+ inch range and they cost an arm+leg (not unlike plasmas).

I desperately want a projector because of size constraints, but I can see why some people wouldn't want a 80-100" screen just to watch the news or play video games.

My point was: if the OP is on such a tight budget, he you would be better off purchasing something else or just sitting on his wallet until the price of plasma or LCD panels come down to more reasonable levels. Unfortunately, he will be waiting a couple years for that.

IMO, an entry level plasma of mediocre quality for 2 grand is a waste of money. If you are hell bent on buying a plasma monitor, you need to dish out bigger bucks, like 3 or 4 grand minimum. Have you considered waiting for the 7-9" deep DLP rear projection units coming from Samsung and others later this year? These can easily be wall mounted with a sturdy shelf.

 

[ctcsoft]

resurrected.

still seeking advice.

I may look into those skinny slim projection TVs instead but I really had my hopes set on plasma because of size and wall mounting. I guess I can live without HDTV. Would love to have HDTV but I can't afford $4000 plasma set.

 

[Doggiedog]

Mounting a plasma and making it look like one in those commercials would be ridiculously expensive because you would have to bury the cables in the wall and you would need to hook it all up to an AV receiver. Not to mention cheap plasma looks crappy.

I personally don't like expensive plasma either. Too much screen door effect, blurry, burn in and longevity issues, etc.

For the amount you want to spend, I bought my Panasonic 50LC13 for $2400. The picture quality is excellent and HDTV will blow you away. Even my wife who doesn't care at all about electronics and gizmos was impressed with the TV in the stores. Luckily, she gave me the approval for it.


Side view.

Another view.

 

[ctcsoft]

Nice TV. Something like this I wouldn't mind. Looks pretty nice and its small. The 2 main things is NICE picture and small. Do you play video games on it? Would it hurt the TV if I played alot of xbox/ps2 on it?

You paid $2400 for the TV. Are they still $2400 now or have they gone down in price?

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Mounting a plasma and making it look like one in those commercials would be ridiculously expensive because you would have to bury the cables in the wall and you would need to hook it all up to an AV receiver. Not to mention cheap plasma looks crappy.

I personally don't like expensive plasma either. Too much screen door effect, blurry, burn in and longevity issues, etc.

For the amount you want to spend, I bought my Panasonic 50LC13 for $2400. The picture quality is excellent and HDTV will blow you away. Even my wife who doesn't care at all about electronics and gizmos was impressed with the TV in the stores. Luckily, she gave me the approval for it.


Side view.

Another view.

 

[Doggiedog]

I don't play games on it but on AVS forum, it is supposedly the best TV for games because it has so many inputs. On the site, there are pictures of guys playing PS2 and Xbox side by side in split screen. It is also a kick-@ss monitor for PCs I hear.

Picture quality wise, I am very happy with it though I hear the Sony Grand Wega III is supposedly better. But because of my past experiences with Sony and the huge problems they had with that TV, I wouldn't recommend them. Sony is horrible IMO. They treat their customers like garbage as can be witnessed in that huge thread over at AVS forum. I know this first hand with my top of the line 36" HDTV XBR which went bad on me in 2 years.

Anyway, I'm not sure if you can get the TV any cheaper now. They may be phasing it out soon because a new line is supposedly coming out in July.

 

[YoCheeseHead]

*IF* you do decide to buy a plasma, your best choice by far is to get a 42PWD6UY--if you can find it in your price range. Dell carried the model at some point and as you know they have coupons from time to time. The other stuff--samsung, apex, etc. is junk.

 

[Apex]

There is a time and place for every display. For instance, in my bedroom, there's no room for anything but a plasma or LCD. Between a skylight, three windows, and a sliding glass door, it's simply too bright for a CRT or projector based solution, and it doesn't make sense to put a big RPTV on top of the dresser.

Given a 7' viewing distance, a 42" plasma worked best.

http://www.gotapex.com/images/apex/theater/bedroom/mbdrm3.jpg

The Panasonic 42PWD6UY is probably the best of the low cost plasmas. Rated 4000:1 on/off contrast (measured 600:1 or so ANSI checkerboard), 10-bit digital processing, 2048 shades of gray, and quite extensive color tweaking available in the menus. DVI w/hdcp input gives an incredibly stable, crisp picture, especially with HDTV feed (currently using Voom), though DVD's also look clean (since DVD's fit this resolution perfectly in square pixel fixed pixel devices). SD feed is not as nice, obviously, but it's still very good compared with many others. This is my 4th inexpensive plasma for a bedroom and easily the best.

Of course in my theater room, where I have a bigger 11' viewing distance, there's a SXGA+ (1400x1050) native LCOS/DILA front projector and 100" 16:9 FireHawk screen. After almost 10 digital projectors, this one ended up my favorite.

Each display technology has its place. You just need to determine what looks best to your eyes in your viewing room for your intended feed material.