Your straight tv picture will look good if you have satellite tv or some sort of digital cable and you plug it in through the svideo connector to your tv in...regular cable however you might be a little disapointed...
Costco's Unconditional Double Guarantee
On merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell by offering a full refund.
I shop at costco once a week. Their guarantee is simple. I have never seen a time period though.
On merchandise: We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell by offering a full refund.
I shop at costco once a week. Their guarantee is simple. I have never seen a time period though.
I saw the Gateway Plasma at a Gateway Country Store tonight and it looks awesome! The plasma is supposively from Phillips. I don't think there is a plasma that has better value for the money right now and I hope this one helps drive the other plasmas down. They have dropped a lot this year already. I have seen the Sampo before too and in my opinion the Gateway looks far better.
I think I'd just stay away for now...prices will continue to fall, and after Christmas sales are going to be fantastic this year.
My understanding is that this is not a true hdtv, but is in essence a "enhanced definition" television. While it will accept 1080i or 720p signals, it converts them to the native resolution of the screen, which is 480p. Don't get me wrong, a good 480p can really look great. It just is not really high definition.
See the specs here
Just a note about Sampo.
Back in the Philippines most computer monitors you find in the market are made by Taiwanese companies - Sampo being one of them. I had the pleasure of getting a couple of these back then and to this day they work without a hitch (that's 5 years now).
I actually see a lot more Mag and Viewsonic monitors being RMA'd than Sampo. And to think they both sell in similar numbers.
Back in the Philippines most computer monitors you find in the market are made by Taiwanese companies - Sampo being one of them. I had the pleasure of getting a couple of these back then and to this day they work without a hitch (that's 5 years now).
I actually see a lot more Mag and Viewsonic monitors being RMA'd than Sampo. And to think they both sell in similar numbers.
Don't buy something this expensive on ebay unless you can buy it from a local seller so you can inspect it. Even then, you're taking too big a risk.
Hey no problem, I spend stupid money on stuff so you guys dont have to 
The plasma's will generally look great with progressive scan dvd players on them, mine is a knockout even for a cheapie. Its really designed to take a progressive scan input from the rgb or component input, with the composite/s-video being poor step-children. Thats why the vb50/n5 trick sidesteps the shortcomings of the cheaper plasmas by prettying up the picture and shooting it through the rgb.
As far as the panasonic goes, they tend to be a step above, but watch out for older plasmas, they tend to run hotter, have lesser lifespans, and many of them have fans in them. Yes...fans...loud as a pc. If you like turning up the volume an extra notch to drown out the humming, its not a problem. My guess is that panasonic at that price point is a first or second generation unit. May be good, may not be.
Program source wise, here's the deal. Good analog cable through a vb50 should look ok on a plasma, but I think if you compared them you'd agree that even a basic tube-based tv will look as good or better, and a rear projection hdtv will look better than that. Good digital cable or satellite on a high resolution channel will look good when piped through a vb50. Note I said "high resolution channel". Most digital cable and satellite providers give best bandwidth to pay per view channels, then to the hbo's, but the local broadcast channels get the short end of the stick. These guys have to supply a lot of local channels so they cant give full bandwidth to each and every one. Hence your "common" channels are going to have short shrift compared to the ones people will pay extra money for.
The plasma is really a 1 trick show. Flat, looks good with high def sources, decent with others. The LCD's similarly offer simplicity and cooler operation, but check them out with a high motion program like a football game, they're often too slow in transition and you'll get shimmering around the motion. RPTV's are big but beautiful and inexpensive by comparison. Of course money solves all problems, as i'm sure folks with a more expensive hdtv will speak well of them, whether plasma, lcd or rptv.
And yeah, when you're input source is less than the unit traditionally displays, AND its stretching it, AND its a bigger overall picture than normal, AND your doubler/scaler/converter has to interpolate the picture by filling it out to a native resolution...the quality has to suffer compared to a 30" direct view set.
If space is a problem, but you can swing a projector, look at some of the 1500-1700 DLP projectors. Many of them only look good with the 15 pin rgb monitor input, buts thats where our $99 vb50 swings into action.
Bottom line: unless you have bucks for this and/or NEED the flat tv dealio, its a huge waste of money.
The plasma's will generally look great with progressive scan dvd players on them, mine is a knockout even for a cheapie. Its really designed to take a progressive scan input from the rgb or component input, with the composite/s-video being poor step-children. Thats why the vb50/n5 trick sidesteps the shortcomings of the cheaper plasmas by prettying up the picture and shooting it through the rgb.
As far as the panasonic goes, they tend to be a step above, but watch out for older plasmas, they tend to run hotter, have lesser lifespans, and many of them have fans in them. Yes...fans...loud as a pc. If you like turning up the volume an extra notch to drown out the humming, its not a problem. My guess is that panasonic at that price point is a first or second generation unit. May be good, may not be.
Program source wise, here's the deal. Good analog cable through a vb50 should look ok on a plasma, but I think if you compared them you'd agree that even a basic tube-based tv will look as good or better, and a rear projection hdtv will look better than that. Good digital cable or satellite on a high resolution channel will look good when piped through a vb50. Note I said "high resolution channel". Most digital cable and satellite providers give best bandwidth to pay per view channels, then to the hbo's, but the local broadcast channels get the short end of the stick. These guys have to supply a lot of local channels so they cant give full bandwidth to each and every one. Hence your "common" channels are going to have short shrift compared to the ones people will pay extra money for.
The plasma is really a 1 trick show. Flat, looks good with high def sources, decent with others. The LCD's similarly offer simplicity and cooler operation, but check them out with a high motion program like a football game, they're often too slow in transition and you'll get shimmering around the motion. RPTV's are big but beautiful and inexpensive by comparison. Of course money solves all problems, as i'm sure folks with a more expensive hdtv will speak well of them, whether plasma, lcd or rptv.
And yeah, when you're input source is less than the unit traditionally displays, AND its stretching it, AND its a bigger overall picture than normal, AND your doubler/scaler/converter has to interpolate the picture by filling it out to a native resolution...the quality has to suffer compared to a 30" direct view set.
If space is a problem, but you can swing a projector, look at some of the 1500-1700 DLP projectors. Many of them only look good with the 15 pin rgb monitor input, buts thats where our $99 vb50 swings into action.
Bottom line: unless you have bucks for this and/or NEED the flat tv dealio, its a huge waste of money.
That's not correct. I brought a Sampo walkman back in 1980's and was told they are Sharp just like National is part of Panasonic. After doing some research, that's not complete true but close enough.
http://www.sampoamericas.com/about.php
Prove that they are, then.
If you cant prove it, then theres no point to your quoting.
Just because Sony is a Japanese company and Sampo is a Taiwanese company doesn't mean that they can't be sister companies. When I went to elementary school, it was a predominantly white elementary school...but 2 cities away there was a predominantly hispanic elementary school, but we were sister schools...[/quote]
If you cant prove it, then theres no point to your quoting.
Just because Sony is a Japanese company and Sampo is a Taiwanese company doesn't mean that they can't be sister companies. When I went to elementary school, it was a predominantly white elementary school...but 2 cities away there was a predominantly hispanic elementary school, but we were sister schools...
[/quote]Hey targg, how about a little pm action for some more info on the vb50/n5! How does it look when converting to a regular tube hdtv?
Hey targg, how about a little pm action for some more info on the vb50/n5! How does it look when converting to a regular tube hdtv?
Hey targg, how about a little pm action for some more info on the vb50/n5! How does it look when converting to a regular tube hdtv?
GateWay sells plasma tv's for $2,999.99 with no rebate. http://www.gateway.com/home/prod/hm_plsmtv_proddetail.shtml. I don't know who makes them, but that's a pretty good price, I might pick one up for my brothers apartment.
Definately not. You can get a better quality HDTV for less money, and it won't irritate you as much. Plasma tvs are definately not worth their money. Go into your Best Buy and shake one and you'll know what I mean.
Peace,
GermyBoy
Peace,
GermyBoy
I havent tried the vb50 with a regular tube/projection hdtv but if you have one and arent satisfied with the pic quality when using rf/composite/s-video inputs I'd definitely try one - providing the tv has a 15 pin rgb monitor input for the vb50. Worst case its no better and you take it back. Theres supposed to be a nextvision N6 coming out that does component input as well and processes that, but I havent seen it yet.
On using a plasma above a fireplace - in short, you cant. Between heat and soot, the tv would be shot within a year. Perhaps less. If there is NO heat updraft from the front of the fireplace, the wall behind the unit can sustain an 80-100lb tv anchor brace set, the wall itself doesnt warm up at all when a fire is running, there is NO soot updraft, and you have a shelf below the tv to divert any heat/soot when the fireplace doors are open its feasible but highly not recommended. These things are HOT. It heats my 20x25 room with vaulted ceilings several degrees per hour. In the summer I have to put a small fan on the shelf with it to cool it down a little. I had to move the satellite receiver and tivo off the shelf above it as the heat updraft from the plasma was burning them up. In that application I'd use a DLP projector and mount a pull down screen above the fireplace. Half the price.
I also wouldnt recommend going to the store and "shaking one" unless you bring your checkbook. The front face of a plasma is a sheet of glass, and not too thick at that. You shake it, you might break it, and you have a really big paperweight. You cant even mount a plasma the way they show in the philips ad on the ceiling, the weight of the glass will break it. In fact, they have to be shipped standing up and should never be tipped from a vertical position. If you have one shipped, make sure it has a shock guard and tip guard on the box or make sure you see the glass before you sign off on it.
I was looking at one unit and had the shipper tell me on the phone that I wasnt allowed to look at it before signing, so I called the company and told them to tell the shipper to send it back as I'm not taking a $3500 piece of glass from a shipper sight unseen. The next company I ended up buying from was a little more reasonable.
One more thing I forgot. For some reason the makers of these decided to use obscure remote control codes. I havent seen any of the cheap ones work with a non-learning universal remote. I have a tivo and an x-10 universal remote and neither can control either plasma i've tried them with. I can use the vb50's remote to control the power/volume on the plasma by setting the plasma to PC monitor mode and enabling DPMS. When I shut the vb50 off the screen detects signal loss and goes into standby; when I turn it back on the screen comes back; and I routed sound through the vb50 so it can do volume control. I was about to have to buy a tool belt for all the remotes I needed...
On using a plasma above a fireplace - in short, you cant. Between heat and soot, the tv would be shot within a year. Perhaps less. If there is NO heat updraft from the front of the fireplace, the wall behind the unit can sustain an 80-100lb tv anchor brace set, the wall itself doesnt warm up at all when a fire is running, there is NO soot updraft, and you have a shelf below the tv to divert any heat/soot when the fireplace doors are open its feasible but highly not recommended. These things are HOT. It heats my 20x25 room with vaulted ceilings several degrees per hour. In the summer I have to put a small fan on the shelf with it to cool it down a little. I had to move the satellite receiver and tivo off the shelf above it as the heat updraft from the plasma was burning them up. In that application I'd use a DLP projector and mount a pull down screen above the fireplace. Half the price.
I also wouldnt recommend going to the store and "shaking one" unless you bring your checkbook. The front face of a plasma is a sheet of glass, and not too thick at that. You shake it, you might break it, and you have a really big paperweight. You cant even mount a plasma the way they show in the philips ad on the ceiling, the weight of the glass will break it. In fact, they have to be shipped standing up and should never be tipped from a vertical position. If you have one shipped, make sure it has a shock guard and tip guard on the box or make sure you see the glass before you sign off on it.
I was looking at one unit and had the shipper tell me on the phone that I wasnt allowed to look at it before signing, so I called the company and told them to tell the shipper to send it back as I'm not taking a $3500 piece of glass from a shipper sight unseen. The next company I ended up buying from was a little more reasonable.
One more thing I forgot. For some reason the makers of these decided to use obscure remote control codes. I havent seen any of the cheap ones work with a non-learning universal remote. I have a tivo and an x-10 universal remote and neither can control either plasma i've tried them with. I can use the vb50's remote to control the power/volume on the plasma by setting the plasma to PC monitor mode and enabling DPMS. When I shut the vb50 off the screen detects signal loss and goes into standby; when I turn it back on the screen comes back; and I routed sound through the vb50 so it can do volume control. I was about to have to buy a tool belt for all the remotes I needed...
I have a Viewsonic VB50 on the 15" DELL FP151 I got two weeks ago. It is fine for it's purpose, though my analog cable is fairly low-quality stuff. I haven't fed it the DVD signal yet (through a modulator), so I can't say anything about the upconversion, except that it's fine for regular TV viewing. FWIW, buy.com has the VB50 for $99.72 with free shipping. I used the $10 off 99 visa promo to get it for <$90 shipped.
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