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Panasonic 42 Plasma for $2049.

V

villager

Senior member

For a name brand this looks like the best deal for a new plasma. I think this is last years model, which got some very good reviews.Link

I found a better deal so changed the link. $5 lower.
 
It's actually this year's model, last year's model was TH-42PWD6UY, and it's the one I have. Great plasma for the money. Just remember it doesn't have a lot of inputs and no speakers. I just use my home theater system instead.
 
Out of stock and shipping is an additional $150something (not to mention tax).

Still, this is one of the best plasma TVs on the market. Don't see anything mentioned about built in features though but you can always google for the specs.

Just bought myself a Samsung SPN4235 plasma (from the Tustin Compusa grand opening deal) for $1500 but not very happy with the picture quality. Too many gradation problem (aka false contouring). Might return and buy this one.
 
The TH 42PWD7UY has an 852x480 resolution. This would make it an EDTV and not a HDTV. Just putting the information up in case people think it is a HDTV compatible display.
 
Originally posted by: Hardlin
The TH 42PWD7UY has an 852x480 resolution. This would make it an EDTV and not a HDTV. Just putting the information up in case people think it is a HDTV compatible display.
Click to expand...

Actually, it IS HDTV compatible. It just doesn't display at HDTV resolutions. The monitor itself should take in 720p and 1080i inputs, it'll just rescale down to display on 852x480. I'm also waiting to buy this plasma, but waiting for prices to fall some more, hoping it'll be sub-2k after Christmas.

Do yourselves a favor and avoid eCost like the plague. From what I've seen, they really don't care if they ship you a dead item, and changes you extra handling on top of that.

I don't think I can post a link, but go to chubby billfold, and search for "Yamakawa DVD" on the hot deals forum. See all the horror... Avoid eCost/PC Mall/Mac Mall/Creative Computers/eLinux.com or what ever else name they go under.

Buy from a more reputable dealer like Visual Apex or 1800plasmas, which have good customer service and might even replace the plasma if you get a stuck pixel.

Go to avsforum for more info on plasmas and which retailers are reliable.
 
Yeah and VA got the same panny display for $4 less and you can't compare the level of service with ecost. I'd second that recommendation to avoid ecost.

It's not that great a price that you'd want to take a risk with this. So considering the vendor, not sure this is really a hot deal at all.
 
I bought the 5UY version about a year and a half ago (for $4400 shipped...ouch). This display is incredible. Colors are deep, and blacks are BLACK. Yes, it is EDTV resolution, but it will accept 720P and 1080i signals and downconvert them. I also have an LCD HDTV, and frankly, HDTV signals look better on this plasma than the 'true' HDTV. The best part about HDTV signals is the native widescreen format, progressive scan, and better sound anyway. I mainly watch DVDs on it, and DVDs are in 480P, so they actually look better on an EDTV than an HDTV (since HDTVs have to upsample). Of course, when HD-DVD or whatever comes out, then it will be a different story. But that is years away.

For $2200 shipped, this is a steal. Panasonic makes the BEST plasma displays.
 
Do yourselves a favor and avoid eCost like the plague. From what I've seen, they really don't care if they ship you a dead item, and changes you extra handling on top of that.
Click to expand...
Agreed. How many deals have we seen on Anandtech lately? There's a reason they have these prices.

I wouldn't think it would scale very well either, being at a different ratio than HDTV. Also, do plasmas have the same interpolation problem as LCDs?
 
Originally posted by: sleepeeg3
I wouldn't think it would scale very well either, being at a different ratio than HDTV. Also, do plasmas have the same interpolation problem as LCDs?
Click to expand...

I don't think you would want to be running your windows desktop, browsing the web, or typing up a Word document on the plasma. Probably 95% of the time, you'll be watching TV, DVDs, or playing games you'll probably won't notice because the image is always in motion. I think the interpolation is easy to notice on a static image, with a lot of text.

So if you want to run Windows on the plasma, it's probably best to run it at the native res 852x480 like LCDs for the crispest text. I don't have first hand experience with computer inputs so I can't really say, but video/movies look great. And from other user reports like Phew and others on avsforum, HD materials also look great. Would be interesting to see what a 1024x768 computer desktop would look like on this EDTV versus a true HDTV set.
 
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