Plasma Worth It? Looking to buy. Need advice.

[Coldkilla]

I've been thinking about plasma, ever since the first ones rolled out on the market for a minimum of $5,000-$10,000. Now the prices have come down to near $1,000 but still range up from there.

I noticed a lot of the picture(s) from the $1,000-$1,500 displays had a lot of bad quality in that when a person moved, their head looked like an image saved in MS Paint with JPEG as the save option. Then I watched this $2,600 plasma and saw HD DVD for the first time and was blown away by how weird it felt to just stand there and watch it. Perhaps this is because it was running an HD DVD while the other televisions were running television, but is this JPEG effect apparent in all Plasma TV's?

But then I was told that these TVs have not been 'life tested' and their expected life expectancy is less than 10 years. Is this so? I mean I know this an't no old fasioned TV that lasts 25+ years before you got to repair it at one time or another but still.. 9 years only? If this is true, is there a way to increase its life expectancy? I plan on watching TV perhaps, 2 hours a day. But may jump on my Xbox360 once and awhile and might pull a few 5 hour viewing sessions. I do a lot of computer work, so I wont be watching TV nearly as long as some people. Plus I'll be purchasing TiVo as well.


What exactly is the difference between a $1,600 plasma and a $2,600 plasma?
Is it better to go with LCD considering the price/life expectancy/picture quality?
Is it better to purchase at BestBuy/Circuit City in town here, or purchase online? - Main reason I ask is that I fear that the TV will not survive shipping and/or the support time for a repair is exceedingly long for online boughtbased products. Unlike say best buy who can just come over and look at it, and/or I can just drive it down and drop it off to have them look at it. I'm sure its a little more expensive, but is that difference going to make Online the better deal?

 

[DBL]

That is a myth. New Plasmas are rated for a picture half-life of 60,000 hours. That means the picture will be a 1/2 brightness after that time. It's really got nothing to do with how long they will last. In reality, they should last as long or longer than any crt tv.

Plasma is the best option in my opinion if your most important criteria is picture quality. I'd look at the new Panasonic, Samsung and Pioneer models only. They cover your whole price range depending on the model and the resolution.

 

[Shadowknight]

Originally posted by: Coldkilla
I noticed a lot of the picture(s) from the $1,000-$1,500 displays had a lot of bad quality in that when a person moved, their head looked like an image saved in MS Paint with JPEG as the save option. Then I watched this $2,600 plasma and saw HD DVD for the first time and was blown away by how weird it felt to just stand there and watch it. Perhaps this is because it was running an HD DVD while the other televisions were running television, but is this JPEG effect apparent in all Plasma TV's?

One possible (note: POSSIBLE) reason for this is that they were using a display to push HD-DVD players and movies. Retailers have been known to alter the picture settings of TVs to make some look like crap, and others good, ON PURPOSE when they want to move a particular TV set. So if a TV goes on sale one week, they might change the settings to make the picture look more pleasing to the eye.

Regardless, when you shell out the money for the TV, you want to calibrate it. It'll give you a more accurate, and in some cases easier to see, picture. You can get an ISF professional to come out for about $300 for a full servicee menu calibration, or order calibration DVDs like DVE or AVIA on-line. They DVD discs only help you calibrate using the user menu (sharpness, color, tint, contrast, brightness) but it'll still help. Note: If they did a complete crap job with the service menu calibration at the factory, the DVDs will still help, but not nearly as much.

 

[habib89]

i'm not sure what this "jpeg" effect is you're talking about, but i haven't noticed it in the plasma screens i've been looking at. i too am looking to buy a plasma hdtv. it seems that more of the lcd tv's have a ghosting issue, and the plasmas produce a blacker black (ie contrast ratio is higher)... at costco (and i believe they also sell this model at circuit city) i saw the vizio jv50 which is a 720p/1080i hdtv which comes with a wireless surround sound system.. it looked really good in the store with a hd feed of the mlb playoffs. the vizio vp50 (also costco and CC) looked really good too.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: DBL
That is a myth. New Plasmas are rated for a picture half-life of 60,000 hours. That means the picture will be a 1/2 brightness after that time. It's really got nothing to do with how long they will last. In reality, they should last as long or longer than any crt tv.

Plasma is the best option in my opinion if your most important criteria is picture quality. I'd look at the new Panasonic, Samsung and Pioneer models only. They cover your whole price range depending on the model and the resolution.

/thread

 

[Coldkilla]

Alright I'll look mainly at these companys. But which is better, buying it online, or in the store. Buying it online sorta seems traditionally cheaper, but what if theres a problem with it down the road? Where do I go for repairs? I'm going to be getting a warranty on it on way or another, but what is your take on it?

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: habib89
i'm not sure what this "jpeg" effect is you're talking about, but i haven't noticed it in the plasma screens i've been looking at. i too am looking to buy a plasma hdtv. it seems that more of the lcd tv's have a ghosting issue, and the plasmas produce a blacker black (ie contrast ratio is higher)... at costco (and i believe they also sell this model at circuit city) i saw the vizio jv50 which is a 720p/1080i hdtv which comes with a wireless surround sound system.. it looked really good in the store with a hd feed of the mlb playoffs. the vizio vp50 (also costco and CC) looked really good too.

I think he is talking about macroblocking. It occurs with broadcast TV because they compress the signal. You don't really see it with HD DVD movies.

 

[Coldkilla]

That makes sense then. It's just that I don't see it on traditional tube televisions broadcasting television.

Is it better to buy online or in-store?

 

[Coldkilla]

?

 

[DBL]

I prefer to buy online and save the $.

 

[Coldkilla]

What about shipping mishaps, pricing differences? Is there much of a difference price wise? What about when it breaks? Drops? How exactly would I go about returning such a huge item? Are their online venders with local techs that can come out to fix an issue that would be covered under warrenty?

 

[Shadowknight]

Originally posted by: Coldkilla
What about shipping mishaps, pricing differences? Is there much of a difference price wise? What about when it breaks? Drops? How exactly would I go about returning such a huge item? Are their online venders with local techs that can come out to fix an issue that would be covered under warrenty?

At this point, you need to stop asking the forums and start reading the policies of the stores you're thinking of buying from. Really, that's all there is to it.

As to if it goes bad, you have a 30 day (or whatever) return policy where you're 99% likely liable to pay for the return shipping charges. After that, it's up to the warranty policies of the MANUFACTURER. Some make you mail it in to a repair center, some make you take it to a local repair shop, some send techs out to your house to fix it. It varies.

 

[Coldkilla]

Say I went to best buy, do there sales reps know which companies allow you to take the television to a local repair shop? Reason I ask is I am not sure how to go about finding how which brands support this in their warrenty information. There's just too much unorganized information out there (that I am aware of) that says, this company doesn't require you to resend the tv back to their warehouses.

But if I buy online, there are no sales reps... *confused*

 

[FP]

If you want a plasma go with a Panasonic or a Pioneer. Both have excellent customer service.

Buy it online if you want to save money. My 8G Pioneer was $3600 online (now about $3400) and $5000 at Best Buy.