Thoughts on this Plasma? Possibly buying tonight: TC-P42U2.

[CurseTheSky]

The Panasonic TC-P42U2. 42" 1080P Plasma. It's going for about $670.

I checked for reviews, but I couldn't find much of anything. Any thoughts or suggestions?

As I mentioned in my other thread, this will be used in a bedroom as both a movie screen (must be 37"+) and PC monitor (must be 1080P) from 4-10 feet away. It will possibly be used as a living room TV at some point. $600 is really all I want to spend, but considering it's A) Plasma, B) 42", and C) 1080P, I'm making an exception. I absolutely won't spend a dime more.

I'm primarily asking because I'm surprised at the price. Similar screens all seem to be going for $750-800+, and this model seems to be on sale everywhere. I'm just hoping it's not proven unreliable or has a crappy picture.

Thanks.

 

[Gibson486]

Ygpm

 

[CurseTheSky]

Well, I bought it. It didn't look all that big in the store, but now that I have it home, it's HUGE. The picture (in the store) look decent, but not stunning.

I only got to turn it on very briefly. Works as expected, but I don't have anything to hook it up to. Wall mount + HDMI to DVI-D adapter on the way.

One thing that shocked me, the sticker on the back said 298W... do these things really consume THAT much power? Would a similarly-sized LCD consume a lot less?

 

[olds]

Plasmas use more power than LCD.
I have a 50" plasma. My next TV with be a 50+" LED.

 

[jtvang125]

That rating is usually done in torch mode, meaning brightness at max and overblown contrast. Once calibrated it'll use no where near that much power but will always use a little more than the same size LCD though.

 

[Anubis]

That rating is usually done in torch mode, meaning brightness at max and overblown contrast. Once calibrated it'll use no where near that much power but will always use a little more than the same size LCD though.

this is true for example my 50inch is rated at 298w but after calibration it uses something around 170w. still more then an LCD but not horrid

 

[sivart]

That rating is usually done in torch mode, meaning brightness at max and overblown contrast. Once calibrated it'll use no where near that much power but will always use a little more than the same size LCD though.

Either torch mode or 100% white screen (which obviously won't happen for extended amount of time). Another reason to boycott Apple...too many white commercials

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yeah, just make sure you calibrate it as soon as possible. You can get something like Digital Video Essentials for HD or my personal favorite method, hook up a computer via HDMI.

One place that will get you a pretty decent job is:
http://www.displaycalibration.com/

Click on the links under the Tint/Hue color calibration image on the page. Unfortunately you will not be able to easily tune the tint and hue without getting RGB color filters (you need all three, red, green, and blue) as the whole point of the test image is that different parts of it should look the exact same color when viewed through the different filters (as the amount/level of "green", or "red", or "blue" in the different colors on the test image is the same, even though the resulting full spectrum image is a completely different color). But all the other tests can be performed without special filters, as you just need your eyes.