[Foxy]

We've had our 32" Pure Flat Panasonic 100Hz Tau widescreen CRT telly for a couple of years, and it's been nothing short of superb.

Got an acceptably tasty 5x80W RMS home theatre setup too which makes movies a blast.

My eye was caught the other day by eBuyer's offer of a 42" plasma for around the ?850 mark which seemed rather cheap......

.....so, are these babies "cheap" or "inexpensive".

The "get what ya pays for" saying rings in my ears whenever I think about this kind of thing, but surely for ?850 it's worth a punt?

Yeah, I realise you likely don't get a tuner (but we don't use a TV aerial anyway - relying on Sky digital for a superior picture to any terrestrial antenna).

After a bit more digging I found a few on the web for similar wedge.....so, I ask you - has anyone done the deed recently and got one of these suckers?

 

[andymac]

Been looking at this myself, but have now found the dilemma of would it
be better to spend extra, go slightly smaller and get an lcd screen

 

[jblack]

We've had our 42" panasonic for a couple of months now and it's great[]. It definately seems to be you get what you pay for so I'd be careful. Take a look at;

www.avforums.com

They have everything you need to know.

Cheers, Jim

 

[bogstandard]

I got a bargain 26 inch lcd from Sainsburys for ?499 - a Sonix.

Never heard of the brand but it has an excellent picture quality - see the thread on avforums.

Usually I agree in "You get what you pay for" but sometimes bargains do exist

edited for poor spilling - bed time!

 

[grievsey]

We've had our 32" Pure Flat Panasonic 100Hz Tau widescreen CRT telly for a couple of years, and it's been nothing short of superb.

Got an acceptably tasty 5x80W RMS home theatre setup too which makes movies a blast.

My eye was caught the other day by eBuyer's offer of a 42" plasma for around the ?850 mark which seemed rather cheap......

.....so, are these babies "cheap" or "inexpensive".

The "get what ya pays for" saying rings in my ears whenever I think about this kind of thing, but surely for ?850 it's worth a punt?

Yeah, I realise you likely don't get a tuner (but we don't use a TV aerial anyway - relying on Sky digital for a superior picture to any terrestrial antenna).

After a bit more digging I found a few on the web for similar wedge.....so, I ask you - has anyone done the deed recently and got one of these suckers?

I have been m ulling over the same thing Foxy.

Not sure what to do but I may well give it a punt on a 37" plasma. There was a Sony one going for ?800 on eBay and i think Sony should be ok????

 

[Foxy]

Quick word on progress............

These guys have the Orion which is apparently very very good.....and for the money....well, need i say more?

".......I felt like a bingo winner when i got the screen : all i need now is the crib to match!....." ROFL

http://www.flattelly.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PTS4241

 

[RETRO]

How about looking in Aldi ?

www.aldi.com

They have a 32 inch LCD for ?749.00 !!

 

[NikB]

Personally I wouldn't touch a cheap plasma with a barge pole. The
number of people that have problems with them is huge. And getting them
fixed is often a nightmare. If you really want something worthwhile
then save up and buy a Panasonic, Pioneer or Fujitsu screen. There
really isn't any need to consider any other make if you want a good
picture. Bigger is not always better!

 

[Felix]

Ever thought about renting?

I'll be considering it when my telly gets too long in the tooth or gives up te ghost.

You can rent a 42" Phillips Plasma for about ?16 a week, admittedly the purchase price would be covered in 2 years but whats the chances of wanting to change again in 2 years or something going duff after the first 12 months?

Perhaps something to consider if you want to "try it out" and see if a plasma is right for your needs?

 

[Foxy]

Ever thought about renting?

Yeah, but that was when i was alot younger, and lost my way from the path a little ! LOL

Erm - good idea - but not sure i fancy it TBH.

 

[mh]

i know of someone offering Sony 42" PFM42V1N with 3 year on site warranty and wall mount for ?1480+Vat

don't know if thats good or not

 

[NikB]

Looks like an ok screen and not a bad price.

 

[jblack]

You can pick up a Panasonic 42" screen for <?1200. Add on the compontent board and that's sub ?1400 for a very highly rated TV. The life issue with plasmas is almost non-existant these days. A decent screen will last at least 60,000 hours = 7 years of 24/7 use.

 

[LOFLUX]

Foxy, stay away from the cheap brands you will regret it.

It took me quite a lot of reading and testing to figure out Plasmas, for around ?900 I would highly recommend a 37" Panasonic.

It may be worth hanging on for a couple of months as the new HiDef models are appearing and you may bag a good bargain.

As mentioned above, check out AVFORUMS.com for further help.

 

[Foxy]

Well, I've done my research and i've had a good think.

I firmly believe that there are 'cheap' Plasmas, 'expensive' Plasmas and just 'great value' Plasmas, hence i've bought one of the latter type.

I did look into the one Dabs were doing and I could still find that one cheaper....

My choice was not one i'd listed, but was recommended to me.

It's essentially a good spec panel with TV tuner and input board.

The specs are similar to the Panasonic (though i'm sure the Pana will be better).

It's a Plavo by Vision - their latest model - 42" PTS4241

The spec sheet is here if you're interested: http://www.flattelly.co.uk/pdf/Orion_PTS4241.pdf

You can get one for ?899.00 plus delivery but including vat.

http://www.flattelly.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Orion

I paid about that price but not from that supplier.

There have been several iterations of the model, with the latest being change of model number from 4240.

I'll let you know what I think of it - it's coming on Tuesday! woo-hoo.

I sat and watched the Footy on my mates 43" Pioneer (apparently one of the better screens) and so I can do some kind of comparison i'm sure.

Oh, and for the record, Vision make the world's largest plasma - something like 83".....RRP = ?35k !

 

[Foxy]

Some advice please.........do I need to "run in" a plasma screen - like a car or audio speakers ?

Found one web hit that says it's best to dial brighness and contrast down to about 25% for first 100-200 hours and always fill the screen with the picture.....

 

[jblack]

I heard the same sort of thing Foxy. However, I chose to ignore it and enjoy the picture from the start[]. Nothing bad has happened as yet.

 

[NikB]

Most of them now detail what shold be done in the instructions. I know
Panasonic do this to help prevent screen burn etc and I'd imagine that
if you don't do it then your warranty could be invalidated.

 

[Foxy]

Well, it arrived on my doorstep at 8.30am today.

I unpacked it and sat it on the poly packing blocks to allow it to sit upright.

I fired it up and plugged in a composite video source from my Sky box.

After 5 mins fiddling with the always over-done colour, brightness and contrast settings, I stood back and took in the picture.

Even though these images weren't live "studio" sourced, I could see it was pretty darn good.

I then flicked an s-video input onto it from the DVD player and again - it looked great.

In all, these are the inputs:

2x scart
1x s-video
1x component
1x Digital Monitor (PC)
1x Anaglogue monitor (PC) via adapter lead supplied
1x RF antenna

For the cash, it's gotta be a winner !

 

[NikB]

If you can use the component that will give you the best picture.