plasma tv

[kellie37]

hi everyone
we are looking a getting a new tv, and of course hubby wants a 50in tv (what is it with men and size)
we arent very technical, so we wondered if anyone could recommend one or give us some pointers on what we should look for?
or even what not to get.
unsure of a price but looking at £1000 plus.

thanks in advance for your help
kellie

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I have a Pioneer 43" HD plasma for coming u0p to four years now.
Excellent picture and sound quality, not one days problem with it.
Due to its age it only has one HDMi slot, buit the latest ones have two or three.

Panasonic and Sony are equally as good.

 

[T16GEM]

We have the Panasonic 42 inch, and to be honest it is plenty big enough! DH wanted the 50" but one of our friend has a 50" and unless you have a seriously big lounge and you will be sitting a long way away from it then I wouldn't recommend going for anything bigger than a 42". I think ours cost something like £1300 last Christmas as FIL bought it for us for crimbo. He got a great deal from John Lewis though.

 

[Goofyish]

You need to assess the viewing distance in the room the TV is going into.
A large plasma or LCD viewed too close looks dreadful!

General rules:

50" TV at 720 resolution you should be 10 feet away
50" TV at 1080 resolution you should be 6.5 feet away

You should also go for a Full HD model (capable of 1080i and 1080p)

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I have 42 inch Plasma from Panasonic as well, LED is only really good up to 40 inch.

 

[Disneycrazycrewuk]

We have a 40" samsung hd ready lcd, it is fantastic,the sound and picture are great and super when watching hd films.
We also have a 42" Toshiba rear projection that is currently stuck in the shed due to the kids cracking the screen lol
I would never recommend a plasma because of the problem with dead pixels and would also not recommend a rear projection.

 

[paulh]

for a good place to buy try http://www.soundandvisiononline.co.uk used them plenty of times
Paulh

 

[homerdog]

I would never recommend a plasma because of the problem with dead pixels

Sorry, that's nonsense - LCD can also suffer from dead or stuck pixels. If it bothers you, make sure you buy from somewhere that will exchange the set if there are any.

Plasma is probably a better choice at 50" - have a look at models from Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung, although price is likely to be the deciding factor. Don't get too hung up about resolution (768 or 1080 lines), just get the one with the picture you like best.

Have a look here for discussion on the relative merits of the various models and where to get the best deals.

 

[Minniespal]

We have a 42" Sony plasma screen. Our lounge is massive and although we considered a 50" the 42" is perfect for us.

 

[bazzanoid]

Keeping all the above in mind, do the following:

1. Go to your nearest Comet.

2. Find the size you like, then look at the quality of the picture - clarity, crispness of colour, motion blur (poor quality LCD panels suffer particularly badly from this), and brightness. Also check out the viewing angle - I.E. how far to the side of the screen can you clearly see the image?

3. Specification - yes, it will be HD ready, they all are these days. I would recommend making sure it can handle at least 1080i, again, anything 42" up should do. 1080p is a bonus, but not an essential.

4. Take a note of the model number.

5. Come home, compare online using sites such as Kelkoo and PriceRunner. It's also worth looking at Comet online - they often do the same TV you've just seen in-store for cheaper through their website - you can even reserve online at the web price and pick up from the store. Most useful way of saving money!

6. Plug in, start watching.

7. Grab beer/wine/soft drink.

8. Enjoy!

:

EDIT: I can't stress this enough - ignore the brand name. I have a 37" Goodmans LCD, it beat the rest of them in that size class hands down. I personally would shy away from Sony or LG (i have a 42" LG LCD in work, it's not too pleasant). If you are a brand name person, Panasonic Plasma (their LCD's are so-so), Samsung Plasma & LCD, and Philips Plasma & LCD. If you watch a lot of cartoons or animated films (ice age etc), my personal recommendation would be an LCD - plasma doesn't have quite the same depth of colour as the LCDs.

 

[alisonbestford]

We have a 42 inch, Hitachi, plasma tv
We live in an end terrace so our lounge isn't so big but have to say that it takes up far less space than the old 28 inch tv we replaced

Bought it online, from www.Laskys.com , back in Feb and it was just over £800 - far less than the RRP quoted in the various stores I popped into

 

[Dead-metal]

Matsu****a ups the ante with 103-inch plasma.

Now that is what you call widescreen.

 

[bazzanoid]

Naa, not big enough for me :lol:

 

[Dead-metal]

Everytime I mention that I would like a bigger TV my DW reminds me with " We are going to Disney twice in year instead" Which is a fair point and one that I am more than happy to agre with!

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Matsu****a ups the ante with 103-inch plasma.

Now that is what you call widescreen.

LOL how big??? Saying that My Mother would just beable to see the scrolling news headlines on sky news on that t.v!

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Hello Kellie. Good choice going for Plasma over LCD. I recently purchased the Panasonic 42PX70 from Dixons in what turned out to be a cracking offer where they did a bank holiday deal, throwing in a free Pana home cinema system, which I sold for £120 afterwards, a pedestal stand which I sold for £40, and they even threw in a small scratch on the back of it, which I complained about and got £50 back. the overall price once I got Quidco back ended up being in the £500's, which is just superb value, considering my 32" CRT was only about 4 years old and cost £1200 !
The TV itself is superb, particularly its noise reduction system, which you use when you are viewing standard definition broadcasts. Panasonic and Pioneer are by far the best Plasma manufacturer.

There is an interesting survey herehttp://www.pioneer.co.uk/files/eur/Plasma_LCD_TV_whitepaper.pdf where they asked a group of perople what they thought performed better out of lcd and plasma on various viewing issues such as black levels, and image smearing, then they showed them the same clips on both lcd and plasma, then asked them the questions again, and the swing towards Plasma is quite telling. Its well worth a read.

I wouldnt get too hung up over 1080p either....Although the games consoles can output it, as can the high definition DVD drives, there is little real difference in what the human eye can perceive on the panel unless you get to huge screen sizes and certain viewing distances....also there isnt likely to be any 1080p TV broadcasting done for another 10 years (I read recently).

 

[misskrystal]

Plasma is probably a better choice at 50" - have a look at models from Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung,

We have two 50" Pioneers (which is what happens when you let your Dbf pick your household electronics ) and I have to say, they're pretty fantastic. Really great picture and sound quality.