plasmas

[sedgie]

Ok looking to buy a plasma for the bedroom 36-42" what is the best one to buy?....n noooo not the most expensive!:p;):D

[The Dogfather]

I picked up a Sony KDL40W2000U at christmas for less than £1500, is fully 1080p compatible and won a load of awards. Is an LCDTV thats supposed to be better than a Plasma without any of the issues. PRCdirect.co.uk are doing the same TV for just over £1300.

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by sedgie

Ok looking to buy a plasma for the bedroom 36-42" what is the best one to buy?....n noooo not the most expensive!:p;):D


Always been a Hitachi fan. Generally they are cheaper than Pioneer and in my opinion every bit as good in quality. We've had ours for 4 years (bought before the Plasma Boom) and we still love it to bits.

And remember, high street stores like curry's and comet are seldom the cheapest place to buy. Try googling plasma dealers and see what comes up.

Again, this is just in my opinion, but we prefer the sets that have the speakers at the bottom of the screen, rather than attached to the sides. This is a taste thing, so it may be something you like/dislike, just remember the option is there.

On a technical front, it will probably be difficult to buy one that is not HD ready. But try to ensure you get one with at least 2 or preferably 3 HDMI inputs. This will help to future-proof your Plasma for a few years at least.

If you need any more info, just gimme a shout. Happy to help.

A.:D

[The Dogfather]

BTW I got mine from Sound and Vision in Bolton as I wasn't too sure about ordering over the internet, it just fitted into the Smart but there's no way it'll go in a MINI ;)

[The Dogfather]

Oh, it has two HDMI inputs a bare minimum as Andy advises

[AndyP & Lenore]

On a side note, I'd strongly advise AGAINST a 42" LCD. I see that Paul has mentioned a Sony model that doesn't have all the LCD problems, and I haven't seen that so can't comment on it, but generally 42" LCD's will not give you anywhere near as good a picture as a 42" plasma. 20-odd inch LCD = fine. 42" no no no no!

All IMHO.;)

A.:D

[N12 JLK]

Was looking at a nice Hitachi plasma in Comet today. But can't remember how much it was!!

Said to Jason - lets just buy one and laughed and left the shop:question::question::question:

Has he lost his marbles:(

[The Dogfather]

The guys at WhatHiFi gave it product of the year, which is nice :)

The reason that LCDs at that size are problematic is update speeds, but the new sony's don't have that problem. I compared the best Pioneer and Toshibas side by side (it took some shifting) the Sony was the best by far. (and £500 cheaper than the Pioneer)

[Craig]

I have a 42 " Hitachi Plasma 42PD6600 is the model.

VERY Please with it. Cost me £1200 a year ago and the newer models are now selling for about £900 now.

www.tvandvideodirect.co.uk were great. Tried www.soundandvision.co.uk in bolton, but after waiting 3 weeks, I cancelled my order. I would never use them again IMHO. :D

[sedgie]

If i buy 42" it will be a plasma.....n thank you for your help:)....once i have a good look around...hmmm me thinks Andy....is the "cinema" man!:D;)

[The Dogfather]

Craig, I went to the store and collected it BTW.

Sedgie - have you thought about a projector? Just you can pick one up for £250 in the for sale section :p

[sedgie]

All i want is a nice big plasma for my bedroom....so i can watch all my crap on...n hubby can watch his in sitting room:D....i not to great on equipment...i just look n say...yeh looks good i'll buy:I

[sedgie]

Just looked at website you put up craig.....looks guid!:D....hmmm but the wall brackets sh*t!!:clown:.....will wait on hubby coming hame the mora...i'll buy wrong brackets n .. "grumpy" will moan like sh*t... thanks all!:):)

[AndyP & Lenore]

If you're gonna hang on the wall, wall brackets is an important issue Lesley. So is the strength of the wall you're gonna hang it on. With the average 42" Plasma weighing in at around 35 to 40kg, the bracket really needs anchored to either a brick wall, or a stud within a partition if it's a plasterboard wall.

As for cost, I wouldn't buy an £800 or £1000 plasma then hang it on a £15.99 bracket from Argos. Get yerself a decent one, but don't be tempted to pay the £200 some folk are asking.

A.;)

[Gismo]

Time and time again What Hi-Fi list the Pioneer Plasma as the best money can buy ;)
If you have budget or personal tastes to contend with then there will be other options.

As already mentioned, though i don't see it as an absolute must for a bedroom install, at least 2 HDMI inputs and component too.

Be wary of HD ready sets that use the PC Input as the HD input, a big no no

[The Dogfather]

quote:Originally posted by Bonnie Scotland

Time and time again What Hi-Fi list the Pioneer Plasma as the best money can buy ;)


Is the budget Pioneer 1080p ready though:question:

If you going to get Sky HD or HD DVD/Blu-ray wouldn't a 1080p screen be a better long term investment:question:

[Gismo]

Just did a bit more research and what do you know, the Sony KDL-40W2000 LCD gets a better rating than a plasma, so, i stand corrected, a snip at £2k ;)

[The Dogfather]

Even bigger snip at £1315 (www.kelkoo.co.uk) I paid £1472 though but prices always drop.........

[sedgie]

Lol i'm no payin 2k for a tv fir the bedroom!:eek::p

[The Dogfather]

I would have a look at a celing mounted projector as well as a Plasma/LCD, great if you don't want something that takes over the room.

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by Vidal Buffoon

I would have a look at a celing mounted projector as well as a Plasma/LCD, great if you don't want something that takes over the room.



How many hints can you drop in one thread VB?;)

A.:D

[The Dogfather]

I didn't mean mine as I might have found a buyer, someone at work has just bought a Wii and wants the ultimate big screen for games. All depends on how big my projector will project, he's looking to fill an entire wall with a picture, not sure the room is long enough though.

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by sedgie

Lol i'm no payin 2k for a tv fir the bedroom!:eek::p


That's the thing Lesley, you really don't need to. Like you say you're just wanting a big telly to watch Eastenders, Corrie, Brookie, Emerdaz, Neighbours, Home & Away.... on. The sort of utter sh!te lenore watches as it happens. As such, you'd probably be fine with an LCD. Will do the job just fine and shouldn't cost much more than £300 to £500 ish for a 26" and £600 to £800 ish for a 32" or a bit more for a 40 or 42". If you were looking for something for a home cinema set-up which will be pride of place in your living room, plasma is the way to go. Again, all IMHO.

A.;)

[The Dogfather]

Andy - LCD's have moved on, they're now better than Plasma's. You need to have a look at the picture quality of the Bravia W and X series. They don't get screen burn if you leave them on and they don't fade over time. I know plasma's have cleaver thingys that stop screen burn but I've heard a few people on forums say that they still get very slight ghosts appearing in the top corners.

Plasma - old technology, long live LCD ;)

[Gismo]

quote:Originally posted by Vidal Buffoon
Andy - LCD's have moved on, they're now better than Plasma'sNow you see, that's just not true :evil:


quote:Originally posted by sedgie
Lol i'm no payin 2k for a tv fir the bedroom!:eek::pI think i mentioned that in a previous post, that for a bedroom install a plasma was a bit over the top ;)
But, it's still pretty cool to have a flat screen in there, there are cheap alternatives considering that you will only ever feed the TV with coax cabling anyway :p

[Scottie]

quote:Originally posted by AndyP & Lenore


quote:Originally posted by sedgie

Lol i'm no payin 2k for a tv fir the bedroom!:eek::p


Like you say you're just wanting a big telly to watch Eastenders, Corrie, Brookie, Emerdaz, Neighbours, Home & Away.... on. The sort of utter sh!te lenore watches as it happens.

A.;)


Brookie is not on telly anymore;):p hasn't been from some time now:p:p What's wrong with Soaps;)

[Burple]

quote: Like you say you're just wanting a big telly to watch Eastenders, Corrie, Brookie, Emerdaz, Neighbours, Home & Away.... on. The sort of utter sh!te lenore watches as it happens. As such, you'd probably be fine with an LCD.



If you're only watchin aww that p!sh on it, My maw's still got my first old black an white portable you could have. Why would you want to sully a nice LCD or plasma, subjecting it to that mind numbing sh!te?? ;):D:p:p:p

[Burple]

quote:
Brookie is not on telly anymore;):p hasn't been from some time now:p:p What's wrong with Soaps;)


See above... :p:p

Generally the the plot tends to be half an hour of people shouting at each other and crying. Or people shouting AND crying. Or people crying and shouting. A lot. How is that entertainment? Should be against the bloody Geneva convention. Pure p!sh! :D

[zimbo]

quote:Originally posted by low_n_loud1

Generally the the plot tends to be half an hour of people shouting at each other and crying. Or people shouting AND crying. Or people crying and shouting. A lot. How is that entertainment? Should be against the bloody Geneva convention. Pure p!sh! :D




You sound like you still watch all that pi$h anyway!!! seeing as you seem to know so much about whats going all the time...... :D:p;):blackeye:

[sedgie]

Lol who says i'll be watching pi*h on it!??.....it's so i can banish grumpy to the bedroom to watch his pi*h "WWE" :dead:

[Burple]

quote:

You sound like you still watch all that pi$h anyway!!! seeing as you seem to know so much about whats going all the time...... :D:p;):blackeye:


Ummm.. no? Where have I ever said I know what is going on in these dreadful excuses for entertainment..?
What I said before was a very rough generalisation from experience, but if that's what's apparently going on, then I must be right. :p:p

and anyway... That's rich from someone who actually enjoys watching '8 Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter' and thinks it's funny. :p

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by Vidal Buffoon

Andy - LCD's have moved on, they're now better than Plasma's.


See, I just don't agree with that either VB. I accept that LCD's have a place in the home entertainment arena, but I would ask you to put any 42" LCD right next to a 42" plasma, similarly priced and specced and I don't believe the LCD will come out on top.

The trouble is, a lot of it is down to personal preference. Lenore folks just bought a Pioneer 42" plasma. Had nothing to do with picture quality. The fact that we demonstrated to them in Comet and Curry's (after we'd stolen the remote off the spotty teenager and set the pictures up properly) that the picture quality on the Hitachi and the Pioneer was almost exactly the same (and in Lenore and my opinion, better). Then add in to the mix the fact that the Hitachi was - count them £600 cheaper (that's a whole telly cheaper!!!), they still went for the Pioneer. Why? 'Cos it had a nice shiny black strip going round the edge. I despair. But if that's what they want, it's their money.

A.:eek:

[Burple]

quote:Originally posted by sedgie

Lol who says i'll be watching pi*h on it!??.....it's so i can banish grumpy to the bedroom to watch his pi*h "WWE" :dead:


For the love of all that's decent... ;);) That's almost as bad!
Well the acting is about the same... :p:p:D:D

Neither of you deserve a telly! :p:p:p:D:D:D:D:eek::eek::p:p

[The Dogfather]

quote:Originally posted by low_n_loud1
For the love of all that's decent... ;);) That's almost as bad!
Well the acting is about the same... :p:p:D:D

Neither of you deserve a telly! :p:p:p:D:D:D:D:eek::eek::p:p


I endorse that statement.

meanwhile,

Andy, I compared my 40" LCD (Bravia W) against the 42" Pioneer both using HDMI feeds from a PC, I honestly thought the LCD was better. The Pioneer was brighter but didn't seem to have as realistic colours as the Bravia. I admit the other LCD aren't a patch on plasmas but Sony have done a great job with the W and X series.

I'm just waiting for the Blu-ray/HD DVD issue to resolve itself before I buy one, I've got a 7.1 amp (pioneer, incidently) all ready and waiting. No more going the pictures for me (well apart from films I can't wait for, of which there's quite a few ;)).

[sedgie]

quote:Originally posted by low_n_loud1


quote:Originally posted by sedgie

Lol who says i'll be watching pi*h on it!??.....it's so i can banish grumpy to the bedroom to watch his pi*h "WWE" :dead:


For the love of all that's decent... ;);) That's almost as bad!
Well the acting is about the same... :p:p:D:D

Neither of you deserve a telly! :p:p:p:D:D:D:D:eek::eek::p:p




cheeky....i only watch the discovery channels:approve:

and by the way i think we are going to get a plasma..hubby says the picture is much better than the lcd's!:)

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by Vidal Buffoon
Andy, I compared my 40" LCD (Bravia W) against the 42" Pioneer both using HDMI feeds from a PC, I honestly thought the LCD was better. The Pioneer was brighter but didn't seem to have as realistic colours as the Bravia. I admit the other LCD aren't a patch on plasmas but Sony have done a great job with the W and X series.

I'm just waiting for the Blu-ray/HD DVD issue to resolve itself before I buy one, I've got a 7.1 amp (pioneer, incidently) all ready and waiting. No more going the pictures for me (well apart from films I can't wait for, of which there's quite a few ;)).



VB, I can't honestly say I've paid much attention to the new Bravia's. Would need to have a look-see before I comment further.

As for Blu-ray/HD DVD. That's a whole other issue. Probably would need it's own thread. But to be honest, there's such a divide, I suspect rather than one winning over the other, we'll just see the majority of manufacturers putting out dual drives. I know at the moment the players are almost a £grand, but in a year you'll be able to pick one up in Aldi's/Lidl for £20.;)

A.:D

A.

[The Dogfather]

Andy, I've just found the info I was looking for - the review I seen was the November 2006 What HiFi mag, the bravia KDL40W2000U came out best in their review of plasma/LCD TVs 40" - 42"; not sure what it was up against but you can bet there would be a Tosh, Pioneer and maybe a Hitachi in there.

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by Vidal Buffoon

Andy, I've just found the info I was looking for - the review I seen was the November 2006 What HiFi mag, the bravia KDL40W2000U came out best in their review of plasma/LCD TVs 40" - 42"; not sure what it was up against but you can bet there would be a Tosh, Pioneer and maybe a Hitachi in there.


Being the cynical old b*st*rd that I am, I distrust the majority of these reviews. Always thought that the Top Choice/Editors Choice/Gold Star whatever, is only chosen as such 'cos of the massive double page "paid for" spread within the magazine.:(

Always prefer to trust my own eyes over a magazine's review. Don't get me wrong, they're good for listing the specs etc., but wouldn't buy a product just 'cos What HiFi say's it the best.:clown:

A.:D

[The Dogfather]

True, I checked it out myself and I came to the same conclusion as the review

[sleepyrascal]

I think Laser TVs are the way forward. Lighter, give off much less heat and use a quarter of the power. Not sure if they are widely available yet or not.

I bought the 42" Pioneer 4th gen plasma. It's got a fantastic finish on it, sort of shiney black. When it's switched off it just looks like a black mirror. You can get them cheap on the net or in COSTCO!

[X30YES]

I have a new Sony Bravia HD etc etc ....and very pleased with it as well and would say a Plasma would not be my choice at all .... we have had 3-4 on the platform (various makes and costs)in a couple of years and with 24-7-365 use they just dont last ..!!!!,and as AP says a good wall bracket is a must,...and a plant or something to hide the cables etc ;)!!!. I'm about to fit a socket and aerial point half way up the wall in my pc/tv/music room just to hide the cables .

[zimbo]

quote:Originally posted by X30YES

....in my pc/tv/music room


:D

[broken_brian]

Panasonic do some nice plasma tvs as i was looking into getting one, and for anything over 37" it is recomended that you get a plasma.
I am going for a new motorbike instead of the tv as the one i have still works, i will upgrade it when i have to.


This is a good one.

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/product/Panasonic-TH37PX600CAB-37-in-Plasma-Television/33264384.html

[The Dogfather]

Brian, no offence intended, but that advice about plasmas was correct about 12 months ago.

[X30YES]

quote:Originally posted by zimbo


quote:Originally posted by X30YES

....in my pc/tv/music room


:D
well!!!! some folk stick weans and bunk beds in them ;):p:D

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by Vidal Buffoon

Brian, no offence intended, but that advice about plasmas was correct about 12 months ago.


From what I've seen in the shops recently of LCD's and Plasma's generally, I'd still agree with Brian:approve:. BUT! I still haven't seen the Bravia you're talking about.;)

A.:D

[N12 JLK]

We've been looking today and it's a minefield. Have not got a clue what to buy. But I must admit that I keep looking back at the Sony one mentioned earlier in the post.

Can get it for £1280 from Currys.


HELP PLEEEEAAAASSE:disapprove::question::disapprove::qu estion::disapprove::question:

[Craig]

come and have a look at mine... ;) it is not made my MINI, it's made by Hitachi so it works... :approve::approve::approve:

[N12 JLK]

Had a look for yours too Craig and I must say it's going for a very good price. Another one to consider

[Craig]

quote:Originally posted by N12 JLK

Had a look for yours too Craig and I must say it's going for a very good price. Another one to consider


and you can get a newer model that mine online for less than £900 :approve:

[N12 JLK]

Whats the model:question:

[The Dogfather]

Are you sure that the Sony one is at Currys? They don't do Sony anymore as they fell out with them. If you're after the Sony make sure its the KDL40W2000u not the KDL40V2000U as that one isn't 1080p compatible

[The Dogfather]

Comet have it a £1350 http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=357618

[N12 JLK]

currys (http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0482665277.117425620 1@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccejaddkhdfmihgcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=393044&category_oid=-30633)
yes they do do it.
discount through work:)
how good is it

[The Dogfather]

I looked and couldn't find it, I'm surprised because one of the guys in the store said Sony and Curry's fell out over prices.

I think it's great and so do whathifi, the only TV I've seen that's better is the X Series Sony which is more expensive. Remember it's only as good as the picture you put through it though, I've got an upscaling HDMI DVD recorder (Sony) and the picture is great on DVDs. Freeview isn't anywhere near as good but it won't be on any TV.

I look at every TV at that price range (and a fair bit above) it's the best by far.....

[Scottie]

Jason if your serious about getting a new TV and want a good deal speak to me I will speak to me pal and get you one.

It is what he does and he will have forgot more than us lot know:D the offer it there for you I wouldn't do it for everyone.:p

[AndyP & Lenore]

quote:Originally posted by N12 JLK

HELP PLEEEEAAAASSE:disapprove::question::disapprove::qu estion::disapprove::question:


So did all our phone calls not help today? or are you just easily confused?:eek::D;)

A.:D

[N12 JLK]

Just crap at making decisions Andy:D

Fiona, may take you up on that offer. Will speak to Jason tonight.

Lesley

[Scottie]

quote:Originally posted by N12 JLK

Just crap at making decisions Andy:D

Fiona, may take you up on that offer. Will speak to Jason tonight.

Lesley


nae probs as I say the offer is there. I can send you a link to his site via e-mail if you like. I can't call in favours from him to often.;)

As I say he knows his stuff.

[N12 JLK]

A link would be superb Fi.

Can you send to lesleyjason@tiscali.co.uk

Ta.