New TV

Panasonic 32" LCD (can't remember the model as it's my mum & dad's) HD ready, Freeview built-in, came with a DVD recorder and it is very, very good indeed.

Also one of the few TV's with speakers underneath the screen, rather than either side, which makes it much less wide than most others.

Personally, I'd wait for proper HD (as opposed to the current "HD Ready" sets) and stick to my old set (or buy something s/h if the old set had broken down).

Still, "HD Ready" is better than your old set if buying something new is a must... You might be able to find one with detachable speakers (they can be considered disposable anyway), Pioneer has a good reputation.

Another bit of advice is calibration: spend the extra 100 quid to have your new TV ISF Calibrated. A calibrated cheap TV can be better than an uncalibrated expensive one... And it will last longer, too.

Cheers,

Edo

I recently spent some time in a demo on proper plasma set-up. They had two identical sets side by side. The presenter spent half an hour tweaking the factoy set-up on one set which is designed to look "loud" in a typical high street showroom. He then did a comparison between the tweaked and the factory set-up set.

The difference was extremely worthwhile. Money well spent on buying a set from a specialist vendor.

Of course, CRT TVs still have by far the best vfm. But some of my reserations against plasmas were revealed to be due to standard set-ups and not to the technology itself.

I've just bought a Panasonic Plasma TH37-PX60
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/plasma-tv/th37px60ped/index.htm

I'm more than pleased with it; my second choice was a Sony Bravia 32" LCD,KDL32V2000U

Both sets get a good review in What HI-FI magazine.

Beano

The PX60 is a fab TV, can't go far wrong. Reasonable price and HD Ready. Don't waste your time waiting for the next big thing. DVD-A and SACD never took off and HD Ready TV's are great for DVD's, SKY, SKY-HD, DVD-HD and Blueray if it ever turns up.

I'm going to wait a week or 2 for the 600 series Panasonic 37" plasma (2 HDMI sockets, better contrast record to SD card). Looks like it will be available for ~£1550 on the web or ~£1800 with a 5 year warranty from the High St.

Neil

dev

if you dont mind spending the dosh and can fit a 50" in the new pioneer hd 1080 is the one (1920x1080 resolution) at around £6000

also it will cost a lot more than £100 to isf calibrate your telly, more like £250+ per screen.
you can tell the difference, ive had my pj and plasma done

neil

quote:

also it will cost a lot more than £100 to isf calibrate your telly, more like £250+ per screen.
you can tell the difference, ive had my pj and plasma done

ISF for projectors is typically more expensive, but GBP250+ for a screen seems a bit steep to me.

edo
i was qouted £250 per screen(with three sources) but was given a discount as they were done at the same time
it was a lot more noticable on the pj

neil

quote:

Originally posted by Beano:
I've just bought a Panasonic Plasma TH37-PX60
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/plasma-tv/th37px60ped/index.htm

I'm more than pleased with it; my second choice was a Sony Bravia 32" LCD,KDL32V2000U

Both sets get a good review in What HI-FI magazine.

Beano

Beano,

what made you choose the Panasonic over the Sony?

I will be looking for something similar soon and will be considering them both,


Regards

PB

Polarbear

I did some research a while back for the mother-in-law on Plasmas and one of the things that I was told proved (well for me anyway - IMHO) to be true, was that the Panasonics were better for SKY Broadcast TV, while the Sony was better if you watched a lot of DVD. If this is still true for HD ready screens I don't know, but may be worth you testing both sources if possible at a dealers.

Regards
Geoff

Geoff,

and what about the Plasma v LCD argument, I just asked the sales rep in Comet and he seemed to think that a Sony 42 LCD was the better long term buy.

I will be using it with the sky box and Naim DVD5, I suppose the sky will get the more use,

Many thanks


PB

pb

he will be equally knowledgeable about your naim system
regards your tv, you first need to decide on screen size . this will allow a better decision on type , personally id avoid lcd,s
take a look over on
www.avforums.com

regards

neil

Firstly it wasn’t an impulse buy; I mulled it over for about a week or so before making a decision. I had the dealer do a side by side demonstration in his demo room, and I still couldn’t decide. They were both very good. So the dealer said why don’t we take both to your house and then decide. This was an offer that I would have been foolish to refuse.

Panasonic was first in; it has a 37” screen but is only 3ft wide, which was a major plus, because we didn’t want it over powering, dominating the living room. Our old television which was a 28” Panasonic PL10 measured only 4” less so size wasn’t a problem.

The blacks on the Panasonic are the best I’ve seen; other colour rendition is vivid, yet natural. Its factory preset is Dynamic, but the dealer has set it to normal, with the Contrast knocked back to about 65%, and Brightness at roughly 45%, Colour at 50%, Sharpness off. There is no smearing of football players either, unlike my brother in-laws Thomson LCD which is unwatchable for sports.

The Sony was a beauty to look at, and its picture equally just as stunning, overall size wise there was not a lot in it.

My decision was made purely on features; the Panasonic has two HDMI connections the Sony only has one. Saying that we don’t use any at this moment in time, but who knows what the future holds. The dealer threw in a DVD recorder as a sweetener, because I mentioned that Sony is running a deal at the moment, this being a free DVD Player with this LCD.

Both displays come with Digital Freeview tuners built in, and I can receive it although I’m not supposed too! Screen size was the main plus point, and the sound quality from it’s built in speaker, which is located at the bottom of the screen, is very good (we have a surround sound system for films and the like) finally we all liked the aesthetics of the Panasonic, which makes for a happy wife!

A word of warning, if you plan using a Sony Playstation or Game Console on your television display, go down the LCD route, this is because of the screen burn issue on plasma displays. I had serious reservations about screen burn, station labels being the most annoying thing for me! However the dealer has assured me it won’t happen in normal viewing. They have a 60,000 hours life span.

Which ever display you decide on, both are excellent and I’m sure you’ll be very happy. Mine was supplied and installed professionally by a specialist.

Regards,
Beano

quote:

Originally posted by Polarbear:
Geoff,

and what about the Plasma v LCD argument, I just asked the sales rep in Comet and he seemed to think that a Sony 42 LCD was the better long term buy.

Come on PB, get real. I hardly think the sales rep from Comet is the font of all knowledge. What is his opinion of Naim?

Gary

quote:

What is his opinion of Naim?

Finest hi-fi equipment on the planet, what else?

quote:

i was qouted £250 per screen(with three sources) but was given a discount as they were done at the same time
it was a lot more noticable on the pj

Lucky me, I paid only EUR 140...

Cheers,

Edo

quote:

Originally posted by Polarbear:
... I just asked the sales rep in Comet and he seemed to think that a Sony 42 LCD was the better long term buy....

Did he try to sell you a 5 year warranty?

In rare visit to Comet I found a sales rep's main reason for recommending products was that they wanted to clear stock and offered sales reps an extra incentive to unload certain items. It is a shop I always avoid - isn't the same chain as that dreadful PC world. Sainsbury's give better advice on TVs than Comet IMO.

Isn't it possible to get a home demo of TV? John Lewis will do an in-store demo - if you arrange to see a friendly sales person, or at least they did for a relative of mine.

Rotf