42" plasma recommendations

David,

in my view the current Pioneer Plasmas are the cream of the crop. I have been really impressed by both the 436SXE and the 436XDE. The main advantage of the latter is that the media box can be hidden away, can be upgraded at a later date and also affords plenty of connections - especially digital ones! The SXE by comparison is totally integrated but only has one digital input.

The Panasonic, Hitachi and Fujitsu sets are also excellent but definitely a rung down from the Pioneers. However, these brands are often available at less money than the Pioneers, so you pay your money and make your choice....

Don't forget that source first applies just as much with video as it does with audio, even with digital connections, so make sure you have a top-drawer DVD source!!

Oh, and out of interest, I use a Hitachi 32" plasma alongside my projector... the picture from either a DVD5 or n-Vi is simply stunning, the main limitation often being the disc itself. I am told that the Hitcahi has a vertical resolution of 1024 lines which is the number of actual lines for a 1080 signal, hence no vertical scaling takes place.. Can't wait to test it with a 1080 signal but right now it's hard to see how it could get any better unless Pioneer start making smaller screen sizes... I was playing the JMJarre concert last night and if somebody had told you it was hi-def it would be quite credible.

I've just got the pansonic 37" 600-series plasma (only just came out, but the 42" has been around for a little while). It seems excellent, and better than the 60. There was even a £300 discount on it which made it £1849 with pedestal stand, free 5-year warranty and Sunday delivery.

Neil

Hi David,

think about buying a Plasma panel such as the Panasonic PWD8 42" (standard def) or the PHD8 42" (hi def) I just purchased a PHD8 and I'm knocked out by it. I spent a while comparing this with both the Pioneer and the Panasonic TV's you are considering and the PHD8 is streets ahead of both. If you are getting Sky use that as your tuner or purchase a Topfield PVR for Freeview. You can pick the PHD8 up for less than £1400. The AV industry see it as the best on the market at that price. It is better than my expectations when installed and I get a better picture than I did on my Sony wega.

Cheers

Graham

I agree with Richard's views, and therefore disagree with Graham. I have noticed that the Panasonic screens are amazing with hi-def material, but thought the standard-def pictures are pretty poor.

Then again, lot cheaper than the Pioneers...

I've got a Pioneeer and a Panasonic plasma (504HDE and 42PWD8). They are both excellent screens whether using an SD Sky feed or DVD.

The Pioneer do look more attractive but if your on a budget the Panasonic's are excellent screens too.

I think you need to question whether you actually need a TV as opposed to a panel. If you've got the necessary amplification and speakers and Sky, you don't need the tuner side of things.

Hi Frank,

I'm really going to go out on a limb here and say that even on SD from a Topfied PVR using component out into VGA on my PHD8 the picture wipes the floor with my neighbours Pioneer XDE. On fast moving sport the PHD8 is so much better. The Pioneer has had problems with screen burn which is still not solved. I had full intention of purchasing the XDE as I think it looks good but after comparing it with the PHD8 it was no contest. Most of the ISF callibrators rate the PHD8 above the XDE and these guys are not selling the panels so have no financial gain. Have you actually seen a PHD8?

Cheers

Graham

David

Pioneer have just brought out a 50 inch 1920 x 1080 pixel panel , the 500ex I think.

They will obviously be bringing out a 43inch version soon.

The 50 inch is supposed to give the best picture by any plasma currently on the market - but it does cost £6000!!!!!!

Hope this helps

Trev

Last week I took delivery of a Pioneer PDP-436XDE and I am very pleased.

I visited as many dealers/outlets as I possibly could and therefore saw lots of screens in various degrees of setup with a lot of different sources and a lot of different ambient light. The Pioneer was easily the best when given a normal input. It was even with the NEC when given a HD signal (both from Astra and Blu-ray) and was a bit cheaper.


Nigel

Tonight I have just ordered one of these.....


Sony Bravia KDFE50A12 Rear Projection HD Ready Digital TV.

Saw the picture on one of these earlier in the year and wow! The 3LCD technology combined with the rear projection makes for a cracking picture at a decent cost.....
There's a new model of the same tv coming out next month (with 10,000:1 contrast ratio) so they are selling these off 'cheap'.....
Thing is, most of our viewing is in the dark in our Den so I thought we'd take advantage of the price......

50inch screen. 1280 x 720 resolution. Free Delivery and Five Year warranty, from John Lewis......price..????


£995.

Cheers,
Ali

I've recently purchased a Panasonic plasma TH 37 PX60 and very pleased with it; however had I the room to accommodate anything bigger than the above, I'd have bought the Pioneer, it doesn't have any rival, well not in my opinion anyway. In the demonstration I was given it was clearly the one to buy, pity they don't make anything smaller as it would be in my living room now.

Beano

Another vote here for the Pioneer - the 436SXE in our case, since we didn't have room for the remote media box.

A fantastic package, with good sound when not running the sound processor.

Gary

i also agree that the pioneer is a very good plasma, strange thing is i auditioned my n-vi via panny xde and i thought it was realy good, yet when they came and installed it, forget about the n-vi, he said my hd picture from tv-drive via panny pw6b was the best hd picture he had seen, far better than sky hd running through any plasma, and he uses the pioneer everyday ?

The Pioneers are excellent screens but IMHO not any better than the Panasonic (particularly when compared the panels).

Where the Pioneers score is aesthetically. They do look stunning and that comes at a premium cost.

I'd urge you to consider a panel though - especially if wall-mounting. I ended up taking the speakers off my Pioneer as the sound was just so much better through my AV2 and M&Ks.

Thanks chaps

Looks like the Pioneer is going to be the one. I'm off on hols - so will sort it out when I get back. Dixons at £1780 seems to be tyhe best deal at the moment.

Cheers, David

Are you sure that all the products with a given label are equal - do different quality products go to different retail groups - eg does the home label shops get best quality but at a higher price cf the big chains at a lower price - just a thought

I was just thinking the same. I paid about £2,250 for my 436SXE a few months ago. I know I could have got it very slightly cheaper. but choose to stick with the dealer who had given me several demos and loads of good advice. However, I didn't realise it was down to £1,780 already - is this definately the same model? There was a cheaper model (RXE? I think) which didn't have the digital tuner.

Gary

for example the Sony Bravia range has three different quality/feature levels from what I have read (S, U or V), the model number just changing by one character. So very easy to get confused when bargain hunting

Correction to my previous post, there is at least six model variants of the Bravia range see
Bravia range

Internet searches show the runout Pioneer 436SXEs to be had for a steal at £1729 with a tabletop stand.

I recall my Naim dealer telling me that Pioneer had promised to reduces prices by 20% per year on large plasmas, so am I better waiting for a 437 in September or jumping in now?

hi all,
i went into an av shop yesterday and was amazed to see lots of plasmas and lcd tvs actually properly set up which you dont get at yer average dixons/currys/comet etc, one new set that really caught my eye for amazing picture quality was the toshiba 42wlt66 lcd screen it has everything 2xhdmi onboard freeview tuner true 1920x1080i resolution too, and i searched on the net and it can be bought at prc direct for an amazing £1400!!
pther sets that were also very good were panny th42px600 and the pioneer pdp436xde. the new range of samsungs are gorgeous looking but fell short on picture quality to the rest mentioned above. im very tempted by the tosh though!
scotty

scotty,
did you look at the tosh off-centre? The smaller screen sizes I have seen of that model show massive fading of colours and contrast if you are not looking at them a 90 degrees - a real problem for real world viewing imo.
Simon

simon,
i didnt really have much time as i was passing through and just popped in the shop out of curiosity. will go back and have a proper look.
thanks, scotty

quote:

Originally posted by Richard Dane:
I have been really impressed by both the 436SXE and the 436XDE. The main advantage of the latter is that the media box ... can be upgraded at a later date

Just spotted this but have never heard of a media box being upgraded. Is this true and has anyone done it?

LCD displays are a lot better than the equivalent size plasmas these days and use less power.

If you haven't seen a decent LCD display it's because the shop doesn't know how to set it up properly. Simon's comment about fading of colours and contrast at an angle just doesn't hold water. The new Sharps offer a fantastic picture on HDTV.

Frankly I'm amazed most members here still recommend plasmas. They're well over-hyped.

quote:

Originally posted by nodrog:
LCD displays are a lot better than the equivalent size plasmas these days and use less power.

If you haven't seen a decent LCD display it's because the shop doesn't know how to set it up properly. Simon's comment about fading of colours and contrast at an angle just doesn't hold water. The new Sharps offer a fantastic picture on HDTV.

Frankly I'm amazed most members here still recommend plasmas. They're well over-hyped.

Rubbish, which planet do you live on?

LCD and Plasmas both have their advantages and disadvantages. All in all though Plasmas tend to be better. For sport or fast moving action Plasmas are much faster than LCDs, so less smear whilst watching footy etc. Plasmas tend to be blacker, less digital and have a generally more natural looking picture. Plasmas also tend to be brighter and have greater contrast. LCDs tend to have better outright still image quality but that does not always translate into good moving images quality. LCDs are available in smaller sizes, so if you want something smaller than 37" then LCDis the only option. 37-42" plasmas are cheaper and loads better for video. LCDs are better if in very light areas as plasmas can be harder to see for example in direct sunlight.