What TV - an open ended question??

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lebowski

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Topic # 16403 8-Oct-2007 13:11

Im looking at spending anywhere between $3500 - $5000 on either a plasma or LCD TV between 42" and 50". It will primarily be used to play DVD's and games via Xbox360 and maybe PS3 in the coming year. The DVD player (Denon DVD-1930)and Xbox360 will be connected via HDMI as would the PS3 if and when I would eventually buy it.

Can anyone recommend a set, im currently looking at the Hitachi 42PD9500TA, or its big brother the 50" (which is kinda over the budget). Im not sure that True 1080P is essential. Any Thoughts?

Thanks

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Reply # 90117 8-Oct-2007 15:00

Take a look in Harvey Norman, They have a lot of Panasonic and Sony 42-50 inch plasmas and lcds at present which are discounted quite a bit (Product End of Life I think). Saw these in Lower Hutt branch, not sure if it's a nationwide thing.

Cheers,
ZollyMonsta

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sbiddle

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Reply # 90119 8-Oct-2007 15:13

1080p is nice but you probably won't get a set in that price range that has a full 1920x1080HD display. Most LCD's and Plasma's are 1280x768 or 1366x768 resolution and while most will accept 1080p inputs they have to scale this since they are only 768 vertical lines and not 1080.

1080p content never be received over the air and to many people will argue that you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p with a scren less than 50".

There is a very nice Akai 50" Plasma that has just hit the market for $2999, I'm unsure who's carrying the brand but it is a nice set and a good price as well.

Regs

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Reply # 90134 8-Oct-2007 17:10

if you are in auckland then go visit Stereo World in dominion road. the guys there are pretty clued up usually and they can usually beat any other price you can find. www.stereoworld.co.nz

there are a few 50" plasma sets that you can get for < $5K but for true HD you are only going to find 42" at best for less than $5K. true HD (1080p) is going to be good if you will buy blu-ray or hd-dvd stuff, and is really worthwhile when you got to the 50" and bigger screens. the Playstation3 supports 1080p but its unlikely (i'm told) that there will be many 1080p games made at this stage - most will be at best 720p.

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MuShrOomKing

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Reply # 90463 10-Oct-2007 13:57

Just be careful, when going to harvery Norman to compare tvs, .

There are a few things you have to consider,

The source of the Picture being showed on the screen, and the big one, most of the Tvs are not calibrated to there maximum Potential,

so you can get a false sense of a particular Tv

sbiddle

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Reply # 90472 10-Oct-2007 14:32

MuShrOomKing: Just be careful, when going to harvery Norman to compare tvs, .

There are a few things you have to consider,

The source of the Picture being showed on the screen, and the big one, most of the Tvs are not calibrated to there maximum Potential,

so you can get a false sense of a particular Tv

The biggest problem with many stores is that they're feeding 720p HD signals into the TV when in reality most people are watching TV off either an aerial or Sky in SD.

MuShrOomKing

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Reply # 90489 10-Oct-2007 15:32

Yeah that is Completely True,

hopefully when Tv Hd is released, people will start to adapt to the whole High Def Era,

when i show people the difference between SD and HD they are Amazed,
at the moment this is mainly limited to Movies and a few Series, Hd sport is a whole new dimension to the sporting experience

chiefie

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Reply # 90492 10-Oct-2007 15:43

Sony's Full HD 3xLCD rear projector KS50R200A 50-inch SXRD BRAVIA Full 1080HD TV @ $5500.

We have been around browsing for our "future" tv, and if Full HD is our primary requirement, we decided that Sony's Full HD 3xLCD rear projector tv gives much better contrast and colours and bigger screen for good value. While Full HD LCD/Plasma of the same screen size will easily be at least 2x the pricetag!

And the Sony's rear projector tv isn't that "thick" compare to years ago old technology... the new ones are quite nice and awesome, imho.

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old3eyes

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Reply # 90500 10-Oct-2007 16:22

sbiddle:
MuShrOomKing: Just be careful, when going to harvery Norman to compare tvs, .

There are a few things you have to consider,

The source of the Picture being showed on the screen, and the big one, most of the Tvs are not calibrated to there maximum Potential,

so you can get a false sense of a particular Tv

The biggest problem with many stores is that they're feeding 720p HD signals into the TV when in reality most people are watching TV off either an aerial or Sky in SD.

Very true. I ended up buying a TV from Sony Style in Silviapark because they were quite happy to put anything on the TV that I wanted where as the box sellers only wanted to put on HD content..

Regards,

Old3eyes

STI

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Reply # 90503 10-Oct-2007 16:30

DSE is selling Samsung 46" M8 LCD TV for $3759, which is a good deal considering it is a full HD (1080p). I am not aware of the retail price in other stores, but according to DSE its retail price is $4699.

lebowski

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Reply # 90510 10-Oct-2007 17:04

Thanks for all the advice. Interestingly I went into Noel Leeming a couple of weeks ago. The (cut down) version of the conversation went a bit like this.....

Q.What source is currently going through that tv?
A. A DVD player

Q.What sort of DVD player
A. Just a regular one

Q. Can I see it
A. Sure

Q.(as we walk towards it) Is that a blu ray logo
A. Yes

Q. So in fact it is a blu ray dvd player being sourced to the TV not a regular DVD player
A. I suppose

This was also the case when I asked for an anlogue signal to be played thorugh it, it turned out to be a digital freeview signal.

Yes you have to be careful!!!

I will check out Stereoworld and see what advice they have as well the TV mentioned in DSE. I have read that the Samsung Tulip is good set.

old3eyes

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Reply # 90586 11-Oct-2007 08:25

STI: DSE is selling Samsung 46" M8 LCD TV for $3759, which is a good deal considering it is a full HD (1080p). I am not aware of the retail price in other stores, but according to DSE its retail price is $4699.

Hmmmm. Good price for NZ.. All the better if it's this one in Ozz. A$4649

http://www.samsung.com/au/products/tv/lcdtv/la46m81bd.asp

Regards,

Old3eyes

WallySimmonds

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Reply # 91010 14-Oct-2007 18:35

I have one of those samsung m8's and they are very good tv's - however, there seems to be a problem with them turning themselves off and on again after a period. I am on my 2nd tv now with the same problem, and others are experiencing the issue as well. I picked mine up for 3500, but that was only after some haggling with HN due to them screwing my replacement up.

STI

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Reply # 91017 14-Oct-2007 19:48

old3eyes:
STI: DSE is selling Samsung 46" M8 LCD TV for $3759, which is a good deal considering it is a full HD (1080p). I am not aware of the retail price in other stores, but according to DSE its retail price is $4699.

Hmmmm. Good price for NZ.. All the better if it's this one in Ozz. A$4649

http://www.samsung.com/au/products/tv/lcdtv/la46m81bd.asp

I think that is the RRP. You can find the M8 online for A$3600.

fisher191

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Reply # 91112 15-Oct-2007 15:05

I just bought a new model Philips LCD that I would recommend you have a look at.

Its at the top end of your price range but I got it for that after haggling. I also bought the extended warranty which I would not normally do or recommend, but at $199 I couldn't resist.

Model is 47PFL9532. You can see the full specs at http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/nz/consumer/cc/_productid_47PFL9532_98_NZ_CONSUMER/Flat-TV+47PFL9532-98

Full 1080 (and it takes a PC input at 1080p)
3ms
100Hz

I have been looking for 2 months and seen them all. I started looking for a plasma but ended up with this. The top end Samsungs or Sonys might be better in some areas (black levels and black crushing) but theres not much if anything in it. The most impressive thing I saw on the Philips was the Digital Natural Motion.

pebbles

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Reply # 91118 15-Oct-2007 15:46

Uh, the DSE tv is fine as long as you live near a powerhouse DSE otherwise good luck... but samsung are definitely the best LCD tv's on the market. Especially if you look at something like their contrast ratio's. On a 32' theirs is 7000:1 compared to the next best brand on the market's sony bravia ratio which is about 1500:1.

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