My 42' Plasma TV died, and yet I am pretty happy about it...

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › My 42" Plasma TV died, and yet I am pretty happy about it...

tonyhughes

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#24516 26-Jul-2008 11:09

Sanyo 42" SD Plasma. Great TV, but the Y board died twice in quick succession (fixed under warranty even though it was a corporate freebie drop shipped to us straight from Singapore).

Now it just wont power up.

I am hoping its BER so I can go and buy a new one (I could never justify a new HD telly to 'er indoors while we had a working 42" sitting there).

I have not looked at tellys since before the HD era, so now I am flying blind. I went to <unnamed retailer> today and spent all of 20 minutes looking at Pannys, Sonys and gawd knows what else. Picture on most was crap - coming out of multiboxes.

50" LCD Viera looked really nice, and was a great price.

Here are my requirements:

HD (Will likely dump MySky and get an HD Freeview box while I build a DVB-T HTPC)
42" or higher
Able to be operated with my Harmony 525 (shouldnt be too hard)
All black bezel (they look much better than anything with silver around it!)

Thats about it really. Sound is not important as I have a home theatre system, getting picky about picture doesn't concern me - I was VERY happy with the picture quality on our SD plasma.

LCD vs. Plasma these days?

sbiddle

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#151545 26-Jul-2008 11:28

I was having a look around Harveys the other day and IMHO if I was buying a TV at present I'd grab the new 50" Panasonic plasma. Full HD for around $3500, somebody posted on here a few days ago talking about it and mentioning a pile of freebies with it as well.

Of course these don't have IDT tuners for Freeview|HD which is a downside but you do get a free CFreeview box thrown in.

ajobbins

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#151553 26-Jul-2008 11:44

If I had the spare cash right now, I would be in the market for one of these:
http://www.sony.co.nz/bravia/product/bravia-with-freeview/current-range/kdl46v4000.jsp

mortonman

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#151554 26-Jul-2008 11:55

a colleague at work picked up a full 1080 samsung 40 inch LCD at harvey norman in their sale a couple of weeks ago for 1900 dollars- bargain when the srp is over 3K. It comes with 3 hdmi inputs.

I was in bond and bond on thursday on Queen St Auckland and they were still selling 4 and 5 series models. These are over 18months old now. So make sure you are looking at the latest offerings and not old stock on special.

I have an SD plasma as well. I am in the same boat that i would love a new shiny telly but can't justify it to the missus. I was looking for a smaller screen for the bedroom but there seems to be a death of choice around the 26" size.

Also check out

http://www.homecinemachoice.com

It is uk based so the TV models nos as slightly different but you can work out the equivalent NZ models. The reviews are very informative. I used it a lot when shopping for my panny. I also bought what tv magazine from a specialist newsagent. The UK magazines also do very good tests and appraisals. I find the NZ magazines try not to be too contraversial in case they lose the limited advertising income.

Happy Shopping

clevedon

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#151558 26-Jul-2008 12:24

Panasonic TH-50PY800 Full HD all the way, you can't get a 42 when you have already had one, go up in size, they get better as they get bigger. The Panasonic is the best value out there at the moment, new model and if you shop around get it for around $3400 with freebies. Got ours on Thursday and we are rapt, plasma all the way, were given a new 32 Sony Bravia in a promotion and the LCD doesn't even come close, it was quickly relegated to the spare room and put the old 42 Plasma in the bedroom instead.

BazNZ

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#151622 26-Jul-2008 16:55

Agree with clevedon....the brand new Plasma from Panasonic TH-50PY800
This HDTV is the best on the market in its price range and size. This thing has a 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio and a 480Hz refresh rate. The Sony Bravia Series or the latest Samsung's wouldn't blow smoke up this Panasonic model for specs, picture quality, price or size. If you find a better HDTV let me know because my new Panasonic is arriving early next week.

Kezzainc

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#152376 29-Jul-2008 12:12

I think you know to call us guys in Wellington' Tony before you buy. ... The guy youll be with around new years.... M.H

If your looking for a good all round deal get the LA46N. We do have one PDP508 left in new stock.....