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Which is the best Plasma tv to purchase

sumaram

By sumaram
in Deal Finder & Deal Discussion

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daz

daz

Posted
Posted

720 and 1080 are the lines of resolution, the more lines, the better the picture.

 

IMO the only way to buy a plasma is to go somewhere like best buy/circuit city and see them side by side, play with all the features (especially brightness/contrast), pick the model you like best, then start searching for the best price :)

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carl669

carl669

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Panasonic and Pioneer are widely regarded as the best Plasma HDTV's but you'll pay for it $$$

tell me about it! i decided on the pioneer 5070, but had to get the wife on board with it. now that she is though, there's no way i'm giving her the chance to revoke her approval! :D

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  • 2 weeks later...
RascalMJ

RascalMJ

Posted
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sumaram,

 

What is your budget?

 

Have you also considered a DLP which is a better value? However you won't be able to hang it on a wall.

 

Do you have a CostCo, Sams Club, Micro Center or Fry's Electronics in your area?

 

I am not sumaram, but........ kind of same situaition. I am leaning more towards DLP for the price and the fact I don't need to mount to wall

 

I do have Sams and Micro Cneter and would like to get as big and as best as poss. for around $1,500.

 

Thanks

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sr6974

sr6974

Posted
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i found this to be one of the best deals I could find. It comes with a free stand and the shipping seems to be top notch with the "white glove" treatment.

 

Let me know what you think:

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-31eu5iMr5UX/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=305HLS5087

DLP TVs need bulb replacement ($200-$300) every few years. A Plasma TV may be a better deal in the long run. Look at this : http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000EIW3E4/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/103-8206370-2911865

 

For $2019, you get a 50 inch plasma. We bought this on BF for $1800+tax and the current price from amazon is great when you can just buy it from home!

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  • 11 months later...
jnatali111

jnatali111

Posted
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I have been searching for months for a great 42-50" plasma 1080p tv. I finally purchased a Panasonic TH-42PZ77U for 1199.00 at Sears. Actually I originally purchased it at Circuit City for 1350 - However they refuse to match black friday sales ads (and Sears is obviously cheaper). The sale for this specific tv is good through the 17th I believe. You will have trouble finding this good of a deal on the 50" for some reason. Nobody seems to know why the 42" is so readily available for so cheap while the 50" remains a little higher (relatively speaking). Anyway, if you can sacrifice for the 42" - Sears is the cheapest you'll find for now. The picture is amazing (contrast ratio, sound, etc) - well worth it.

 

As I said the lady at Sears guaranteed to match any black friday ad, so I assume this would have to be company policy. My suggestion is to get the tv you want BEFORE black friday and then search like crazy for the best deal ... then have Sears (or wherever you purchase it) match that price.

 

As for which is best etc - look for a high contrast ratio (10,000:1), multiple HDMI ports, and of course resolution. I insisted on 1080p although you will not find that quality picture broadcasted yet. I just don't see the point in investing in a technology that will be outdated within a year or so. Hope this brief misc rambling helps and goodluck. Let me know if I can help with anything else...

 

If anyone finds a better deal on a 1080 plasma PLEASE let me know!!

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jnatali111

jnatali111

Posted
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One more note - if you're going to spend 1-2K on this sort of technology, I highly suggest plasma, then LCD. I do not recommend any type of projection ... I honestly can't imagine any sales associate that would disagree ... go plasma, the quality is infinitely better.
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DaveL

DaveL

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Consumer Reports said that the best Plasma they have ever seen is the Panasonic TH-50PZ700U. I went to the store and checked out Pioneer, Panasonic, LCD, Plasma, 720p, 1080p, and I wound up getting this TV. The picture is awesome especially when hooked to a high def DVD player. Everyone has an opinion but only you can see with your own eyes. Spend some time at the store and make them hook up the same player to each TV.

 

When you are spending this kind of money, the folks in the store will do it for you. I got mine at HH Gregg who price matched Sears. I got it for about $1000 less than MSRP.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/02/panasonics-th-50pz700u-plasma-becomes-best-ever-tested/

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trustnoonekmc

trustnoonekmc

Posted
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Be careful with plasma. I have heard of alot of people suffering from burn in on the screens, even if they don't play video games. Alot of channels now have their logo on the bottom corners of the screen. If you leave a channel on for a couple of hours with the logo on, the logo will burn into the set. LCD is your best bet.

 

BTW, I just bought a projection set. 50" for $899 (the same one in HHGreggs BF add). The only issue with a projection is that the bulbs can burn out after 8000 hours of use. I bought the 5 year service plan/warrenty for $200, and it covers the cost of every lightbulb I may blow out for the next 5 years! (Otherwise, the bulbs retail around $250). I am also covered for anything else that could go wrong with the tv, and I really like the picture on it. It is not blurry on fast moving sports games like the LCDs were.

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DaveL

DaveL

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Manufacturers have significantly reduced the risk of burn in with Plasma TV's. They use pixel shifting technology to make it a non issue. I have used Plasmas for video games and watching TV and haven't had an issue. The trick is to turn the brightness down to its lowest setting where you are comfortably watching the TV. Both LCDs and Plasmas are very reliable and should give you long life.
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shockwave78

shockwave78

Posted
Posted

I think you'll find that the Pioneer is the best picture (although I think this is the wrong thread for this issue). It is also one of the more expensive. You tend to get what you pay for. However, Vizio is highly rated for its price at cnet.com.

although going to the store and looking at what you want is highly recommended, basing it on in store viewing alone is really a horrible idea. 99.999% of the tv's that are on display at stores are not calibrated at all and are all running there contrast at 100% which gives you an extremely bright picture and makes them stand out more, unless you go to each tv and adjust the contrast to where it "should be at" (usually in the 35-55 range) for optimal picture quality then viewing them in tore and deciding is kinda pointless.

 

A lot of people run there contrast high because thats what most tv's come out of the box set at, this gives you very very bright colors but TONS of noise which defeats the reason you purchased a HD tv in the first place, I did the same for a couple of years until i started reading about it at avsforum.com , It takes a week or so to get used to but dropping your contrast down in the 40 range will make it seem dark, but you are getting more of a true presentation of the the show/film was made to look and also a much much clearer picture.

 

And if Best Buy tries to charge you $300 for calibration in home, ask them what they use and what there certificates to do it are... ISF calibrators are the true tv calibrators and they go to school for this stuff, they come to your house with equipment thats worth 10k-20k to calibrate your tv.

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shockwave78

shockwave78

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Be careful with plasma. I have heard of alot of people suffering from burn in on the screens, even if they don't play video games. Alot of channels now have their logo on the bottom corners of the screen. If you leave a channel on for a couple of hours with the logo on, the logo will burn into the set. LCD is your best bet.

 

BTW, I just bought a projection set. 50" for $899 (the same one in HHGreggs BF add). The only issue with a projection is that the bulbs can burn out after 8000 hours of use. I bought the 5 year service plan/warrenty for $200, and it covers the cost of every lightbulb I may blow out for the next 5 years! (Otherwise, the bulbs retail around $250). I am also covered for anything else that could go wrong with the tv, and I really like the picture on it. It is not blurry on fast moving sports games like the LCDs were.

burn in is pretty much non existent now

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