Hey Beep! Time to buy a Plasma before they're outlawed??

Post #319,351 by Another Scott 12/30/09 6:05:56 PM Reply	Hey Beep! Time to buy a Plasma before they're outlawed?? I've been looking at the Panasonic Viera Plasma HDTVs. I'm having trouble choosing between the S1 series, the G10 series and G15 series. http://www2.panasoni...00000000000005702 But beyond that, I'm wondering if my current thinking about Plasma sets is being colored too much by their relatively low prices. E.g. http://www.bhphotovi...350618+4292350616 You've got a big plasma, right? What is it again? A Pioneer? I have been under the impression for a long time that plasma sets were power hogs compared to LCDs. But looking at the actual EPA numbers, in many cases there isn't that big a difference... http://downloads.ene.../tv_prod_list.xls Now, the EnergyStar 4 and 5 specs coming in 2010 and 2012 are stricter, and plasma may not be able to meet it, but the current EnergyStar 3 specs are comparable for non-LED LCD sets (at least at smaller sizes). LED-backlit sets are still too rich for my blood... E.g.: Panasonic Plasma TC-P46S1 207 Watts Panasonic Plasma TC-P50S1 269 Watts Panasonic Plasma TC-P54S1 293 Watts Samsung LCD LN46B550K1F 191 Watts Samsung LCD LN52A550P1F 210 Watts Samsung LCD LN55A950D1F 220 Watts At the moment I'm leaning toward plasma because of their superior viewing angles, better color, and low price. If LED backlights were the same price, they would probably be the obvious choice. The set is going to be in a corner in a room with many windows, but most of our TV watching is after the sun goes down. Decisions, decisions. Thanks for any comments. Cheers, Scott. (Who is leaning toward a 46" or maybe a 50" set at the moment, to replace a 32" conventional set.)
Post #319,352 by scoenye 12/30/09 7:18:52 PM Reply	42" Viera here Rated at 335W. Actual consumption is a lot better than that but it strongly depends on use. If you watch a lot of dark movies, then it uses even less than a CRT. A Kill-a-Watt session averaged at about half the rated wattage. The UI on our particular model is not exactly the friendliest I've ever encountered. Panasonic saw fit not to use the remote number pad for programming, so expect a lot of use of up/down left/right buttons to get things configured. And it does not retain the clock when main power is lost (more and more button presses required to reset until June, the year has to be selected on a dropdown.)
Post #319,357 by Another Scott 12/30/09 8:15:01 PM Reply	Excellent points on the power. Thanks for the info. Can I ask why you chose it over an LCD? Did you get it in the US? At a store or via the web? I assume we'll use a universal remote with it after it's been adjusted. Thanks! Cheers, Scott.
Post #319,368 by scoenye 12/30/09 11:23:10 PM Reply	US, Costco, in store It is a 720p model, not 1080. We looked at all the models they had going in the warehouse. Finally decided that the picture looked best on this one among TVs of comparable size and price. IIRC, it was the only plasma model there and it came with a $200 rebate. The other choices for the price were a ~30" 1080 LCD or a ~40" 720 LCD. The saturation on the LCDs didn't look right. Of course, it's unknown what settings they were running under but the Viera appeared to have been running at its default settings. I didn't even know about the difference in power consumption between plasma and LCD until after we got it. I did do some research on the pros/cons of each, but somehow that didn't come up.
Post #319,369 by Another Scott 12/31/09 12:15:32 AM Reply	Thanks. I keep reading horror stories of sets being delivered with cracked screens. I bought a 32" Samsung LCD from B&H about a year ago, and it was fine when I picked it up from UPS after work. I'm leaning that way again, but I'd have to check to make sure that a larger box would easily fit in my car if I needed to pick it up. And the thought of agonizing over a web purchase like this again, waiting for delivery, possibly having to pick it up, possibly having a cracked screen and waiting another week or so for a new delivery attempt isn't terribly appealing. Of course, I could buy it locally for more money and have to pay sales tax.... Decisions, decisions. :-) Thanks again. Cheers, Scott. (Who hates big purchases...)
Post #319,416 by scoenye 1/1/10 10:23:58 AM Reply	We got ours on the local Sales Tax Holiday ;-)
Post #319,418 by Another Scott 1/1/10 10:28:23 AM Reply	Heh! :-)
Post #319,356 by jbrabeck 12/30/09 8:13:21 PM Reply	42" Magnavox Have had it for about 4 years. Of course you need the remote to do most of the adjusting, and the remote keeps disappearing. Oh, and the universals do NOT work with the TV. Don't know the wattage, Does put out a lot of heat. Great color and contrast. Better than the 32" LCD in the bedroom (wife's TV).
Post #319,358 by Another Scott 12/30/09 8:16:29 PM Reply	Oh, so much for that plan. Using a universal remote. :-) I'll have to check on that. Thanks for the info! Cheers, Scott.
Post #319,359 by jbrabeck 12/30/09 8:23:04 PM Reply	May work for other TVs But the Magnavox requires it's own remote. Most annoying with universal is "OFF" == Mute. Never did find an on/off. Did find the remote. Lost again, so now it's like the old TV. Get up and turn off the TV. Cable box controls the channel, and sound system controls the volume. Of course the grandkid has found the control buttons so sometimes it takes a bit of fiddling to get everything working correctly.
Post #319,360 by static 12/30/09 8:31:39 PM Reply	I don't understand how people lose remotes. I always put them back in the same place above the TV. Never lost one yet. Now that I think of it, I did have to teach my (ex)wife that habit. Wade. Q:Is it proper to eat cheeseburgers with your fingers? A:No, the fingers should be eaten separately.
Post #319,361 by jbrabeck 12/30/09 8:41:50 PM Reply	Do you have A step daughter and grandson who think that they own the living room, with TV? Put stuff away? That's a foreign concept. Mom's favorite daughter, so I can't say much. Mom is FINALLY getting fed up, after 16 months, but still won't say anything. Anyway, once they move back out, I'm sure the remote will magically reappear.
Post #319,364 by folkert 12/30/09 9:04:02 PM Reply	Magically re-appear... BUSTED! Ask me how I know. Stupid Toshiba rear projection TV! Visio LCD 47" purchased 2 years ago Wednesday before the Super Bowl. Freakin awesome every time I turn it on.
Post #319,380 by drook 12/31/09 10:29:34 AM Reply	Idea for my next remote I'm going to get a 9-inch length of railroad track and epoxy the remote to it. -- Drew
Post #319,396 by folkert 12/31/09 1:11:29 PM Reply	I actually have... 8 - 3" or 4" (can't remember which) long pieces of 70#/ft railroad rail. Doesn't work, they epoxy eventually separates from the remotes, unless you drill holes in them for it to grab onto, but then... you have to do a lot more work to prepare it. Only downfall, replacing the batteries.
Post #319,403 by boxley 12/31/09 5:17:58 PM Reply	duct tape it to the phone,usually can find a phone
Post #319,366 by beepster 12/30/09 10:52:38 PM Reply	Mines a Hitachi and its better than the Vizio LCD that is a couple years newer. Its a 42. Does fine in a room with light..has about as good a viewing angle as you can get...but I don't have to deal with that much..as mine also has a remote control swivel stand...so the set faces me no matter which seat I'm in :-) I understand the kids and remotes comments...as I have tape holding in the batteries on nearly all of them. What happened to the battery covers??? My son. It does generate quite a bit of heat. I will choose a path that's clear. I will choose freewill.
Post #319,367 by Another Scott 12/30/09 10:57:34 PM Reply	Thanks muchly!
Post #319,371 by crazy 12/31/09 2:22:53 AM Reply	Just went through it. http://iwt.mikevital....iwt?postid=21035 Still loving my Samsung.
Post #319,379 by Another Scott 12/31/09 10:28:03 AM Reply	Ah yes. Thanks. Movies? Some people in older BestBuy reviews of a big Viera set complain about slight flickering of white areas when watching movies in "24Hz/48Hz" mode. Have you noticed anything like that with your Samsung? http://www.bestbuy.c...d-customerreviews Thanks. Cheers, Scott. (Who hopes he hasn't caused you to notice something that you hadn't before. "Man, how can you read in the library with all those fluorescent lights buzzing??")
Post #319,414 by crazy 1/1/10 5:25:40 AM Reply	Haven't noticed it And I'm sensitive to that type of thing. I always make sure my CRTs ran at 72Hz rather than the default 60 to avoid headaches.
Post #321,807 by Another Scott 2/21/10 1:32:37 PM Reply	Still waiting. Saw a Panasonic 50G10 at BB yesterday. I've been continuing to wait, watching the prices and inventory drop on the 2009 models. Yesterday I went out to BestBuy to see one in the flesh. They had lots of sets on display, and a 50G10 on the end of an interior shelf. It was running a Panasonic demo DVD. It looked very nice to me. Reflections from the overhead fluorescent lights were pretty strong, but not overbearing. I was surprised how little heat it put out. It's being closed out at $1299. They also had some Samsung LED-backlit sets on display. The viewing angles were pretty good, but the colors were very garish to my eyes. I've seen the 50G10 for less than $1250 on-line, but shipping is on the order of $200, so it's probably cheaper to buy locally and pay the tax and delivery charges. Unless the on-line stores start offering free shipping on it. The G20 and G25 sets are supposedly better than the G10 and may have a MSRP of $100 (or more) less, so I'm continuing to wait. (Early adopters are probably going to pay close to MSRP, though.) Blacks are supposed to be better as well as lower power consumption, so it doesn't seem like the EPA is going to outlaw them this year. ;-) (No EPA numbers for the G20 and G25 are in the EnergyStar spreadsheet (link above) yet.) I still haven't decided if I care about THX or 3D or 24-Hz and so forth, but having some web connectivity would be nice. More at the mega thread at AVS Forum - http://www.avsforum....ead.php?t=1214096 Cheers, Scott.
Post #322,504 by Another Scott 3/7/10 12:27:45 PM Reply	Decisions, decisions. The more I read about these things, the more it seems like the technology still is undergoing teething issues... Lots of griping about "rising black levels"... http://www.avsforum....3045#post18243045 (The V10 series is a 2009 set. This year, they have the V20 and V25.) I don't yet care about 3D, so the V20 and V25 are probably overkill. But still, having the set go gray after a few months is disconcerting even if the picture is still very good. FWIW. Cheers, Scott.

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