Hi all,

I'm a new member and proud owner of a brand new PZ85U. This is actually a special time for me, since my late father always wanted a plasma, and a few weeks prior to his passing (6 mos. ago) we had decided to surprise him with one. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to live to see it. :( (Sorry about the EMO moment!)

Anyhow, I have done a lot of reading on these boards with tons of helpful information from many members. The TV is located in my basement, here in VA. Temps down here are a decent 10 degress lower than otehr parts of the home. I'm probably hovering in the 60's (in the wintertime) right now. I don't think that should have an effect, right?

The TV is NOT hooked up yet. I'm waiting on my Monster Surge protector and Monster 800HD HDMI cables to hopefully connect my PS3 and HD DVR cable box later tonight.

Now, I've read a lot on break-in procedures, but I'm really tossed up on what approach I should take with the break-in. How many are using Evangelo's DVD? I would like some more info on this, if possible. I know this may be a double post, but I'd like to hear everyone's own experience on their break-in techniques. I can't wait to turn her on and fire her up! Any insight or links to threads would be helpful. THanks!

Here is the Master Break In thread where all break in posts should go

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=949107

Next time you need cables, www.monoprice.com is your friend.

Hi all,

I'm a new member and proud owner of a brand new PZ85U. This is actually a special time for me, since my late father always wanted a plasma, and a few weeks prior to his passing (6 mos. ago) we had decided to surprise him with one. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to live to see it. :( (Sorry about the EMO moment!)

Anyhow, I have done a lot of reading on these boards with tons of helpful information from many members. The TV is located in my basement, here in VA. Temps down here are a decent 10 degress lower than otehr parts of the home. I'm probably hovering in the 60's (in the wintertime) right now. I don't think that should have an effect, right?

The TV is NOT hooked up yet. I'm waiting on my Monster Surge protector and Monster 800HD HDMI cables to hopefully connect my PS3 and HD DVR cable box later tonight.

Now, I've read a lot on break-in procedures, but I'm really tossed up on what approach I should take with the break-in. How many are using Evangelo's DVD? I would like some more info on this, if possible. I know this may be a double post, but I'd like to hear everyone's own experience on their break-in techniques. I can't wait to turn her on and fire her up! Any insight or links to threads would be helpful. THanks!

Ouch. $5 monoprice hdmi cable ftw. Circuit City shows the price of those cables as $99 EACH. I don't know how they can get away with that price it's a joke. My friend used to work at Best Buy and he said they make a killing on selling overpriced cables. I hope you didn't pay that much and if you did you need to not open them and return them asap. This is all you need..

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024008&p_id=3992&seq=1&format=2

You do know that HDMI is DIGITAL and that it only sends ONE'S and ZERO's, or Voltage or No Voltage. That a Expensive MONSTER cable is a complete waste of money and these new Fancy sounding names MONSTER gives there cables is complete B.S.
I get my cables from MONOPRICE.COM where a good 6 foot HDMI cable can be gotten for under $5. Where ALL cables sold have Lifetime Warranty.

Your not going to tell the difference at all with a $1000 HDMI cable and a $5 HDMI cable. It's Marketing B.S. to get suckers to buy their cables. I mean, hell if you want to throw your money away, so me, hey send some my way while your at it. If you want to show off your Expensive cables to your Friends, and go look how pretty my cables are! Hey, you can do that also, but a better picture? NOPE. It's Digital, and unless your running a really, really long HDMI cable, maybe for a Front projector setup or something, then a better made cable MIGHT help, but a HDMI Booster type device would be better anyway. With a Analog cable, maybe a better cable will help slightly, but the general Weakness of the cables were always the end RCA connectors being the weakest link. There have been tests done using Coat Hanger Wire and MONSTER cable comparisons, and they couldn't tell the difference. MONSTER and BOSE are 2 of the biggest SCAMS going on. Where Marketing and Advertising is a huge Expense for them to get suckers to buy that over price stuff.

By the way, I have the same TH-50PZ85U HDTV I got a few months back, hooked up to my Xbox 360 and other hardware using MONOPRICE.COM cables. Hell a cheap HDMI cable from Wal-Mart would work just as good, but they are still like $30 or so there when $5 ones work just as well. HDMI is Digital, the Error Rate tolerance on the specs for HDMI is so HIGH, that it could be far, far lowered and you still wouldn't be able to see any difference. I was reading one test comparison and the one MONSTER HDMI cable they were testing was so thick and heavy that it wouldn't stay plugged into the HDTV's port correctly and gave a really poor picture because of it.

Thanks for the feedback guys, but I did end up having a contact at a major retailer that got me those cables for $15 a piece and the power surge for $20, so I cant really complain :) Theres no way I wouldve paid for it in full price. I wouldve saved that money for a callibration

Thanks for the feedback guys, but I did end up having a contact at a major retailer that got me those cables for $15 a piece and the power surge for $20, so I cant really complain :) Theres no way I wouldve paid for it in full price. I wouldve saved that money for a callibration

Glad to hear that. :)

I just ordered my 85U, can't wait till next Friday when it gets here, woohoo

The temp in your basement is fine....unless you have to wear arctic expedition gear inside your home then temp is not a factor.;) Also, as an added bonus that big plasma will help raise the temps down there.

Also, as an added bonus that big plasma will help raise the temps down there.

True to that! I can't wait to get a little bit more heat! As far as the cold, it's bareable up in VA. We're not New England, so there's not much to worry about! I'm patiently waiting for my HD DVR cable coming in with FIOS in a few weeks, so that should be exciting stuff!