Hey guys.

Ive been shopping for a new HDTV for over a month and read hundreds of posts on this site as well as multiple reviews. I first thought id go with LCD but quickly realised i prefered the PQ on plasmas.

This set is for a small room and i will be sitting at about 6-7 feet from the screen. i believe 42 inches is enough for me, and the px77 seems to be a good choice. here are my questions.

What other 42" set would you consider? This is only for 360 gaming in 720p and mostly 480p DVD's for now, with some VHS viewing as i own a huge collection of very bad 80's movie i like to watch with friends on our "bad movie nights". I might eventually buy a BR or HDDVD player but not until the standard is established.

Also, do i need a special powerbar for this? I don't trust the salesmen which always try to push monster equipment on people. For this set i was told a 1850 joules monster bar would be enough, which is around 140$ can. Some forum posters mentioned that a normal power bar is enough.

Thanks

Hey guys.

Ive been shopping for a new HDTV for over a month and read hundreds of posts on this site as well as multiple reviews. I first thought id go with LCD but quickly realised i prefered the PQ on plasmas.

This set is for a small room and i will be sitting at about 6-7 feet from the screen. i believe 42 inches is enough for me, and the px77 seems to be a good choice. here are my questions.

What other 42" set would you consider? This is only for 360 gaming in 720p and mostly 480p DVD's for now, with some VHS viewing as i own a huge collection of very bad 80's movie i like to watch with friends on our "bad movie nights". I might eventually buy a BR or HDDVD player but not until the standard is established.

Also, do i need a special powerbar for this? I don't trust the salesmen which always try to push monster equipment on people. For this set i was told a 1850 joules monster bar would be enough, which is around 140$ can. Some forum posters mentioned that a normal power bar is enough.

Thanks

At that distance, 42" is perfectly fine. Baer in mind though that if your situation changes anytime soon and you end up like 12 feet away that the 42" will now be too small. TVs shrink once you get them home! Just something to consider.

Any of the top brands are decent. Pioneer, Samsung, & NEC come to mind. There are others as well. The Pannys have good reputations as you have already discovered so those are good choices as well. I like my 42" Panny a lot.

Dont bother with overpriced Monster power conditioning sillyness. A decent sure protector is sufficient and highly recommended.

Hope that helps.... ;)

The 4277 in a small room would be plenty big at 6-7 feet. Bigger would overpower the room and wouldn't look as good for VHS tapes. The 77 sounds better than the 75 if you're not using a surround system. Other 42" you may look at are Pioneer 4270/1 (on sale now) or the Samsung 4254 and 4264. Sounds like you're watching a lot of SD content. The Pioneer has a very good reputation for SD. I've seen the Pannys on SD and they look very good as well. Just use the highest quality connections to feed the TV (HDMI>component>S-video>composite). I wouldn't go for the overpriced Monster brand the sales man is pushing. Make sure it is quality, rated high enough joules, and has good warranty.

Thanks for the replies guys, very appreciated.

So the px77 it is. I have two more questions.

For surge protection, how many joules is enough for a plasma of that size? I saw a Dynex 2950 Joules for around 34$ can, while the Monster surge protector was about 140$ for 1850 joules... i don't get it...

Also, since i have plenty of SD dvd's to watch and because BR and HDDVD aren't picking up in Canada right now (hard to find rentals) im not sure what i should do to get the best possible upconverting. Either let the 77 do it, let the 360 do it or buy a upconverting dvd player?


Thanks again!

Bump1

Anyone? I can figure out the upconverting part by myself, id really like some input on the necessary power bar needed for this set before i get screwed by BB's sales drone. You guys think the model i mentioned above would be sufficient?

Thanks!

This set is for a small room and i will be sitting at about 6-7 feet from the screen. i believe 42 inches is enough for me, and the px77 seems to be a good choice. here are my questions.

What other 42" set would you consider? This is only for 360 gaming in 720p and mostly 480p DVD's for now, with some VHS viewing as i own a huge collection of very bad 80's movie i like to watch with friends on our "bad movie nights". I might eventually buy a BR or HDDVD player but not until the standard is established.

Also, do i need a special powerbar for this? I don't trust the salesmen which always try to push monster equipment on people. For this set i was told a 1850 joules monster bar would be enough, which is around 140$ can. Some forum posters mentioned that a normal power bar is enough.Do you really need the Anti-Glare properties of the PX77U? Because it's about the only thing that makes it better than the TH-42PX75U or the Costco TH-42PE77U (which they have at an incredibly low price today compared to yesterday). Both these models are less expensive than the PX77U and i think the PX77U picture quality is not quite as good as these other two since they don't have the Anti-Glare screen. The PX77U doesn't seem quite as bright and seems to have slightly less depth and i blame it on the very effective Anti-Glare screen. So if sunlight or ambient light or reflections aren't a problem in your room, you might want to consider something other than the PX77U.

Another great 42 incher is the Pioneer PDP-4270 (or the 4271 BB version) and this one does SD a little better than the Pansonics, and has better stretch modes, but when you're watching 4:3 OAR the only options for the sidebars is either gray or a black/white duplicate of whatever show you're watching and it's very distracting - so much so that i've crossed the Pioneer off my short list since i watch a lot of Speedchannel racing and i refuse to stretch my auto racing, period.

As for surge suppressors, is your home's voltage so unstable that you need one? BB and CC salesman like to scare people into buying this stuff, but i've been watching TV daily for 45 years and have never had one damaged by voltage spikes or any other electrical anomaly.

One last thing i'll mention - you might want to check to see if you can see SDE at 6-7 feet on these 42" Plasmas. I see it on mine at 7 feet but then again i have very acute vision - most people won't see SDE at my viewing distance but it is a problem for me. If it's a problem for you, you might want to consider the new TH-42PZ700U 1080p set due out in late June. I've looked at the 50 inch version and i can get to within like 5 feet and it looks way better than my 42 incher does at 7 feet. Something more to think about . . . .

Thanks for your reply.

I didn't think SDE would be a concern on a 42" set at that viewing distance. Ill look at it tommorow. Damn... i was so close to pulling the trigger...

[QUOTE=RandyWalters]Do you really need the Anti-Glare properties of the PX77U? Because it's about the only thing that makes it better than the TH-42PX75U or the Costco TH-42PE77U (which they have at an incredibly low price today compared to yesterday). Both these models are less expensive than the PX77U and i think the PX77U picture quality is not quite as good as these other two since they don't have the Anti-Glare screen. The PX77U doesn't seem quite as bright and seems to have slightly less depth and i blame it on the very effective Anti-Glare screen. So if sunlight or ambient light or reflections aren't a problem in your room, you might want to consider something other than the PX77U.

So what is on this PE77 ? I see it has the side speakers like the PX77 but it does not have the anti-glare screen ? Kind of confusing . One would think their anti glare would reflect 77 and the non 75 ?

DL

So what is on this PE77 ? I see it has the side speakers like the PX77 but it does not have the anti-glare screen ? Kind of confusing . The Costco 42PE77U has the same exact cabinet as the PX77U, but the front bezel is a dull matte-black (instead of glossy like on the PX77 and PX75), and it has same semi-reflective screen as the PX75U. It does not have the excellent Anti-Glare screen like on the PX77U. The PE77U also comes with a duck-foot stand very similar to the older PX50 and PX60 series (the picture on Costco's site shows the pedestal stand like on the PX75/PX77, but i saw the TV in person and it does have the duck feet).

I actually like the PE77's matte black bezel a lot, and i like the lower/wider cabinet design better than the PX75 and PZ700. Glossy bezels bug the hell out of me - i hate the one on my HP LCD TV as it reflects things in the room during daytime viewing.

One would think their anti glare would reflect 77 and the non 75 ? DLI can't figure out what you mean by this . . . . :D

The 42PE77U is discussed in the big PX75U/PX77U thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=843204&highlight=pe77

Do you really need the Anti-Glare properties of the PX77U? Because it's about the only thing that makes it better than the TH-42PX75U or the Costco TH-42PE77U (which they have at an incredibly low price today compared to yesterday). Both these models are less expensive than the PX77U and i think the PX77U picture quality is not quite as good as these other two since they don't have the Anti-Glare screen. The PX77U doesn't seem quite as bright and seems to have slightly less depth and i blame it on the very effective Anti-Glare screen. So if sunlight or ambient light or reflections aren't a problem in your room, you might want to consider something other than the PX77U.

Hmmm, the 77 is only available at futureshop in Canada and no stores have it on display. Has anyone else noticed less depth or lower PQ quality on these? I could live with the 75, and that would explain why they didn't use that same anti-glare on the new 700/750 line...

[QUOTE=RandyWalters]The Costco 42PE77U has the same exact cabinet as the PX77U, but the front bezel is a dull matte-black (instead of glossy like on the PX77 and PX75), and it has same semi-reflective screen as the PX75U. It does not have the excellent Anti-Glare screen like on the PX77U. The PE77U also comes with a duck-foot stand very similar to the older PX50 and PX60 series (the picture on Costco's site shows the pedestal stand like on the PX75/PX77, but i saw the TV in person and it does have the duck feet).

Thanks Randy! I don't have a membership so this helps.

I actually like the PE77's matte black bezel a lot, and i like the lower/wider cabinet design better than the PX75 and PZ700. Glossy bezels bug the hell out of me - i hate the one on my HP LCD TV as it reflects things in the room during daytime viewing.

My 32" samsung LCD has a glossblk and silver bezel. But i dont have any direct lighting so it does not seem to be an issue.

I can't figure out what you mean by this . . . . :D

The 42PE77U is discussed in the big PX75U/PX77U thread:



What i mean is the Official PZ series the 77 is associated with the anti glare and the 75 series is not. But the costo piece series 77 i guess is related to the case style as you've explained it ,more than the screen type.

Thanks again,
DL