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Best and worse of the cheap Plasma TV's  

post #1 of 16
7/4/06 at 1:14am
Thread Starter 
Looking for a cheap plasma for the kids area.

Must be 42inch minimum.

Of the Chinese and Korean sets what has the best picture quality and reliability?

I need model numbers etc.

Also the ones to avoid?

Thanks

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post #2 of 16
7/4/06 at 1:57am
Through Tuesday, one of the big electronic chains has got one on sale for less than $1300.00.

It's a Japanese brand. (Although who knows if it's actually made there?)
post #3 of 16
7/4/06 at 2:07am
You're probably going to get a bunch of answers from people naming their favorites.

You can get decent models under $1700.00 here in the states.

Don't know what's available to you down under, though. Or are you planning on getting it from an online dealer? When you say cheap, do you mean cheap "name" brands or cheap "off" brands?
post #4 of 16
7/4/06 at 8:26am
One of the problems with answering a question like this is that at the low-end there can be quite a bit of unit-to-unit variation. IMHO, that's one of the reasons one person will say their display had a huge green push, while someone else says their's is OK. Same goes with the reliability - if you got a bad one, you would say they suck - but if your's is working fine, you will say there's no problem.
post #5 of 16
7/4/06 at 8:39am
For the kids area, my vote would be the ED Panny 42 pwd8uk. Can be had for a steal from the forum sponsers.
post #6 of 16
7/4/06 at 8:39am
How about EDTV commercial panels with no tuners or speakers :confused:
post #7 of 16
7/4/06 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmm, I spose the main issues I have had with some of the ones I have seen so far is very bad scaling artifacts from the panel scaler.

Some are just so bad I cant beleive anyone would buy one. The weird part from my veiwings so far is that I have seen so great EDplasma sets, and some shocking HD panels.

Its got to the point that I have taken to taking my momitsu player with me and using that so I have some basis of comparision between sets. The display setups in some shops are terrible.

Is there a point pixel matching any of these sets to the panel resolution?

Some are so bad I cant beleive people actually buy the sets!!

I saw an ED panasonic yesterday that was pretty good. It was AUD $2400 (about usd$1800).

I would think most cheapie brands are here in Australia some form or another.

I have a suspicision that some name brands are in fact made in the cheapie factories in any case.

any ideas??
post #8 of 16
7/4/06 at 9:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham Johnson
Hmmm, I spose the main issues I have had with some of the ones I have seen so far is very bad scaling artifacts from the panel scaler.

Some are just so bad I cant beleive anyone would buy one. The weird part from my veiwings so far is that I have seen so great EDplasma sets, and some shocking HD panels.

Its got to the point that I have taken to taking my momitsu player with me and using that so I have some basis of comparision between sets. The display setups in some shops are terrible.

Is there a point pixel matching any of these sets to the panel resolution?

Some are so bad I cant beleive people actually buy the sets!!

I saw an ED panasonic yesterday that was pretty good. It was AUD $2400 (about usd$1800).

I would think most cheapie brands are here in Australia some form or another.

I have a suspicision that some name brands are in fact made in the cheapie factories in any case.

any ideas??
you should look at the vizo p50. its in that price range
post #9 of 16
7/4/06 at 9:56pm
You could look at the 42 inch offerings from Hisense and Harsper at Tigerdirect.com. Both are well reviewed and are inexpensive.
post #10 of 16
7/5/06 at 6:02am
Of those I have seen in the store, Vizio and Maxent seemed decent, and often better than some brand names (Samsung; Sharp). IMO if your viewing distance is 8-10 feet or more just get a Panasonic 42" ED for almost the same price and be happy. Otherwise, buy from Costco or Sams Club where they have great return policies.
post #11 of 16
7/5/06 at 8:17am
I had a panny ed,which was great which I gave to my parents,"upgraded" to the 50 inch vizio which is also great.The viz shows hd material at higher resolution hence it looks a little better and much bigger when displaying hd.It also does a fair job with sd.The panny ed is a great tv though,that is a tad better with sd a liitle softer with hd material and great with dvd's.Both are great imo,however 50 inch plasma hdtv for under 2k is where I would venture towards.
post #12 of 16
7/6/06 at 6:12am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the help guys.

After dragging the momitsu playing a 1080i test disk around and connectiong it to about 20 different Plasmas I made the choice of the Hitachi ED panel 42PD380TA-P2.

HDMI, 2x component, RGB input.

It was pretty clear cut IMHO. The picture was staggeringly good for an ED panel. It actually looked a lot better than quite a few HD panels.

Having watched it for one night. I am truly gobsmacked that it looks as good as it does.

Price? AUD $2000 which is about USD$1500 not a bad deal for over here.

Only issue is that I can see into the rear mesh panel and the damn panel is made by LG :(

I hope the rest of the machine isnt !!
post #13 of 16
7/6/06 at 6:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham Johnson
It was pretty clear cut IMHO. The picture was staggeringly good for an ED panel. It actually looked a lot better than quite a few HD panels.

Only issue is that I can see into the rear mesh panel and the damn panel is made by LG
I'm a little confused here. If the PQ is as good as you say, why should you care which manufacturer made the panel?
post #14 of 16
7/6/06 at 4:47pm
Thread Starter 
I have had a number of LG products in the past. Almost without exception. They have F$*ked up slightly out of warrantee.

Washing machine 3 year warrantee. failed at 3 years and one month and they turned their back on it. CRT Tv 12 months warrantee. failed at 13 months. They didnt help.

Father had an LG plasma, failed at 16 months 4 months put of warrantee. Panel was screwed. ended up in the dumper. $3500 down the drain. IMHO LG sucks ass.

I swore I wouldnt buy another LG product. :(
post #15 of 16
7/6/06 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham Johnson
I have had a number of LG products in the past. Almost without exception. They have F$*ked up slightly out of warrantee.

Washing machine 3 year warrantee. failed at 3 years and one month and they turned their back on it. CRT Tv 12 months warrantee. failed at 13 months. They didnt help.

Father had an LG plasma, failed at 16 months 4 months put of warrantee. Panel was screwed. ended up in the dumper. $3500 down the drain. IMHO LG sucks ass.

I swore I wouldnt buy another LG product. :(
Or maybe you should just get the extended warranty.
post #16 of 16
7/6/06 at 8:01pm
The best reviews that I have seen in electronics or consumer magazines on inexpensive HD plasmas have been on the Vizio and Maxent models.
And they are available at various retailers that generally have the lowest prices and the best return policies.
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