[slevan]

Hey all,


I live in Los Angeles and I'm looking into getting a 42" or 50" plasma for my apartment - problem is, I can't drill large holes into the wall to mount it to the studs (under the lease agreement) and I'm worried about it taking a dive during an earthquake. I've been looking at stands online and have found some good ones but there's always that "that looks like it'll tip over in an decent tremor" thought it the back of my head. Considering that were probably due for another good shaker sooner or later, do you guys have any suggestions for a secure setup without wall mounting? Or should I just duct-tape the plasma and stand to the wall and surround it with pillows?


Thanks!

 

[rogo]

The stands on the consumer Panasonic plasmas (probably among others) have the kind of stability to avoid tipping in anything but a major temblor.


If you add a couple of lightly tensioned guy wires to the top two corners you'll pretty much eliminate any chance of a forward tip. Place it relatively near the wall and you'll stop most backward tips.


In a 7.0+, all bets are off. But then, even a wall mount won't help if the wall isn't there anymore.

 

[semigolfer]

You know if you've got some extra money (or time to build it yourself) after your purchase maybe you should consider one of those retractable stands. When not in use it's somewhat protected by the box it retracts into. If you build it yourself you could determine the durability of the case. The bad news I think they are pretty pricy.


Then maybe add a shaker switch (of some sort) that will auto retract in case of shaking. The other nice thing about retractable unit is they are about as tall as a plasma 21" to 30" so when it rises out of the box it's closer to an eye level mount - rather than those units that are fireplace mounted where the best view is one where you are standing up.

Here's an example of one. Do a google using retractable plasma - you'll probably find others.

 

[bart745]

The 15" LCD for my HTPC resides on a shelf that is only 5" deep. I, too, fear the unit falling - my 8-year old can do a lot of damage (sometimes, the house looks like an earthquake has hit it ). I drilled a couple of holes thru the display base and the shelf and bolted the display base to the shelf. Used a black permanent marker to paint the bolt heads and washers so they disappear. Maybe you could use four 1/4-20s with 1"-dia fender washers and bolt it to whatever furniture you are using.

 

[jcpzero]

I bought furniture straps and TV straps from Orchard supply hardware - I have seen similar at other hardware stores. One set of furniture straps hold the TV cart to the wall and another set for the tower with the stereo equipment to the wall. I then have TV straps from the TV onto the tv cart. These straps work great for both to keep my children from pulling over the TV as well as I live in earthquake territory. My TV is currently a 32" CRT and I will be getting new straps for the future plasma. Works great and no concerns. Even if I were in a appartment, the holes for these straps are reasonable.



JCPZero

 

[GEH]

Why don't you ask your landlord if you can give him an extra deposit to cover the repairs to the wall? Maybe even offer to pay his maintenance guys to install the mount? The market is soft enough around here that Landlords are negotiable - especially for good tenants that have enough money to afford plasmas.


I just negotiated a $2000 deposit with my landlord to get around his no pet policy.


GEH