[johnnyt]

Hi,


The local CC has a special on the Panny this week, and I was attempting a price match at my (nearer to home) BB. The do not have the Panny on the floor, but list it (at full price) on their website. The manager was willing to do a price match, but then tried to do some internal ordering of the set and informed me that BB was no longer offering the set, as Panasonic is discontinuing this model and that any sales must be other vendors cleaning out their inventory.


Can anyone confirm or deny Panny's plans for the 50LC13? It IS one of the oldest models out there.



Thanks!

 

[arkid]

That's exactly what Sears just told me after they couldn't replace my broken one. They're giving me a Hitachi instead.

 

[johnnyt]

Is Panny giving up on LCD line, or will there be a replacement model? This TV will give me what I want for the price, I believe, but now I am concerned with support for the model...


Anyone?

 

[Brodequin]

Well, Panasonic is coming out with the pt50lcx13 (or something like that), so maybe the current pt50lc13 is being discontinued for this new model.

 

[arkid]

Quote:

Originally posted by johnnyt Is Panny giving up on LCD line, or will there be a replacement model? This TV will give me what I want for the price, I believe, but now I am concerned with support for the model... Anyone?

There is barely any support for it now. I waited nearly six weeks to get a part for mine and after that it still didn't work. I complained to Panasonic about how ridiculous it was to make tv's but not to provide parts to service them. I was told that as long as the time frame for fixing is within a matter of MONTHS then that is reasonable to them.

 

[audiolab]

At CES, Panasonic showed the PT-50LC14, the replacement for the PT50LC13. It's basically the same set (looks identical), but with a slot for a cable card to comply with the new cable-TV/display interface standard. The card, roughly the size of a PCMCIA card and provided by your cable company, will insert into the slot on the new TVs. This will eliminate the need for a set-top digital box. The Panasonic guy said all cable companies must comply with the new interface standard by June 2004. Don't know if that's true. The new sets should be shipping in "April or May."

I've searched high and low for new stock of PT-50LC13s and everyone, including a large distributor we use, is always "within a couple of weeks," with no product available. Whatever limited production Panasonic can squeeze out is taken by Circuit City or Best Buy, and they sell at retail or above. The Panasonic guy said that the screens are in short supply from their supplier, which limits their production.

 

[doggiedog]

I own an 50LC13 and this is kind of disturbing.


Does this mean it will be difficult to get replacement parts for the TV?


Will they have a bulb available for the TV in a couple years or should I stock up now?

 

[stimperley]

I'm sure everything is fine. They aren't mass producing the displays and in a few months it'll be time for a new/updated model to come out anyways. I have a 4 year old Panny DVD player that I had to get a replacement remote for so they are still supporting that, so I would think that they would still be supporting the TV down the road. It's like Automobiles or most other products, a new "improved" model is set to come out at some time. Don't worry guys and just enjoy your TV if you have one. Just my .02. Hope I didn't offend anyone.

 

[htwaits]

Quote:

Originally posted by doggiedog I own an 50LC13 and this is kind of disturbing. Does this mean it will be difficult to get replacement parts for the TV? Will they have a bulb available for the TV in a couple years or should I stock up now?

The key word in the title of this thread is "rumor". You may be over reacting to a rumor. check the message just before yours. If that "rumor" is true then most parts will fit both sets.

 

[Airblair]

Panny is coming out with the PT50LCX63--it's actually in stores now. Unlike the PT50LC13, it has an ATSC tuner and an HDMI/HDCP interface.


Also, at CES, Panny introduced their DLP models:


PT-50DL54 - $3499.95 (NTSC tuner)


PT-60DL54 - $4499.95 (NTSC Tuner)


PT-50DLD64 - $3999.95 (ATSC/QAM tuner/Cable Card ready)


PT-60DLD64 - $4999.95 (ATSC/QAM tuner/Cable Card ready)


The NTSC tuner models are to be released around June, the others a few months later. More info on this page: http://www.digiupdate.com/105_DLP_RPTV.html (scroll down for the Panny section).



So, given the number of new 50" Panny models, it does look like the PT50LC13 is on its way out.

 

[bertolfyn]

HI,

This is my first post to the forums. They've been a great help in making my TV purchase decisions over the past couple months. So I'd like to start off by thanking all of you who contribute and make this a vast and useful resource.


The situation to date.


I got a decent deal on this set (PT-50LC13) back in late December/early January going through Sears and doing some price matching etc. I originally was suppose to receive this set on the 3rd of February (as likely everyone knows Christmas sales and in some cases technical problems *sony* took a lot of rp lcd TV's off the market for a few months), however I called the number that was in the purchase information and was able to reschedule while talking with a live person to the 31st of January. So I plan on calling tonight after 6PM per their documentations instructions to confirm delivery time. I will post what comes of this call later tonight. I'll post another call tomorrow if all goes well tonight and let everyone know whether or not I received the TV.


Fingers crossed.

 

[bertolfyn]

OK...so I called the sears delivery confirmation number. The computer voice said they will be delivering between 4 and 6PM tomorrow. I hope that's the case.


I'll let you all know my experiences.

 

[bertolfyn]

Looks like Sears is atleast still delivering them. I haven't had too much time yet to really test all the settings as I would like, but once I do I'll add my thoughts.


I'm mainly going through a computer (ATI 7500 AIW card and Snapstream for DVR) to get video to the TV. The picture quality going this route was pretty poor. So I'm outputting to both the TV directly and the computer, and use the input directly to the TV for TV viewing (sviceo off a DirectTV signal.) The direct to TV signal is substantially better.


The computer output other than the TV sign in to it does look good on the TV, though I do have some over scan. I've seen posts regarding this issue on another thread...so I'll head over there and try their suggestions. I'll be comparing DVDsthrough the computer vs. a set top box soon.

 

[johnnyt]

Well after weighing all the factors, I made the plunge on the Panny. Simply put, I couldn't find anything else that offered what I wanted (50" or more, good HD viewing, computer and XBOX input, no burn-in) for less than 3 grand.


I got the EW to offset the model's potential demise (or even that of LCD projection in general). Even then, it was cheaper than comparable DLPs with no EW.


I am interested in getting the computer input set up correctly (minimizing/eliminating overscan abd optimizing quality). Please let me know what settings helped you in this regard.

 

[razorweb]

If the 63 has hdmi, what happens to DVI? I am guessing you cant connect your DVI out to an HDMI input. Do you have to then go and get a video card with HDMI? that seems a little tough.

 

[rogo]

"? I am guessing you cant connect your DVI out to an HDMI input. "


So long as the HDMI supports computer resolutions you need a DVI --> HDMI cable, made by Panasonic of all people (and others, too, but the first readily available one was Panasonic's).


If the HDMI doesn't support computer resolutions, they just as easily could have left computer resolutions off of the DVI anyway.

 

[badkclark]

The HDMI port on the PT50LC14 is backwards compatible with DVI, according to the documentation by Panasonic.

 

[Dallas_Jose]

wow..... resurected

 

[hey ray]

lol.. thanks jose, I hadn't even looked at the dates until I read your msg. Did seem rather strange