[FJV17]

I'm about to pull the trigger on a 42 (or 43)" plasma display and settled on either the Pio or the Panny thanks to this forum. I've read previous posts but I'm still a bit confused as to which to get.


I'll be using it for DVDs & DirecTV and plan on upgrading to HDTV soon after. I'm also planning on getting a good 5.1 sound system (looking at B&W) with a (undecided) receiver to go along with it. There will be some very limited use as a PC monitor as well.


I've seen both the Panny & Pioneer and they both seem fine to me PQ wise. Other than price, which model would you recomend for my intended use?


-Would I need the expansion card if I went with the Pioneer PDP433CMX model right away or would I need this until I upgrade to HDTV? Would the non-upgradeable Panny TH-42PWD5UY be any better or worse for HDTV?


-Or should I just go with the PDP4330HD or the TH-42PHD5UY for my future HD use?


-Oh and one more thing, how would the monitor be connected? Would it have to go to the DirecTV receiver or would it need to be routed through the audio receiver? not too sure how that works.


As you can see I'm new to the game, so any help would be greatly appreciated....

 

[dwx]

I just bought a Pioneer 433-CMX, it looks quite good with the Satellite receiver I'm using (a Dishplayer 7200). You'll definitely need the expansion card if you get this unit, it's the only way to get an S-video input, and unless you get the new zenith HD Satellite receiver, you're not going to have a unit with component output to plug into your panel.


Personally, I'm willing to stick with SD from my satellite receiver until they come up with a HD version that has a built in PVR. It looks pretty good for most things now, and timeshifting is more important to me than image quality.


You can't take price out of the equation. But if you did, and you didn't have space constraints, I'd recommend considering a 50" display ... But I'm partial to square pixels (for HTPC use) so I guess I'm biased in that regard (all the 16x9 displays in the 40" range are either 1024x768 or 1024x1024, which should be 4x3 or 1x1 aspect ratios if the pixels were square...)


There's been tons of discussion about these displays already, I'd recommend you search the forum for existing threads.


-Dave

 

[FJV17]

I've been lurking for a while and I guess just wanted to see if I could get a bit more info for the setup I'm looking at. I read so many post on these monitors that I managed to confuse myself I even went back last night to read the FAQ again....


Anyway, I think I understand what I need to do now....thanks a lot...