Where have the lower end Panny plasma ranges gone?
Discussion
When I bought our Panny P42G10 about 4 years ago I paid around £500 IIRC, and there was a lower model (S10?) that was cheaper but still full HD. I've not really followed plasma developments since but my mum is now in the market for a £4-500 40-42" TV and my immediate thought was the equivalent model to ours given how happy we've been with it.
Looking at what's now available in the range though, there's one HD Ready cheapy model but the full HD sets seem to start at £7-800? Have Panasonic just bumped their prices up hugely or have they shoved plasma only to the higher end models and filled the lower end with LED panels?
The reason i think she should get plasma is because my mum doesn't get a good Freeview HD signal so watches most things in SD, and although its obviously softer, I've yet to see a similar sized LCD/LED screen make regular SD look as good as the Panasonic plasmas do.
Looking at what's now available in the range though, there's one HD Ready cheapy model but the full HD sets seem to start at £7-800? Have Panasonic just bumped their prices up hugely or have they shoved plasma only to the higher end models and filled the lower end with LED panels?
The reason i think she should get plasma is because my mum doesn't get a good Freeview HD signal so watches most things in SD, and although its obviously softer, I've yet to see a similar sized LCD/LED screen make regular SD look as good as the Panasonic plasmas do.
Edited by LocoBlade on Wednesday 25th September 21:51
LocoBlade said:
When I bought our Panny P42G10 about 4 years ago I paid around £500 IIRC, and there was a lower model (S10?) that was cheaper but still full HD. I've not really followed plasma developments since but my mum is now in the market for a £4-500 40-42" TV and my immediate thought was the equivalent model to ours given how happy we've been with it.
Looking at what's now available in the range though, there's one HD Ready cheapy model but the full HD sets seem to start at £7-800? Have Panasonic just bumped their prices up hugely or have they shoved plasma only to the higher end models and filled the lower end with LED panels?
The reason i think she should get plasma is because my mum doesn't get a good Freeview HD signal so watches most things in SD, and although its obviously softer, I've yet to see a similar sized LCD/LED screen make regular SD look as good as the Panasonic plasmas do.
The 42G10 retailed at about £900 iirc so you got a major bargain at the time, I suppose the closest now Looking at what's now available in the range though, there's one HD Ready cheapy model but the full HD sets seem to start at £7-800? Have Panasonic just bumped their prices up hugely or have they shoved plasma only to the higher end models and filled the lower end with LED panels?
The reason i think she should get plasma is because my mum doesn't get a good Freeview HD signal so watches most things in SD, and although its obviously softer, I've yet to see a similar sized LCD/LED screen make regular SD look as good as the Panasonic plasmas do.
Edited by LocoBlade on Wednesday 25th September 21:51
would be the 42ST60 which is available for less than £700 including a 5 yr warranty if bought from your
local Panny dealer....
The E6B is OK, but I still think a plasma might be a better option. I have the 39" E6B in my conservatory and it's great out there since it handles the bright environment well. However some owners have reported issue with not being able to view off axis and some have reported un-even backlighting too. Neither seem to effect mine, but then I view square on and set the backlight low for evening viewing, but just something to be aware of.
I do notice that the older Sony 40W2000 I have in my living room looks less sharp than the E6B though and the black levels are much poorer, so it does have it's advantages. However I'll probably replace the 40W2000 with a 50" Panny plasma at some point rather than another E6B. I'd have done it sooner, but my main display is a projector screen so not quite so important to replace the TV in my main room.
I do notice that the older Sony 40W2000 I have in my living room looks less sharp than the E6B though and the black levels are much poorer, so it does have it's advantages. However I'll probably replace the 40W2000 with a 50" Panny plasma at some point rather than another E6B. I'd have done it sooner, but my main display is a projector screen so not quite so important to replace the TV in my main room.
^^^
Absolutely that - people get massively hung up on 'needing Full HD' even at what are now relatively average screen sizes - even with a Full HD signal, you'd need to sit pretty close to a 42 incher to gain any real world benefit...
As for £500, I desperately wanted a 42G10 3.5 years ago (more for the contrast the panel was capable of than the Full HD), and the cheapest they were going for then was around £650 (I remember this well, as the missus of the time set a budget of 500 quid - and she wholesaled TV's for a living and couldn't get anywhere near our 'target' price even at retail!
)
Absolutely that - people get massively hung up on 'needing Full HD' even at what are now relatively average screen sizes - even with a Full HD signal, you'd need to sit pretty close to a 42 incher to gain any real world benefit...
As for £500, I desperately wanted a 42G10 3.5 years ago (more for the contrast the panel was capable of than the Full HD), and the cheapest they were going for then was around £650 (I remember this well, as the missus of the time set a budget of 500 quid - and she wholesaled TV's for a living and couldn't get anywhere near our 'target' price even at retail!
)Cheers chaps, I'd have to look up how much I paid but I know I got it on a price match from John Lewis and it certainly wasn't up near £900, but perhaps I've just blanked it out or I'm remembering the price I told the wife
Fair comment about not needing full HD, its certainly not something she'd miss day to day, I just assumed with such a low res panel that it probably was old tech and not that great a picture.
Fair comment about not needing full HD, its certainly not something she'd miss day to day, I just assumed with such a low res panel that it probably was old tech and not that great a picture.
LocoBlade said:
I just assumed with such a low res panel that it probably was old tech and not that great a picture.
I own the same panel (as you suggest, I don't think they've bothered developing the HD Ready series) in a 42X10 (which is what we ended up plumping for in 2010 due to the 'financial controller' not agreeing to the G)... In terms of overall quality I'd say it knocks the spots off the 2012 42" Samsung Full HD LED that I sorted for around the same price last year (the Sammy has a perfectly adequate picture, but doesn't feel 'special' - it was bought mainly for ability to any media file thrown at it in a holiday home)!Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff