Panny Plasma now under £400

[Alfahorn]

http://www.richersounds.com/product/plasma-tv/pana...

This is very tempting indeed.

[Plotloss]

Grey import, not an official UK model.

[TonyHetherington]

How can you tell, Matt?

[shirt]

with a 5yr guarantee for an extra £40, does it matter if its an import - any potential issues?

[Plotloss]

TonyHetherington said:

How can you tell, Matt?

UK Models are X,S,G and V

C and U are for emerging markets.

C seems to have come from Greece/Turkey and U is from Eastern Europe.

[TonyHetherington]

Ah I see, so it's knowledge!

The tele I'll be getting - the Panasonic 42G10 should be 42G10B (showing it's the UK one) which on that site is only 42G10, so I assume that's similarly imported.

[Strangely Brown]

site blurb said:

The Panasonic TX-P37c10 is an economy version of their TX-P37x10 model. With a more basic casing and fewer sockets.

Is it grey? or do the "other" markets get less.

[Plotloss]

42G10 is a UK set, its just that sometimes some shops leave off the B.

Another one to be careful of is brand specific sets, you might see a G11 at Comet/Dixons.

They're identical to the 10s but they've got a different model number so people cant price compare.

[Alfahorn]

Plotloss said:

Grey import, not an official UK model.

Irrespective of this, is it a good buy? or is the X10 worth the extra £80?

[TonyHetherington]

Oh bottoms, just when I thought I'd had the numbering methodology sorted in my head

[Plotloss]

The X10 is the entry set, this is a 'budget' version of a set thats the entry point in the UK market.

Its got less connections which may or may not matter to you and a lower quality case - this is what will make it or break it IMO.

[Alfahorn]

Plotloss said:

The X10 is the entry set, this is a 'budget' version of a set thats the entry point in the UK market.

Its got less connections which may or may not matter to you and a lower quality case - this is what will make it or break it IMO.

Is that all the difference is? Why such a difference in price?

[Plotloss]

£80, probably half of which will come from buying a container load of them in a market along with some rugs.

The £40 difference is then made up from lower quality case materials and less input boards.

[derestrictor]

Given the price drop looming on the X10...

[Alfahorn]

derestrictor said:

Given the price drop looming on the X10...

So it may be worthing waiting if he X10 is going to drop in price and get that then?

I've been toying with buying a Panny plasma for an age.

[derestrictor]

Indubitably.

[Strangely Brown]

Question: These sets are not "Full HD" but only "HD Ready" i.e. they are only 1024x768 rather than 1920x1080 so will not provide a 1:1 pixel mapping from an HD source such as Blu-Ray on PS3.

Does this really matter at 37" or is it a case of try and see if you like it?

[derestrictor]

No but in fact, the best 37" sets are now - believe it or not - LCD and just so happen to be 'Full HD.'

[Strangely Brown]

derestrictor said:

No but in fact, the best 37" sets are now - believe it or not - LCD and just so happen to be 'Full HD.'

Really? Has LCD improved that much recently then? The last time I looked they still suffered from that horrible motion blur in action scenes or sideways scrolling. I had pretty much decided that LCD was out of the running but if it has changed I might have to reconsider.

[derestrictor]

I was in a local multiplex recently with the sprogisma last week.

I forget the exact spec of the rig but it was all borderline Lucasfilmish.

As the camera panned, the image blurred.

There are factors beyond those normally stated which variously ameliorate or not the effect described.

It pays to judge products on a wide variety of source material, post-optimisation, at a sensible viewing distance and then conclude.

JVC's DR1/DV1 or Panasonic's G/V series 37s pretty much leave all alternative 37s for dead.

Trust me, if you want to live.