Plasma or LCD at 42" ? Which is better ? Pros and Cons?

[LaFleur]

Phil. said:

No brainer........

Bought one of these 6 months ago - fantastic reviews - now £100 less than I paid at £539.90 - free delivery - Panasonic TX-P42S20B 42"

That is the same as the model we have. Mrs LaFleur was not sold on HD until watching Avatar on this screen! True Cinema setting is such a joy of realisit colour and contrast rather than over contrast/shar images other brands use.

[Nimbus]

and just to finish up my side of the thread...

I went tv shopping yesterday, and looked at all of those shortlisted, and mentioned above.

Including looking at some models literally side by side, lcd vs plasma version of the same model.

Ended up biting the bullet and spending more, and got myself a pana TX-P42G20BA

ie, the 42 inch plasma with HD freesat and freeview.

Plugged it in last night, and was watching HD goodness via freesat within 30 minutes.

Watching 'The Incredibles' on HD last night was enough to convince me I bought the right one

thanks for the advice all

[LaFleur]

Nimbus so glad you made such a good choice. When we bought ours we had seen a large selection and many of the other screens seemed to pop the colour and contrast a lot more to give a more in your face experience. In the end it was a no brainer as the Panasonic, whilst appearing dull compared to the others gave just the most natural feel to image quality. On our model (the free view only) there is no engineer mode to really adjust the colour so I was very pleased when viewing photos that the colour virtually matches as purely as I've seen to my calibrated monitors for my photography work.

Avatar, that is all!

[stueys]

After much pondering and swaying between a Panasonic and a Samsung 40" LCD, I ended up buying a Panasonic P42S21B from Comet today (basically same as the S20B). So far seems to be pretty good.
I thought this was worth mentioning. In the store, they have the S model displayed next to the better G model. They had the same demo display showing, and the G model looked far superior. I thought this was strange, and had a look at the inputs. The G model had a HDMI input connected, and the S model had composite!! I told the sales guy I was interested in the S model, and he pointed me straight at the G model saying how much better it was. I pointed out the connections, and asked him to put the S model on a HD input. Then all of a sudden, it looked just as good. The cynic in me says this is a bit of a shoddy sales tactic aimed at the less clued up customer. So be careful out there, its hard enough to choose as it is!!

Edited by stueys on Tuesday 4th January 14:19

[Lord Flathead]

That's really not on, they are supposed to be showing like for like. Composite we call Composte, because it's 70's TV quality. At least would have expected better from a retailer, that's almost trade descriptions material.

[scenario8]

Agoogy said:

As far as my weeks of online research suggetsed...LCD are more energy efficient and fast approaching the quality of plasma, are extremely tech/spec heavy in terms of colourful stickers on the box....
However if ultimate picture quality is desired over paper based spec, then plasma still rules.
There is an accepted 'run-in' period to rule out future screen burn by watching so many hours on reduced brightness, but all up to date reviews discount screen burn as an issue anyway.
What is recognised is that due to the screen lighting method, you cannot beat the blacks and contrast offered...plus the there is no pixelation during fast moving events (sport/gaming)...
I ended up getting a 42G20B from Sainsburys with 5 year warranty for £630 delivered.
Sony appears to be What Hi-Fi's brand of choice in 2010, but Panasonic remain the mass majority's pin up.

I'm toying with getting one of these, too. Am I missing something on this link, or have they withdrawn the 5 year guarantee from the package?

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/technology/te...

[Agoogy]

I'm not 100% BUT half way down that page on the left is a link to the extended warranty...this:

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/guides/Extend...

and it reads VERY much as if this is what you get..... thats how I read it anyhow...

[Ranger 6]

Agoogy said:

...Sony appears to be What Hi-Fi's brand of choice in 2010, but Panasonic remain the mass majority's pin up.

Yup - Sony 40" LCD in the kitchen is rubbish in comparison to the Panasonic 42" Plasma in the front room.

[scenario8]

Agoogy said:

I'm not 100% BUT half way down that page on the left is a link to the extended warranty...this:

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/guides/Extend...

and it reads VERY much as if this is what you get..... thats how I read it anyhow...

Thanks. It's not exactly very clear that this product comes with the 5 year guarantee, is it? And it's not exactly clear it's at no cost, either.

Anyway, thanks again.

[PJ S]

John Lewis do 5 years as standard, but the TV is showing as out of stock, at £699 which is cheaper than the Sainsbury's price now, although they do have stock.

[scenario8]

PJ S said:

John Lewis do 5 years as standard, but the TV is showing as out of stock, at £699 which is cheaper than the Sainsbury's price now, although they do have stock.

Yeah, I know.

For exactly 6 minutes and 3 seconds over Christmas JL had stock and were selling for £629. This went up to £699 and then went out of stock. It's nearly fun watching the prices and stock levels fluctuate for this model. I should add I'm not in immediate and desperate need so I'm not that disappointed I missed out.

Well, maybe a bit.

[Agoogy]

scenario8 said:

Agoogy said:

I'm not 100% BUT half way down that page on the left is a link to the extended warranty...this:

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/guides/Extend...

and it reads VERY much as if this is what you get..... thats how I read it anyhow...

Thanks. It's not exactly very clear that this product comes with the 5 year guarantee, is it? And it's not exactly clear it's at no cost, either.

Anyway, thanks again.

Think I might ring Sainsburys after they deliver this on Monday to find out for sure...otherwise I'll consider separate cover...
I can't believe the fluctuations in price and stock! and to think I very nearly didn't buy it at £629....
I was in a massive Tesco Extra last night they had it on the shelf for £799 (!!!!)

[Agoogy]

fkING bkS! just got a call from Sainsburys saying my delivery on monday is indefinitely delayed as they have yet to receive stock from Panasonic!....why are they selling stuff they don't have?!!

[JustinP1]

Agoogy said:

fkING bkS! just got a call from Sainsburys saying my delivery on monday is indefinitely delayed as they have yet to receive stock from Panasonic!....why are they selling stuff they don't have?!!

This may surprise you that 80% or more of companies who run websites don't actually have a warehouse with those items in, they'll get someone else to fulfil them.

Even worse than that, the 'big brand' players such as Tesco etc, not only does someone else fulfil their orders, some else will also run their website.

The only thing that is theirs is the branding on the site and the bottom line.

That's how their stuff is cheaper than a shop that holds physical stock that you can walk in, view, and take away.