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How does everyone feel about Panasonic. I was thinking about them for my new TV

Panisonic makes sick plasma's. The blacks are incredible, and so are the colours. I have no idea about their LCD's.

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Originally posted by Orko Sony and Samsung used to make their panels in the same factory, but Sony now teamed up with Sharp because they took heat for teaming up with a Koream manufacturer (samsung).

What goes around comes around... It was Sharp who made the Trinitron tubes in their heyday

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Originally posted by Orko Costco actually gets special models of a lot of electronics, that are only distributed in their stores. Which makes it very hard to shop around, and impossible to price match. I would check them out for sure, they have great quality products.

Not necessarily special models. They are often US models so model numbers are just slightly off with a small feature variant. It's easier to compare the US models when looking up Consumer Reports, ePinions, etc.. compared to the ones for Canada.

Costco is an authorized dealer for most of their electronics, but some they ship from US, meaning grey market. Costco does have longer warranties on their models, with all TVs at least 2 years, and their 2 year warranty is a replacement warranty, so they'll replace it on the spot with the same or better if something happens.

You can see some models they have on their website http://www.costco.ca/Common/Categor...esc1&lang=en-CA .
Do note, for the models they are Canadian authorized, they use the manufacturer's logo. For their US product, they aren't allowed to legally use the manufacturer's logo in advertisements.

What's your budget?

The Samsung LED LCD are incredible.

even the nicest and most expensive LED LCD (any LCD for that matter) on the market doesnt come close to the picture on even a mid level plasma

this is both a personal opinion and a cold hard fact backed up by quantitative measurements

bang for the buck nothing beats the panasonic g series, or if you have a little more cash the V series

I got the Sony bravia W series 120hz and it displays a 3d like picture while using a hdmi dvd player, now if you plug in a blu ray player into it
i'm not shiting you the picture on a 120hz plus(240hz double ) tv makes a difference......
the cheapiest Sony 40" 120hz lcd tv is here - http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodd...523&catid=24558

hey sharp invented lcd technology but when you say you have a sony at home, it makes a bit of a statement......
for example..... he has a sony at home, lets rob that muthafuka blind lol

Definitely the Sharp Aquos.

Sony TVs might look 1% better but they'll cost 20% more and have 50% more problems. My dad bought a Sony, against my warnings, and has all sorts of problems with it; for example, the TV randomly decides to switch input modes while watching an HD station (not even changing channels, just sitting there!), and suddenly you're looking at a blank screen, or snow.

And as for a plasma TV... I can't believe that people still buy those. The shelf life of one of those is about 1/5 of the life of an LCD TV, and when you're buying a fancy new big-screen TV, you want it to last.

intresting read, check it out: http://www.displaymate.com/LCD_Plasma_ShootOut.htm

I work in the industry and I would definitely recommend the Panasonic Plasma televisions over the LCD. The plasma has a much better colour then the LCD, especially the blacks. The sony S series that you are looking at is an entry level television which does not have the best colour or the best frame rate. 60Hz does make a difference when you watch some dark scenes on those LCD TV's. A lot of people think that LCD is the best, but if you compare the same image on an LCD to a PLASMA, then you will see right away that the plasma is a much more natural looking picture while the LCD picture is too bright and dynamic.

Also 120Hz does help with the motion flow, but it also makes you sick if you look at it all day. I work in an electronics store and I turn off that feature just because it makes the pictures look 3d, but not in a good way. It makes the picture feel extremely unatural, its like it pops out of the screen. Plasma on the other hand doesn't have any problems with frame rates because it is a different technology. So you can watch sports and action without any problems at all.

The two tv's that you are looking at have a contrast ratio of 30,000 or 25,000 to 1. The Plasma Tv's from Panasonic this year are all 2, 000, 000 to 1. It makes an enormous difference.

I recommend this TV for you based on your price range. If you shop around you can find it for about $1100. It will be money well spent.
TCP42s1

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The calibrations for both units were so close that it was frequently impossible to visually tell them apart. Except� when viewing the Sony LCD slightly off angle, or when there was dark content, or when there was significant motion in the picture.

hahaha

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A challenging test for HDTVs with Dynamic Backlights and Local Dimming is Chapter 14 of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which includes the trip through hyperspace. For portions of this chapter the Samsung unit decided that the star fields and other content were not worth seeing and just showed an entirely black screen.

what a great article...sums up so much of what i am always telling people when they ask about tvs..i am totally bookmarking that.

unless you live in a greenhouse, lcd tvs are a total waste of money...thats the bottom line..

So the best Plasma money can buy is the Panasonic TC-P50V10 at the moment?? (other than the kuro elite pro which are just insanely expensive and discontinued).

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[i][b]Originally posted by _EuG_

Hey EuG, thank you for your feedback. It was very helpful. I checked out the link and am planning on checking this TV out at the store among the other two. It's very confusing because some people say go with Plasma and others keep saying that LCD is the way to go. In terms of durability, how many years would a plasma TV last, specifically the one that you recommended?

P.S. People who asked what was my budget, it's about $1000.

Based on what the specifications say the lcd is good for 60,000 hours and the plasma is good for 100,000 hours. I couldnt tell you which one would last longer in real life because I am not a service tech, but rather a sales person. So I do have both an lcd and a plasma at home. Our plasma is a panasonic which was bought 4-5 years ago, and the lcd is a samsung which I got last year.

The lcds have a very dynamic picture which makes it look realy flashy and "cool" at first. But after you watch it for a while you want to have a picture that looks natural, like in a movie theater. When you go to the store, the lcd tvs usually stand out but that does not mean that they are better. You have to decide if you want a picture which is natural looking like the director of the movie intended to be or if you want to look "spiced up" with the dynamic colour schemes that the lcd offers. Me personally, I prefer the plasma picture, so do many others. I spend a lot of time trying to calibrate the colours on my samsung lcd to get it to look similar to my older plasma.

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Originally posted by _EuG_ Based on what the specifications say the lcd is good for 60,000 hours and the plasma is good for 100,000 hours. I couldnt tell you which one would last longer in real life because I am not a service tech, but rather a sales person. So I do have both an lcd and a plasma at home. Our plasma is a panasonic which was bought 4-5 years ago, and the lcd is a samsung which I got last year. The lcds have a very dynamic picture which makes it look realy flashy and "cool" at first. But after you watch it for a while you want to have a picture that looks natural, like in a movie theater. When you go to the store, the lcd tvs usually stand out but that does not mean that they are better. You have to decide if you want a picture which is natural looking like the director of the movie intended to be or if you want to look "spiced up" with the dynamic colour schemes that the lcd offers. Me personally, I prefer the plasma picture, so do many others. I spend a lot of time trying to calibrate the colours on my samsung lcd to get it to look similar to my older plasma.

EuG, I don't watch TV religiously, sometimes after work in the evening and maybe veg out and watch a movie on the weekend...I will be getting basic cable for now because I can't afford to even get the HD, so the picture quality is not my main priority, I guess. I just want a high quality TV that looks good in my place, not too bulky, lasts for a few years, and that is easy to navigate...I do have a crappy eye-sight lately, so I prefer a sharper picture because it helps, but in terms of colors I am easy..

well on one hand you have several consumers telling you LCD is the way to go, as thats what they believe. they, and you, have been fed tons of marketing crap, disinformation and bad info that has been given to you by 9/10 of the sales staff at stores, who know nothing about what they're selling and are trying to move whichever items have the spiff on them that week (and don't forget your extended warranty!)

on the other hand, you have a great article written by AV professionals with scientific data proving that plasma is superior, and you also have posts from two individuals who work in the A/V biz telling you plasma is the way to go. plasma tvs have better black level, better contrast level, more accurate colour decoding, generally have a more accurate white colour "out of the box" (LCD whites are almost *always* extremely blue tinged).

i have tested numerous LCD displays and as i mentioned in the last post,nothing, not a single one of them, even comes close to the performance of a mid level plasma. a panasonic g series tv is superior in every way that counts to a sony xbr8 which costs several thousand dollars more at the same size...the only area that lcd excels in is overall brightness, and there isnt even *that* much difference at all anymore. the panasonic g and v series have a peak brightness that is almost as great as most LCD panels

i personally have a 60" pioneer plasma at home for critical viewing, but i also own a 32" LCD at my store. the lcd serves its purpose, as my store faces west with floor to ceiling windows with no shades at all. if i had a properly calibrated plasma in there it would most likely look washed out and not impressive. when i lock up at night though once its dark, i shudder when i look at the lcd and see its blotchy uneven backlighting and the blue/gray tinge that its blacks have.

try this...swing by a magazine store and buy a home theatre magazine. take a look at the installations that feature fixed pixel displays...count up and see how many of them are LCD based. only the kitchens id bet...

malek, yes from what i have seen i would definitely go with a v series if i were buying a tv today. the 58" and 65" models should be out any day now in the states and i believe they are coming to canada in september.

actually if i were buying a tv today i would look for one of the pioneers, as there are still several of them floating around. futureshop has a few 6020s available from their online store at a reduced price, and there are a few of the 500m and 600m models kicking around. they are the elite monitor line that feature the elite glass and processing, but don't have the tuner, speakers and stand and are thus a LOT cheaper than the elite models

sash, to start from the beginning...how far away from the display are you going to sit? how easily can you control the light in your place? at its brightest how bright is it? windows? facing east or west? how much of your viewing do you do in the day? what is your source going to be? HD cable? Rogers? Bell? Bluray? any gaming?

yikes..just read your last post. if youre not even going to get hd you should deffo get a plasma. i have yet to see an LCD that handles SD tv with aplomb.

as a note though, are you aware that if you rent an HD terminal from rogers you get several HD channels free? you could also look into an OTA antenna which, depending on where you live and which direction you face, could get you up to 14 or so channels totally free and will give you picture quality way superior to the garbage bell and to a lesser extent rogers try to foist on us...

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Originally posted by bcope sash, to start from the beginning...how far away from the display are you going to sit? how easily can you control the light in your place? at its brightest how bright is it? windows? facing east or west? how much of your viewing do you do in the day? what is your source going to be? HD cable? Rogers? Bell? Bluray? any gaming?

Ok, let me answer those...

The distance between the TV and the coach is very little, I would say about 10 feet or so...

The place is very bright because I am on the south-west corner, so on my left I have a balcony with lots of sun coming in, but I usually close the blinds when it's bright outside, so it's ok.

In a day, I would probably watch TV anywhere from 1-2 hours, on the weekend maybe 3-4.

I will be getting basic cable from Rogers. I want to get a DVD player, but not a bluray, just regular.

I have a Wii, so I sometimes like to play it, probably be doing a lot of Wii Fit in the wintertime.

Hope this helps! Thanks for your advice

Here is the package I will be getting, I think you get like 12 Free HD Channels. My condo building only supports Rogers, so I have no choice but to stick with them.

http://www.designmyrogers.com/student/backtoschool/index.jsp?cm_sp=Consumer-_-Cable_BTS_0809_Eng-_-StudentShareProgram_slot1

where in the city do you live? if you have a southwest balcony can you see downtown? you might be a candidate for an antenna and then you can ditch rogers altogether and experience awesome free OTA tv

10 feet is tons of distance away...if you look at a 42" or smaller TV your eye (even with 20/20 vision) is physically not capable of telling the difference between a 720p and a 1080p set at that distance, so i would find yourself a nice 720p set and run with it.

i am heading to work now but ill be back online in an hour or so with a few recommendations.

here's another article about big box retail lighting levels and how they mess with your mind when you are shopping for a tv.

http://hdguru.com/how-retailers-use...dtv-buyers/467/

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Originally posted by bcope http://hdguru.com/how-retailers-use...dtv-buyers/467/

Hey, thanks for your feedback, it has been very helpful. I am a noob when it comes to these things and usually had someone else take care of all of the tv/cable stuff, but I am in the position right now where I have to figure out all of these things myself.

I am on the west end of the city, right on the South Kingsway exit, so I see Gardiner from my balcony and the lake, downtown is behind. I looked on Rogers website and after all of this talk I may consider getting the HD terminal for extra 13$ a month to rent. I mean if I am buying a nice new TV, I might as well enjoy to the fullest.

What is this OTA tv, I have never really heard of it. How do you install it, and isn't it illegal to an extent?

Thanks again for your help!

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Originally posted by SasH21 What is this OTA tv, I have never really heard of it. How do you install it, and isn't it illegal to an extent? Thanks again for your help!

OTA means over the air. It's the same as getting signal via rabbit ears. Nothing illegal about it. Any TV made in the last year or two has an ATSC tuner. FREE digital TV. I get over 20 digital/HD channels up here in Aurora. You get more in the city where you are with a much smaller antenna. The cable and satellite companies don't want you to know that anybody can get free HD, lol.

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Originally posted by Abercrombie OTA means over the air. It's the same as getting signal via rabbit ears. Nothing illegal about it. Any TV made in the last year or two has an ATSC tuner. FREE digital TV. I get over 20 digital/HD channels up here in Aurora. You get more in the city where you are with a much smaller antenna. The cable and satellite companies don't want you to know that anybody can get free HD, lol.

How do you install one and how much?

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Originally posted by SasH21 How do you install one and how much?

http://freetoronto.tv/

It doesn't take much of an antenna if you have a fairly clear line of sight to the CN tower (doesn't have to be perfect). For Buffalo stations, you point accross the lake.

Anyone up the 404/yonge street corridor just points the antenna in one direction, and bingo

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Originally posted by FunkyCrew http://freetoronto.tv/

you know everything...

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