Head is spinning

Need help make a decision on *** to buy...have narrowed it down to 2 sets:

Philips 36PW9308 £1150

"OR"

Panasonic TX36PD30 £1595

I have spent days reading through these forums and just cant decide for sure as each of these 2 sets seems to have its own problems

Which of these 2 produce the best picture, have better features, and are likely to provide the longest service ? before I end up with the wrong set !!

If it were you what would you choose and why

ps. not that it matters really can have a panny this week but have to wait till the end of next week for the philips. Also havent actually seen the Panasonic in the flesh as no retailers around me have one in stock.

[Lyricman]

Take a look at the Panasonic PL32 if your funds are limited, £980 from Comet or £930 online, excellent set for the money.
The 9308 only has 2 scarts the PL32 has 3 scarts 1 component.

[Rasczak]

Iceman, I am in a similar situation at the moment, in that I am also looking for a 36" TV .

I ruled the Philips out due to:
- The fact I don't trust the reliability of the brand
- It had no component input/progressive scan

So at the moment I am looking at the Panasonic 36PD30 or the cheaper Panasonic 36PL32. Can I ask why your not looking at the cheaper model? Both seem to have NTSC/PAL Progressive Scan input, QuintrixSR tubes and both are 100Hz. The main differences seem to be Dolby Digital and Acuity Picture enhancements on the 36PD30. But then the cheaper model generally seems to get significantly better reviews.

Also of concern/interest is that I have seen the 36PD30 can be 'modified' to play High Def content - does the same apply to the 36PL32 - and what IS the modification? Any ideas?

I woke up this morning planning to spend 15mins max on this - I have now spent about two hours on and off trying to decide which model to get a total waste of time!

Thanks guys, OK to cut a long story short.....

I had originally ordered the 36PL32 online with Currys and was getting it for £880 delivered, however they decided to cancel it because they didnt have any stock and couldnt say when they would have

Already been looking at a 14" portable for nearly 2 weeks as I cant decide which other set to go for

TBH I would have bought the Panasonic without hesitation until I read this thread PD30 Problems

What to do

[Ekko Star]

Originally Posted by iceman

:
TBH I would have bought the Panasonic without hesitation until I read this thread PD30 Problems

What to do

The upside is if you get a good PD30, you'll be laughing.

[DRGL]

Having had 3 Sony KV-36FS76U's fail on me(in 6 Months!!!) i went out to look at this PD30 everyone seems to rave about. I really wasn't impressed,the picture looked awful,the geometry was out and so was the convergence(by a mile),i went out looking for a replacement and found the Sony HQ100 to be the best,i'm getting my 76U swapped for it.The Panasonic wasn't even close to it,nor were any of the Toshiba's,the only fault i could find with the Sony was one of the picture processing modes causes MPEG style picture break up on fast moving scenes,they have tried to get around the 100Hz blur but have failed some what....BTW,if you believe everything you read in forums you wouldn't buy ANYTHING,EVER! Someone somewhere can pick faults/have faults with something........

[C.Wolf]

My brother tried at home the PD30, Toshiba(dont know model but it is the one retailing for about £1400 in comet etc) and the philips 9618. The panny was apparentely so dissapointing for the money that he sent it back before I even saw it, so I cant comment on this. The toshiba I did see and thought it was dissapointing. The philips was a very clear winner, despite the pixel plus problems.
I have now looked at the panny 36pl32 at some length and am going to wait for one of these, as in the shop it looks fantastic value for money compared to the pd30, you seem not to be paying for all the "bells and whistles".

[CLH]

Originally Posted by DRGL

Having had 3 Sony KV-36FS76U's fail on me(in 6 Months!!!) i went out to look at this PD30 everyone seems to rave about. I really wasn't impressed,the picture looked awful,the geometry was out and so was the convergence(by a mile),

You've been round my house???

Originally Posted by DRGL

BTW,if you believe everything you read in forums you wouldn't buy ANYTHING,EVER! Someone somewhere can pick faults/have faults with something........

True

Well I guess it comes down to is the Pixel + picture better or not than the Panasonic Acuity (is acuity panasonic's version of pixel + ?)

Problem is I cant actually view the Panny anywhere, shop advised today that I can have either set delivered by the middle of next week if I let them know Friday morning.

Some things that I favour the Panasonic for:

1 - PIP (I could watch one program while waiting for one on a different channel to finish) isnt that correct.

2 - More connections on the rear

3 - Looks quite good in the catalogue (any owners got pictures of their set in place that they could share)

4 - have a RP Panasonic that I like and hasnt given me any trouble

5 - Brother has had Philips 32" widescreen (dont know the model but it cost around £1200 4/5 years ago) and he has niggly problems with it, one that he really hates is the way the auto mode keeps changing the picture during the adverts in the middle of F1 races and he has to go through all the picture sizes to get it back to wide again.

Shop also mentioned that the set they will be supplying will have a dual frequency tuner (I think thats what they said) does both UHF and UVF if that sounds correct, what's that mean or benefit me

Originally Posted by C.Wolf

The philips was a very clear winner, despite the pixel plus problems.

M8 without me trawling through more threads and getting even more confused what are the main problems with pixel +

cheers

Should add the shop has both the Panasonic TX36PD30 and the Philips 36PW9308 on order for me

Its a case of me having to let them know on Friday morning which one they need to cancel.



Just to be a further pest can someone tell me what the following mean:

Multi-Window - 1 Tuner - PIP,POP,PAT,PAP

[DRGL]

Originally Posted by iceman

True

Well I guess it comes down to is the Pixel + picture better or not than the Panasonic Acuity (is acuity panasonic's version of pixel + ?)

Problem is I cant actually view the Panny anywhere, shop advised today that I can have either set delivered by the middle of next week if I let them know Friday morning.

Some things that I favour the Panasonic for:

1 - PIP (I could watch one program while waiting for one on a different channel to finish) isnt that correct.

2 - More connections on the rear

3 - Looks quite good in the catalogue (any owners got pictures of their set in place that they could share)

4 - have a RP Panasonic that I like and hasnt given me any trouble

5 - Brother has had Philips 32" widescreen (dont know the model but it cost around £1200 4/5 years ago) and he has niggly problems with it, one that he really hates is the way the auto mode keeps changing the picture during the adverts in the middle of F1 races and he has to go through all the picture sizes to get it back to wide again.

Shop also mentioned that the set they will be supplying will have a dual frequency tuner (I think thats what they said) does both UHF and UVF if that sounds correct, what's that mean or benefit me

(1) The Sony has PAP
(2) The Sony has 4 SCARTs (Two RGB) but NO component
(3) I can take pictures when it arrives,Should be next week......

[C.Wolf]

Iceman,
The problem with pixel plus is sometimes when things move fast they leave a trail/smear behind them, and whilst the picture is very sharp and detailed it can look artificial, sort of cut and pasted. On the older pixel plus there wasnt much you could do about this, but the new models have many more picture modes which help immensley. Believe me these problems seem minor at first but will really annoy you as time goes by. They annoyed my brother so much that he sold his tv and bought the newer model, which is still not perfect but it is much better.

[Rasczak]

Still not sure I fully understand why you've opted for the 36PD30 as opposed to the Panasonic 36PL32? Just because it was out of stock or is there a more substantive reason? Is there some core specification that the 36PD30 has which the 36PL32 doesn't?

I had a good look at both units in Comet today - I am trying to justify why to buy the more expensive model - and the PQ seemed 'good' on both of them although I noticed a sort of 'fade into sharpness' effect on the 36PD30 - I assume that the set was just poorly setup as is normal in Comet

[C.Wolf]

Rasczak,
I totally agree, I looked at both tv's at a local comet and this made my decision easy. Its going to be a 36pl32 for me i think, even if I have to wait a while.

Originally Posted by Rasczak

Still not sure I fully understand why you've opted for the 36PD30 as opposed to the Panasonic 36PL32? Just because it was out of stock

36PL32 was my first choice and I had actually ordered one online with Currys, they decided to cancel the order and have no idea when stock will be available, the tv is for the family room which we use every day and have already been without a set for 2 weeks now since trying to decide what to get

Guys can anyone answer these questions please ?

What does this mean in the spec. of the panasonic:
Multi-Window - 1 Tuner

And *** do these mean:

PIP (picture in picture) I know this one but dont know the ones below !
POP
PAT
PAP

Is Acuity Panasonic's version of Pixel Plus ?

Ta.

[DRGL]

PAT=Picture And Text
PAP=Picture And Picture(On the Sony's you can have the screen split and vary the size of each channel)
POP=??

Well decided on the Panasonic TX36PD30

Will report what I think once I get a chance to actually watch it

[red16v]

Iceman, having read through the thread again I note your comment that the shop said the

'set they will be supplying will have a dual frequency tuner (I think thats what they said) does both UHF and UVF if that sounds correct, what's that mean or benefit me'

In the UK we transmit analogue pictures solely on the UHF frequency band. Other countries transmit on UHF and VHF - I wonder if they were referring to VHF? If that's the case then I would be a little apprehensive that you are being supplied with a UK sourced tv. I would ask the shop the simple question 'Is the set you are intending to supply a genuine UK sourced tv or is it being sourced abroad ?'. If it's being sourced abroad then make sure you are happy with the warranty conditions/period etc. Just a thought - I am happy to be wrong on this one. Regards, yt.

Originally Posted by red16v

Iceman, having read through the thread again I note your comment that the shop said the

'set they will be supplying will have a dual frequency tuner (I think thats what they said) does both UHF and UVF if that sounds correct, what's that mean or benefit me'

In the UK we transmit analogue pictures solely on the UHF frequency band. Other countries transmit on UHF and VHF - I wonder if they were referring to VHF? If that's the case then I would be a little apprehensive that you are being supplied with a UK sourced tv. I would ask the shop the simple question 'Is the set you are intending to supply a genuine UK sourced tv or is it being sourced abroad ?'. If it's being sourced abroad then make sure you are happy with the warranty conditions/period etc. Just a thought - I am happy to be wrong on this one. Regards, yt.

Hi m8

Thanks for the advice.

I went with the retailer I did in the end because of their aftersales so on that front I am happy enough that I will be looked after.

As far as I can gather the Philips 9608 (which I was also considering) has a dual frequence tuner only they dont actually mention it

Also noticed the LODOS combi we bought has a dual frequence tuner as well.

I think....although probably wrong it saves the manufacturer making 2 different models for home and abroad as it were

Just noticed I said I'd report what I thought of the set

So far after spending a few hours with DVE I have both geometry and picture settings pretty good...will take a few photos and post just for others opinions or advice

And so far I am impressed

[Lyricman]

I think the dual screen means you can view the analogue picture plus an AV input or teletext. They don't have dual tuners to watch 2 different stations.
With the Philips 9618 now being discontinued and the lack of inputs opn the 9308 the only one left is the PL32 which does have a great picture but not as good as the 9618. I will keep searching to see if I can find a 9618 below £1100.

[Lyricman]

Just found a new Philips 36" 9309 advertised on http://www.tvandvideodirect.com/pro...od=1106&xSec=16.
Looks like the replacement for the 9308 with 3 scarts and a nicer looking cabinet. Also found the 9528 on the belgium site which looks like the replacement for the 9618 or maybe just a different model no.