[carefactornil]

Hi,

I posted a thread a couple of months back (Title = Rear Projection (Philips 46PP9501?) questions) where I was wondering which RP solution to go for.

Firstly I'd like to say how difficult it was to find a place that could do a proper demo for me when I wanted. Numerous places wouldn't hook up anything to the TV and others only on week days, or wouldn't hook up a VCR etc. I wanted to test the Philips 46 and the Tosh 46 side by side but this proved to be a frustrating exercise.

On top of this it seems Philips have decided to discontinue the 46PP9501. I received a lot of dodgy info from them about this but they ended up saying they had discontinued it, they couldn't say why and didn't know if they would be bringing out any more RP sets for sure. This made finding one even more of a challenge.

Anyway, I was looking for a whole setup. TV, DVD, CD-player, speakers + sub, all-in-one remote, amp, installation, the works. I'd reckoned on a budget of about £5- 5.5K, of which the TV would probably be £2K+.
The happy ending is that I was in the Ideal Home exhibition (it's still running until the 8th!) and wandered over to the NEC stand to gawk at the Plasma TVs. Like a lot of people, I would have preferred one of these but hadn't even considered it as most of them cost at least as much as I wanted to spend on the package! I casually asked the NEC guys how much their 42" set was and they said 6K. I started walking away but that's when he told me it was for the WHOLE package!
To be specific, the NEC 4210 plasma tv, Sony 940 amp, 5-cd Nak player (want a seperate one), Sony 336 DVD player, Ceratec speaker package (see later), Mosaic remote, Sky digital and all installation costs - ie. no extras. I was pretty impressed by this. My uncertainty about it was the speakers. I've seen no reviews of them anywhere (I looked hard) and they are only just about to be marketed in this country. They certainly aren't cheap - the US$ price for the front speakers is $1800 alone. However, because I couldn't hear them demo'd anywhere apart from the show (not exactly ideal!) they said if I didn't like them on installation they would change them for ones of my choice.
In the end I paid £6800 as I got a serious stand (worth about £500) and upgraded the Ceratec speakers to their top-of-the-range series.

My enthusiasm might be premature as I'm not supposed to be getting it installed until the 11th, but I'm already drooling at the mouth. I'll post a note on the end of this once I've seen it in action for a bit and confirm whether I've made a tragic error or got the bargain of a lifetime. It's worth pointing out that part of the reason I went for this anyway was because I kept finding it difficult to see a whole system set up how I wanted to. NEC bent over backwards to help (OK, they had a good incentive too..).

If anyone IS interested in going this weekend (of course these are show prices only) then some of the other plasma operators are there too, Nakamachi have a set up and I think the Fujitsu was there too, both with "show package offers".

If anyone's got any questions about this feel free to ask, and like I said I'll post a reply saying how it feels once I've had it up and running in a couple of weeks.

[Timh]

Sound's like a reasonable deal to me, Keep us updated, It will be interesting to know what you think of this seup when you have it installed at your home.
I dont blame you wanting a seperate cd player, I have the Sony 335 it's great for picture quality and multi-channel sound, but just o.k on cd playback.

Tim

[Reiner]

6k is still a lot. I wonder why the Sony 50" plasma (can't remember the exact model) just costs around AUD10000 ~ GBP3500 (before GST) in Australia? Now that would be tempting ...

Sounds like a great deal given that I've got Plasma sets down in my head as starting around the £6k mark.

Definitely interested to hear how you get on later in the month.

[carefactornil]

Hi Nick

Thanks for taking the time to fill me in on some details. I'm currently waiting for the install - it's supposed to happen this Thursday (19th) - there was a delay waiting for the speakers to come in from Germany. Naturally your comments raised my eyebrows, especially about the install.
Is there anything you would advise bearing in mind the install hasn't happened yet, in terms of making sure it's a good one?
This is my first HC set-up so I'm a bit wet behind the ears. Apart from a good looking picture and sounds I'm not totally sure what else to look for. I am the sort of person who has to be completely satisfied before I pay up so I do plan to give it a good thrash before handing over the rest of the money.
Does anyone else out there have a "check-list"? Is there anything in the area of cabling or rgb/composite/etc I should be keeping an eye (or ear) out for?
Were there any specific things people were unhappy with in the installations you have heard about that I can watch out for?
Can I ask what exactly you meant by taking a good look at the speakers? What surprises might I find?
Is there anything out on the Net about these guys or did you just pick up your comments from other HC installers/shops?
Thanks and expect more posts from me here this week anyway!
Simon

I agree that the deal sounds very good?
But let me tell you a little background to the deal.....?
For starters, the stand that you visited was not in any way connected with NEC apart from the fact that the company operating the stand uses NEC plasma screens to apply their bezels too? The company has only been going for just over a year and they have already managed to generate ripples in the industry for all the wrong reasons. They have very little experience in installs regardless what the guys at the show told you, and you can expect a very slapdash install as a consequence. I was also nearly taken in by the offer at the show, but managed to secure the show price indefinitely, subject to my research of their company and products. After much research revolving around the company, ceretec speakers and their connection with NEC (or lack of it!!!), and feedback from others in the business I decided to stay well clear. I hope that you are happy with the company and I'm not at all trying to cause problems, but I do care that people like us can be sold on a demo kit that was not all it seemed?
PS The ceratec speakers are indeed impressive but take a close look at them and you may be surprised what you find, also the MP2 NEC plasma screen is OK but there are at least 5 screens on the market in the same price range that outperform it allready!!!
Be wary my friend and use the force?