AE300 coming to the UK?

[Splinter]

I've read from a few places that there seems an uncertainty wether we'll get the AE300. Can anyone confirm that we'll be able to buy it over here?

If we will be able to - any idea roughly how much it will cost? It's going for £1300 at the moment to import from Japan. I would have thought the AE200 will come in at around that price as it's the replacement for the AE100. If that's the case it may be worth importing.

 

[jrwood]

All we know is that the AE200 is released in January 2003 and then the AE300 will follow after, maybe they want to be able to fill orders for their Japanese market first?.

I think the AE300 price will be about £1600 if you do some maths and say the HS10 is $2591 against the AE300 $1991 then the cheapest price for the HS10 is £2100 so far so (1991/2591)*£2100 and you get perhaps a UK price of £1600 ?

 

[Mr.D]

I suspect we might not see the ae300 over here. Its designed primarily for displaying HD (1080i downsampled to 540p hence the panel) differentiating it from the ae100/ae200. This might mean panasonic don't launch it in non HD countries.

Course by that argument they might never have released the ae100 as its designed primarily with the display of 16x9 NTSC in mind.

I'm toying with the idea of replacing my ae100 with an ae300 though but I'd like to see some proper opinions on it first

 

[Seb1]

jrwood:

"All we know is that the AE200 is released in January 2003 "

So the AE200 is officialy out in January 2003 is it???

I have not seen anything to back this up yet so I am just wandering how you know this for sure???

 

[gringottsdirect]

Originally posted by Seb1
jrwood:
"All we know is that the AE200 is released in January 2003 "
So the AE200 is officialy out in January 2003 is it???
I have not seen anything to back this up yet so I am just wandering how you know this for sure???

I enquired about this and was told the same by Panasonic U.K.
Tel: 08705 357357
Originally was thinking of Hitachi CP-S225 now I'm waiting to see new Panasonic or Sony VPL-HS10.

 

[Mr.D]

Buying from Japan doesn't seem to pose too much of a risk you know.

 

[Smurfin]

well if anyone wants to sell their PTAE100 for a reasonable price, LMK!

 

[Splinter]

Mr D - it doesn't pose a risk, but it can risk alot of hassle. If you're unlucky it may arrive in unacceptable condition or if it needs repair you have to pay around £100 delivery charge - then it could take a few months to get back to you.

Is it worth getting the PJ 4 months early and making the saving on price when there are those problems which could occur. That's what I need to decide I guess.

 

[Mr.D]

Originally posted by Splinter
Mr D - it doesn't pose a risk, but it can risk alot of hassle. If you're unlucky it may arrive in unacceptable condition or if it needs repair you have to pay around £100 delivery charge - then it could take a few months to get back to you.

Still not such a big deal if you are making a decent saving or especially in the case of the ae300 its not available in the UK anyway ( piano anyone?).

The turnaround seems to be weeks rather than months from the reputable places and there are instances of people having to wait months for repairs on units bought in europe anyway.

minimal risk minimal hassle.