AV Sales demo today PWD8 / Pio 436xde

U

UrbanSurvival

Guest
Hi all,

Quick summary of my findings after a brief demo today and a couple of questions to follow. I've been looking to get a plasma for some time now, was thinking 50", then changed to 42" and a projector.

Headed over to AV-Sales today and had a look at the 42" PWD8 and the Pio 436xde. Also looked at a couple of older PJ's out of curiosity. I'm certainly not an expert and wouldn't / couldn't be able to comment on the technical side of things, only the PQ based on my own opinion.

This was a very quick demo and only looked at DVD (lord of the rings). First up was the PWD8. Wow. Very, very good picture. From 9' away the picture was simply stunning. Colours were excellent, including skin tones, and the picture had a really good depth to it. The picture was sharp without being blocky and although it must have been downscaling the input, the detail seemed very impressive. Liking this one. Even the charcoal bezel seemed ok, very minimalistic, all buttons below the screen and hugging the wall very tightly. Nice.

Then the Pio. mmmmmm that Bezel is nice!!! turned the screen on and, well did I mention that the Bezel looked good? The picture was very, very sharp but for me way too sharp. Certainly more detail on the screen. More lines / details in faces and so on but this caused the picture to look a bit artificial and quite blocky. Tried a HD feed and the screen looked a lot better, masses of detail but still signs of those pixels. But that bezel!!!

So I can see why people go for the Pio, it's probably a great TV replacement but I have sound and freeview sorted so PQ is my number one concern. The fact that the PQ is better IMO and it's way cheaper makes it an easy choice....or does it?

Didn't get to see freeview as this was not available, can anyone say how the PQ on freeview compares to DVD on the PWD8? We live in a good signal area and would be looking at a Topfield PVR connected via component for reference.

Secondly, I could extend the budget and get a 50" PHD8 and a PJ but is this screen good for freeview / dvd without a scaler? I would have thought a scaler would be a pre-requisite for a 50" (10 minute expert! :D ) but could be wrong. For me I think the 42" and an extra £1,600 in the bank would be a smarter move. Get a 50" display in 6 years time when we finally get HD on the airwaves. Can't find anywhere to demo a 50phd8.

Coming to the end of asking questions and about to get a plasma :thumbsup: Finally thanks to Av sales for taking the time to demo, you'll be getting my custom for sure :smashin:
 
was it the PWD8 or PHD8 you demoed? PWD8 is SD and £1200 PHD8 is HD and £1900 for the 42"
Oh and if you love the Pio bezel check out the Fujitsu P42XHA51ES (think thats the number) Panny PQ Pio bezel best processing on the planet and top warranty and connections..........price is some way between the 2
 
Interesting, I would say the Pioneer happily takes the Panasonic in every respect. Bear in mind when I say that, I have a Panny plasma myself. ;)
 
Didn't get to see freeview as this was not available, can anyone say how the PQ on freeview compares to DVD on the PWD8? We live in a good signal area and would be looking at a Topfield PVR connected via component for reference
.
Freeviews not as good as DVD, but it's better than i thought it would be, i'm well pleased with the PQ through a sony VTX-D800U freeview box, plans to upgrade to a topfield soon.
When i demoed the PWD8 at av-sales they were useing a denon 2900 DVD player, as you say simply stunning! so impressed just had to go out and buy one of those as well.
 
the two are very good plasmas but it depends on your sources

the panny has great colours and very very deep textured picture which is smooth and noise free, so perfect for low quality digital sources but for high quality digital sources like HD the pioneer will take it but there wont be much in it at certain viewing distances

it all depends on budget and how much your going to put into your sources.
 
hornydragon said:
was it the PWD8 or PHD8 you demoed? PWD8 is SD and £1200 PHD8 is HD and £1900 for the 42"

Hi, Yep twas the PWD8 SD 42". That's what threw me as I thought any HD screen would walk it. Cracking PQ and, for me, better on DVD than the Pio. That said the PJ will get the bulk of the DVD playback, the plasma will be for the day - turn on, tune in, job done. The 42PHD8 would have been nice to see but not sure I'd get much benefit as the viewing at home is 15'.


hornydragon said:
Oh and if you love the Pio bezel check out the Fujitsu P42XHA51ES (think thats the number) Panny PQ Pio bezel best processing on the planet and top warranty and connections..........price is some way between the 2

Couldn't see that one. Mind you, didn't look too hard in case I found it and spent another year mulling it all over :rolleyes:

DOM996 said:
Interesting, I would say the Pioneer happily takes the Panasonic in every respect.

I can see why people like it, looks classy and the PQ is very sharp, jut not to my taste. Must admit I went in thinking I would prefer the Pio

Chris5357 said:
Freeviews not as good as DVD, but it's better than i thought it would be

Thanks Chris, good to hear. The Sony 800 is supposed to be one of the best I think so glad it's working well.
 
phillfyspoon said:
the two are very good plasmas but it depends on your sources

the panny has great colours and very very deep textured picture which is smooth and noise free, so perfect for low quality digital sources but for high quality digital sources like HD the pioneer will take it but there wont be much in it at certain viewing distances

it all depends on budget and how much your going to put into your sources.

Running an Arcam 89 and a Topfield PVR (still to buy). No sign of HD in this household for several years so I think that's helped the decision anyway. The PJ will have a DVI / HDMI in so HD DVD / Blu ray will run through that as and when. Cheers.
 
Very interesting impartial review. Amazed that more people have not commented on this thread - I guess some people refuse to believe the above comments simply due to the price difference between the pio and pwd8.

I reckon the PWD8 must still be very nearly the best display device out there (at any price (without scaler) LCD or Plasma) at the moment for SD viewing including DVDs (based on comments in this forum). Further fuels my temptation to get a PWD8 (even though its the same price as the new panasonic PV60 here in Germany - also hate the cheap looking gray bezel on the new range).
 
clem said:
... a PWD8 (even though its the same price as the new panasonic PV60 here in Germany ...


Now that is a dilemma - here in the UK it isn't yet, since the cheapest PX60 - we wont get the PV60 here - is around £400 more!

But by the time you've equipped the PWD8 with SCARTS and HDMI - the difference nearly goes away here in the UK.

In Germany you'd actually be paying more for an SD screen! there's a sobering thought!

It's really now down to how much you value the Panel look over the TV look - the new 60 series at least looks a little less garish than the old models.

Now if the PWD8 pricing dropped to below £1000 here or 1500 Euros in Germany - I think both of us would be whipping out our credit cards! :devil:

Now there's a thought !!!! :clap: :clap:

Gussie :)
 
Panasonic TH-42PWD8 down to £1080 delivered at av-sales now.
Bloody good price.
I was hanging on to see what the new 60 range but might have to just take the plunge now
 
Well thats just :censored: typical, bought my PWD8 last Friday :mad:

MOD EDIT: please do not circumvent the swear filter
 
hornydragon said:
was it the PWD8 or PHD8 you demoed? PWD8 is SD and £1200 PHD8 is HD and £1900 for the 42"
Oh and if you love the Pio bezel check out the Fujitsu P42XHA51ES (think thats the number) Panny PQ Pio bezel best processing on the planet and top warranty and connections..........price is some way between the 2

av-sales did have a Fuji on demo a few weeks ago as well...
 
silverswood said:
Well thats just :censored: typical, bought my PWD8 last Friday :mad:
Give them a call. They are know for good CS so may be willing to refund you the difference.

edit: Just noticed they do not include the wallmount or stand with this deal so the saving isn't so big.
 
Gussie said:
In Germany you'd actually be paying more for an SD screen! there's a sobering thought!
Now there's a thought !!!! :clap: :clap:
Gussie :)

Yeah I know , sounds crazy. But I:
- do value the Panel look
- I now that aren't any fans in there
- I know there aren't any retention problems
- I know that configurability (menu options) will most likely be much better
- I know that 'HD' screens have trouble coping with SD - I still reckon the PWD8 will give better results with SD that the latest and greatest HD TVs - can't prove this of course

So yeah, I'm willing to pay the same price (or even a bit more) for a really good SD panel like the PWD8 over the PV60.
Cheapest at the moment for the PWD8 I could find is 1660 euros here, but seems to be dropping quickly. Either way will make a decision this weekend or next week - getting really impatient now :) . Still looking forward to seeing first PX60 results !
 
clem said:
I guess some people refuse to believe the above comments simply due to the price difference between the pio and pwd8.

As I said I was set on a HD set but the only way to decide is to get a demo. I don't think most people would make the effort to view a display only model as there are very few resellers who can demo them. I can still see why someone would get the Pio, nice easy install and the picture is good, but not as good as the PWD8 in my opinion.

Got my quote through from av-sales a short while back. £1,080 inc VAT and delivery. The decision was already made but the new price must make this the screen for the moment. The price for the 42 HD screen has also dropped but is still 60% more than the SD screen.

Only decision know is what Projector to get!:rolleyes:

If anyone is in 2 minds over SD or HD all I can say is try and have a demo. The price difference is still considerable and the performance is very comparable. Unless you have either a)loads of cash or b) regular HD feeds the results good be interesting.

Thanks again to all, great site.:smashin:
 
leef1234 said:
Panasonic TH-42PWD8 down to £1080 delivered at av-sales now.
Bloody good price.
I was hanging on to see what the new 60 range but might have to just take the plunge now

A bit cheeky removing the bundled stand - so really a reduction of £93 on the previous price!

A welcome reduction in any case.

Gussie :)
 
Anyone whos bought a PWD8 recently think they might of made a mistake, with the new cheapish Panny HD plasmas out soon?
 
Walter Sobchak said:
Anyone whos bought a PWD8 recently think they might of made a mistake, with the new cheapish Panny HD plasmas out soon?


Not really - I'm seriously thinking of getting the PWD8, now the price has dropped again.

The Panasonic SD screen - whether on a PE50, PE40 or PWD8 - has a fantastic image quality at normal viewing distances - I've seen HD material over component and just cannot fault it!

Do not get sucked in to the HD hype!

I have to say that at around £1150 inc stand- its hard to resist now!

The worry is that Panasonic may abandon production of SD screens in favour of HD. And every HD screen I have seen has a noticeable buz - I'm sure there are many that do not - but if you get a bad one!

Also having seen the three very prominent fans on the first pics posted of the PX60 - I shudder to think what could happen to those after a year's or so use.

I await the first reports of noisy fans and buzzing on the new PX60 models - not with glee but sorrow :rolleyes: !!

Gussie :)
 
hornydragon said:
I am sure they will be able to quote you happy what ever stand you require

Yep they certainly can :D The cost quoted was comparable to other online resellers.

I'd certainly rather deal with avsales than an unknown though. If something should go wrong I like that warm feeling to be in my stomach not a little further down
 
Urbansurvival
i agree av-sales seem to offer sound advice and there back up seems very good indeed, so which telly are you going for then? i think bearing in mind i already have a panny 37 pv500 in my lounge i will go for the pw8, this daft as it sounds is going in a smaller room than the pv500 is in my viewing distance is only going to be 8ft tops, i am trying to create the cinema effect of a large screen in my face:suicide: i wonder if i will regret my choice

kind regards

richard
 
fatrich said:
so which telly are you going for then?...
....viewing distance is only going to be 8ft tops

Hi, the 42PWD8 will be getting my cash, hopefully be ordering next week (depending on work). Just measuring up for the projector now. The demo viewing distance was about 9' and looked great. As hornydragon said 8' would be fine too. Unless I was about 6' (ish) away I couln't see pixel structure on the DVD replay. Also the PWD8 frame probably isn't far off the 37PV500 is it? Probably a large screen effect without getting a much bigger unit.

Cheers,
 
I got my PWD8 on Friday and i'm well chuffed. I've not set it up yet as i have got to redecorate first, but i did wire it up to try it out. I watched Raider of the Lost Ark through s-video cable and was well impressed.
I got mine from here - https://secure.121electricals.com/detail.asp/sku=TH42PWD8S
£1040 + £80 for delivery with a 3 year warranty.
Just gotta get room sorted and with some better cabling i know it's gonna look even better, can't wait.
 
Oh yeah baby! :cool: Finally got round to ordering. Been looking at threads and mulling the idea over for months and now the PWD8 has been bought. Not being delivered for a week due to work pressures but cant wait to get it on the wall.

Thanks to Chris at av-sales, for the demo and answering all my questions (some a little basic probably :rolleyes: ). Whilst yet to receive the plasma, the service to date (and price) has been fantastic.

At the risk of sounding like the oscars, thanks to all the contributers on the forums. LFCRules and MAW very helpful in the proposed setup and then of course the ongoing threads from Hornydragon, MEP, Gizlaroc, Joe, Liam, Gordon, etc, etc, etc that all have helped (and delayed ;) ) the buying process.

Anyway off to the DIY forum to start digging out the walls!

Thanks all,
 

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