Buying a Pioneer PDP-435XDE - Your views?

crawshs

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I'm about to go ahead and take the plunge and buy a Pioneer PDP-435XDE plasma which I believe comes with a media box hence a single cable from box to plasma screen.

To be honest, I like the design of the Pioneer unit and as it will be recessed into the chimney breast and I won't be watching it loads, looks are quite important.

I'm a complete newbie to all this plasma and home cinema stuff but would be interested in any expert opinions of the Pioneer unit.

Cheers.
 
You spend over £2000 on a telly you wont watch very much? Why not buy a nice mirror and go to the cinema more often?
 
Nobu said:
You spend over £2000 on a telly you wont watch very much? Why not buy a nice mirror and go to the cinema more often?

i've seen a couple of opinions like this, i.e. "if you are not going to watch it very much why buy an expensive plasma" (eg. in pv500 running in thread)

and they don't make sense to me at all ... so what if someone is not going to watch it v. often does that mean they shouldn't want to spend *their* money on something they want, so that when they do watch it they get maximum pleasure. can't understand it myself

back on topic, and i ain't no expert on plasma's but if you are after looks, the pioneer is easily the best looking plasma (IMO) out of the current batch of 4-5 "best" plasmas. they also have a v. decent picture, also saw the price at 2199 at riher sounds with speakers and stand (which you can probably sell on)
 
All I was saying is that when spending £2000 it is a good idea to consider whether it really is the way to *maximise* your pleasure. I love watching Movies and TV, hence getting a nice TV. If however I didn't watch TV very much, presumably as I didn't enjoy it that much, I would probably get a really good hifi, a good PC, a hifi system or maybe even a holiday, basically whatever I thought would give me the most pleasure.

The Pio does look superb though whether off or on. From what I've read the pic on Sky is worse than the panny, don't know if this is an issue or not? You also might want to condider waiting a month for the new pannys and pios as they might give you more options.

On a side note have you blocked up your chimney? Soot/rain + Plasma = bad
 
bkny said:
i've seen a couple of opinions like this, i.e. "if you are not going to watch it very much why buy an expensive plasma" (eg. in pv500 running in thread)

and they don't make sense to me at all ... so what if someone is not going to watch it v. often does that mean they shouldn't want to spend *their* money on something they want, so that when they do watch it they get maximum pleasure. can't understand it myself

back on topic, and i ain't no expert on plasma's but if you are after looks, the pioneer is easily the best looking plasma (IMO) out of the current batch of 4-5 "best" plasmas. they also have a v. decent picture, also saw the price at 2199 at riher sounds with speakers and stand (which you can probably sell on)

I couln'dt aggree more.

I see and here people like this every day and it never ceases to amaze me!

Someone asking genuine advice only to be questioned!

We all have toys that we dont use 24/7, but when we do use them its worth every penny we spent.

On topic,
i have a 505 XDE and it looks amazing when its turned off, but not so hot with Sky when its turned on :)
 
av2diefor said:
I couln'dt aggree more.

I see and here people like this every day and it never ceases to amaze me!

Someone asking genuine advice only to be questioned!

We all have toys that we dont use 24/7, but when we do use them its worth every penny we spent.

On topic,
i have a 505 XDE and it looks amazing when its turned off, but not so hot with Sky when its turned on :)

For the sake of balance to the argument - why bother to turn it on then? :rotfl:
 
I have a 435xde, wall mounted, kef eggs so no ugly speakers attached to sides, looks ace off and on, excellent with DVD and almost as good on sky, I have the screen connected to the media box with wireworld DVI and MDR cable (5m ultraviolet) definite picture improvment over the standard pioneer cable. I only use for movies and programes that don't display logo's, have second phillips CRT set in another lounge for 'normal viewing' hope this helps?
 
crawshs said:
I'm about to go ahead and take the plunge and buy a Pioneer PDP-435XDE plasma which I believe comes with a media box hence a single cable from box to plasma screen.

To be honest, I like the design of the Pioneer unit and as it will be recessed into the chimney breast and I won't be watching it loads, looks are quite important.

I'm a complete newbie to all this plasma and home cinema stuff but would be interested in any expert opinions of the Pioneer unit.

Cheers.
Well, I have been looking at the 435 and the Panasonic PV500.
I have probably decided to go with the 435, as whilst the Panny is slightly (in my humble opinion) a better picture, I like the fact that the 435 has only two cables to its screen as opposed to many and as I am going to put it above the mantlepiece and do not want to start smashing holes in the chimney breast to hide cables and that it will be easier to connect my laptop to the media box than trying to get behind the panny screen or leave wires dangling for my little 'un to "play" with.

I have a deal for the 435 XDE with air speakers and wall mounting, fitted to my chimney breast and all hi foi wires connected for £2,600, so it looks good to me. :)
 
The Pioneer is a good screen for what you want it for Crawshs, if you are not after the best available the TVs are a good compromise, you could get better with a panel, ie screen and no tuner box, but then you have to have sky or similar and seperate amp and speakers.
The other option is the PV500, I think this is slightly better than the 435xde, but the Pioneer looks so much better, and unless you go the panel route I would say you may as well stick with the Pioneer.
 
gizlaroc said:
The Pioneer is a good screen for what you want it for Crawshs, if you are not after the best available the TVs are a good compromise, you could get better with a panel, ie screen and no tuner box, but then you have to have sky or similar and seperate amp and speakers.
The other option is the PV500, I think this is slightly better than the 435xde, but the Pioneer looks so much better, and unless you go the panel route I would say you may as well stick with the Pioneer.

Gizlaroc,
in an indeal world I would have gone down that route myself, but it has to be "wife and child friendly" if you see what i mean. :)
My wife like I would imagine quite a few of them, just wants to turn the "telly" on and not have to power up the yamaha AV amp just to watch the tv. :rolleyes:
Also, on a EMAS point of view, the least amount of powered things for straight BBC1/ITV etc TV watching the better for the environment
 
Got my 435XDE above the fireplace, we think it looks great whether it is switched on or off.
Normally when I'm familiar with a new purchase it starts to lose it's initial appeal, but that is definately not the case where this is concerned.

My 435XDE

Regarding the issue raised above about the wife wanting to press one button that turns on the plasma/a/v receiver/sky+ etc....that's where the programmable remote (in my case Harmony 688) comes into it's own as expertly and kindly recommended by posters of this forum.
 
anov24 said:
Got my 435XDE above the fireplace, we think it looks great whether it is switched on or off.
Normally when I'm familiar with a new purchase it starts to lose it's initial appeal, but that is definately not the case where this is concerned.

My 435XDE

Regarding the issue raised above about the wife wanting to press one button that turns on the plasma/a/v receiver/sky+ etc....that's where the programmable remote (in my case Harmony 688) comes into it's own as expertly and kindly recommended by posters of this forum.

I LOVE these minalminist houses! I just wish my house was the same! but with a Little 'un and a wife who thinks that a space is for parking something in, ours is more like Steptoes yard (too old for some of our younger posters! :cool: )
You have angled it downwards, was that for a particular reason or just the way it ended up?
 
Everyone,

Thanks for the wealth of feedback! Looks like I'm at least not making a serious error of judgement in buying this thing then.

Thanks for the wise words on soot & rain, and there was I thinking it might be good for it to get a regular washing and dust down.

Another question, is there any guidance good practice for the correct height to mount these things, I've heard that some people get their screen mounted above a fireplace and then get it moved again cos it's too high.

By the way, I am very impressed with this forum, :clap: lots of help and a good wide topic list!

Cheers everyone. :thumbsup:
 
First of all, we decided on placing it above the fireplace as we have a very long lounge and wanted to make sure that all our seats had equal viewing distance, we then had a concern about the height.
This was solved by buying a tilt mounting bracket which was angled to give the best perspective when spralled out on the recliners....it works perfectly. Bit I concede that it looks a bit strange when looking at the screen standing up and when it is switched off but seated, relaxed and viewing the angle and height are perfect for our situation, plus missus, 3 kids and me do not have to argue about the best seat as happened previously when we had a widescreen in the traditional corner down the one end of the room.
 
Alan A said:
I LOVE these minalminist houses! I just wish my house was the same! but with a Little 'un and a wife who thinks that a space is for parking something in, ours is more like Steptoes yard (too old for some of our younger posters! :cool: )
You have angled it downwards, was that for a particular reason or just the way it ended up?

It is a constant battle!!! We have a rule that the lounge is the home cinema/family room, the kids have their own rooms plus a toy/play/computer room for all of their junk BUT STILL things find their way into the lounge and 'parked'
The missus is constantly arranging new samples of curtains for the windows to 'soften' the blinds and negate the office look. All I can say is if she settles on some curtains then i hope she finds somebody to fit the rails etc.... cos I just can't do any DIY which hasn't got my heart in it.
 
I have mine about 3 1/2ft off the ground, and I would not want to go any higher, in fact I am thinking of dropping it by maybe 4 or 5".

I don't want to throw a spanner in the works, but the initial reports of the 436 (the replacement) are sounding very, very promising. They are only a few weeks away now.
 
anov24 said:
All I can say is if she settles on some curtains then i hope she finds somebody to fit the rails etc.... cos I just can't do any DIY which hasn't got my heart in it.
]

But I bet the plasma was hung on the wall the day you got it! ;)
 
Mate I had mt 435XDE delivered yesterday from AV Sales (£2400). I have it mounted in the corner of the room on a £600 German glass stand. It looks the absolute dogs ********!, Mate seriously just go for it, I spent ages looking at them and to be honest I wish I had just bought it months ago.
 
Just a thought in the manual it says nothing about running it in. What is the correct way to do this with this plasma...?
 
Put the picture in user mode, then put all thes setting around 45% for the first couple of hundred hours, the Pioneer is pretty good and you don't have to be over careful regarding image retention like you do on some screens.
 
NorthST said:
Mate I had mt 435XDE delivered yesterday from AV Sales (£2400). I have it mounted in the corner of the room on a £600 German glass stand. It looks the absolute dogs ********!, Mate seriously just go for it, I spent ages looking at them and to be honest I wish I had just bought it months ago.

couldn't agree more
 
I could wait for the 436 but I guess that'll be too pricey for my budget, and in any case, it's only a matter of time until the 436 gets replaced by somethign better.

I suppose the upside is that the 435 is cheap as chips (relatively speaking!) as they'll be clearing the stock to make way for the 436

go on everyone, just agree with me, it'll make me feel better
 
Expect a street price of around £3k for the 436, and this will probably be the biggest improvement to the Pioneer range that we have see so far.
No one can argue that the Pioneer screens have loads of detail and wonderful colours, and in a well lit scene they are awesome displays, however so far the black levels have been pretty bad for such a high profile screen, in fact they just don't do blacks, give it a dark scene and the whole thing falls apart, only a die hard Pioneer fan or someone with no experience of what a decent black level is would argue otherwise.
With the promise of a Panasonic beating black level and the pioneer colour and detail the few people who have seen this running are saying it is the best flat panel yet.
Whether that is when fed hdmi Hi-Def and scaled SD is still poor I don't know?
And we live in a 50Hz world too which can completely change things, what looks good when fed 60Hz may not be quite so appealing when fed 50.

I would not buy a 435 anyway, ok so I did but it went back, but to buy one with only a few weeks till the 436 comes out I think is madness.
 

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