HD vs SD

A

anuvid

Guest
Just gotten rid of an LG PYX11. 42 inches of reasonable quality. Need to replace it.

Initially I thought no question - Hi Def is the way to go. But the Hitachi 7200 is around 1800 quid and the Pannys are £ 2200-2500 for 42".

Looking at how high end SD Panny's dropped from over 2k to just over 1k, and with SED due in 12-18 months I'm considering lowering the bar and just spending 1k to 1200 quid on an SD set for now. With a view to replacing in 12-18 months with Hi Def or SED.

I used to be a videophile and picture quality was all, but with a baby, a wife, two cars and work, I don't have time or money to spend on this stuff.

What is everyone's view on this ? At £ 1200 now, I could enjoy it for a year or two and then give it to my parents or use it in my den.

I'd prefer to buy from JL and get the 5 year warranty. Any recommendations/price matches ?
 
Must it be a TV or would you go the panel route?

If you are willing to go the panel route you open up more possibilities and will likely get better results.
 
Oh yes I would look at LCD or plasma. Seen a Samsung 42" plasma on Dixons for 1599. The PE50 was a plasma I was looking at but I gather from forums that Pannys have banding issues. So was considering Hitachi. Basically whatever John Lewis sells is what I' limiting my choice to.
 
Er ok I've maid a faux pas. Obviously Pannys are perfect. But I'd rather have 42 inches of flatscreen pleasure and that takes me over 2 grand for a hi def set now which will only cost half that in a few months. Hence I think I may as well buy a prestige make standard def like the PE50 or whichever Hitachi people recommend, or a slightly less prestige Hi Def plasma like the Samsung for 1599 who also do a 42" LCD for the same.
 
sorry, i realise why it came across that way but i'm not wedded to any brand (i'll buy whatever I think is best at any point in time) just never heard of pannys being accused of banding.....why not see if you can still get a pwd7 for about £1200... if you are willing to go the panel route
 
Anuvid, my feelings are exactly how you have posted in the first thread. Paid £1200 (net) for a 37PE50 with full stand, and I'm impressed with the quality. Theres no HD yet. We don't know exactly when its coming. We don't know how much it will cost. And we have no idea what the quantity or quality will be like.

So I decided on the SD route, at £1200 its cheap as chips. By the time HD starts to show in in any quantity on any format, the HD screens will be another generation ahead. Then I can decide whether I want to spend more money on a screen if the material is good enough to warrant it :)
 
Thanks UrbanT glad to know I'm not insane. UKseles1 and MEP on reflection a panel's no good to me. Though I have surround sound home cinema setup in the living room, my 15 month old prevents me from using it because he sleeps when I want to watch, so a TV it would have to be. So now which one ?

John Lewis don't seem to have much - and seem to be stocking expensive Hi Def models rather than the 1000-1200 mark. But I'd like the 5 year Warranty

If I don't go JL, anyone got recommendations for SD sets ?

Though to be honest I'm still tempted by the Pioneer PDP-435FDE or Panny 42" PV500
 
Where did you get the 37" PE50 for £ 1200 net ? And what's the cheapest you've seen the 42 ? Ideally I'd like 42".
 
anuvid said:
Where did you get the 37" PE50 for £ 1200 net ? And what's the cheapest you've seen the 42 ? Ideally I'd like 42".

I bought mine from www.letsgodigital.co.uk. The service has been first rate. The price was £1331, and I sold the free DVD recorder for £125, meaning it cost me £1200 net.

The 42" sells for around £1550 from most retailers, including the people I used :)
 
Well I just found the 37 for 1099 inc, and I can get the Liton DVD Recorder for an extra 50 with it. It's a +R Recorder. I already have a Panasonic recorder but it takes a while to startup and I want something quicker. Doesn't play VCDs either.
 
I'm talking about the price with the full stand. If you take the pedestal or wall mount, then £1100 is pretty normal.

As an aside, and quite funny. The guy who I sold my 36" CRT to came over last night for a social evening with his missus. Today, he has sold the 36" CRT on, as he now wants a plasma :) (he only had the CRT for 2 days!)
 
I must admit after losing my LG PYX11 I've had to revert to a 28" Sanyo Widescreen, and CRT still produces a good picture. We're all a little tainted really. I mean LCD looks great with animations, plasma for sheer size, but CRT and DLP do rock picture wise until SED comes out.

I'll weigh up whether an extra 5 inches warrants and extra 400 before ordering on Monday. The 37" at 1099 comes with the pedestal stand. The 1399 gets the 42" with a fixed wall bracket.

I bought a (still boxed) tilting bracket for the LG, but heard the Panny wall bracket is better for the panny.
 
anuvid said:
Oh and the 42PE50WAL is 1399 inc. Not sure an extra 5 inches is worth 400.
It's years since I got my first plasma and did the maths but as I remember it, the 42" has something like a 40% increase in viewing area compared to the 37". If that's correct (and do check it if it's important) the 42" seems good value for money.
 
Crobo thanks for that. The wife's insisting 42" seemed alot bigger and I mentioned the equation you have come up with. So I think 42 is the way. Now if only I could get John Lewis to pricematch £ 1400 for the 42" PE50, instead of 1800-1900 with free DVD player.
 
37" looks tame on a wall to me (but if i bought a plasma it would probably be a 37" sitting on a pedestal), they seem to shrink when you hang them up!
 
Ebuyer comes up as £ 1398 inc for the 42PE50WAL. Add a Liteon DVD recorder for £ 50. No way I can get John Lewis to Price Match as eBuyer are online only, and JL do the free DVD recorder. The cheapest 42" Panny package JL do is £ 1800.
 
Just a friendly word of advice. With so many quality etailers in the market, why would you consider Ebuyer? Their service is 2nd rate, and the price they are charging is nothing special.

You can buy the same TV from www.letsgodigital.co.uk for £1330 inc next day delivery, and their service was superb. Ebuyers price is £1420 inc delivery, so you still have plenty of change for the Liteon if thats the player you especially want. :)
 
Just to add my ore in...

Ebuyer was great for me, delivered when they said they would and a great price.
 
To be fair though, the deal they had made the risk worthwhile. If you have a problem, you will find out why Ebuyer have a bad reputation. But at £999, the deal was superb.

However, when they are charging normal prices (or more in this case), there are better etailers to buy from.
 
A good point well made. In fact I've found the same price you mention at RGB Direct, and now I'm going to speak to JL about price matching.
 
I checked out JL when I was shopping for a 42PE50 and found that they were very expensive. Great if you can price match, but I couldn't beat web prices and they won't match those. I never worry about extended warranties. :eek:
 

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