Hi, I am in the process of buying a Plasma screen, and after a lot of searching, the NEC 42MP3 seems to be very highly recommended. Everybody else seems to be getting Panasonics, why? Also, the 42MP4 seems only to be a bit more expensive, is that a better buy? Would appreciate anybodys views on this.
I've used a few of the older 42MP1/2 models and they were pretty good in their day. The MP4 is the latest incarnation of their 42" model and has the best performance. It's well worth looking at against the Pioneer 433MXE, the 433HDE lacks the input versatility but has SCARTS.
Thanks for that Retro, It seems to be quite difficult to find a location where you can see a NEC screen. Do you know of any dealers in the South ? Would you consider it to be better then similar priced units?
I don't know of any dealers that have it on demo, we used to have an MP2 on demo at The Sound Gallery, last year. Try Gving Owl Video a call since I think they distribute them, also another distributor called harvard technology. Since the 42MP's can be found fairly cheap, usually under £4k, they are pretty good value, i've not seen any better for the money, the Pioneer being around the £5-6k mark.
I was checking the spec of the MP4 versus the MP3 and noticed that the contrast on the MP4 is 800:1 while the MP3 is 1500:1. I would expect the higher contrast to be better, is that not the case?
I wouldn't seriously expect any PDP to have a contrast ratio higher than 800:1 yet. There are a lot of claims, but most still cannot make a good 'black'. Just had a look at the NEC UK site, the big difference between the 3 and 4 is that the 3 has a res of 848x480 and the 4 is 1024x768. That alone would stop me buying the MP3.
Ok, point taken, I have been convinced. I have e-mailed Owl Video for a quote / demo of the unit if they have it in stock. I will compare it against a Pioneer as well. Thanks for your input.
PVR, When looking around for demos/ bargains before buying my 433MXE, I called this place, but never ended up going down there (they're in Farnborough, Hants): http://www.plasma-uk.com/ According to their price list, they sell the MP3, MP4 and the Pioneers (just about everything actually), so might be worth giving them a call to see if they can do a demo. I seriously considered the NEC MP4 as I wanted an XGA-res panel, but the price drop on the Pioneer 433MXE, plus the fact the MP4 is black against the MXE's gray made my mind up. Connectivity and technology wise the MP4 looks great. Happy plasma shopping, Phil
Thanks for that Phil, Did you see the NEC in the flesh at all, i.e. to compare the picture of it? I see in the spec for the NEC a 800:1 contrast, and for the Pioneer a 1000:1. Can you see the difference? PVR
PVR, No, I've not seen the MP3/4 in the flesh and I never saw the 433MXE either - I wighed up the volume of support it gets here and on avsforum, plus the knowledge that it had "a better picture than the 433HDE", which I had seen next to the Panny 4. The contrast ratio is an awkward figure to use as each manufacturer seems to measure/ state it differently. In the case of the MP4, I would expect it to have blacker blacks than the Pioneer, but maybe not as good as the Pannys. However, thats only one part of the picture quality issue, so I'd really try to see one next to a Panny, Fujitsu or Pioneer if you can. Failing that, maybe you can search/post over at avsforum to see if any MP4 owners out there have done a side-by-side comparison. Phil