Shop says Panny no good

[OddBod]

Walked in to Sevenoaks Sound and Vision today and asked about the series 6 Panny screens.

The guy there proceeded to tell me a few off putting things:
- The Panny's were old tech
- The pic quality was no better than my 32" CRT
- I would just be paying for the brand name
- Other brands, namely Fujitsu and Pioneer, were a much better purchase although they were getting on for 1k more to buy.
- A lot of people purchased the panny because they were misinformed
- He couldn't understand why the magazines rated them so highly
- Next gen pannys would be out shortly

He also told me to go to JL and check out all the screens together to see the quality difference for myself. I couldn't do it at Sevenoaks as they only had the Fujitsu in stock - this gave some credibility to his advice as I wondered why he would tell me to go to another shop if he was 'pulling a fast one' on me.

Anyway, I was a bit surprised to say the least.

Can anyone back this up or should I just put it down to the guy trying to sell another brand he would get more commision on? I for one thought that the series 6 was a relatively new product.
I know there are higher res products on the market, but as long as the pic is at least as good as my CRT then I'd be happy.

Btw, I walked out of the shop with the money still in the bank as the guy really made me step back and think I'd done insufficient research on getting the right plasma for my money (3k ish).

Dave

 

[gingerone]

Well I'm sure that sales agent knows more than most of the plasma owning comunity!
Most people consider the panasonics to be up there with the best, I have a pa20 ( which is a pw6 screen ) and the picture is superb, far better than my phillips widescreen crt.

 

[sonofmoth]

I guess the word 'relatively' is the key. I believe the series 7 are out mid this year so all manufacturers are in catch up mode with each other. I bet if you went say October last year before the Pioneer was out then the Panasonic would have been the dog's whatsits.

 

[OddBod]

Okie ty - thats just the reassurance I needed to get me back on track to getting a PA20. The guy did seem odd which was surprising considering I've heard only good things about Sevenoaks.

Currently looking to buy at either JL if I can get them to price match (I like the 5 year free guarantee) or Currys where I can get the store to match their web special price (3.2k) and get it on 12 months interest free

Dave

 

[CARLOS]

I use the local Sevenoaks branch and find them very friendly and helpful but i think they must get better deals and margins on Fujitsu as this is the brand they tend to push.

I purchased a Panasonic series 6 a few weeks ago from AV-Sales (who were very helpful) and am over the moon with it, The picture on DVD is stunning and even freeeview and Sky is pretty good especially after reading lots of stories on here about how bad it can be

 

[YS-YS]

its a good 3k screen, but no plasma out there can compete with a crt on picture for normal tele.
the fuji is a very good screen if you are willing to pay that little extra, there is nothing really wrong with the panny but i would suspect that the sales guy was trying to show you what you could have.
it is well worth taking a look at the screens and not the specs to see what is best.
and in my oppinon, the fuji 42hha30 is the 2nd best screen on the market, only bettered by the fuji 42hhs30.
but we all like things slightly different, so get out there in this lovely weather and look for yourself.

good luck.

 

[Jasonjo]

Walked in to Sevenoaks Sound and Vision today and asked about the series 6 Panny screens.

The guy there proceeded to tell me a few off putting things:
- The Panny's were old tech
- The pic quality was no better than my 32" CRT
- I would just be paying for the brand name
- Other brands, namely Fujitsu and Pioneer, were a much better purchase although they were getting on for 1k more to buy.
- A lot of people purchased the panny because they were misinformed
- He couldn't understand why the magazines rated them so highly
- Next gen pannys would be out shortly

He also told me to go to JL and check out all the screens together to see the quality difference for myself. I couldn't do it at Sevenoaks as they only had the Fujitsu in stock - this gave some credibility to his advice as I wondered why he would tell me to go to another shop if he was 'pulling a fast one' on me.

Anyway, I was a bit surprised to say the least.

Can anyone back this up or should I just put it down to the guy trying to sell another brand he would get more commision on? I for one thought that the series 6 was a relatively new product.
I know there are higher res products on the market, but as long as the pic is at least as good as my CRT then I'd be happy.

Btw, I walked out of the shop with the money still in the bank as the guy really made me step back and think I'd done insufficient research on getting the right plasma for my money (3k ish).

Dave

.

Hmmm...I phoned around Sevenoaks before finding "proper" AV dealers like AV-Sales, The Media Factory, Ivojo etc.

Funny how they rate the Pioneer and Fuji's - what makes do they sell again?? oh yes, Pioneer and Fuji but NOT Panasonic.

JL do a good warranty, but not the best place to view plasma's at their best (as they normally just distribute an RF signal to all plasmas), again a proper AV dealer would better.

I would try to see all the models you are interested in, preferably with both a DVD and Sky feed to see how they handle normal TV and films.

If you need recommendations, just search on the panny here and on www.avsforum.com for the american version 42PWD6UY. As you will see there are quite a few people who do rate it...including me

I used to think Sevenoaks were OK, but I phoned them a while back and said I was looking at the Panny 6 and received similar feedback from them...the conversation went as follows:

Me - "Hi, I am looking at a Panny 6 - can you supply one?"
Seveoaks - "Why do you want one of those, the Pioneer 434 is much better"
Me - "Well I have demoed the Panny 6 and prefer it to the 434"
Sevenoaks - "But it can't be, because all the magazines say it is the best on the market!!!"
Me - "But surely it is a personal view, just like choosing hifi speakers etc..."
Sevenoaks - "Well, we tend to recommend what the magazines say..."
Me - "Click....hangup"

I then went to AV-sales...where I have now ordered my PWD6...

Good luck and I'd recommend you spend a bit of time on the forum researching...

Cheers

JJ

 

[YS-YS]

oh thats interesting, because one of my work collegues bought one from sevenoaks manchester.

and if JL have crap pictures on all their screens surely its a good way to test which screen makes the biggest improvements

 

[hornydragon]

Fujitsu use pannasonic glass in a number of their screens!
Fujitsu are very good but are more (they are better) PW6 is not old technology.

 

[Supra]

My two pence worth, Go and view somewher you vcan actually comaprer screens. I went to nexnix last year to compare. No pushy sales staf. judge for yourself, they will provide a sky feed and dvd feed.

They will aslo show the differences in the screens, for me it was a close with the pioneer and panny(5 series at the time). I only went to look, didn't take cash. But took the Mrs and she agreed the panny was the best one one the day.

I had done alot of research before going, I will say it again 'you have to judge form yourself, whatever you get will have that WOW factor.

good luck with your purchase.

Ps. ignore the creative spelling, I didn't check before posting.

 

[steve36]

Regarding 7oaks, it is not like Curry's - one big company.
I've found that the MCR branch was better than some regarding sensible advice.
I did like the Fujitsu screens (last years HHA10) when I saw it last year showing a static display with very good detail, but once the picture moved I did'nt think it handled movement as well as the Panasonic with some picture break up.
This problem may have changed this year as they replace the models in spring, Panasonic between July/September (usually September before enough stock appears).
I'd try AV-SALES or NEXNIX where you can spend many happy hours testing using Sky/DVD's.
Steve

 

[rscott4563]

I would have to say take everything you hear in a Sevenoaks store with a very large pinch of salt unless you happen to know who your talking to, every store seems different and have their own special interests, my local Sevenoaks seems very much in to two channel audio and a bit of PJ home cinema and haven't got a clue about plasma's and I really do mean NOT A CLUE!! I actually felt sorry for the guy I was last talking to and tried to impart some knowledge on him but don't think it really sunk in....

Every store is different so some might be better than others though.

In my experience of Sevenoaks in general, they definitely have certain brands on the must sell list, which they will push over all other brands, ie Denon, Fujitsu, QED don't know whether it is commision based or just orders from head office?? But it seems to be based on things other than what the customer actually needs or wants, a good example is telling the customer they are wrong in thinking plasma/amp/PJ A is better than B, even though its their own opinion....

They do however offer a lot better service than you would ever get in a Dixons/Currys/JL/HouseFraser etc and their after sales is normally very good, they can also be very competitively priced, so thumbs up there.

Obviously all just IMO

Cheers

Ryan

 

[hornydragon]

Might have something to do with the fact tha Sevenoaks are a franchise.

 

[rscott4563]

Would that still mean they still get orders of what to push from head office or is it all down to each store and the commision rates they can get for different products??

 

[hornydragon]

i think it is down to each store but they use combined buying to negotiate better rates from suppliers. So they push brands that they get the best deals on (hence making the most money) the Mag adds etc are headoffice organised just like McDonalds

 

[steve36]

I found another problem recently, only certain 7oaks product sell certain products.
I tried to view the HHS fujitsu a year ago and gave up as only a few shops ever had them to see.
One other thing to watch, in some regions 2 or more shops are owned by the same people so they'll probably sell similar products.

Steve.

 

[bobbypunk]

I've never seen a pw6 so suprisingly i tell people that i've never seen one so I wouldn't comment.
The PW5 was excellent, the pa20 is good value so that would give it a fairly good pedigree, I like the sound of the cards available as options, makes you think there's an upgrade possibility.
From what I've seen the PDP434 is better than all of the ones I HAVE seen but then I don't have to pay the exrtra cash.
(Just looking forward to pioneer to have enough so I can get a display one!!)