to go HD or to not go HD

SILVERBACK

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its been going round in my mind for the last few days now and its getting worse and worse lol.basically after seeing all this talk of the pv500 and the rave reviews i thought my mind was made up but there is one problem :( the price tag.i actually have the cash but it wipes out the majority (90 %) of my bank balance in one fell swoop and while i do like the set its self its a pretty big dent considering i can get a SD panel (42pw7) from avsales with all my connection options for exactly £1000 less.


the xbox 360 will be lovely on it obviously but apart from that its gonna be sky hd and god knows how much that will cost for the hardware and then the extra subscription price hike.most of my viewing (say 60%0 is sky+ then xbox and dvd and i really dont want to spend god knows how much on a new dvd player to get hdmi or even HD when it comes out after spending £2300 on a screen.

the problem as i see it with my purchase of a pv500 is to get the best out of the screen the dvd player and sky will need to be upgraded :mad: my current dvd player is a tosh sd900 which doesnt have hdmi or HD compatabillity (obviously) so that will be a relic when the new HD players come out :rotfl:

and on the flip side i can get a plasma tv which isnt HD ready for a thousand less and all my equipment is in balance with the purchase of the pw7 :rolleyes: the one thing thats ****** me off a bit is if i hadnt of hesistated last time i was looking at a plasma i could be enjoying it right now :rotfl:

HE WHO HESITATES MASTURBATES :thumbsup: :rotfl:
 
Thought about compromise? PHD7 gives you top notch processing, almost zero solarisation, and can be had for noticeably less than the PV500. It can be HD ready with a scaler later if you need it to be, and comes with (to my eyes) a much more attractive, less bulky and distracting bezel, no internal speakers to confuse when you run surround sound anyway. There is a moderate chance with HD players that we will all use the same ones, which will be 60Hz machines too, hence compatible. Of course all that holds for the PWD too, except for the HD resolution, and superior processing.
 
Mate, are you desperate for a TV now, or can you wait a few months, because there is no real HDTV feeds yet. Just wait for the other brands to start selling HD Ready plasmas, like Sony and surely the price will drop.
 
LOL Don't think Sony are going to cause a price revolution. They have new models on the way, they are likely to be top of the market, not low price drivers.
 
I mean Sony releasing theres say one at a £2,500 region, may cause other HD Ready models to lower there prices. I'm jsut saying if you are not desperate for one now, wait for XBOX360 to come out. Like if you dont have a TV now.
 
I was in a similar boat. Do I go hi-def or not.

I have decided to go for pwd7 (hadnt even thought about the phd7!!!). From all acounts its a great panel at a good price, and will do me just fine for the forseable future. I don't have sky and can't see myself getting it. People talk about blu-ray etc but I am happy with normal dvd's.

This will change, I have no doubt but by then the market will have settled down and the next big thing will be on the horizon :) I completely understand why people have gone the hi-def route but don't be suckered in if you are completely happy with sd
 
The very best time to get an HD panel is when HD is much more widely available. I was an earlyish adopter of DVD. I paid several hundred pounds for a DVD player, a hundred more to have it chipped for multi region. There were only about three hundred region 2 title available and the quality of some of them was awful - non anamorphic and even flippers. A couple of years later and DVD players are ten a penny most very easily hacked to multi region and loads of good quality region 2 titles. I'm on my second DVD player now which cost less than my first but is much better.

So you can be an early adopter now and benefit from the limited HD available now, or settle for an excellent SD panel now and buy something much, much better in a few years time. This is exactly what I've done and I am very pleased with my PWD6, but look forward to my next screen in a few years time which hopefully will be bigger and be HD.
 
I think you really have to decide when you think you will use
HD...if you are planning to get an XBOX etc in the near future,
then it may be worth paying the extra now..otherwise, it does
make sense to buy a cheaper non-HD panel now and get a great
deal on a whole new system in a few years, when mass marketing
brings down prices.
 
Have you demo'd the PW7 ? You may just think that it is fantastic anyway.

While the the talk of HD is around it is not in mass market form just yet and won't be for a long time. Even current media such as DVD's have to be upscaled and you will have to wait for Blu-ray and the like to offer HD material per se. Things like that do not happen overnight, can you imagine all those DVD's out there to become redundant overnight ? It ain't going to happen like that.

Also you don't know what Sky is going to offer you ? Some of their channels have variable quality at present so I wouldn't go buying any of my kit soley with Sky HD in mind.

The sets appearing now are early adopters. Once HD becomes more readily available then a lot more will follow and will be a lot cheaper and with more features than present.

Panny are still making and selling shed loads of SD screens for a reason.... :)
 
Hi
I wouldnt think plasma 42" pana, sony ,pioneer,will drop much more in price as there is always a limit on what they can do.Don't forget you were paying around 2k for most of the top brands 36"crts only a couple of years ago.
Cheers Gonzo.
 
firstly thanks for all the replys :)

MAW you have some valid points there and i might take a look at the phd7 ;) like i said the first thing i will be getting that is hi def will be the XBOX 360 but as for sky and a new dvd player im just not sure to be honest.im not 100% sure as i havent read anything that can tell me otherwise but im sure you will need a new box for sky,KERCHING.you might not get a sky+ type hard drive recorder and it could just be a standalone box which is a bummer because i love my sky+ lol then theres the extra subscription fee :(

but on the brightside atleast its nice just to be able to think about getting a plasma i suppose :)
 
i dont need it now really but im the kinda person who when he wants something i cant wait lol wether i need it or not is a completely different matter.but if i have learnt one lesson its if you wait for the latest stuff you will always be waiting.i understand where your coming from though mate but to be honest and i know i sound like a proper little fanboy i have seen a few plasmas from nec`s to pioneer`s and the only ones i ahve ever been happy to watch where panasonics.
 
MAW said:
Thought about compromise? PHD7 gives you top notch processing, almost zero solarisation, and can be had for noticeably less than the PV500. It can be HD ready with a scaler later if you need it to be, and comes with (to my eyes) a much more attractive, less bulky and distracting bezel, no internal speakers to confuse when you run surround sound anyway. There is a moderate chance with HD players that we will all use the same ones, which will be 60Hz machines too, hence compatible. Of course all that holds for the PWD too, except for the HD resolution, and superior processing.

MAW,

Where can you find a HD7 noticeably cheaper than PV500??

Cheapest I can see is £2300 without a stand/bracket at AVSALES
 
I am looking at a plasma screen too as I have got the wifes permission lol and while being attracted to the HD stuff it is a lot of money and then gets harder to justify.

I am after something that will have a few years in it, but with 400 odd DVD's thee is no way I will be changing them all at the moment
 
SILVERBACK said:
the xbox 360 will be lovely on it obviously but apart from that its gonna be sky hd and god knows how much that will cost for the hardware and then the extra subscription price hike.
Dude,

It'll be six months until the Xbox 360 is available (and I will buy mine before you ;) ). Until then the price the PV500 will drop at least 15%.

So... Make up your mind. If you want to be among the first then you pay for a first row ticket. Second rows are cheaper...
 
thanks for all the info it gave me food for thought but i have decided to go with the 37" pv500 :) and im getting a good deal from my local and reliable retailer :thumbsup:
 

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