Shopping for LCD/Plasma

As I decided to focus only on LCDs now. Visited the showrooms for demo. Here is my take on what I observed. And the focus was purely on Sony and Samsung.

Visited E-xite Electronics Koramangala (new huge show room which is not yet published/advertised). I was the only one present on the tv/ht floor. There were three TVs, samsung 40" 5 series, Sony 40v400 and 40s400. First fed the sam and sony 40v with live cricket, and I like the what I saw on 40v, sam tv was comparatively dull. I played around with the settings on both, but still I liked the sony. Then fed the same content to 40v and 40s, though there is only change is in DMP and the looks, 40v images were still sharper than 40s.

And in the evening, I saw few LCDs connected to BigTV at Total mall Madivala, and surprisingly, images were really good compared to Tata sky, which was connected to few other LCDs. This is just feedback on the DTH service and not on LCDs.

well i agree that big tv is better video quality wise, since i have one ,but the same cannot be said for after sales and support, by far the worst customer satisfaction.

now big tv claims that it gives a 16:9 signal,the fact is they dont give the signal in 16:9 mode ,but after 6 months of hearing them say its was temporary problem and that it will be solved after the commercial launch which hasn't happend, i was so pissed of called the CC spoke to them for 2hrs they argued that my tv setting should be changed in order to view in full screen(they ment streching the image in tv),the CC care person would not accept that they dont give a 16:9signal,and he said he has tested and he is getting a wide screen signal and he cut the call after heated argument,and after 15 min got a call from the manager of big tv bangalore,he sent 2 service engineers to find out the problem,they came and scratched their heads for 2 hrs and they left .they still couldnt figure out the 16:9 signal problem ,even with assistance from their senior tech team persons via phone,finally they accepted the problem and the bangalore manager said he is forwarding this problem to HQ,now after 3 days even today big CC still say they are giving a wide screen signal and continue to lie to its customer.
and initialy they lied about the STB being HD capable from what i have seen the BIG tv stb is not capable of running its own interface ,despite they changing my STB several times.it sometimes takes ages to change the channels .
so my advice stay away from big tv there normal service time for them to respond to a complaint is a minimum of 2 weeks ,that too only with constant pestering.

Go for a projector.. if you have 75k to spend, you will certainly get a XGA projector ( i think the panny 200Au 720p costs just about that.)
Nothing beats a projector for its sheer presence of image and lets get it out..projectors are not very expensive to run .. if used wisely...
use a normal tv for regular stuff like news etc.. and use the PJ to watch movies.. nothing beats the combo.

And if you really buy a lcd/plasma.. go for 1080p.. nothing less.. look for the next three year timeframe.. and be equipped to enjoy the goodies of the not so distant future.

start banter ...
i just got myself an epson 1080p projector.. loving it.my set up is very temporary and i dont even have an amp and speakers for sound.. just the image on the wall and sound from my dell xps desktop speakers..recession time so going slow :-(

end banter...

not all are prepared to spends thousands on a replacement lamps.

Hello all

Panasonic plasma prices are slashed 42" PV 80 available for 59k in sumaria.

I just saw the site I don't know whether it is a mistake or not.

Plasma TVs Home Page - Sumaria.in.

it was 68k in sumaria couple of days back.

Bro...

Panasonic 2000AE will cost you approx. Rs.65K
but its replacement lamp costs Rs.21K...

so home viewing will be very expensive...

PV8 is available for 53k at Panasonic brand shop in Bangalore. After bargaining they agreed for 51k. I think it is a steal at this price!

Selective I can't fathom how you saw a difference between the S series and the V series....they are identical televisions!!! except for the digital media port and some other tiny aspect....the panels are identical....the electronics is identical...the processing is identical.....

with regard to plasma and LCD......as adder said...plasma may not be a good idea for gaming.....although burn-in is almost a thing of the past....temporary image retention is something that still happens. I've not yet experienced it on my plasma in a couple of months.....but I am very careful.....

In terms of the picture, I personally think plasmas give you more pleasure than LCDs....colours on my samsung plasma are better than any LCD that i've seen and possibly even the Panasonic plasma. Motion tracking and black levels are very good....but Panasonic does better blacks. At the end of the day, most of these latest generation displays are damn good at what they do....so look for features, look for price and value....and then compare the TVs.

Right now if the PV8 is available for 51k it is a steal.....but do check how much the samsung 410 plasma costs....if it's also at a comparable price....check that out also.....i have that one at home, and I can assure you that the picture on it (with upscaled DVDs) is stellar....

I don't think any 40-inch LCDs will be available for near this price?

hey mridul....how long does a lamp usually last? how many hours?