Panasonic LCD/LED/Plasma

[[email protected]]

hello everyone,

joined hi-fi vision today, so expecting some warm welcome

now to the business -
i have read several threads and replies, but could not find what am looking for. so here it is.

looking forward to buying a LCD/LED/Plasma and a Blue-Ray player. my usage is mostly sports and movies (DVD/BD and other digital format). tata-sky DTH. its a family living room (not a closed room) and viewing distance is approximately 10 feet

my budget is 1,00,000 - for the full-HD TV, BD (must), and would be happy if i could fit in a small home theater system, for watching movies within my budget (optional)

based on several reviews on this forum, and few others, am inclined towards plasma. Panasonic 42" (minimum) or even 46".

but finally will go buy expert advise i receive from here

 

[[email protected]]

well, I dont see any response to my query. it wasn't a hard nut to crack for the experts on this forum. am continuing my research in other forums, due to poor response here. am inclined to go with panasonic V series 50".

you still have time to influence me

 

[VSG12777]

Hi Sathish

Sorry to note you didn't get any response so far. I just noticed your thread so here are my thoughts.

Since your total budget itself is 100k for the tv, BD player and if possible, a home theatre, I would suggest a good 42 inch plasma (HD ready model should be good enough for watching SD content like DTH and DVD rips while HD content also looks fabulous) and a blu ray player.

LG latest PJ series 42 inch plasmas - cost 35-45k depending on city and retailer

Panasonic latest plasma series not yet out in India; previous gen ones available, like the 42C10, X10, S10 etc; C10 model should be around 35-42k

Samsung C450 / C550 series plasmas also likely to be out shortly; already available in some places; C450 would be available in 42 and 50 inch, while C550 (full HD) would only be in 50 inch; cost for the 42 inchers should be around the same as LG and Panasonic

So say you spend 45k (upper limit) on a good 42 inch plasma, you can get a good BD player for around 15-20k (entry level model from LG, Panasonic, Sony) and you would have around 35k left for the home theatre system. For this price, if you are ok with a HTIB, you can go in for the Onkyo 6200 (which would cost around 40-45k) since it comes with a separate receiver and powered subwoofer.

Or alternatively, if you can compromise on the HT system and would like to go in for a bigger display, you can go in for a 50 inch plasma.

LG latest PJ series 50 inch plasma should be available for around 55k or so;
LG PK series 50 inch plasma (full HD, USB, Divx, bluetooth, 4 HDMI) - approx 66k;
Samsung C550 series full HD 50 inch plasmas - probably around 65-70k
Panasonic 50 inch models - insanely expensive - above 1L

The LG PJ and PK series plasmas appear to be razor thin and there is a member who's recently got the PK550 50 inch model and is quite happy with it. He has got it for 69k from Croma in B'lore. This LG model also has good reviews on the internet.

So a 50 inch model plus a BD player would be 65k + 20k = 85k. Only 15k would be left in your budget and maybe you can plan for a full blown HT system a bit later.

Instead of the BD player, you may also consider an external 2TB hard drive for your HD downloaded content and a nice full HD media player like the WDTV Live which would cost around 6.5-7k. The 2TB HDD would cost around 9-10k. I personally use the WDTV media player with my LG 42PQ70 plasma and my Sony 5.1 HTIB (2003 model) and am very happy. Excellent performance. I have more than 1 ext HDD of 1TB capacity. Planning to get a new 2TB one now, as I am running out of space.

Hope that helps!

Warm regards,
Venkat

 

[sam9s]

Plasma ::
LG PK550 50" <70K
Panasonic 50G25 Doubt if it available
Samsung C550 ~70K

LCD ::
SONY NX series NX700 40" shoudl be arounf 1,20K
LG Scarlet Series VFM .... 47" should be ~ 70K

 

[BLASTO]

well, I dont see any response to my query. it wasn't a hard nut to crack for the experts on this forum. am continuing my research in other forums, due to poor response here. am inclined to go with panasonic V series 50".

you still have time to influence me

Panasonic V series 50" + BD player + HT for 1L??
Which country are you in?? US? Even then I doubt you'll be able to get these. Somebody seem to have misguided you.
The V series plasma itself will cost >1.3L.

My suggesion is 42" G10 which is around 65k or a Samsung 50" C550 for 70k and rest for BD player and entry level HT if budget permits.

 

[Raghav]

You have already been suggested 50" TV for 65k

There is a new sony BDP S370 available for Rs9999

That leaves you with 25k which will get you an entry level Onkyo / HK-JBL / Yamaha HTiB

 

[spirovious]

Just saw add saying Pany comes with 600Hz.

 

[BLASTO]

Just saw add saying Pany comes with 600Hz.

Even the 2009 models except the S10 have 600Hz subfield drive if that is what you mean. (S10 comes with 550Hz according to specs)

 

[[email protected]]

Great inputs ! I had not even thought about some products. Well am glad I waited patiently. Keep them coming !

Am willing to let go HT, and even BD player for a good plasma. I can get a BD player from US/Singapore soon. But for sure want to go for the best plasma now, and build as my budget permits.

This weekend, I plan to visit some showrooms here in Bangalore, and check it out. My target is to buy on/before the world cup football starts, so have couple of weeks to go.

Thank you all once again.

 

[VSG12777]

Hey Sathish

Any updates on your plasma purchase? Did you check out any of the mentioned models? Do let us know.

 

[[email protected]]

I could not visit any showroom past weekend, due to some emergency. I plan to visit modern world / croma, but what ever it is, likely to buy from Devi's in Jayanagar. . Any suggestions on dealer/showroom ?

 

[[email protected]]

well am half-way through my window shopping. visited both modern world in domlur and croma in kalyan nagar. hasn't helped me much make up my mind.

modern world had just one model of panasonic 50" plasma. no LG. the salesperson earnestly tried to demo the product using BDP, DVD player, USB, etc. i had taken sample files in my HDD which was not recognized by the plasma (both panasonic and samsung). he told me that it recognizes only up to 4GB or 8GB max. Tried connecting it through BDP / DVD player as well, but no luck. the sales person connected the tata sky DTH through sony BDP and philips DVD player, last mile being HDMI cable. though he claimed it to be superior than normal, i did not witness it.

almost similar result in croma, where they had LG PK550. did not take my HDD this time (plan to take HDD today). the LG seemed better than panasonic, to my naked eyes.

am visiting few more showrooms today before finalizing. but here is a dilemma. i believe plasma sucks lot of power, hence when there is no main power, not sure if my inverter will sustain it (i have 800 VA). am getting back to square-one. should i go for LED/LCD (not full LED) or stick to plasma ??

i have a week to go before i buy it.

 

[[email protected]]

my visits are done. couple of showrooms (adishwar/unilet) did not have anything bigger than 46". the visit wasn't worth it.

Went back to croma to try LG PK550. Was able to access .VOB, .DivX and .AVI files from my HDD. All seemed to work just fine ! I even tried to watch on fast forward and pause. Watched Formula1 live. Though DTH isn't as impressive, but overall am quite impressed with PK550. The price is 72K, including a PS2 console. I might drop the PS2 console and seek couple of thousands discount.

Still concerned about power consumption (not the cost but load on my inverter). If somebody can throw some light on how to tackle this, it would help. am willing to invest on a dedicated inverter for my plasma, and subsequently on HT.

Though am tempted to look at a full LED or LED LCD, I might end up with LG PK550.

 

[[email protected]]

Well, I bought a panasonic P50U20D few days ago ! The reliability factor clinched the deal for panasonic.

It looks huge and fabulous. Of course, the true features are yet to witnessed, because right now am watching tata sky alone. It is in factory mode - I have not changed any settings.

I see some challenges in leveraging this TV - because it does not have USB, and most of my movies are in digital format. I might go for a cheap DVD player with HDMI output and USB port. Another thought is to connect my PC/laptop to the TV. The TV has SD card slot and supports video (AVCHD and MPEG2 formats). Need to explore all these features over a period of time.

Though I had planned, did not buy the BDP. Will wait for a month/two for new panasonic BDP, and hopefully it will come with competitive price.

Any thoughts / inputs / suggestions ?

 

[sumeet75]

How has the P50U20D working so far? Are there any issues with SD Tata Sky quality on 50" TV?

 

[angynagpal]

How much did the panasonic P50U20D cost?