Does the TH42PZ85B have a HD tuner

[admin_exported]

Guess the subject says it all really. With HD freeview a lot closer than I first thought, was wondering if these sets have a built HD tuner? Thanks

 

[professorhat]

Nope, fraid not.

 

[Anonymous]

Short and sweet.. thanks..

Do any of the new Pana's have this feature, or are there plans for inexpensive solutions (set top boxes) to get round this?
really don't want to be forced into forking out for sky HD to get free to air HD content.

 

[Anonymous]

the 81 models in the new range have the freesat tuner built in, which will support HD. Other than that, I'm afraid that if you want HD, you will have to subscribe to something. Freesat will still require a dish and maybe installation fees if you don't want to put it up yourself. I think John Lewis are charging £260 for the lot.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry... I should have been more clear.
I have a sky subscription.. so have the sat installed already. I meant more that I didn't want to have to fork out for the overpriced HD sky box and extra subscription money

A cheaper set top box would be ok, but ideally a built in tuner would be better.

Getting a bit miffed that Pana haven't put these in.. and summer is way off to be waiting for the 81's
speaking of which, will the 81's be more like the 80 spec or the 85 spec?
only reason i ask is that the 85 has caught my eye with a slightly superior spec so would have that over the 80. thanks again

 

[John Duncan]

I wouldn't get too excited about HD content until next year at the earliest tbh, with the exception of Sky, which does have a good range. Every other source (freesat included) will be pretty sparse (from a number of channels point of view, though they will all do pretty much a full-day simulcast of their main channels in HD). And you have to bear in mind that even then, a lot of the content will have been recorded in SD anyway.............

 

[Anonymous]

Well... next year isn't that far away (i notice my birthdays seem to come round quicker each year) and I don't want to get stung with the price and the inconvenience of having another box in my rack along side the AV receiver, skybox, dvd player and console. Space and inputs are at a premium. If the spec of the z8I out in july is as good as the z85 i'd go for that even if I have to wait 2 months, especially if freesat boxes are going to be pricey.

Do any of the WHFSV crew (or anyone for that matter) have any thoughts if I'm better off waiting for the z8I or should just go for the z85?

Thanks for the help peeps.