Going round in circles over 46w4500 and panny 46pz85

[admin_exported]

So here it is. Im trying to decide ona tv that will last me years, and by years i mean, atleast 5 to hopefully many more. As i think my fiance is going to leave me if i even mention a new tv again hehe.

I got a 32 around 2 and a half years ago for around 800 pounds but sadly realised for the size of my room, and new found love for blu rays etc it wasnt big enough.

So now im wrestling with the idea of one of these, My first ever plasma, or the w4500. Ive heard the horror stories of the sony, went into the store and it looked fantastic, could only see slight clouding on the picture at an extreme angle to it. The panny looks absolutely amazing too, so natural on the colours and motion. My misses watches loads of sky + but i play games allot. I was told that the panny doesnt do 24p or only in 4:3 aspect ratio by an american friend. Is that just the US model??

Basically im looking for advice from users with both, that might have similar tastes as me, blu rays, movies and gaming. With allot of SD usage. Can anyone help?

also whats a good way to break it in? and is it worth getting the 46pz85 now for around a 1100 pounds or wait? will prices drop more? im pretty useless at this. I feel like my heart is set on the panny from its picture but so many people are telling me dont go plasma etc. ( coz i play games)

i will be hooking up the equipment via a pioneer lx50 reciever that i got on the cheap so i have surround sound already sorted etc. ive noticed the w4500 is a bit more expensive at minute and the picture, to me, looks more standout broghter etc, but also maybe more fake??

thx for help!

 

[Anonymous]

Go fot the panny! it does do 24p and its great for games as it has more detail in dark areas than the sony can muster! faster responce times to with no lag

 

[Anonymous]

read online reviews to find out if a TV does 24p. Many stores don't have a clue on indiviudal TVs. Comet could only tell me by loking on their own website, which was wrong because many of the TVs that are down lacking this feature, have had excellent reviews on 1080/24p playback. And im not just talking about ones that "accept", but ones that actually process and handle it without 3:2 pulldown.

 

[Anonymous]

yeh i heard its got some crazy response time. My heart is telling me the panny. Will i be able to play games in the first 100 hours? or should i just run a blu ray on rotation ?ÿ

ÿÿAlso does anyone know if the panny's bezil is rotatable? or is it stationary? My room is a wierd shape so sometimes have to spin the tv to get best viewing angle.ÿ

 

[drummerman]

Hi

5 years is a long time in tv evolution, 5 months is.

Don't listen to much to those sony problems as I'm sure there are many satisfied punters out there. Just make sure you agree with the retailer that if you have any problems they will exchange the unit.

Image Retention/Screen burn are no great worries anymore with the better plasma panels and have been all but eliminated if used sensibly.

Of what I've seen over the last few months plasma still has a more natural picture. LCD's look more impressive in-shop but once at home you probably want to turn the brightness down anyhow, about the only area where LCD scores higher than plasmas imo and something to be aware of (plasmas do have lower brightness which manifests itself in a darker screen, especially with full HD 1080p screens, which have smaller pixels, pioneer being the exception, their new 9g panels bettering the old 8g levels though side by side with an equally sized LCD they still look a tad darker)

Prices change continuously, weekly sometimes and you have to make a decision at some stage.

The many Sony's I've seen and that includes the newes Z 200hz series did not look particularely nice on SD/freeview but I could say the same for most lcd's other than perhaps philips higher end sets. Possible viewing angles without serious impact on pq are higher on plasmas.

If it was me I would buy the panasonic but can understand that not everyone likes the picture.

hope this helps

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for all the help! so the pz85 does proper 24p?? whats 3:2 pulldown? lol man i feel daft for wanting a tv to last 5 years. My mrs wont accept anything less really, so its gonna have to last around 5 years. I just want the most features possible for the time im buying. Im not bothered about being the first with everything, just something that looks great and will last.

Aslong as the pz85 does 24p im sold i guess lolÿ

 

[Anonymous]

yes it does! Blue rays look fantasitic with no judder at all on panning shots!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Dasimpse,

ÿI just recently bought the 40W4500 which is just the 40 inch of the one you are looking at. I'm really impressed with the picture on Blu Ray and also on the Xbox 360 and Apple TV look amazing.

I bought this set based on the WHAT HIFI review. People don't write on forums saying how good something is they make the effort when it's not working correctly hence why you seeing lots of bad news re clouding etc on forums. Thats my view on all the bad forum reports and i'm sure that the good far out weigh the bad.

ÿStrangely if I had the choice again I would probably go for the Plasma not because there is anything wrong with my Set (its perfect) but for some strange reason in my mind I like the sturdy heavy well built look and feel of the Plasma's.ÿ

ÿ

Either way you can't go wrong! Both Stunning set'sÿ

 

[Anonymous]

all i can say is thank you to everyone who has responded. hearing that the panny does "proper" 24p really has me sold!

ÿ

My room is quite a dull room anyway so im sure i dont need the EXTRA brightness of an lcd, or you could say the duller look of a plasma!

Im sold, gonna go for the panny pz85, anyone know a good place to get one from. Is empire direct any good? ones just opened near us! what about direct tv's? my friend works there and he might be able to do me a deal!

ÿ

thanks again everyone!ÿ

ÿ

oh can i play games in the first 100 hours? if i just play for a few hours at a time? or settings down??

ÿ

thxÿ

 

[Anonymous]

DASIMPSE:

Im sold, gonna go for the panny pz85, anyone know a good place to get one from. Is empire direct any good? ones just opened near us! what about direct tv's? my friend works there and he might be able to do me a deal!

Empire Direct currently have free 5yr guarantee. They were also doing 10% off too, but I think that offer just expired. Decent prices anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Shim,

As i said on the W4500 thread, I think the W4500 is an excellent TV. But the clouding is a BIG issue. I wouldnt buy one knowingly with such a defect and right now, it appears to be pot luck as to whether you get it and to what degree. Posts like these are littered all over the web. The amount of unhappy customers is shameful. It appears that more people have made the "effort" to post their problems with the W4500 than with any other current model on the market. Alarm bells should be ringing loudly in the ears/eyes of those reading the What hifi forums working out wether they want the W4500 or not.

Not just going by my experience, but also the honest experiences i am reading all over the place - i would not advise anyone this year to play russian roulette with their wallet by buying a W4500.

 

[Anonymous]

If you're only planning to watch tv in a bright room - you shouldn't have any problems with the w4500 - it looks fantastic in this scenario. If you want to put the lights out for movies - forget it. I've had two sets both with backlight bleed and its all you can look at.

 

[drummerman]

DASIMPSE:
oh can i play games in the first 100 hours? if i just play for a few hours at a time? or settings down??

thx

I'm 'running' my plasma in at the moment, based on various forum info (and my dealer's) recommendation on reduced brightness/contrast and sharpness for a couple of hundred hours. Apparently the phosphor stabilizes within that period making serious Image retention/screenburn more unlikely in the long run. Having said that, many experts just say to use it sensibly. That includes not to game for hours or use any image with a fixed logo for prolonged periods of time within the first few weeks. You probably find that if your set has a game mode it will lower sharpness, contrast and brightness anyhow. Just engage all the screen protectors ie. orbiter, auto off etc etc.

regards

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone got experience with either empire direct or direct tv's. got a friend who works for direct tv's and he says he can probably get a little thrown off and the official stand thrown in, but they only take 7 day returns on faults but i get a 5 year guarantee with panasonic with them.

Empire direct will price match direct tv's but without stand but i get 5 year warrenty with them. dont know about their after sales support. any one got any experiences with either company??

thx for all help!

 

[Anonymous]

no experience with either of. I'm a bit of a paranoid ****** and would rather pay a little extra knowing that the after sales is going to be nothing short of excellant. John Lewis all the way, plus standard 5 years guarante. If you have seen the set anywhere cheeper in shops they will normlly better it too so haggle away. Not sure that they would do the same for internet based companies though.

Am just waiting for Jan sales now to get my pz81. With the current climate they are bound to reduce or throw in a few extras just to reach their targets, god bless recession!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

you think they will drop in january ?? i have no problem holding out! just dont wanna miss the boat

or would you take a free stand now ? all the retailers are saying there isnt gonna be january sales this year! but they are bound to say that right! lol

also john lewis dont have the pz85 which is a ******! any other online places? or is it gospel for john lewis ??

 

[Anonymous]

Retailers are in trouble a the moment, you only have to look at the highstreet for that. They have monthly and annual targets to reach of which I'm sure the next two months make up a large portion of. They want you to buy now so are going to tell you there will be no jan sales!

I reackon the current sales will only get them up to their decemeber targets if they're lucky, so there should be plenty of fresh competition in January. Personally, my money is keeping warm in my bank account until jan. Even if prices don't drop there should be plenty of bargaining for extras.

Happy hunting

 

[Anonymous]

There are some excellent offers, but it seems they change on a day by day bases right now.

I was waiting for a cheque to clear at the original time i wanted the w4500. I asked if i could put a deposit down but they said no. As a consequence when i bought it 5 days later - the free S350 blue ray player deal had gone. instead it was just a small percentage off.

The TV however, had dropped by about £70 since then. So its a crazy crazy time for buying TVs. If you can get a free blue-ray or such like, it might be worth getting one in december if the deal is right. I would help offset any price drops (post xmas) where deals may also, not be so generous.

also though, blue rays like the S350 are likely to have a massive price drop after xmas....so again, you have to weight it up.

I

 

[Anonymous]

Panasonic are also doing free 5 year guarantee's with them direct, up until the end of december. i think im getting allitle bit shaved of the price, like 50 pounds, and the official free glass stand for that tv so i think all in all that makes it a better buy now. somethings telling me to wait. But if i miss out on that 5 year guarantee etc it would be annoying!

i agree with both posts tho.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm gonna buy one from Richer Sounds today.

They'll generally match any deal, even those on the web, so I'm gonna try and get them to match the Emipre Direct deal.

They have the TV at £900 delivered with a 5 year warranty but Richer Sounds are £50 more expensive. They say they'll refund the difference which makes it £850 delivered with a five year warranty.

Never bought from them before but my mate swears by them.

 

[Anonymous]

im wanting the 46 inch tho, thats the 42 right ?

 

[Anonymous]

Also should i get the 46 pz81b? with the freesat tuner? its like 50 pounds more, but i have sky plus for now? is the tv identical to the pz85 apart from that?