LCD / Plasma / Freeview / Freesat conundrum

[Big Aura]

I put off buying my new tv last weekend because the awards issue was due out today.

I was all set to buy a Panasonic Viera TH42PZ81B (with freesat) and live happily ever after. My conscience niggled with the increased power consumption (but I'm a good recycler and I walk to work), but I would have been happy.

Then I went to see the Panasonic in action and was happy (but not over-awed) and THEN along came the Sony KLD-40W4500, taunting me with its "Product of the Year" crown...

To put this in context, I have (in my house or on order) a Sony DVD Recorder (RDR-HXD870), a Denon AVR1909 a/v amp and B&W 685 5.1 theatre.

As I have moved house recently, I have no RF aerial, but do have an old sky digibox and dish (no subscription). It's a rental property, so would ideally like to avoid getting landlord consent to affix aerials etc. Am I better to buy the Sony and a Humax Foxtrot (or whatever they call it), go for Sky+HD (my other half has moral issues with paying for a tv subscriptions service and it involves installing more cables), or just read more books?!?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Hi

I am looking at the exact same models. I think the plasma will give all round better performance (SD/HD), which is great for my wife/kids as they will be watching more of it. But I'm after a cinematic (prob once a week) experience on blu-ray/dvd and I've got a feeling the Sony might do the business there. Also I think for my room the plasma may be more affected by light, and I have a fear that as I have young kids and we hook up a games console at some stage they may leave the console on and cause it to burn. I'm going to make a decision this weekend.

 

[Big Aura]

John Lewis have dropped the price of the Panny again - now £899 (with 5year warranty), but still... Will go and have another look this Sunday.

 

[Big Aura]

Actually, that's a point - does anyone have a view as to which works better with standard definition broadcasts, as so little is actually HD....

 

[Anonymous]

I would say the choice between the panny and sony, may depend on peoples own personal setup. Because it seems to be widely regarded that the panny has a slightly better freeview tuner, so if this is the most important go for the panny maybe. But if you have an upscaling device like the virgin v+ box for instance that upscales to 720p/1080i very well maybe the sony is the best choice. Also the sony wins on blu ray and hi-def picture i think.

 

[Big Aura]

Thanks. As I don't have an aerial at the minute, I'd have to pay someone (apparently the aerial and installation cost £160 - London prices?!) so not sure whether to use the built-in freesat in the Panny or buy a humax box... Always thought that LCD was to hard and bright for standard def...

 

[Anonymous]

Big Aura:Thanks. As I don't have an aerial at the minute, I'd have to pay someone (apparently the aerial and installation cost £160 - London prices?!) so not sure whether to use the built-in freesat in the Panny or buy a humax box... Always thought that LCD was to hard and bright for standard def...Also bare in mind though you might be able to achieve the virgin v+ box effect i was talking about of upscaling standard def very well for full hd lcd screens. By buying a freesat box that does the same thing as the virgin + box, but personally im not sure if there is a freesat box available yet that upscales standard def well.

 

[Anonymous]

Big Aura:Thanks. As I don't have an aerial at the minute, I'd have to pay someone (apparently the aerial and installation cost £160 - London prices?!) so not sure whether to use the built-in freesat in the Panny or buy a humax box... Always thought that LCD was to hard and bright for standard def...Yep there is freesat boxes that upscale standard def as you probably know already. The question is are they good at it, a bit of research might help to find out. If there is a good one i personally would then get that and go for the sony 40w4500 with it.

 

[Anonymous]

Probably not going to do much to settle your conundrum but, for what it's worth . . . I had a similar dilemma between the PZ80 and W4500 (and if you're like me, you've ended up doing so much research you fall asleep mumbling model no.s and specs!). I was all set to buy the Sony but at the last minute (i.e. virtually clicking on the 'Place Order' button), decided to go with my girlfriend to a good shop to actually see one in action. Glad I did as it changed my mind in an instant. Much as I wanted to like the Sony I was really disappointed with how poor the picture was. My girlfriend was much less subtle, blurting out that it looked like a TV that was going wrong! She said she wouldn't be able to watch it for 5 mins without getting a headache. Next to it was the plasma putting out the same feed and it looked so much better (she said she'd be happy to watch that all day!). I was able to play around with all the settings on both sets and still there was no comparison. I know it's all personal opinion; I know there's the big Plasma vs LCD debate; I know the Sony's just got the 2008 award . . . but, from what I saw I couldn't help feeling that it was a case of the Emperor's new clothes - "Couldn't everyone else see how bad this looked or is it just me?!". Needless to say I've gone for the PZ80 - £709 from Argos with a free 3 year warranty. I'm still not sure if I've made the right choice . . . but I can't help remembering what I saw with my own eyes. Good luck with your choice - if I could afford it, I'd buy both and put them in different rooms.!

 

[Big Aura]

Jarnesque:I was all set to buy the Sony but at the last minute (i.e. virtually clicking on the 'Place Order' button), decided to go with my girlfriend to a good shop to actually see one in action. Glad I did as it changed my mind in an instant. Much as I wanted to like the Sony I was really disappointed with how poor the picture was. My girlfriend was much less subtle, blurting out that it looked like a TV that was going wrong!

Ha! exactly the same thing happened in Jown Lewis last Saturday, except the girlfriend (or wife as she seems to prefer) said the PZ81B looked shoddy. In fairness she had a point. Snooker was on. There was a bit of distortion around the score, and as the white ball moved across the table it looked like a juddery cube... I didn't look at the Sony in any great detail (I've always been pro-plasma...) but the only thing that looked the part was the Pioneer which, at 50", is a bit too big.

Will go again on Sunday to compare the two (picking up my new amp on Sat, and hopefully will (at the second attempt) get a good deal on the B&W speakers).

Jarnesque: She said she wouldn't be able to watch it for 5 mins without getting a headache..! as an aside, the uncle of a good friend had latent epilepsy triggered when he bought his first LCD. It was set overly bright, and he had an attack. Unfortunately, once you get one, you're prone to more, so the replacement plasma had the same effect. Now he's got a 21" second hand CRT. A nightmare second only to my friend Pat who is allergic to Guinness

 

[Anonymous]

Well, it's right to take the time and make the right choice - though it helped to remind myself that I'm probably only making a choice for 4-5 years . . . and then you get to go through it all over again when the next set of TVs are out! (hopefully OLED and then we can at least forget this LCD vs Plasma thing!).

Enjoy the shopping!

 

[Big Aura]

Sony it is!

Over the weekend I bought: Sony LCD (KDL40W4500), Denon AVR1909, B&W 685s, B&W 686s, B&W HTM62, QED Performance HDMI-HDMI (2m), QED Performance HDMI-HDMI (1m), QED Silver Anniversary XT speaker cable (25m) and QED Silver Anniversary XT speaker cable (bi-wire) (7m).

Had the second view of the Sony on Sunday, and it just looked better.

Plus, as it's a bit on the small side (at 40") it will be really easy to convince my wife we need to upgrade to a 70" OLED in 4 years time.

 

[Anonymous]

I went and purchased the Panasonic last week and it's great. You can put off for ever waiting for the next 5 star to land and remember it is on a reviewers view of what he/she thinks in a test room.

 

[Anonymous]

Seeing that you already have a Sony DVD Recorder RDR-HXD870 which does the upscaling for you (very well, I find) I don't see the need for you to go for a TV with built in Freeview.
With what you have been saying I think the LCD route might be a safer one. Fed with an excellent up scaled signal I am inclind to think all the top performing models will please.
Buy the one that your wife likes?