Should I stick with Pioneer, while I still can?

[admin_exported]

Hello all....

I have just moved house, and sadly, part of the deal meant i left my wonderful 50" Pioneer behind for the new owner.

Now, I was going to rush out and bag an award winning 60" Pioneer (KRP 600A), before they all disappear. I understand these are still regarded as the best you can get, but my question is, should I wait and see what's round the corner? The Samsung LED LCDs look good, and I've already seen a good online review, and then of course there's 3D.

Could anyone advise as to which road I should take. Pioneer now, or wait for better next week/month ??

All ideas welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

hi , if tv reviews are anything to go by , and ive read them all ( too much time on my hands because of greedy bankers ) the pioneer kuro plasmas are still the undisputed best , and they are now in short supply , only the new 52 inch sharp lcd ( it costs £9k ) is on a par ( according to one review ive read ) the sony x4500 led lcd tvs are meant to be very good too , but a 52 inch is nearly £3500 , and no reviewer has said they are better than the kuro , the panasonic z1 is imminent , but that too is rumoured to cost around £4k , i have read its great but is it gonna be £1700 better than a 50inch kuro ? probably not , maybe what hi fi can inform you more , but on this occasion i feel confident to guess they will point you back to a pioneer .........god bless the internet

 

[Anonymous]

Hey maxflinn..

You pretty much have said what I was thinking. I too have read just about everything going, both online and on paper, and was convinced the Kuro was still the way to go. Nothing I could see was going to trump it in the near future.

I admire the LED Samsungs, possibly because they are impossibly thin, and can be hung like a picture, but havent yet seen one in action.

I think (unless someone says otherwise) it will have to be that Kuro.

And yes, the internet.. great isn't it!

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

hmmm , im waiting here ready to throw my dossier of online info at anyone who reccomends anything other than a kuro , the whfi team swear by it too , any takers ?? lol ,, enjoy jobogro

 

[Frank Harvey]

Yes, I've not seen anything to match up to the Kuro's yet. I don't own a screen, but if I had a need for one, it'd be a Kuro.

 

[Simon Lucas]

You'll get no argument from me about the Kuro plasmas. Our Panasonic Z1 is arriving this afternoon, so that'll be interesting...

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

I will stick my neck out and say that the Sony X4500 is on a par with the 600a but when you factor in price and build quality the Pioneer would still be my choice. The Panasonic looks very good but I will have to see one first to be sure. By the time they make it to the shops the Pioneers will be long gone.

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Ah.. the Z1. Simon, I'd be very interested in your opinions on that, even prior to publishing a review ;-) > well at least your first impressions...

I have taken a look on Panasonic's website, and if the image quality is close to that of the Kuro, the 54 inch will definitely be a contender. In fact it positively makes the Kuro look overweight. Im also interested in the 'net capabilities of the Z1 too, though i appreciate this technology is in it's infancy, certainly as far as TVs are concerned, but it is another thing that the Kuro cant do.

However, it's picture quality above all else that's important to me, a slim screen would be nice, and the widgets too, but not if it doesnt compare with the Kuro.

So about those first impressions?.......

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

how does the pioneer handle judder

 

[Anonymous]

ubcool2:how does the pioneer handle judder

What judder?

Seriously, I don't notice it on my 5090.

 

[Anonymous]

Now that the major players in the plasma tech. seems to be moving to the LCD camp, how do you think the service issues/spare parts/replacements will be dealt with in a few years to come? Will plasma go extinct?

 

[The_Lhc]

unleash_me:Now that the major players in the plasma tech. seems to be moving to the LCD camp,

Who's that then?

 

[drummerman]

ubcool2:how does the pioneer handle judder

It works best standing still.

 

[Anonymous]

i remember hearing people talk about judder before about the pioneer and as it is still only a 50 htz im pretty sure i will notice it. its funny how some people see it and some don't, i think the only tvs i havent noticed it on are sonys new 200htz ones.

 

[drummerman]

9g Kuros ... 100hz

 

[Anonymous]

ubcool2:i remember hearing people talk about judder before about the pioneer and as it is still only a 50 htz im pretty sure i will notice it. its funny how some people see it and some don't, i think the only tvs i havent noticed it on are sonys new 200htz ones.
i have a 100hz panasonic plasma and have never seen judder ........

 

[Anonymous]

having had a recent 50 inch pioneer for some time, judder is NOT something i ever noticed. The latest 9th gen ones are better still, so one would assume there will be no judder on them either.

Tthe Kuro's are without doubt the best picture you can get today. Tomorrow? Well that may be another matter, hence my original question.

 

[Anonymous]

jobogro , is it true the kuros sd is actually close to the hd performance of lesser sets ? i remember someone saying that on here recently...

 

[Anonymous]

maxflinn, my sky+ HD box, on a decent channel, like say, BBC1 is really quite superb. Sometimes would sit there watching BBC1 thinking i was on BBC HD ! Clearly its not as good as the HD version of BBC1, but in passing you could just about be fooled.

As for whether SD is as good as HD on other sets, I couldnt tell you, but i can see why that statement may have been made.

 

[Anonymous]

hmmm , it really seems with the kuro , pioneer has made something really groundbreaking , like the first ford focus , it was way ahead of its rivals , it took 4 or 5 years for the golfs and astras and the likes to catch up , with tv tech moving forward at such a pace its surprising nothing has at least equalled the kuro , and given the silly prices of the top pretenders it is actually looking a bargain ...

 

[drummerman]

maxflinn:jobogro , is it true the kuros sd is actually close to the hd performance of lesser sets ? i remember someone saying that on here recently...

Well, I sold my lx5090. In hinsight and after comparing it with some much cheaper sets, I have to honestly admit they are over rated. You can get comparable performance for under 1k.

Not one of my best buys ...

 

[Anonymous]

thats both surprising and interesting drummer , what did you get to replace it ? , apologies if youve already said ...

 

[Anonymous]

jobogro:
maxflinn, my sky+ HD box, on a decent channel, like say, BBC1 is really quite superb. Sometimes would sit there watching BBC1 thinking i was on BBC HD ! Clearly its not as good as the HD version of BBC1, but in passing you could just about be fooled.

As for whether SD is as good as HD on other sets, I couldnt tell you, but i can see why that statement may have been made.

Had a chuckle to myself tonight, a friend came round while I was watching "South Pacific" on BBC2. He said "Oh, you've got HD then"? I was watching it on the 5090's on-board Freeview.

He has a Toshiba LCD with Sky HD............ I did feel a bit smug !

 

[drummerman]

maxflinn:thats both surprising and interesting drummer , what did you get to replace it ? , apologies if youve already said ...

I haven't yet and just use a 37" panasonic LCD at the moment. I add to my last comment that for under 1k you probably would'nt get a better 50" set.

Whilst giving a 'natural and understated' picture my biggest bugbears with the 9g Kuros are a lack of brightness on a full screen with light content and what i can only assume is a screenfilter that results in 'dirty streaks' on bright scenes. All this results in a picture that can both lack punch and clarity depending on program content/brightness and even seem dull at times. You don't tend to notice so much in isolation but there are other good sets, both LCD or plasma, that are superior in that respect as I have found out yesterday again when looking at some alternatives. They are of course not perfect either but they also don't cost as much.

I'd sum the Kuro up as a product of two halves ... dark scenes are superb, bright ones not so. - A few times friends where left distinctly underwhelmed by the set, especially after hearing how much they are but the sole reason for selling it was the size.

Don't get me wrong, its a nice tv but having deep blacks is not the only important thing and I believe things have moved on.

As always, my opinion only.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for reply , food for thought there , i will be interested to hear what new set you go for .... please keep us posted ... ta...