Time to buy a new tv, what ???

[admin_exported]

With Christmas out of the way and some deals to be had 'hopefully' I am looking to replace my Panasonic TH42PW5 that I have now had for nearly 5 years.I am looking for a good price with a 5 year warranty and maybe 12 months interest free, all prices below include these and a pedestal stand, if anyone knows any cheaper with all these please let me know !

I have read some reviews (Missed the test issue) and spoken to a few shops. Some tell you what they want you to hear but the majority have recomended the Pioneer PDPSX428XD.

I 'think' that I had narrowed it down to,

Panasonic TH42PZ70B - £1100

Panasonic TH42PZ700 - £1200

Pioneer PDPSX428XD - £1650

Pioneer PDPSX4280XD - £1550

Toshiba 46XF355DB - £1500

The PZ70B is good for the price,has 1080p,10,000/1 contrast, rated 5* but the hdmi is only 1.2 ( Is 1.3 better ? )

The PZ700 has a lower contrast than the PZ70B (5,000/1) and is not rated as good (4*) but the hdmi is 1.3

The 428XD looks great but is 'only' 720p and very expensive

The 4280XD is cheaper BUT a couple of dealers said it was not as good as the 428XD ?

The 355DB looks great, very neat and is 46" in a frame the same size as a 42" BUT what are the reviews like ?

I have sky hd and a Sony PS3 to use mainly for Blu-Ray occasionally and a few games but not a serious gamer. I know that Sky only uses 720p or 1080i so the Pioneer would handle the better 720p BUT if Blu-Ray is 1080p am I better off with one of the others and is the Pioneer picture £500 better than say the Panasonic ?

The two dealers I spoke to locally said if money was no object then they would not hesitate to go for the Pioneer even if it was not 1080p, they reconned Blu-Ray at 720p would look just as good on this set if not better than 1080p on the others.

For the money the PZ70 sounds great but is hdmi 1.3 essential ?

I love the look of the Toshiba but again shops have said that if I have had plasma then I would not like lcd ?

What do I go for and why ??

Thank You !

 

[Anonymous]

Any opinions or advice ?

Thanks

 

[FuzzyinLondon]

With regards to the Pioneer, the 4280XD and the 428XD share the same panel and give the same picture when they have the same settings. Believe me, I know - I compared them both side by side. However, the 428XD as couple of cool features that the 4280XD does not have: picture-in-picture capability, a subwoofer-out connection, USB connection for viewing photos and lastly, and most importantly, the ability to be calibrated by an ISF qualified engineer. A few people who have had their sets calibrated have said that they were very happy with the difference it made so, in theory, the 428XD certainly has the potential to have a better picture. However, be prepared to pay around £300 for the privilege. Also the 428XD does not come with a stand whereas the 4280XD does, so make sure to factor that into the equation if you not wall mounting The cosmetic differences between the sets are small - the 428XD has sharp corners whereas those of the 4280XD are slightly rounded. Personally, I plumped for the 4280XD. I picked it up for £1370 from Empire Direct with the 5 year Pioneer warranty (offer now extended to 31st Jan). My reasons:

1) I can't wall-mount so I needed the stand. The 4280's included stand cost about £100 if bought separately. I would have had to buy it if I'd gone with the 428.

2) The picture-in-picture feature and USB port are of no use to me. The sub-woofer connection would've been nice but I plan to buy a decent surround sound system anyway.

3) The ISF calibration feature on the 428XD is a great feature but would've stretched my budget too far. I personally can't afford to pay an extra £300 on top of the £1600 I would've paid for the 428(with a stand).

I'm happy that I got the best telly that I could afford. If the extra features of the 428 would be useful to you, and you think you might be interested in having it calibrated in the future, I have no doubt that it is worth the extra cash.

Hope the information proves useful.

 

[Anonymous]

Type hdmi 1.3 in the search engine at the top or Google it (avreviews.co.uk have quite a good piece). Potentially better picture and, with a similarlily equiped AV amp, better sound. Your PS3 has hdmi 1.3.

Fuzzy has covered the pioneer option pretty well. With Pioneer there is no such thing as 'only' , just Wow! If you can find a Fujitsu, give that an audition also.