TV Decision finally made!

[Naxos]

Well, after weeks of deliberation and poring over reviews (especially on this forum!), I finally plumped for the Panasonic TH-37PX80 (£535 on Amazon) as an upgrade to my 3-year old Sony KDL-V32A12 LCD. I've only been able to see a 42" version in store, but that seemed great but too big for my situation, and the amazing price just made it a no-brainer. My only slight concern might be the sound, but for movies and such it would be through a good surround system anyway. Does anybody who owns one feel this to be a deal-breaker, or is it fine for everyday viewing (the Sony is hardly great shakes anyway)?

Can't wait for delivery!

 

[sensei_russ]

Snap! (Well nearly).

Like you Naxos, I've spent weeks (if not a couple of months) reading reviews and checking updates on this forum. I desperately wanted to get the SONY W4500 but after all the negative feedback on the forum (and others) I felt it just wasn't worth the risk/potential hassle.
After a re-think I decided that I didn't actually need Full HD as I have a large DVD collection and am not about to replace it with Blu-rays anytime soon (although I will no doubt slowly begin collecting them). I decided to go for the TH-42PX80 and picked it up from Richer Sounds today (£599 + great service) and I'm sitting here watching Raiders of the Lost Ark on it now via the Onkyo 406 upscaling dvd player. It's a fantastic set and there's no clouding or backlight issues to worry about - hooray!

As for the sound, I've bought a Yamaha ax763 to go with the tv but haven't hooked it up yet.
Watching now though I have to say it sounds pretty good although of course it's no doubt going to be blown away by the yamaha set-up when I connect it all.

Hope you're as comfortable in your decision to go for the Panasonic as me, I think it's a cracking tv at a great price.

 

[Anonymous]

I have the TH-37PX80 and I am still amazed at what a good tv it is (for the money). I hope that you enjoy your tv as much as I do mine.

It's my first flat panel tv and I have read lots about the sound quality on flat panel tvs, that it's not as good as on a CRT or a surround system etc, but honestly I have been very pleasantly suprised by how this tv performs for sound, and I think that you might be too. Obviously it doesn't compare with a surround system, but even the bass is decent. I have my tv quite close to the wall (30cm or so) which may help. I was considering that a surround system would be my next essential purchase, but now I've heard the tv I'm not in such a rush.

I think that I read that you also have the Sony bdp-s550. I have one of these too. The viera link/bravia sync features work between the player and the tv. I.e. turn on the blu ray player and the tv automatically turns on. I have to say that as a combination this player and tv works very well. I did want to go for a panasonic blu ray player, but I needed analogue outputs for my surround amp, and couldn't quite stretch to the panasonic bd55.

The quality of blu ray from the Sony is stunning (to my eyes). This is true of DVD playback too. I tried comparing the playback of a dvd, which I have two copies of, on my older sony dvd player with scart output, and the same dvd on the blu-ray player and the difference is like night and day. (sorry this is slightly off topic!)

 

[Naxos]

Thanks for the encouraging comments! As I mentioned, I'm already used to so-so flat-panel sound - my old Sony CRT was far superior.

Yes, I do indeed have the BDPS-550, and I'm very impressed - especially so if the Viera Link works with it! At present, like you, I have to output sound through digital coaxial to my Yamaha RDS 640 surround amp/Naim Supernait combination, so I'm looking to change to a 763 or possibly 863 to get the full HD surround expreience! The DVD player is a Sony RDR HXD710 through component, and yes, there's a definite upgrade in quality, even on the Sony LCD.