Waiting for Panasonic delivery - now what. Help please

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I have just bought a Panasonic TH -42PZ70B from Empire for £1099 with 5 year warranty. It is to be delivered on Wednesday.

I am now looking for a cantelever stand and everywhere on the internet seems to be out of stock. Is there a mad rush for TV stands?

I rang Sky to see how much an upgrade to HD would be and the cost is way too much for the small amount of channels I would get at present as I do not subscribe to the movies. Should I start looking at getting rid of my standard cinema surround system and buying a HD DVD or a combined HD surround system? I will have a budget of around £400.

Neil

 

[Anonymous]

Must be Christmas!!. Manufacturers go a bit new model crazy around this time, and with many sold sans wall mounts, stands and even speakers. Sometimes I wil use Ebay if all else fails.

Are you looking for a High Def player (eg.Blu-ray or HD-dvd) or just an HD-dvd player? Could be a big cost difference.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi David,

I want a HD player to play movies. I would not know if I should buy HD or Blu ray or seperate player / combined cinema system and need some advice as to which route to take.

Neil

 

[Anonymous]

Not an easy answer to this given your budget constraints and, apart from your tv, not knowing current set up.

If you do not have an upsampling dvd player then the likes of Panasonic, Samsung and Sony and philipsdo some pretty reasonable 'Home cinema in a box' set-ups. These now come with players that will upscale your dvd collection to say 720p/ 1080i plus have the amp and speakers to give you the dolby pro-logic II surround sound that you may be after. If you can push your budget to £500 and shop around, both the Sony DAV-IS10 and the Philips HTS9800W may fit the bill.

The hi def dvd player is easier to answer in so much as if I were you I would leave it out of this scenario until a later date. But since I am not you, I will presume that you would like to go out and buy one (preferably by Weds!!). Forget home cinema - you will need every penny. On the hd-dvd front Toshiba have the HD-XE1 which you should be able to find for £440 or less or the even cheaper E1, but the one I hear is worth an audition is their HD-EP30. The problem with hd-dvd is that it does not enjoy industry wide support resulting in fewer films being released on hd-dvd compared to Blu-ray.

For the Blu-ray camp, Sony have their BDPS300B or for around the same amount of money you could force a wide smile and have fun with the Playstation 3 which will probably give you the best sound and pictures that your budget allows.

If you already have an upscaling dvd player (or you purchase the Samsung DVD-HD870 dvd upscaler for around £60) then I am sure that either Clare and her team, or some kind souls out there, will be able to advise you on a speaker/amp package.

Sorry Neil that I could not find an easier answer.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi David,

Just to go over it again as a novice I need:

1 home cinema box and 1 HD or Blu Ray box and on top of this a speaker system?

Will the cinema system play dvd's and would that come with speakers?

Many thanks

Neil

 

[Anonymous]

Not knowing what sound system you have now prevents me advising whether to keep it and build around it or ditch it and look at what I suggested. There are people out there that know a lot more about home cinema than me. Why not start a thread in the Home Cinema forum? Give details of what you have and what you would like + budget and see what comes back.

Has your tv arrived yet?