Which Panasonic plasma TV to go for?

[Jake]

The old CRT TV in my computer room/dining room is playing up, I think it's gonna die soon. So I'm gonna get a new plasma, for the living room and move the JVC 37" LCD from the living room to the computer room.

I'm looking at 42" or bigger.

 

I've decided the Panasonic plasma is the one for me, based on good reviews almost everywhere and Alex on here speaks highly of his 46" Panny TH46PZ85, and he's a right fussy bugger so they must be good.

 

But which one?

We have SKY+ but don't have SKY HD, and don't plan on getting it (not worth £10/month extra IMO). So SDTV is mainly what it needs to be good at.

 

However, some of the Panasonic plasmas have a FreeSat HD tuner built in. Which can use a seperate feed from our existing Sky satellite dish. Is this worth paying the extra for?

 

Obviously smaller is cheaper.

The 42" TH42PZ80B is (no freeSat) is only £685 from Dixons.

The 42" TH42PZ81B with FreeSat is about £900 from John Lewis (5 year guarantee and free delivery from JL)

 

Then in 46" there's the TH46PZ80B (no FreeSat) which is £978 from Dixons

Or the TH46PZ81B(with freeSat) for £1279 from Dixons - seems a big jump from £978 to £1279 though. Not sure it's worth the extra.

 

Or in 50" there's the TH50PZ80B (no freeSat) for about £1100 or the TH50PZ81B (freeSat) for about £1320.

 

 

The more I look the more unsure I'm getting.

 

Any thoughts?

[Axle]

don't have SKY HD, and don't plan on getting it (not worth £10/month extra IMO)

 

I thought the same thing.

 

But honestly i can’t stand watching normal TV without HD on plasma now.

 

I don’t watch much TV though, but when i do the Wildlife programmes and Sport in HD is worth the £10 extra a month on its own.

 

You thought of looking into Virgin? The V plus box is HD and has 80Hrs of record on the Hard Drive. Might be a cheaper option too? Why not upgrade your whole package if you’re going HD?

 

Go on treat yourself, you probably deserve it after the few near death experiences you have had. Stop grumbling and go for it.

[Carlos T]

if you've got sky then there's no real need for free sat you'd only get a handfull of HD Channels extra and if ever you did want it at a later date there only about £100-£150 for the box anyway. I work in electrical retail and i personaly would choose the 42pz80b its 100hz 1080p and has a good contrast ratio all in all its a good buy and one of the more popular we sell. But if ya can stretch to the bigger sets then go ahead the bigger the better;) (in a tv sense)

[Jake]

i can’t stand watching normal TV without HD on plasma now.

Is that because your set doesn't do SD very well though? I've been reading that a lot of HDTVs don't display SDTV at all well.

I don’t watch much TV though, but when i do the Wildlife programmes and Sport in HD is worth the £10 extra a month on its own.

I don't watch much TV either but I do need it to be good for sport. My current LCD is poor at displaying fast moving pics, like footy.

 

You thought of looking into Virgin? The V plus box is HD and has 80Hrs of record on the Hard Drive. Might be a cheaper option too? Why not upgrade your whole package if you’re going HD?

I'll look into it - cheers.

Go on treat yourself, you probably deserve it after the few near death experiences you have had.

[Carlos T]

LCD tv's arn't as good as plasma when it comes to faster moving images such as sport.

[Wez]

Great choice, I have an old panasonic plasma and cant rate it highly enough, although its not full HD it will take HD signals over component and I use it for my PS3 and the picture is cracking.

 

I wouldnt bother paying extra for freesat.

 

For me it would be the TH42PZ80B or TH46PZ80B.

[Axle]

Is that because your set doesn't do SD very well though? I've been reading that a lot of HDTVs don't display SDTV at all well.

 

Quite possibly. Mine is the 42" TH42PZ81B So bare that in mind. Maybe others with this set can confirm if it does SDTV well or not? But i am VERY fussy myself tbh.

 

If you can stretch to it, you cant beat the PIONEER range, but they are pricey. Although have dropped significantly since i was looking at them (last year).

[Lbm]

Hi Jake

 

A very good friend of mine supplys and fits Panansonic TVs.

He's based down your way.

He intalled my 42" back in April.

 

Here's his details.

 

Nik Lasham

02392 528 888

http://www.choosesoundandvision.com

 

If you mention my name, I'm sure he'd look after you

Cheers

Rob

[Wez]

RicherSounds is also pretty good and have them listed cheaper

 

http://www.richersounds.com/productlist.php?cda=productlist&sgroup=PLASMA

[Jake]

Quite possibly. Mine is the 42" TH42PZ81B So bare that in mind. Maybe others with this set can confirm if it does SDTV well or not?

Oh I didn't realise you had a Panansonic plasma. From what I've read they're supposed to be very good at SDTV.

 

But i am VERY fussy myself tbh.

Good. Honest critical views are what I need.

If you can stretch to it, you cant beat the PIONEER range, but they are pricey. Although have dropped significantly since i was looking at them (last year).

I can afford it I suppose but to me it's not worth twice the price for a small improvement. I'm no A/V expert anyway.

[DaveK]

If you can stretch to it, you cant beat the PIONEER range, but they are pricey. Although have dropped significantly since i was looking at them (last year).

 

The 8th gen Pioneers (last years model) are the last ones where Pioneer make the 42" panel. I believe future ones use...... Panasonic panels.

[Axle]

but to me it's not worth twice the price for a small improvement. I'm no A/V expert anyway.

 

My thoughts exactly tbh.

 

The spare change i had from my Panasonic went towards my BPU

 

Easy to justify BPU to the Mrs ('Im paying for a totally different beast') then spending the extra on 'The same thing'..

[DaveK]

I can afford it I suppose but to me it's not worth twice the price for a small improvement. I'm no A/V expert anyway.

 

To be fair - that was my opinion before I bought mine. When I saw a Pioneer next to a Panasonic, I changed my mind about the small improvement though and decided it was worth the money.

 

However - if you are anti-HD and not really into AV, then I'd stick with the Panasonic.

[Alex]

I've decided the Panasonic plasma is the one for me, based on good reviews almost everywhere and Alex on here speaks highly of his 46" Panny TH46PZ85, and he's a right fussy bugger so they must be good.

 

 

Indeed I do! And I do, do my homework whenever I'm shelling out more than £50!!

 

FWIW, I run a SKY HD box *BUT* I don't have an HD subscription...the free HD stuff is nice but because the SD (576 on Sky) is displayed so well we've not felt the dire need for it. (SkyHD box came from eBay hence the funny subscription).

 

The TV is doing the upscaling as the TX-SR875 amp which can upscale to 1080p is only on the PS3 for upscaling movies.

 

The only issue with the picture is fast movement (ball movement) - but this is a Plasma thing not Panasonic's. I *think* it's better on full HD transmissions but footy is so rarely on FreeHD it's hard to remember.

 

If you like your football, HD will make a HUGE difference.

 

I've seen Panny's side by side with Pioneers and can't see a difference that's worth the money.

 

PZ85's are the top of the range w/better speakers

PZ80 std model

PZ81 freesat

[Jake]

if you are anti-HD and not really into AV, then I'd stick with the Panasonic.

 

I'm not anti-HD per se, Dave, I just don't want to give Sky any more money than I do already. I don't feel like I'm getting good value from the £57/month I paid Sky at the moment, so another £10/month is out.

[DaveK]

I'm not anti-HD per se, Dave, I just don't want to give Sky any more money than I do already. I don't feel like I'm getting good value from the £57/month I paid Sky at the moment, so another £10/month is out.

 

I know exactly what you mean.

 

It has improved though - they have HD versions of just about all the movie channels now (if you're into films).

[Axle]

Sorry slightly off-topic(but related), Jake who is your Broadband with?

 

If your broadband is with Virgin most defiantely worth looking into the V-Plus box. Otherwise unless you change both your broadband and Sky you may not feel Virgin will be good value for money either.

 

Also does anyone else have a stupidly annoying delay with their V-Plus box?

[SimonB]

FWIW, I run a SKY HD box *BUT* I don't have an HD subscription...the free HD stuff is nice but because the SD (576 on Sky) is displayed so well we've not felt the dire need for it. (SkyHD box came from eBay hence the funny subscription).

 

I too have a TH46PZ85, and I too have an HD box I bought off ebay with no HD subscription. Great minds and all that! BBC HD is pretty good and free.

 

The only issue with the picture is fast movement (ball movement) - but this is a Plasma thing not Panasonic's. I *think* it's better on full HD transmissions but footy is so rarely on FreeHD it's hard to remember.

 

You want to turn off Intelligent Frame Creation if you have it on. It's pretty rubbish any time objects move over a static background. I never have it switched on and fast movement is brilliant on mine.

[Alex]

Ahhh thanks Simon, tbh I didn't even know it was on! Pretty much turned the TV on and left it alone!

 

Great minds indeed

[Jake]

OK, Simon and Alex,

Why did you go for the 46" TH46PZ85 instead of the 50" ?

 

I think I've decided aganst the FreeSat version now (although the Picture in Picture feature you also get with the 81B appeals to my gimmick loving side). I've just got to decide between the 46" and 50" versions.

 

The 81 is the newer version of the 85, right? (not the newer version of the 80 as you might guess from the name)

 

 

Sorry slightly off-topic(but related), Jake who is your Broadband with?

My broadband is from Virgin because I can't get 20meg DSL. As it happens I also get 2meg broadband free from Sky but I don't use it.

[SimonB]

Ahhh thanks Simon, tbh I didn't even know it was on! Pretty much turned the TV on and left it alone!

 

Great minds indeed

 

You can get a slightly better picture by twiddling the contrast and stuff. I set mine up using one of those blu ray test card discs. I have mine on Cinema mode, with the contrast about 55%, brightness about 45% colour about 60% and sharpness off completely, colour balance warm. It looks awesome with blu-ray discs on the PS3.

[SimonB]

OK, Simon and Alex,

Why did you go for the 46" TH46PZ85 instead of the 50" ?

 

I don't think the 50" was out when I bought mine. But seeing it in my room the 46 is huge anyway, I think the 50 would be just too big. Depends how far away you sit I guess.

 

You're definitely better off without freesat - you can just get a separate freesat box if you want which is probably cheaper, can be changed for something better when it comes along (like one with a PVR) and means when it breaks it doesn't take your whole tv with it.

[Alex]

Thanks for the tips Simon.

 

Jake, we'd kind of settled for having to get the 42" as our distance to the TV isn't huge (about 9ft). My G/F felt the 50" would be far too big and imposing compared to the 42. Then this new range was launched literally a couple of weeks before I was in a position to buy (after doing research for a year, and re-modelling the lounge). The new range included a 46" and I just knew this was the panel to have, and that it wasn't too big, mainly thanks to a slimmed down frame. I never saw a demo of it itself, but I saw the 42 and the 50 of the new range and was happy with both.

 

46" was right for a 9/10ft viewing distance IMO. Films are damn good - if I was 12+ft away I'd have convinced Eve over the 50"...so in short the 46" because if the room it is in.

[Jake]

Thanks everyone.

 

I wish it easier to understand the difference between the different model number versions.

 

OK the 81B has FreeSat and 'Picture in Picture', but 80B?, 82B?, 85B? - what's the difference?

[Alex]

PZ85's are the top of the range, best chipsets etc and better speakers (but no freesat)

PZ80 std model

PZ81 (PZ80+freesat)

 

Think B is a region code or it's for the Black bezel.