Ric Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Jake, dont forget you can pick up the freesat HD boxes now from argos for like 100quid, so not worth the extra they are asking for the freesat, unless you don't like add on boxes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 If you have sky why pay extra for the freesat unit EDIT: does anyone know what media bus the internal freesat uses, I am guessing it a HD channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 17, 2008 Author Share Posted October 17, 2008 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. The B is the UK code (Comes with UK three pin plug) From what I've been reading today it seems the PZ81 is more like the PZ85 + FreeSat, rather than the PZ80. I called John Lewis this morning to order a PZ81 but while on the phone I discovered on the net that the PZ81 models only have 2 rear HDMI sockets (3rd HDMI on the front, which I don't want) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieP Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Jake my father in-law owns a TV shop, if you give Mike (my brother in-law) a ring with the part numbers and say you are a friend of Jamie's im sure he could beat them prices. 07770 553600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 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. You know HD through cable is free right? Apart from the 75£ you have to splash out on the HD setup box. I'm just waiting for a few extra channels to appear before going with it myself. I dont know the range of channels they carry other than BBC HD and movies etc/on demand stuff, but next year there will be an HD channel for every of main UK channels according to the news I read today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 17, 2008 Author Share Posted October 17, 2008 No, Rob, I wasn't aware of that. Cheers Jake my father in-law owns a TV shop, if you give Mike (my brother in-law) a ring with the part numbers and say you are a friend of Jamie's im sure he could beat them prices. 07770 553600. Excellent! Thanks Jamie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 You know HD through cable is free right? No its not, you need a v+ box for that and it costs money The freesat is a good thing if you want free HD. If you can hook it up to your SKY dish i would go for it. I had a look at getting that one over the 800 as it had the freesat tuner in it but decided against it as i would have to put up a dish. BBC HD, ITV HD etc are all free to view with a freesat tuner. Also the 81 has the premium sound system (i think). A must have unless u have surround sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 No its not, you need a v+ box for that and it costs money Thats what I said? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Thats what I said? Yeah but they charge u £5 a month AFAIK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Would that be rental for the box? They charge you that for the standard box anyway. (well I know they charge the £5 for additional boxes at least) There maybe extra benefits if you're on the XL package, ie you pay the 75£ and thats it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Would that be rental for the box? They charge you that for the standard box anyway. (well I know they charge the £5 for additional boxes at least) There maybe extra benefits if you're on the XL package, ie you pay the 75£ and thats it. Yeah with XL the box is free as far as i know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I have the new Panasonic in 46" with freesat tuner. Its a fantastic plasma. I have not wired up a dish for the freesat yet even though I have had it several months now but intend to over Christmas when I have time. In the mean time, the SD picture is fantastic. As good as anything else i have seen IMHO. If you have blu-ray or HD DVD then it really is very good in 1080p. I had a Panasonic plasma before I bought this one which was also very good but this one jumps another league. For the money I dont think anything comes close to it. It's argueable whether the Pioneer is better even at its higher price tag. My mate has the Pioneer and Im not that impressed to be honest. Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren-K Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Dont get a Plasma at all, Plasma is old technology in Tv`s now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Dont get a Plasma at all, Plasma is old technology in Tv`s now. Replaced by......? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren-K Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Yes i agree that LCD is older technology,however LCD is a more solid and reliable technology. some quotes from various sources on the web : Plasma screens are glass so they show glare and reflection from sunlight during the day or lamps/lights at night. Plasma uses twice the energy as LCD. LCD pictures are DEFINITELY brighter. LCD's are less trouble prone. For gaming, LCD's do not get burn-in(stationary images too long on screen), where as plasma's are very susceptible to it. LCDs- Have better color contrast than plasmas (depending on the model) which basically comes down to the TV sets ability to display distinguishable like-colors. For instance, if two colors, Navy-Blue and Black are side-by-side, on an LCD you can better see the difference between colors, and on plasma they will look more like two blacks or two dark blues. Have no-burn in, resulting in better performance using still-images, such as a PC screen. Have much lower glare from the screen when UV rays are shining on them. Have slower pixel response times, although high-end LCD's have moderatly fast pixel response Have smaller viewing angles, once again, high-end models will have wider ones. Plasmas- Like (similiar) colors are less distinguishable. Have high burn in rate, not ideal for PC or still photo slide shows, etc. Have large pixels, which makes images blurry when viewed in close. The large pixels are the reason you don't see plasma's under about 37 inches, because they can't make the pixels any smaller. Because of this, plasma's should be viewed from about twelve feet away from the screen for best results. Have a brightness advantage at night. However, UV rays (sunlight) can cause intense glare problems in daytime viewing. Have ultra-fast pixel response time. So fast in fact, the study found that the pixels almost flicker, causing eye fatigue and headaches in close (6ft and closer) viewing lasting longer than 2 hours. Have much wider viewing angles. So basically, you should get an LCD if you plan on having your tv in high sunlight situations, leaving it on for extended amounts of time, and viewing in close with you and a few other people. If you plan on having it in a large area, with multiple people watching it in an open space where you are viewing it from multiple angles and a fair distance from the display, you are a good candidate for a plasma Tbh its down to personal taste,after using a plasma i prefer LCD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Yes i agree that LCD is older technology,however LCD is a more solid and reliable technology. some quotes from various sources on the web : Tbh its down to personal taste,after using a plasma i prefer LCD. Some of that info is pretty out of date. For example, burn in isn't really an issue on many modern plasma's. It is of course personal taste, but I got rid of my LCD because I thought my mates plasma (same manufacturer, bought at the same time as my LCD) was way better. And my current plasma is in a whole different league to any LCD I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Yes i agree that LCD is older technology,however LCD is a more solid and reliable technology. some quotes from various sources on the web : Tbh its down to personal taste,after using a plasma i prefer LCD. If you do a search to a year or 2 ago on my name u will see me blasting plasma with exactly the same sort of information. A couple of years ago i would have been right behind you slating plasma but technology moves on and gets better. Plasma is the way forward, at least for anything over 37". Its just the way of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 42" Plasma here for over a year, brilliant, not screen burn and excellent picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 IMO modern plasma screens are much more suited to TV than LCD, as already said above anything over 37" and a plasma should be your only option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osso Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 I am also in the market for a 46 or 50" screen, probably aim for a 1080p but I was suprised to find that most plasmas especially the panasonics and i think even the pioneers have up to 4 fans mounted on the back!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foodfreak Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 My pioneer 50'' has 4 fans.....you'd never know they're almost silent. Although expensive compared to other brands, can't fault the quality of picture, especially HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 17, 2008 Author Share Posted October 17, 2008 One last thing I need to decide before ordering : HDMI Is two enough? From what I can make out the Panasonic plasmas that have FreeSat all have the third HDMI socket in the front behind a drop down flap - which makes it useless IMO (would look terrible for anything other than very occasional use) Which means either I have to manage with 2x HDMI or go with a TH46PZ85 which has 2 in the rear (oo err missus) and a useable (not visable from the front) third one in the side. But going for the TH46PZ85 means I can't have the integrated FreeSat, PicInPic & Pic&Pic - which I quite fancy really. It also means I can't have any of the 50" TH50PZxx ones for the same reason. What do folks do with just two HDMI? I use my XBox360 a lot (as a media centre mainly) so that needs a HDMI. My DVD player/SurroundSound Amp uses another So if I upgrade to a Sky HD box in the future I'll have no spare HDMI socket for it. Hmmmm. decisions decisions. Looks like it'll have to be the TH46PZ85 then. Which is alright, great TV and that, just a shame as I fancied a 50" and the FreeSat. Opinions? What would you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonB Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 Depends what other kit you have. I only use 1 HDMI because I have an amp that everything else is plugged into. The amp does the switching. So I had Sky HD and a PS3 going to my amp carrying video and audio, then a single HDMI from that to the TV - that one only carries video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted October 18, 2008 Author Share Posted October 18, 2008 So if I get the right amp I can have whatever TV I like! That sounds like a plan Si! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted October 18, 2008 Share Posted October 18, 2008 So if I get the right amp I can have whatever TV I like! That sounds like a plan Si! Cheers Basically, you can get an AV amp and plug everything into that then have 1 connection going to the TV. Obviously its quite a bit of dough to be forking out so i would make sure you get the one you want with all the gizmo's you want. The PZ800 has 3 at the back and one at the front btw. It also has PIP & PAP, the upgraded sound and some upgraded video something or other. No freesat though and £1600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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