URGENT tv help question
 

My mrs has said we can get a new tv and were stuck on two options!

option 1: is the samsung ps42a456p

option 2: panasonic viera,both are 42 inch cant remember if the samsung is plasma tho.

So question is does anyone on here have or had one of these and which one is better?

Im really sick of talking to salesmen who really dont have clue and i want an honest answer. cheers for any info

OOOOO and forget to say were going on friday 2 get one thats why its urgent! lol

i work at john lewis we sell loads more panasonics and get a lot less come back with issues. all covered with 5 years cover tho :thumb: John Lewis - Free standard delivery on all orders

:thumb:

Bought a Panasonic th-42pz85BA on Monday night and so far chuffed to bits.
I read up for about 2 weeks on here Plasma Televisions - AVForums.com before making my decision. Beware though. If you start reading you'll find loads of info but it'll make your head hurt trying to decipher it all.
I realised Panasonic or Samsung were the 2 most recommended at my price level, went into about 6 different stores to look at both in action and made my decision. The Panasonic picture looked better each time. It was playing Blu-ray demos though. The inbuilt freeview is also good. Much better than my old stand alone stuff.
The only thing I can't suss out at the minute is how to connect my telly and Xbox 360 through my 5.1 dvd surround stuff. It works fine playing a dvd but I just can't find the right way to hook it all up.
I'm sure it's possible.
I wouldn't know which is better of your two choices. Go look at both working and go from there.

Sorry to jump on the thread, i'm sure it will be possible to hook up the Xbox and the telly to the amp although it's going to depend on the amp.
I've got a PS3 and an Xbox and although the xbox isnt hooked up at the moment it's possible.
I've got the PS3 hooked up to the amp using an hdmi connection and there is a spare one that the xbox uses as well, they then both go to the telly via the hdmi out.
The Xbox if it's an older one will have the RGB connection which you should have on the back of the amp, just going to take a bit of playing around with the settings but it is easy enough

As for the telly, if i had the option i'd go plasma, got an lcd in the bedroom and i find the picture on my plasma in the living room has a much nicer picture.

I like the Samsung range and can't fault them on price.
Use one as my PC monitor and have one in my bedroom.

But my main television is a Panny and its superb.
My mate has the same one as well and both agree it ticks all the right boxes for our needs:thumb:

John lewis FTW:D
Buy Panasonic Viera TH42PZ81B Plasma HD 1080p Television, 42 Inch with Built-in freesat online at JohnLewis.com

Just to add, shouldn't this be in NSR and not General;)

Samsung use same components as Panasonic. Both virtually identical. I went for Samsung because with Panasonic you pay for the name.

Probably but AFAIK they use completely different panels, a nerd friend of mine said that Sony use Panasonic panels:Suspiciou

Panasonic is the way forward, I've seen too many bad and unreliable Samsungs to be honest.

I have a samsung and I cant fault it.

My friend has a Panasonic and I cant fault that either.

The panansonic will be more expensive. You will also find that the Samsung is probably LCD rather than Plasma.

Personaly I prefer the LCD and should last longer (but who keeps a TV for 15 years anyway)

The gadget show a couple of weeks ago did a test with the Samsung, Philips & Sony. It rated the Sony as the best but are a lot more expensive.

Oh I agree. To be honest you will be chuffed whatever you buy. Sony and panasonic have the name. Samsung the price. You just have to weigh up whats more important to you. Panasonic is the way forward but if you wanna save some pennies and still get a very very good tv then the Samsung is the 1.

Hi mate

I went through this whole thing just before xmas when I set out to but a 42" Plasma screen.

Started off trying to decide between plasma/LCD, In the end, it had to be a plasma as the deep blacks and constrast on a plasma is far better than an LCD screen IMO.

Also the view at an angle on a plasma is much better unless your lucky enough to have a straight on view depending on your room setup!

After opening the can of worms that is research and getting the opinions on the AVforum website, I established that it would have to be a Pansonic TH42PX8B which was within my price budget of around £600.

The Panny's are supposidly second only to Pioneers in plasma's which is the general opinion I got.

What I would say is go into the usual stores armed with a DVD film from your home collection and ask them to play it on the screen your interested in, Although they had a DVD player under the screen in the unhelpfull highstreet store named after a flying object I went into, they were to lazy to get a HDMI lead to connect it up until I insisted I would not buy the screen until they did!

this will give you a true opinion on what the sceen will look like at home and not on the HD Demo feed's they pump into them in stores to entice people into buying them.

They also tend to turn the contrast and brightness up on the scrrens generally in stores to give you that wow factor whereas at home you porbably would'nt run them with the settings on full blast!

In the end, I went into a chain of stores called Richer Sounds, was dead set on the Pan 42" and got some very helpfull advice from the staff who also said alot of the manufacters share and use the same internal components, They said Panasonic was very good when you go into the higher priced ranges but for a budget of around £600, the 42PG60** from LG was a much better buy.

It looks awsome too with a totally flat front panel and is 100hz which is a must on a plasma.

Was very aprihensive on not going for the Panny due to trusting the name but went for the LG in the end and I can honestly say its awasome!

Would recommend Richer Sounds too for good service.

Ive always said Panasonic or Pioneer if you can stretch the budget are the only tellys to be buying IMO.

I've had a Samsung 40" 1080P LCD for the last 18 months and never had a problem. :)

Alg:

I'm looking at getting the Panny PZ85 too and have also been using avforum for info.
Some are saying the full HD Pannys are poor with non HD inputs. As I haven't got HD (and probably won't for a few years), what is the picture like?

My in-laws have a Samsung LCD and the picture is shocking compared to my 5 yr old JVC CRT and I don't want it to be worse!

OP: Get a Panasonic. They seem to win most tests I've read. Either TH42PX80 (HD ready) or TH42PZ80 (full 1080 HD) are the best buys.

The PZ85 is reduced in comet at the mo, but only has better sound (no benefit if using a surround system) and a dodgy movie smoothing mode over the PZ80.

Panny th42x80B muts nuts

mart

ok were still stuck between the two lol!

Quick question,what are the pictures like off a standard aerial?in the store they were either hooked up to blueray or on the hd channels and had no other input so when i tryed to have a play it just snow

My pic from the built in Freeview is excellent.
I don't have sky or anything so posh! :lol1:

ALG what tv do u have

The panny on a standard ariel is good.

on Digital freview, (ariel) its good as well

as good as normal CRT pictures

LCD is too soulless & bright



Mart

Panasonic th-42pz85BA

ok cheers alg! the panasonic the mrs likes is th42px80b

Thats what weve got :thumb:

make sure you set it up correctly :)

MART

Hi mart,is the tv hard to set up and how did u go about getting every setting right?

I've had my Panasonic Viera plasma since July 2005 and it hasn't missed a beat.

Geoff. :thumb:

Me too and it is top notch! cannot recommend them highly enough........... panasonic all the way. Easy to setup, worth looking on the avforum for hints and tips on initial setup and run in procedures to get the most from the system.

Once run in you will not be dissapointed. HD / upscaled feeds produce superb results!

It's your choice but Panasonic rock - mine is now hooked up to a panasonic surround sound system and that also is very impressive.

Good luck

GB

Yes, it is possible.
What I have is everything connected to the TV, then an optical cable from the TV to the surround sound system.

You then have to pick the sound source on the surround sound system.
Mine have an option for "AUX DIGITAL".
All sound going though the TV then goes to the surround sound system
You can do it via L + R audio jacks in the same way, but an optical cable is best - you'll get surround sound from the tv/games console/SKY etc.

Shaun

Guys a big thank you for all the info and help were getting the panasonic viera 42pz80b ,was really really happy with the picture and sound and the dvb was a really good quality!

So once we have it set up its blueray and new surround sound more new toys lol.

But once again guys a big thank youxxxxxxx

Panny TH42px80 Plasma - I got one last month for £449 from dixons!!!!

Absolutely spot on

449!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there asking 849 quid how did u get it 4 that,my local currys comet and dixons all have 4 £849 give ot take