Thread: 42" Panasonic TV? Where&What??

Right as in my life right now the poo has well and truely hit the fan I shall be sorting my debts and at the end of the month (once expenses are in)I want to get the TV I promised myself years ago.

Not sure whether to get Plasma or LCD (I will be using it for a chunk of X-Box so was told LCDmay be better).

This is a couple of the sets I was looking at.

http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/panas...x-l42s10b.html
Or
http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/panasonic/tx-p42x10.html

It'll be my last big spend for quite some time so can't afford to get this wrong. Thoughts, opinions, hints & tipsall received gratfully

I'd say go with the LCD all the way.

One benefit is that you'll not have to recharge gases in 'x' amount of years as you would with the LCD.

I've got a 37" LG LCD which, although not 'full' HD (HD ready) is fantastic coupled to the PS3 and Sky+HD

EDIT: Forgot to add, had a real drunken strop one night and literally pulled the TV off of the stand only to land, face first, with a heavy thud on the wooden floor..............couple of scratches on the frame but other than that, works perfect . Would it still be working if it were a Plasma? Probably not!

plasma.... i have the 42 inch panasonic vierra FULL HD and i can truly say with blue ray it effiiiiing amazing i swaer to god love it to bits you get a free 5 year garantee to plasmas are much better than they used to be ....i went to selfriges in trafford centre i stood there for about 30 mins compairing pictures and can easly say panasonic vierra i think mine is called full hd is aswesome its alot better than any other pic i could see sony etc ... but pay the extra and get full hd if you got a station 3 its truely amazing with hd cable and i got a surround system to onkyo its the dogs

on them 2 there im not sure though there only hd ready id still go with the plasma i paid 1300 for mine you see so cant really compair to them id go online and read reviews about them both

Originally Posted by 10blazin

on them 2 there im not sure though there only hd ready

The LCD is FULL HD but the Plasma is HD Ready!

Ive got a 42" panasonic plasma that ive had for 18 months or so and its spot on imho, picture quality is excellent. As for rechargeing plasma's thats a thing of the past, current plasma's are sealed with inert gases that never need recharging. The life of lcd and plasma screens is also very similar. In my opinion the picture of plasma's is better largely down to the better contrast ratio of plasma's. There are some good deals around at the minute too, a mate of mine has just bought one of these
http://www.richersounds.com/product/...pana-txp42s10b
He actually went to John Lewis and got them to price match though as they gave the five year warranty for free.

didnt spot that .... id probably go for the full hd one just not to sure on lcds the pics arnt as good as plasma.... but its full hd so its gotta be better than the hd ready plasma heh...

Originally Posted by S3Steve

As for rechargeing plasma's thats a thing of the past, current plasma's are sealed with inert gases that never need recharging.

I bow down to your superior knowledge

^^^^^
LoL

I have a viera plasma but samsung are better I have to say

i paid 1300 for my full hd plasma vierra and its better than any samsung pics that for sure are you joking vorhees or being serious ????

Samsung are better? Samsung are mass produced Korean crap. Having worked in customer service in electrical goods for the last 8 years i can quite happily tell you panasonic are the best brand to currently be producing tv's. Pioneer plasmas were the only thing which outshone but at 2 k for the base model they were kind of steep.

Samsung and LG give good bang for buck but are cheaply made and have a very high return rate.

You won't find a better picture than a plasma even the new 9 series LED tv does not look as good as the Panny X10 with freesat built in. People who go off Full HD and HD ready are morons who have no idea about the technology that drive them. You have to see a picture with your eyes to know whats best. Make sure you get 100hz its the most important feature of modern tv's because it so heavily reduces blur on fast moving objects.

A panny plasma is made for 100 000 hours use thats around 30+ years of normal watching. There is no such thing as re-gassing, noble gasses can't be re-charged it would just have a panel replacement which in this day an age means a new tv.

If you want to use the t as a pc monitor then LCD is the best choice but the depth of colour from a plasma on any other high def feed like an Xbox or PS3 will re-assure you have the right tv. The other benefit of an HD ready only tv is that standard def tv pictures look a lot better because there is less of a difference to the native resolution.

The latest V-real 4 processor from Panasonic is breathtaking but the V real 2 and 3 were great. Sony used to use samsung panels until the very latest generation but the bravia engine did a bit better job. LG is a real gamble, when working they are good but its like buying am italian car really, frought with danger as they are tempramental.

Watch the tv's your looking at and see what you thing get the same feed on it and just see what your eyes like best. You won't go far wrong with a Panasonic anything tho. Enjoy

I paid over a grand for mine 6 months ago,five of my mates have samsungs (they get pissed off when I grab the remote and know how to alter bits seeing as I have a panasonic) but only one has the latest and its a better picture than mine for sure...don't like to admit it but its the gods honest Jonnie

Originally Posted by biggiep

Samsung are better? Samsung are mass produced Korean crap. Having worked in customer service in electrical goods for the last 8 years i can quite happily tell you panasonic are the best brand to currently be producing tv's.

I have twenty twenty vision and it is a better pic without a doubt...ain't happy about it but hey ho.

I also have 20-20 and I work with tv's every week and have seen hundreds of every make of tv on a 10000 sq ft tv display, you do have to set up a plasma to get a good pic? the defaults aren't really that good. It is subjective to your own eyes but I have never seen a Samsung with a better pic than the X10 or many Pannys. Not only that every reviewer will back up that only a pioneer outshines them. Not sure if you know but panasonics are set to low brightness to bed them in?

It takes a good 30 mins to set a tv up properly for your own eyes and the viewing distance is critical. You should be double the screen size and a half away to view properly.

plasma every day !
had alot of them now as im always chopping and changing.
even though voors comments on the later samsungs are strong arguments, i would have to disagree, ive had three 42" pannys now and have just upgraded to a 50".
im not saying that there the best, there not, the pioneer is, but thats another mortgage!!
id say the panasonic is the runner up.
i also have lcd screens but i find them soft and slow.
if its a panny your after, have a look at the z range.

http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/panas...h-42pz80b.html

im sure you wont go far wrong with any panasonic, you have to bear in mind that the comments left on here by us all are all individual tastes as are the cars we drive, try not to be lead on by us all to much, go and study the two yourself in more depth, dont just have a demo of some cartoon in hd, get them to run other signals ie scart from sky ( if this is going to be the main thing ran on yours )
as pointed out above by s3steve, richersounds is a very good store and are usually very competative price wise.
good luck with your choice.

vorhees is yours full definition mate cos mine is and serious with hd leads and blue ray to show the true pic it blows anything else out of the water its like being there

I am happy with this one good sound too...





http://www.klikk.no/teknologi/lydogb...icle268854.ece

Optoma HD65 720P Projector with Glass beaded electric screen around £700.

106" of pure viewing pleasure!

Had them all! Plasma and LCD. 106" for £700 no brainer.

Call of duty in life size! (Or porn, whatever takes yor fancy!)

i got a projector to but just to watch films i got a dlp infocus projector the picture is amazing ....

infocus are the dogs although a projector isnt as crisp as a plasma no matter how good or how dear ,its really just for size....

106" might be a problem. The gap I've got won't take anything bigger than a 42". This is what I have at present. The TV is a Grundig 32" (first non Panasonic set I've had), can't complain as it was given to me an my 14year old Panasonic 21" set now resides in the bedroom.

As you can see, not a huge amount of space to play with. Excuse the armchair but one job at a time and a new TV is my priority. lol

plasma or lcd?

bmw or audi?

intel or amd?

buy whichever you see will suit you best.

I just got a Bravia 52W5500 last week. HD viewing is perfect.if you go for the panasonic, check the G10 series

Check the Samsung Led TV's & I did a writeup recently on the 7 series on here, go search cause I think its best by far of many screens & I've tested fair few.

One thing you could consider is buying something smaller than 42" thats more suited to the room where you going to put it, then using that money to buy a higher quality piece of kit or maybe a wall bracket to mount it on. Your living room doesnt look that big so perhaps you could get away with something smaller:

Screen Viewing distance range
26" 3.25-5.5 feet
32" 4.0-6.66 feet
37" 4.63-7.71 feet
40" 5.0-8.33 feet
46" 5.75-9.5 feet
52" 6.5-10.8 feet
58" 7.25-12 feet
65" 8.13-13.5 feet
70" 8.75-14.75 feet

Personally, Id get an LCD with HDMI capability, plug your PC/xbox into it and get a wireless keyboard and mouse, great hassle free way for streaming movies onto the telly...

I think you will find Panasonic make the Pioneers now....
And Panasonic and plasma(only above certain sizes available) is def the way to go with only full HD 1080p not hd ready.

I installed a Pan 50" and connected it to Sky SD (via scart in rgb) and the picture was spot on, i havent seen any other sets take a sky SD picture and make it that good without looking blocky, fake or delayed smear. And when put on the freesat bbc hd it was spot on.
Makes me want a 50 now....

Ps been in the Tv trade since 1986.

I ended up with a 46" 1080p Panny Plasma (inc Freesat and all connected via HDMI) after buying several Samsung LCDs of the the last few years...coupled it up to Sky HD and Panny BluRay and the picture is epic!
I honestly did not expect the Plasma to be 'that' much better...especially for motion and black levels.

The only downside is the weight of Plasmas, if you are intending to wallmount. But, since it looks like it'll be stand mounted in a corner, you won't have the problem.



Mine is the TH-46PZ81B, the version before the G10, so as abdus suggests, go look at a G10.

I'd suggest you look in John Lewis too...as you get a 5 year warranty...although my local Panasonic shop matched the JL price and did me a bit of a deal when I bought the BluRay player with it.

Glad to hear your happy with your Panasonic, when I have fitted 42" and 46" to walls I use a solid bracket with double movement unfortunately they are about £300 and you need a really good wall fixings.
If you fit it to the wall make the center of the screen is at sofa eye level, if customers ask me to put them higher i always hold my hand on the wall and ask them what feels comfortable (a couple of hours looking high on a wall gives good neck ache unless your really laid back in your sofa all the time.

I would go to John Lewis for the five year warranty, it can be worth over £200 and i would not buy a flat panel without one as if they go wrong its expensive to fix.
Where i get my Panasonic's from has just dropped the 5year warranty.

Originally Posted by rich dj

Glad to hear your happy with your Panasonic, when I have fitted 42" and 46" to walls I use a solid bracket with double movement unfortunately they are about £300 and you need a really good wall fixings.

Maybe you can help here: (drifting off topic I know...sorry)
My walls are plasterboard, over metal framing...so not even any decent 4"x2"s to get big woodscrews into.
I have 32" LCDs hung no problem, with large spread load brackets and decent expanding plasterboard wall fixings...
But once you get to 46" Plasmas...it gets heavy.

I want to put a 50" Plasma in my media room and want it wall mounted.
Being an internal wall, you can't go through to blockwark and fit spacers with the bolts anchored into the blockwork.

It was suggested that a sheet of 12mm MDF the same size as the TV, fixed through the plasterboard to the metal posts MAY be enough to spread the weight enough to bolt a flat to wall, but tiltable Plasma bracket to. What do you think?
The Plasma will only be a couple of inches from the wall...so no real leverage, just weight.

I have shelving up in my study anchored to the metal framing, with heavy books on, and it's fine...but books don't cost thousands!

The other option is to rip the wall down, frame it up with 4"x2" to take the load, run all the cabling, then re-plasterboard it all up. Lots more cost!

I've fitted both 37" and 40" LCDs to plasterboard walls with the correct fixings, and a big enough bracket to spead the load - all tiltable but close to wall mounts.
But a 50" Plasma weight about twice as much as the 40" LCDs!

If you fit it to the wall make the center of the screen is at sofa eye level, if customers ask me to put them higher i always hold my hand on the wall and ask them what feels comfortable (a couple of hours looking high on a wall gives good neck ache unless your really laid back in your sofa all the time.

A few of my neighbours have panels above the fireplace - great for impressing the neighbours maybe, awful for actually watching...hence mine on a stand, at the height you suggest!

I would go to John Lewis for the five year warranty, it can be worth over £200 and i would not buy a flat panel without one as if they go wrong its expensive to fix.

Good advice. Same here.
I don't mind on a small, almost throw away bedroom sized LCD...but of a 42 or over decent set, I'd like the warranty.

you won't have trouble wall mounting it (provided it is a proper wall).

I've wall mounted my 52" and it's much better than on the the cabinet

Cabinet is ow free for all my A/V gear. But I'm moving all of them now to a hidden cupboarb. That will leave me with only my TV and front/centre speaker/subwoofer.

btw I'm using this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Used it or my 40" now using it for the 52" one

is that a bk gemini? nice one

Originally Posted by abdus

you won't have trouble wall mounting it (provided it is a proper wall).

I've wall mounted my 52" and it's much better than on the the cabinet

Cabinet is ow free for all my A/V gear. But I'm moving all of them now to a hidden cupboarb. That will leave me with only my TV and front/centre speaker/subwoofer.

It's not a proper wall, as such.
It's an internal wall between the Cinema room and Utility Room behind.
Sadly, only two sheets of plasterboard with modern metal framing.

I have used brackets like the eBay one you posted for my other TVs, and installed up to a 40" LCD using the same...
I'm not bothered about the bracket, I know it's up to the job...

It's whether the bracket takes a 5ft square of plasterboard with it when the whole lot comes away from the wall, that's bothering me!


EDIT: What kit are you running?

Originally Posted by abdus

is that a bk gemini? nice one

XLS200DF, x2.



Both connected using Speakon connections for music, using the internal filtering, off the Linn Classik Musik.
The LH one also connected using RCAs as a .1 ch to the Yamaha YSP-40D using it's filtering, for movies.

I have a BK Monolith in my Cinema Room too...now that IS impressive!

2 XLS200 ....be careful the wall doesnt crack...lol

And BK Monolith, now we're talking.

BUT again be careful, it might blow the wall away...lol.

I want to get a Monolith but still unsure if I will fully use it.

I've got an XLS200 DF too.

My kit is this:

Sony 52W5500

Tannoy F4 floostanders
Tannoy FC center
Tannoy F1 rears

going in the cabinet (maybe another room)

Sony DA2400ES AV amp
PS3 (blu ray)
Toshiba HD XE1 HD Player
Toshiba EP35 HD DVD player
Wii
XBox 360
Sony RDR-HXD890 160GB HDD PVR & DVD recorder
Popcorn A-110 (still waiting for the C-200...lol)
PC to stream to Popcorn A-110
Cambridge Audio 340A SE for music

I'm making a custom cabinet to put all these in. I'm using a Logitech Harmony One

Still unsure how to feed the video from the amp to the TV though. (whether a long HDMI or Cat5e)

If you have 2 XLS200 only for the living room, I wonder what the kit for the Home Cinema is ....Post details please

oh, did I also miss the Linn Classik Musik? quite some gear there mate...

Originally Posted by Ess_Three

It's not a proper wall, as such.
It's an internal wall between the Cinema room and Utility Room behind.
Sadly, only two sheets of plasterboard with modern metal framing.

I have used brackets like the eBay one you posted for my other TVs, and installed up to a 40" LCD using the same...
I'm not bothered about the bracket, I know it's up to the job...

It's whether the bracket takes a 5ft square of plasterboard with it when the whole lot comes away from the wall, that's bothering me!

I can imagine that happening if it is only plasterboard. would need reinforcement then. Better be on the safe side

Originally Posted by abdus

I can imagine that happening if it is only plasterboard. would need reinforcement then. Better be on the safe side

I had thought as much...looks like a re-enforced wall is the answer.
Boo...more time, effort and money.

Originally Posted by abdus

oh, did I also miss the Linn Classik Musik? quite some gear there mate...

Cheers!
That's the AV re-vamp done in the Living Room...
Cinema Room next...it's still non-HD!

Originally Posted by abdus

2 XLS200 ....be careful the wall doesnt crack...lol

And BK Monolith, now we're talking.

BUT again be careful, it might blow the wall away...lol.

I want to get a Monolith but still unsure if I will fully use it.

Oh, you will use it!
As long as you have the space and no neighbours close by!

I've managed to make a mate of mine sick, such was the low frequencies that his chest wasn't having it...and out came his tea! not nice...
But uber low...and loud as you can take.

I've got an XLS200 DF too.
My kit is this:

Sony 52W5500
Tannoy F4 floostanders
Tannoy FC center
Tannoy F1 rears
going in the cabinet (maybe another room)
Sony DA2400ES AV amp
PS3 (blu ray)
Toshiba HD XE1 HD Player
Toshiba EP35 HD DVD player
Wii
XBox 360
Sony RDR-HXD890 160GB HDD PVR & DVD recorder
Popcorn A-110 (still waiting for the C-200...lol)
PC to stream to Popcorn A-110
Cambridge Audio 340A SE for music

Nice list...

I'm making a custom cabinet to put all these in. I'm using a Logitech Harmony One

How do you find the Harmony?
I'm tempted myself.

Still unsure how to feed the video from the amp to the TV though. (whether a long HDMI or Cat5e)

I send full HD, 1080p from the BlueRay + 1080i from the Sky HD up to a auto switch in the loft via 10m HDMI, then to 4 way HDMI splitter/amps and back down via 10m HDMI cables, so all TVs can get full HD.
Up to 10m I've had perfect results...I got drop out with a 15m HDMI, so moved things about and stick to 10m...no problems at that.

If you are under 10m, HDMI will be fine.
You could add a repeater if you need longer.

I've never tried HD over Cat5.

If you have 2 XLS200 only for the living room, I wonder what the kit for the Home Cinema is ....Post details please

Yamaha RX-V2600
Cambridge Audio Azur 540D V2 DVD player
Cambridge Audio Azur 540C V2 CD player
Sky+

Telly is still a CRT - until this winter when it gets an upgrade!
Toshiba 36" CRT 36ZP48P - will go for a Panny 50" Plasma.

Stands Unique High AV 10 rack...

B&W 603 S2 Floorstanders, Left and Right
B&W LCR 6 centre
B&W DS6 (THX) side surround
B&W DS6 (THX) rear surround
BK Monolith sub.

The sounds side of things will remain as is...I am happy with it.
The Sky will upgrade to HD, add a BluRay player (waiting for Cambridge Audio to pull their finger out and release their Azur BluRay player) and the TV will be changed - going to HDMI where I can.
CD is optical as it is...so it's onlt DVD/BlueRay/Sky to go HDMI with the new panel.

Oh, and the room is only about 11ft square!
Did someone say high SPL?

The problem is I have neighbours. (semi detached). I don't want to give them grief...lol

I'm tempted by the new XXLS400 one for now. Just between the Monolith and the XLS200

The Harmony is awesome. Really like it. Can't go wrong for £99. All remotes in the cupboard now. The 'one touch and everyhting you need for that activity powers on' is great. I'm using it with some Marmitek PowerMid XL infrared extender set. Works great

However some users don't like the touchscreen as they prefer solid buttons. But I really like mine.

I just got an Xrite One eye Display and a Radioshack SPL. Will try some calibration

These B&W DS6 are dipoles?

nice kit mate..nice kit.

Originally Posted by abdus

These B&W DS6 are dipoles?

nice kit mate..nice kit.

That's the ones...
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...roduct_ID/1098

They say Di-pole...but there are 3 speakers, so I'd have thought more Tri-poles?

ah ok. Do they make any difference compared to normal rear conventional ones? (i mean is a room that size: 11 square ft)

edit: 11 square feet or square metres?

Originally Posted by abdus

ah ok. Do they make any difference compared to normal rear conventional ones? (i mean is a room that size: 11 square ft)

edit: 11 square feet or square metres?

Oh no...approx 10 and a bit ft by 10 and a bit ft. Not a big room. It was supposed to be the Study...but is now my Cinema room. Big enough for a 3 seater sofa and all my AV gear...with big volumes possible.

The dipoles are probably more diffused than purely single direction speakers...but I have no room behind (sofa up against the wall where the rear speakers are) and without room to give directional speakers the room to work, they seemed like a good option.
They work...there is quite possibly better out there...but in my small room, they just work.


We've gone way off topic here...sorry Oranoco.
If it helps, I'll be installing a Panasonic 50G10 1080p Freesat HD bad-boy in my Cinema Room in the next few months.

I am also (sad enough) to be thinking of fitting a 42G10 1080p Freesat HD set in my Kitchen/Family Room to replace the 32" Samsung HD set that's in there...so impressed am I by the Panasonic Plasmas.

It's a couple of £100 more than the X series you were thinking of...but I really would suggest you go and audition the two...try Freeview, Freesat SD, Freesat HD, Sky SD, Sky HD, DVD and BluRay sources on them both...and make your mind up from there.
The 42G10 is a belter of a set...

My bro has an older Panasonic plasma (TX42PX70 rings a bell, its a couple of generations old now) and when we first looked at it in the store we were both stunned at how good it was at SD.

It had some crappy daytime freeview channel on and comparing it to all the other LCD sets around in the store the difference was unreal. Clearly a lot of its down to the processing engine inside the set, rather than the panel itself, but panasonic are clearly doing it right. I was always a bit disappointed at how these big TV sets really showed up how bad quality the SD channels are, but this thing is just crisp.

Few months later i installed a 40" Sony Bravia LCD for an Aunt and hooked it up to her Sky SD box, and the quality of the image was just nasty. Very obvious macroblocking all over the place.

I've since looked at various sets in the stores and the panasonic does seem to have the edge still.

Gets my vote anyway.

samsung 50" very nice tv and great for the xbox call of duty 3/4/5

Just to add I did go for the 42" Panasonice Plasma. It won the What Hi-Fi 5 star award thingy and I got it for a very fair price. Been chuff edto bits with it since I've had it.

Originally Posted by Oranoco

Just to add I did go for the 42" Panasonice Plasma. It won the What Hi-Fi 5 star award thingy and I got it for a very fair price. Been chuff edto bits with it since I've had it.

Good choice!
Which model did you opt for?

I got the TX-P42X-10B. I know it's not as fancy as some of the sets you can get but I'm chuffed to bits with it, The picture is certainly better than a lot of theother sets I'd looked at.

Unfortunately these days, thanks to my ***** of an ex, cash is significantly tighter for spending on luxuries

Nice choice!
Pity about the ex...but onwards and upwards eh? Don't let things get on top of you...

Don't intend to mate. Spent my time on the downer, now I'm coming back and enjoying a whole new world.

I bought one of the Panny's last month to replace my old LCD.

The picture seemed a bit soft to start with, so I looked on t'internet and found that on certain discs you get a THX Optimiser programme (located within the Sound setup menus). I had a Star Wars DVD Trilogy which had this function so I reset the TV up and now it is so much better. The out of factory settings are pretty soft.

I opted for the 42" V10 as it had ethernet. Wanted a 50" but just wasn't close to being in budget.



One area I find it to be far better than LCD is in depth of field within the image. looks FAR less flat.