Help buying a plasma tv

TCP/IP

Hello Everybody,

I am buying a plasma TV. I am going to buy it from the UK as i have a VAT number so i will not have to pay it at source in the UK and therefore save 17.5%.

The two I have looked at in my budget (€2500) are:

Daewoo DP42PGB
and
LG MZ42PZ44

Can anybody shed some light on these or maybe others.

Thanks,
TCP/IP

robbie1876

What do you need to know specifically? I'm not that familiar with the Daewoo model, but I've installed a good few of the LG PZ44 models.

The main thing to do is check out exactly what inputs are available to you on the plasma and to make sure that they will accept everything that you plan to send to the plasma.

By default, the LG only has an analogue 15 pin RGB/VGA input, a DVI input, a component input and an s-video input. There is an 'AV' input for the connecting of a seperate AV board that screws to the back of the plasma. On the AV board there are two scart inputs and an RF input for the tuner in the AV board. So if you need those extra inputs, make sure you get the AV board, it's a seperate item. With the AV board on, it's a bit more awkward to attach to wall mount bracket, and will protrude from the wall another couple of inches with the board on there.

Overall performance of the LG screen is very good for the price, but it doesn't handle weak cable TV signals very well. If you use a DVD player with component cables correctly hooked up, the performance is noticably better than through the scart sockets.

If you have any other queries, I'll try my best to answer them.

Robbie

TCP/IP

Thanks Robbie,

I can get the LG screen, tv tuner, speakers and the stand for €2300 do you think this is a good deal. All that will be connected is DVD player by component and they either a Sky+ or NTL Digital box do you think this is ok

Thanks,
TCP/IP

robbie1876

That's a sweet deal. That €2300 price is based on the ex VAT UK trade price, I assume. If you are buying the screen in the UK, it's worth checking out the warranty and backup situation. As far as I know LG are only represented in Ireland through distributors, so if you have a problem with your screen, the distributors won't touch it because it didn't come through them. But I'm not 100% on this, it's worth checking out though.

Do you have any trade contacts in Ireland who you could get the screen through? I know for a fact that the trade on that package with the tuner, speakers and the desktop stand is only slightly more than the price you mention. Plus you get your full onsite warranty....

Just a thought

You'll be grand with a DVD and Sky/NTL box. Run the Sky/NTL via the RGB scart on the tuner box for best effect. The speakers aren't great at all, do you have a sound system you'll be using?

TCP/IP

Hello Robbie,

I will be running the sound through a seperate amp and speakers so that sound do the trick nothing like Dolby Digital EX pumping out

I dont know any distributers over here dont suppose you do.

Thanks,
TCP/IP

mrbungle

Can you really claim VAT from a purchase in the UK ?
I bought a plasma there last week and also have a Irish VAT number ?

Thanks.

TCP/IP

You sure can you should have asked to have it removed at source. If you try and claim it back form the UK government it may take over a year. By the way which plasma did you get, from were and how much

MrPudding

Are you not then, technically, supposed to pay it here? Is that not tax evasion:ninja:

MrP

mrbungle

Panasonic 42THPW6
£2375 sterling including component video card and tilting wall mounting bracket.
Screen on it's own was £2100. (<3000 euro).

The only Panasonic I've seen in Ireland is in Briscoes in Drogheda, there are others somewhere. It was retailing at 5000 euros without bracket.

In my opinion, the Panasonics are the best quality for money screens out there.
4000:1 contrast ratio !! Class. PIP

Compared to Sony's 42".....Sony's are far too expensive and overmanufactured.
The Sony with built in Tuner in Sony centre, 6600 euro. I don't think so.

Believe me, the small bit extra cash towards a decent screen is well worth it.
You'd be better off seeing the TV your gonna buy in the flesh first.


Read on:

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/panasonic-th42pwd6uy-review.html

5 plasma TV shoot out, featuring the previous pansonic model !!
The LG is reviewed in there.
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatvreviews/plasmatvshootout.html

robbie1876

To be fair, the LG reviewed in that shoot out is not the PZ44 being discussed in this thread. Plasmas are funny things, if one model in a brand is good or bad, it most certainly doesnt mean that other models by the same brand will perform the same. I love Panasonic plasmas, but I would still judge each one on their own merits. The new Philips 42" is pretty poor in my opinion, as is their new 50" consumer model. However, their 46" model is a gem, one of the best plasmas I´ve ever seen.

Reviews are a great source of info and most I have seen are relatively accurate for plasmas. Just be certain that the model you are purchasing is the exact same as the one in the review. LG´s PZ44 model has received great reviews, but the new PZ45 model has a major flaw relating to sound sync. This may have been fixed by now, the first batch all suffered from it.

mrbungle

Best thing is to see the screen working, if possible next to another screen of different manufacturer.

byte

This may be of some interest.

robbie1876

That is an interesting page, thanks for the link byte, I´ve been looking for that page for ages.

It is just a tad misleading though, for the following reasons. It is well known that plasma TVs from some of the major manufacturers can use the plasma panels from other manufacturers. This however has no reflection on the overall quality of the TV, but only potentially indicates how good or bad the actual plasma display may be (the glass bit, not the gadgetry inards). The Sharp 50" plasma is nowhere near as good as the Pioneer 50", even though they use the same plasma panel.

The reason for this is because you have to think of the glass panel part of the plasma like a computer monitor, and the gadgetry inside as a graphics card. If you have a top end monitor and a bad graphics card, the picture is bad. Likewise, a great graphics card with bad monitor equals bad picture.

The same principals apply to plamsa TVs. The plasma panel will only disply what is is told by the image processing part of the plasma. In a plasma, image processing (noise reduction, scaling, motion smoothing etc) is done digitally according to algorithms that are set by the manufacturers (whose badge appears on the set). The difference between the Pioneer and the Sharp is that the processing part of the Pioneer is far superior, resulting in a far better overall viewing experiences.

Its dangerous to fall into a trap of thinking that the JVC screen must be good because it has a Panasonic panel in it etc. As Mrbungle says, try to see a screen working before committing, but even this has its pitfalls, as different inputs are processed in different ways, depends on how its been set up in the shop :mad:

To save time and effot, lets just set up a new system. Just buy what i tell you to and be done with it...