~~ Help Newb in Deciding..... ~~

[MacFly69]

hello.

here's my scenario. i would like to get either plasma or a lcd tv for our bedroom. there will be a 9' - 11' of distance to the tv. i would like to get a tv from 30" to 42". i use a FTA box in our bedroom, which does not support HD signals. so the tv being HD is not an huge determining factor, although i'd consider it if the price is right. which i can simply go the extra mile to get HD into the bedroom.

the most important factors to take into consideration for me is 1) price, 2) picture quality, 3)size and 4)must have speakers.

with that in mind, i have the following i am considering:

Philips 30" LCD 30PF9946D/37B - $ REFURB - OTD

Proview 32" LCD RX-326

Maxent 32" LCD MX-32X3

Sceptre 32" LCD X32SV-NAGA

Planar 42" PLASMA PDP-42BK

Panasonic 42" PLASMA TH-42PWD8UK EDTV $

Maxent 42" PLASMA HDTV MX-42X3

thus far, this is what i've gathered. pls, if there other brands/sizes i should you would recommend....pls do so. any and all comments are greatly appreciated!

thanks in advance.

john

mod: MSRP only please

[jblaze2]

i'm a newbie myself so i'm not much of a help, but the 42PWD8UK doesn't have speakers, which was one of your main "must haves."

The 42" EDTV panisonic with speakers is the th-42pd50u which will run you about $100 more shipped than what you have listed.

[MacFly69]

sorry MOD......it's been a while since i last posted and forgot 'bout posting prices other than MSRP.

[Ten Midgets]

You can't beat an HD plasma; the Maxent 42" is the one I would go with without a doubt.

[B0N3]

If you want good speakers and a great EDTV, check out the Zenith Z42PX2D.

IMO you can't beat it for the price .. close if not equal to the Panny PQ.

check out the specs and price on the BB website .. a few of us here own it and couldn't be happier.

[kingfrog]

I'd say go with the PAnny ED. At your distance the pictures will look the same between the Panasonic and Maxent. You are not close enough to realize the added resolution of the HD Maxent. The Panny from what I have read can look better then a low end HD.

I was at CC, Sears and Costco today window shopping. The guy at Sears told me Plasmas need "recharging" after a couple years. Cany you believe they are still spewing this crap?
I asked my wife to decide what TV had the best picture between a 42" HD Samsung and the ED Panny. At nine feet whe preferred the Panasonic. At 4 feet she preferred the Samsung. The Zenith looked great as well as monetioned above and had more bells and whistles for 100 less.

Since we will be 10-11 feet from the screen we could effectively buy a quality ED over an inferior HD where unless we are up close the PQ looks better on the ED.
The test bacame harder at BEst buy throwing the $1900 Maxent HD into the mix. Same results though. She chose the Panasonic ED. go figure. This would be a tough decision though Add $300 get an HD.......Good thing Im not buying until next Summer!!

I did ask Costco if they could hold one since they are not replacing the Panasonics when they run out (see asterik in upper right corner of tag). But he told me they we getting in new models and they will be less expensive. Anyone surprised?

[MacFly69]

thank you guy for the great info and advice!

but here's my on going battle. if i go with the panny ED, i will obviously will not have HD! with that said, i'm wondering how the PQ will be with my FTA coolsat box which is basically the same as a dish network feed, minus HD of course.

anyone out there running a FTA box with a panny ED?

[kingfrog]

[QUOTE=MacFly69]thank you guy for the great info and advice!

but here's my on going battle. if i go with the panny ED, i will obviously will not have HD! with that said, i'm wondering how the PQ will be with my FTA coolsat box which is basically the same as a dish network feed, minus HD of course.

anyone out there running a FTA box with a panny ED?[/QUOTE]

Well if this is any help. SDTV looked vastly superior on the ED over the Samsung, Zenith and Maxent HDs. That along with the same DVD performance and the lack of a considerable amount of compelling HD TV shows tilts in favor of the PAnny as well.

Used to be the price of any HD was at least $500 more then an ED. But in some cases the prices between Maxent brand type HDs and TOL EDs are the same. Then it gets very confusing. Most will buy the HD just because its HD. But in the end you have to really go by real world application. If you are back far enough you will not see the difference in resolution and SDTV does look better for some reason on the ED.

Good Luck. Hopefully by next year things will be clearer and choices abundant.