Panasonic HD Ready TV - any good?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 11 Jan 2009, 11:14

Hey,
I know one day, I'll get into all this HD malarkey

Well, I recieved my daily Amazon email today and came across a Panasonic Plasma TV with Freeview for £419, is that any good?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-TH-37 ... =de_a_smtd

37" seems about the right size for my room (I would think), between 32"-37".
I'd need a new DVD player though, probably. I'm only using SCART ATM.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 11 Jan 2009, 12:00

Yep, nothing wrong with that set, unless you're planning on adding more than 2 HDMI devices to it.

There is another version (the TH-37PX80) which features 3 HDMI inputs & thats probably not much more expensive now.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 11 Jan 2009, 12:04

I'd have to get another DVD player (or go BD), my current player doesnt have HDMI (TBH, I'm not sure what it has apart from SCART)

Maybe component.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 11 Jan 2009, 12:07

I wouldn't bother with another DVD player. Either go BD or don't bother at all.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 11 Jan 2009, 13:07

Fair enough. Still keep the old player though I would think.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 11 Jan 2009, 16:05

Thats what I meant.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 11 Jan 2009, 18:51

You might think 37" is as big as you want, but once you get it you'll be thinking "maybe I could've got 40 inches..."

I'm like that iwth my living room set... got a 40" lcd, upgrading from a 32" crt... thought that extra size would be more than enough. Now thinking I could/should have gone for a 42 or 47"...

You can get the 37px80 for £500 from comet. It is meant to be a better set than the px8. Not sure on the differences, but I gather picture quality is a bit better.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 11 Jan 2009, 19:23

degeneration wrote:You might think 37" is as big as you want, but once you get it you'll be thinking "maybe I could've got 40 inches..."

Yeah the novelty soon wears off. I remember moving up from my little portable to a 28" widescreen when I was at school and thinking it was absolutely massive, and then I got a 42" LCD which was enormous, and then I upgraded to a 47" LCD and yet I still wouldn't mind going bigger hehe 8)

When I sent my 42" back and had to resort back to my 28", good God it looked tiny, I couldn't believe I used to watch that all the time, it looked silly!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Jan 2009, 19:48

Personally I'd get:

1. A BD Player and a HDD/DVD Recorder
2. One or the other

I wouldn't bother getting a DVD Player now. I'd wait until you can afford to get one of the above. A decent DVD Player costs about £70, a decent BD Player about £270 and a decent HDD/DVD Recorder about £200.

Both are well worth the extra cash. HDMI Upscaling Progressive Scan is worth it over RGB Scart though.

I certainly don't see the point keeping the DVD Player too, unless your BD Player or HDD/DVD Recorder happens to be SD DVD region locked. Thankfully nowadays it's very easy to buy both region free.

My old DVD Player (premium Pioneer model) is still easily the best DVD Player I ever owned, easily better looking than my DVD Recorder and BD Player at playing DVDs, but at the end of the day it just wasn't that good enough better to warrant owning another bit of kit.

I'd imagine 2 HDMI ports would be fine for Grim. He may add a BD Player and DVD Recorder but what else? Unless you plan to get a Games Console too. I've only got 1 on my TV, which isn't enough but I'd be fine with 2. You can also add HDMI boxes to add more too, which work much better than those awful Scart boxes.

That said it's worth getting it right before you buy.

degeneration wrote:You might think 37" is as big as you want, but once you get it you'll be thinking "maybe I could've got 40 inches..."

I appreciate many do but personally I don't think that way. IMO a TV needs to fit a room. Also when do you stop? Get 42", you may as well go 47"

For my room size 37" would be perfect. I'm pretty much happy with 32" really. I cannot stand living rooms with so big TVs you cannot see anything else in the room. They're so overpowering IMO.

p.s - Everyone says Plasma is better than LCD, so unless it's a small kitchen TV get Plasma.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 11 Jan 2009, 20:32

I thought my current TV (28" Philips WS) was huge, but I was upgrading from a 14" Bush portable

My DVD Player is a JVC Region Free (I think).
I havent got the clue about which player I'd get as well I'm afraid, depends on my budget.
As for a game console, I have a GameCube which I havent used in a while and may get a Wii but I'm not sure TBH

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Jan 2009, 22:45

You think it's region free?

.

grim_tales wrote:I havent got the clue about which player I'd get as well I'm afraid, depends on my budget.

There's not much point thinking about it until you know how much you're going to spend.

If you buy a HDD/DVD Recorder, make sure it's either a Sony, Pioneer or Panasonic. Literally all other makes have minor to major problems. HDD/DVD Recorders tend to be able to do a lot, meaning if you buy cheap they're prone to not work properly.

grim_tales wrote:As for a game console, I have a GameCube which I havent used in a while and may get a Wii but I'm not sure TBH

Wii's aren't HD. So you don't need HDMI for them.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 11 Jan 2009, 23:09

grim_tales wrote:I thought my current TV (28" Philips WS) was huge, but I was upgrading from a 14" Bush portable
My DVD Player is a JVC Region Free (I think).
I havent got the clue about which player I'd get as well I'm afraid, depends on my budget.
As for a game console, I have a GameCube which I havent used in a while and may get a Wii but I'm not sure TBH

I doubt buying a Wii will make you feel good about buying a FullHD plasma.

Go for a 360 or PS3 (with LittleBigPlanet)

I'm also still looking at TV's. Had to put it on hold for a while cause there was a slight possibility that we would move to HK, but that now seems out of the question.
My first choice right now would be the Samsung 756 plasma, but it's still a bit too expensive here in Holland (around 1500 euro).
I would buy it, if my room wasnt so small, and I dread moving it. might even consider buying a new LCD btw, cause by most accounts there are a few new LCD's out now that DO rival the plasma's, when it comes to blacks and response-time and all that. Anyway, still very much in doubt.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 11 Jan 2009, 23:28

think about where the TV is going to be positioned as well.

Plasmas generally have a far more reflective screen than LCDs, so if you are putting the TV on a wall that is likely to get a lot of sun, you might end up not being able to see hte screen on sunny days!

My TV is on a wall facing my living room's bay window, which faces south, so gets the sun (when it is out) from early after noon till early evening. For that reason I figured a plasma wouldn't be the best option from the glare point of view. Haven't had any problems with the LCD in this regard.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 Jan 2009, 23:49

Was it too impracticable to position it elsewhere? Thanks for the info though. My window is behind my TV but it's definitely worth knowing.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 12 Jan 2009, 00:28

bradavon wrote:a decent BD Player about £270

WTF? You can get the Sony S350 for a hundred quid less than that!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jan 2009, 00:46

And multi-region? Enough said. Region locked doesn't count in my book.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 12 Jan 2009, 01:14

it's multi-region for SD. I don't know grim's circumstances but i can't see him paying near £300 out on multi-region after parting with £500 for his telly! i paid £130 for my 350. excellent machine.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 12 Jan 2009, 08:30

I know my player is Region Free, the "I think" referred to what model it was.
The Wii isnt HD but it is RGB/Component.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jan 2009, 13:40

I know Salty. I was commenting on Shingster's WTF.

IMO you'd be better off waiting for a cheaper region free BD Player than paying less for a region locked one (as Mark is doing). Personally I wouldn't consider it must have enough to warrant region locked.

You do have several BD Players, something Grim wouldn't want to do.

The Wii isnt HD but it is RGB/Component.

I'd bloody hope so. Scart was invented in the 1970s.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 12 Jan 2009, 13:47

bradavon wrote:And multi-region? Enough said. Region locked doesn't count in my book.

In Grim's case it should. While I agree that any serious fan should heavily consider Multiregion only, it's not nearly as imprortant as with the DVD format. Most BD titles are region free, the £ is so weak right now that US DVDs are an expensive outlay, and the prices of HK and Japanese BDs are astronomical, so I don't think Grim would be purchasing much outside the UK right now.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 12 Jan 2009, 13:57

You'd be right there Shing

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jan 2009, 19:30

While you're right it's much more important with DVD there is still easily enough Region A and Region B locked discs to give it serious thought.

Besides my point still stands that you'd be better off waiting until a region free solution comes you can afford.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 12 Jan 2009, 20:50

bradavon wrote:
You do have several BD Players, something Grim wouldn't want to do.

.

i have 2. a Region A PS3 and a Region B 350.the uk ps3 isn't mine,it's my son's and in a different room.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 12 Jan 2009, 21:12

I may not want to buy several BD players, you make a good point about Region Free BD.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jan 2009, 22:12

I thought you used it for Region B locked BDs, no?

Seperate rooms fine but you certainly wouldn't want two BD Players in the same room, especially as two players will cost more than one MR version.