Hi everyone
I am planning to get a plasma tv by the end of this year, or possibly mid next year.
It will mainly be for my mum to watch vcds/dvds.
I've been researching on and off for the last year or so but there is so much debate, so many options, it is just insane and I'm after some first hand advice.

So what I have decided on:
32" or 42" plasma
built in HD tuner for convenience sake for my tech-illiterate mum*
Doesn't need to be top of the line super picture quality. just something simple will do.

*My major concern is that my mum has a lot of chinese movies which she bought in china and of course the video is not the best quality. The bigger the screen is the more apparent the poor picture quality is. So would I be better off with SD rather than HD? This is also why i'm leaning towards the 32" rather than 42".

I've got my eye on a Panasonic as they have consistently had good reviews and are reasonably priced. Does anyone own a Panasonic? or another brand? Are you happy with it or you wish you'd gotten something else?
Anyone else in the market for a new plasma? What are you considering?

Also what's the deal with 1024x1024 resolution? I have read up a little on it, but i don't really get it.

Thanks
p53

DON'T GET A PLASMA!!!

They have a life span of about 4 years. Your much better off getting LCD T.V which should be avaliable in 32 inch.

If I'm correct SOny don't even make Plasmas any more.

William

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(William @ Sep 8 2006, 04:06 PM) [snapback]212029[/snapback]</div>You are incorrect about the lifespan of Plasma. A quality plasma should last about 60,000 hours (15 to 20 years) Even a cheapo should last half that time without a problem.

http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv-plasmavslcd.shtml

Interesting Article Above, LCD is still the way to go, no screen burn in or ghosting and they are coming down in price as well as having better resolutions, some HD Plasmas don't actually have a complete HD Resoultuion.

Just my thoughts,

William

William some HD LCD screens also don't have "complete HD Resoultuion [sic]" at 32" size which is one of the options that the OP was looking at.

Holy smoke!

http://www.gadgetreview.com/uploaded_image...a102-746462.jpg

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(iSlave @ Sep 8 2006, 04:51 PM) [snapback]212043[/snapback]</div>Ha...I love the guy in that picture...."what you looking at?"

From what Ive seen LCD TV's always look shit.

i was considering LCD last year. imo the only advantages lcd has over plasma is no burn in and longer life span but plasmas are now much less susceptible to burn in, and a half life of 60 000 hours doesn't sound all that bad to me. also the plasmas i've seen in store always look better than LCD in terms of colour and clarity.
I am not looking to spend much more than $3000. remember that this is mostly for my mum and we are not really tv whores here, the main idea is to get a big tv as we currently have only a measly 17". i think an entry level model should suffice. but having said that i'm happy to pay a little extra for something that will last 10 years (is that a reasonable expectation? i know people say plasma will only last 5 years but is that really true? it will not be on for more than 2-3 hours a day).
Even though my preference is for plasma, the 32" Panasonic LCD with built-in hd tuner looks quite attractive at $2688.

While i appreciate the very interesting LCD vs Plasma debate what i'm really after here is advice about vertical resolution given that my mum will be watching a lot of lower quality vcds.

I worked for a company that had 10 42 inch Plasmas running 7 days a week for 3 years. We had no problems apart from screen burns from logos, and these where relatively old technology Fujitsu's. There is no issue with life span!

LCDs are now pretty good, especially the Sony Bravias. To some extent you get what you pay for. Personally I would go with a Pioneer Plasma hands down! But their not cheap.....neither are Mac's, but we buy them right?

Everything else being equal....the thing with a good Plasma is that it will give you a more natural looking image in comparision to LCD

OH! .and a BIG plus is they come with a 10 year warrantee

and doesnt the price of Pioneer plasmas cover the costs of installation as well?

Go to dl.tv and download the special episode they did on display technologies lcd, plasma etc. It'll help. IMO plasma is currently the best display around with LCD coming in second. Its an emerging tech especially in the larger sizes. Plasma have very good contrast ratios generally compared to LCDs.

http://dl.tv/blogs/digitallifetv/arc...gory/1152.aspx

too right Bachman, the Pioneers are amazing but not worth it for our purposes.

Also, look at:

http://www.dtvforum.info/

it is filled with great debate on plasma vs lcd + good for gauging market prices

+ lots on tv tuner cards like the elgato

Pioneer and Panasonic both get good reviews with plasmas.
I'd head over to Home Theatre Central
The guys over there really know their stuff.

I found many of the threads very helpful when I wanted to buy a plasma for my new house. The only reason I didn't buy on in the end (apart form $$$) was the discovery that 42" plasmas had rectangle pixels not square - so the ratio of me watching tv or movies on it - via a Mac mini - which was something I was keen to do - may have been problematic.

The forums though - have a couple of threads there that should help guide you with your purchase!