You might see if you can get an aftermarket warranty for it. I think I've heard of credit card companies offering that sometimes. Don't know, just throwing an idea out there. Good Luck.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ibglowin
Plasma's don't suffer from "burn out"...

 

As a servicer of plasma tv's, here's my 2 cents. I would not buy one. The picture quality is inferior to digital light projectors (dlp's) and lcd's, while cost is much higher. The only advantage is being able to hang it on the wall. As far as extended warranties, my experience is that they are not worth it on the low end products, but usually a good idea on the high end stuff. You definitely have the high end stuff. If the display goes out on a plasma tv, it will cost less to buy a new one. If one of the circuit boards fail out of warranty, (you have about 5circuit boards), you are looking at $600.00 to 2500.00 and the failure of one can cause the failure of others. Also it has been my experience that you should never buy first generation technology, wait till the third or fourth year of a new product for them to get the bugs worked out and improve on what they have learned. By the way your plasma screen is basically made up of hundreds of thousands of little light bulbs. One manufacturer has told us that it would take the failure of 1100 of them for them to consider it defective and replace it under warranty. 1,099 black dots on your picture is not their problem!
Rick

 

Actually picture quality on a plasma tv is better than any other competing technology...........Period! DLP's have an awesome picture, are less prone to problems, cost half as much for an equivalent size screen, and have NO burn in problems. LCD's cost almost as much as plasma sets, have poor contrast ratios and black levels, tend to be more reliable, BUT you can hang them on a wall. also plasma's offer the widest viewing angle of any of the above. As far as the burned out pixels go, most manufactures will replace the display ONLY if there are several pixels out in a square inch area..........usually 5 or 6. If 100 were burned out all over the screen and not concentrated in a square inch area, you're usually out of luck. Yes plasma's are expensive and more fragile than other types of screens, but for those individuals that want the best picture possible..............Enjoy it! And yes............I always recommend a service policy for anything high tech like a plasma screen, but make sure you know what things are covered and what things aren't............................................ ...................................Bob

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by oneaudiopro
Actually picture quality on a plasma tv is better than any other competing technology...........Period! DLP's have an awesome picture, are less prone to problems, cost half as much for an equivalent size screen, and have NO burn in problems. LCD's cost almost as much as plasma sets, have poor contrast ratios and black levels, tend to be more reliable, BUT you can hang them on a wall.

 

Actually just defending the plasma's benefits . I feel the DLP offers prob the best value for the money, but the plasma is still the better picture quality. You're right about the picture quality getting better on the LCD's, but they still have a LONG way to go before they can give a plasma a run for the money. The black levels are nowhere near the plasma or DLP. Pick your poison and pay the man!

 

Go shop them for a few hours, it is clear that Plasma has the picture. Dlp's are cost effective but lack a little in brightness and a lot in vewing angle (if you have a small room you may have to pick between good picture sitting or standing), and LEDs are a notch off in quality.

 

amen

 

The 3-5 year plasma myth is in fact just that, a myth. The extended warrantee is more an issue of manufacturer than plasma technology. IMHO, Panasonic is the top plasma manufacturer, followed by NEC, and distantly trailed by Pioneer. I have heard Sony has improved, but their first 1024x1024 set almost turned me off plasmas in 2000, and I never warmed up to them. If it was a sampo, I would have recommended the warrantee - then taking the extra cash for the warrantee and upgrading to a quality unit instead.

A lot of people are pushing LCD because it will be cheap, but I have yet to see one with plasma's viewing angles, brightness, black level, and color saturation. I personally find any form of RPTV to be vauge and shadowy around the corners, with very limited viewing angles. A lot of people with much nicer HT than mine prefer FPTV, but I have yet to appreciate those images. For me, it is plasma plasma plasma.

Which reminds me - I have a 50" RCA PHD50300 that I am thinking about selling for $5500 in the LA area - anyone interested? If I can sell this I'll probably move up to a 61"...

JD

 

Hey VROD, I have a 42 inch Panasonic 42PWD5UY and I bought the extended warranty. It gives me coverage for a total of 5 years in house and it cost me $399. I got a great deal on the Plasma and the wall mount and since I bought it online, I didn't pay sales tax, so I decided to get the warranty. I would talk them down on the price or I would find someone else to do it for you. I would hate for a row of pixels to burn out, which happened to a friend of mine's Sony Plasma after he had it for a week, of course they fixed but it could happen down the road. Get the Dish model 6000 HD Tuner if you don't have it. It is money!!