this market has been changing rapidly. i was wondering what the current best price range is for 50" and which were the preferred vendors? i also wondered about purchasing thru the net versus storefront. last question is what other peripherals typically need to be purchased in addition to the screen.

i know there have been threads in the past but the models and prices are pretty dynamic, hence the inquiry.

thanks in advance for any help!

 

50 foot plasma

I know Pioneer makes a 50" to the tune of $10,000. I don't know $10,000 on TV or $10,000 in various parts for the S.

 

I found some good info on www.avsforum.com and I went with a sanyo z1 front projector for about 1500. Ambient light bleaches the picture, but I did not want to spend 3k on a smaller screen. I have a 108" image that looks great in dim light. If you do decide to go with a plasma, make sure it has a dvi input so you will be able to use it in a few years when cable and satellites send encrypted signals.

 

LOOK also into LCD and DLP. Samsung has a 60 inch DLP for 5 grand. You can't beat that with a stick!

 

Yeah, plasma sucks. Had one side by side with my 46" HD CRT and the difference was night and day. Most of them don't have the pixels to really display HD anyway. buy a DLP or LCD if you need something really small, CRTs if you just want a new TV and use the rest to mod the S. Plus half-life and burn in on plasma is dismal.

Dave

 

gateway is supposed to make the best bang for the buck plasma. the following sites can aid you in your tv quest:

www.hometheaterforum.com
www.avsforum.com
www.hometheaterspot.com

list in my order of preference

 

If you looking for a fifty inch plasma, there are a few brands that I would recommend. Pioneer/Pioneer Elite, Runco, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Fujitsu, possibly Sony, and there may be a few I'm forgetting. The best 50" plasma hands down is the Runco PL50HDX. Runco uses and NEC/Pioneer plasma panel, and they add thier own scaler to it. The one problem with Runco is that it is $16,000. My favorite panel is the Pioneer Elite. Very similar to the Runco with out the seperate box. You can expect to pay $9999.99 for one of those. Panasonic's 50" (PT50PHD4P) is a nice plasma. These go for about $8000-$10,0000. I hear really good things about the Fujitsu, but I haven't seen it. Sony's 50" is cool looking, and it comes with speakers. Picture quality-wise it's lacking, but the price doesn't reflect that: $10,000-$12,000.

Most of the larger panels are monitors. Meaning they don't have speakers or a tuner. The sky is the limit on what you can spend on audio. You will need a cable box or satellite box anyway, so a tuner is not a major concern.

The most important, unwritten spec, on a plasma is the scaler/video processor. For instance, the major difference between a Pioneer and a Pioneer Elite plasma is the scaler. The scaler is what makes things like regular cable/satellite and DVD, which are lower resolutions, work. A cheap scaler means a bad picture. Gateway(the worst thing since drinking sour milk), Samsung, Sanyo, Tatug, Sampo, or any other shitty brand have poor scalers. Unfortunately you can't read a spec. sheet and pick the best scaler. You have to see it in person. If there are alot of motion artifacts, rainbowing/morea, noise, etc. then the plasma has a poor scaler. Just like after market parts for our cars, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! If you don't want to spend ten grand, don't consider a plasma.

As for DLP, DILA, LCOS, LCD, a plasma is far, far superior. All of the geeks come in my store and want to see that piece of garbage Samsung DLP(HLM507W, HLN507W). DLP is a great technology if you spend alot of money to get it. All of these Adavanced Light Processing(ALP) techhnologies lack BLACK LEVEL. Without black-level the picture will always have a washed out look.

I favor a CRT or regular bigscreen over an ALP set. The one problem with a big screen is that they are big, and they require maintenance. I do feel that a bigscreen has a different picture than a plasma, but not necessarily better.

If I were you, I would find a high-end dealer in your area, find a knowledgeable salesperson, tell him how much money you will spend, and give it to him. Do not, I repeat, do not buy a plasma over the internet. There are many success stories about buying plasmas dirt cheap over the internet, but be advised that most manufacturers will not honor the warrenty if not purchase form an authorized dealer. I've had several customers get burned for $8000, $5000, etc.

By the way, I have an electrical engineering degree, and I work for a company name Sound Advice in Florida. If you would like to talk to me more about this, just send a private message.

Matt

 

PM darkcrow he sells them so he should know whats good and whats bad.

 

Are you in CO and at a high altitude? If so, you will have problems. Plasma's are susceptible to altitude.

Best picture to price ratio are usually the panasonic's.

The gateway models are low res and have a pretty crappy picture.

Best brands are NEC, Panasonic, fujitsu, and pioneer elite.

 

A high quality plasma will cost you but it will also reward you with the best picture money can buy. I also work at an electronics retailer. I look at sets and projectors of all kinds every day. The best picture I've seen to date is from a pioneer elite plasma. The gateway plasma wont show a high def signal. Plasmas also have no convergence to mess with, and you dont have to clean a mirror, guns, screen every year or two like you do with projection tvs, If your a heavy smoker maybe sooner. High definition is unreal, ask to see a demo on a good plasma and nothing else will compare. You can also view a plasma at extreme angles and in bright rooms with little if any loss in pic quality. Half life on a plasma is around 12 years, at that point it will be about 70% of its original brightness, wich is still about as bright as many other sets new. 12 years from now all technology will be outdated anyway.