Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater HDTV and HDTV monitor? whats the difference?

Nice links Jack.
I love #10 on the HDTV World one.

BigJohn - it is a good idea to get into the market and do your research early (as you know), but beware about getting your heart set on anything if you're not going to buy for another year.

In all likelihood, two thinsg will happen - (1) the technology that people are touting as the next big thing will be surpassed by the next next big thing and we all go roudn and round. (2) the set that you buy will be less in the future, but there will be something else out there, that will likely be more expensive than what you were going to pay for the first set initially. Then, what'll you do?

I started looking for a new set about 6 months ago, but gave it up because I decided to hold off for a bit - I'm glad that I did - for the above reasons that I stated. But now, I have no idea what I want or need. Everything that they said was gonig to be great either never happened (LCOS) or flaws became apparent (last year'd DLPs have been hugely improved this time around). It leaves me wary to be an "early adopter" in any of these new TV technologies. I'm sticking with cheap CRTs until the mess gets sorted out.

Thanks Chess. Yes I'm always telling those who can't get on board the HDTV train, at the moment, to relax. When they CAN get on board, they're gonna get a whole lot more set for a whole lot less money than I paid, and they'll have the latest technology, while I'm looking at this crappy old DLP set.

Actually, I had the wrong link for HDTV World. The one I posted previously was to one of the subheadings of the HDTV World site. Sorry John.

In reply to:

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Trust me, you want authorized...

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oldskoolboarder's right: You do want to buy from an authorized dealer.

FWIW, I had an excellent buying experience when I purchased my 42" Panasonic plasma HDTV monitor. I bought it online from DTV City - http://www.dtvcity.com/. They're located in the metro Atlanta area. They had very competitive prices, they followed-up well, they shipped my order the same day I purchased from their Web site, and then they followed-up with me again to make sure the monitor arrived safely at my home. Also, DTV City has some of the best return/replacement policies available for plasma monitors.

I almost forgot to mention: DTV City has some plasma and LCD TV buying tips on their site too:
- http://www.dtvcity.com/plasmatv/buyingtips.html
- http://www.dtvcity.com/lcdtv/lcdtvguide.html

If you go to the DTV City site, make sure you check out how these plasma monitors are packaged for shipping: http://www.dtvcity.com/plasmasteps.html. Very interesting... They use "tip and tell" indicators to show whether or not the carton was tipped during the packing/shipment process.

And, oh by the way, I love my Panny plasma monitor!!!

My thoughts Plasma's in general and the panisonics in particular. I've bought 9 of the 42 incher pannies. 3 of each of the last 3 models. Don't have the model numbers handy but:

All six of the first 2 generation pannies have been serviced repeatedly 2 of them died completely. Seems panasonic and most other manufactures used low temp soldering for their boards along with insufficient cooling which resulted in the boards literally falling apart within the case. Put it this way...you can no longer get an extended warranty on the early models. And extended warranties on the latest models are very expensive.

I buy TV's for a sports bar. These plasmas run at least 12 hours a day. From my own experiences I expect a break down within one year and to replace them in 2.

What I'd like to see is just a plasma monitor..no tuner..no speakers...just the screen and inputs. So as far as I know there is no such thing as a plasma monitor.

All that said the pictures great.

Leaf

Hey, Leaf -

I have the 42" Panasonic TH-42PHD6UY plasma HDTV monitor - there's no tuner and no speakers, although matching speakers are available and optional (but not for me!). My satellite receiver provides the tuning and I run the audio (and the video) through my home theater receiver.

This monitor, which is actually a commercial (not a typical consumer) monitor, was highly recommended by both friends and folks in the know. It's one of Panasonic's best-selling plasma monitors. Here's a pic of it:



I'd be very interested to see which specific Panasonic plasma models you're having trouble with, if you don't mind.

These "no tuner, no speaker" plasmas do exist for Panasonic and have for quite a while. I have the Panny TH42PWD6UY and have been more than thrilled w/ it, w/ HDTV too. This is the commercial model, so it's pretty much just a monitor w/ inputs. The TH-42PX20U/P is the consumer model (more $$$) w/ tuner and speakers.

For a good Panasonic Plasma lowdown, go here:

Bruzzi's Panny FAQ

Hi, oldskoolboarder -

Thanks for the link to BruZZi's Panasonic Plasma FAQ.
I haven't seen this site yet and I look forward to checking it out.

My god! The simulated picture on that screen looks fantastic!

Heck, you think that's good? Take a look at this guy's gallery. He uses the same plasma I do, and I believe he's running his DVD thru component. He's got his set manually adjusted (after Avia or DVE tuning) to accomodate some sense of reality. Pretty amazing. I've used his method and I've gotten pretty good results.

Rich's Gallery

Steaming Rat Method