Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Plasma TV choice

The list of Panasonics from Pricegrabber may be a bit misleading when it says "HDTV Compatible." A unit with 852x480 resolution may down-convert an HD signal and display it, but it won't be HD. That's EDTV resolution, not HDTV.

Actualy, the difference between an HDTV and EDTV isn't all that great. Especially when you look at the difference in dollars. If you want something thin and hangable, you might look at the flat panel LCDs. The Sony XBR950 is an excellent choice.

In reply to:

---

The list of Panasonics from Pricegrabber may be a bit misleading when it says "HDTV Compatible."

---

True dat, denver. However, the fine line between EDTV and HDTV was not the point I was trying to make here...

In reply to:

---

Panasonic plasmas are selling extremely well, according to their popularity on PriceGrabber.com:

---

Panasonic: the top five plasmas in the list...six of the top ten most popular plasmas in the list...consistently larger numbers of retailers than that of the competition. This is what I was trying to illustrate above.

Yeah, DZ, I understood your point and assumed you had just copied and pasted from Pricegrabber, and I was just trying to clarify their wording. I have an EDTV Panasonic, and I think it's great. Side by side in the store, the HDTV units look better up close, but as you back off to 10" or so, I didn't find much difference (for a 42" display). For folks who have HDTV and will be sitting close or buying a 50 or 60" display, an HDTV unit might look significantly better. For my room and for mostly watching DVD's, I didn't think it worth the money.

denver, those 42" Panasonic EDTVs have been extremely popular choices. Everyone that owns one and critiques it loves it and compares it very favorably to the 42" HDTV models: I'm glad you like yours as well. Plasma TV Buying Guide has an interesting treatise on this subject: EDTV PLASMA vs. HDTV PLASMA.

Prices on all plasmas have been dropping nicely over the summer months. Now my dad sees that VisualApex is selling the brand new (seventh generation) Panasonic TH-42PWD7UY EDTV monitor for just $2195 and he's getting very interested in one too!

I bought the 42" HDTV monitor, but admittedly, I paid a lot more for it six months ago. I don't even subscribe to DIRECTV's HDTV package as of yet: I'm just waiting a while longer for additional HD program offerings. It's still pretty early in the SDTV-to-HDTV transition, but I have the monitor at the ready.