Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Hi Everyone,
I must start this post with, we are having a royal PITA time with electronics recently, and am getting sick of having to replace our stuff...
Anyway, long story short, our current LG 42" Plasma TV (which is a 480p panel) decided to not play nice anymore. It's 3.5yr old, and the internal glass plate has developed a crack in it. Talking to some TV sales people today, they acknowledged that some old Plasma TVs, due to the heat the emit, bake the inner glass panel and after 4-5 yrs the glass becomes brittle and can collapse under their own weight or only need a very small impact to crack the glass.
It's rare, but does happen.
So we are looking at a new TV for the main room. My wife is insisting on keeping to the 40-42" size, but in our budget range (absolute max AU$700), but I'm seeing better deals in the 32-37" size range.
In saying that we have narrowed down to a few models:
1. Sharp 40" Aquos LC40L500X 50Hz LCD TV - 1920x1080, 50Hz, 3yr warranty for AU$697.
2. LG 42" Plasma (42PT250) - 1024x768 res, 3M:1 Contrast, 1500cd/m2 brightness, 600Hz subdrive, 1 yr warranty for AU$600.
3. AWA 42" FullHD LCD TV - 1920x1080, 50Hz, 2500:1 Contrast, 470 cd/m2 brightness, 3yr warranty for $597. (on sale at the moment for $497 instore).
And other options from el-cheapo brands like TCL, Soniq, etc.
We only have need for 2x HDMI ports, 1 for our BR-Player, and 1 spare (most likely for a Wii in future if Santa is nice to us). Most TV watching is either kids programs or the occasional movie at night - little sport or other fast action shows.
While the 2x FullHD LCD TV options seem very appealing due to the resolution on offer, they seem to lack something in other areas. While the LG being only a 1024x768 panel (in a 16:9 format), the colour quality and contrast was far better than the other 2. My biggest complaint, was that in each store we visited (with 1 exception - the local Sony Centre) ran ALL TVs off a component input, and not a HDMI input. That included the big 60" FullHD TVs (WTF, why are they castrating the input option to 576i, when they can display 1080p via HDMI). Also few TVs had been calibrated correctly for the environment, so colours were washed out, blacks were grays, etc. But that rant over, it did make comparison of the models in store difficult.
Would it be worth to:
a. Consider a mid-range 32" model over an entry-level 40" model if price was the same. (The problem being most 32" models being offered a entry-level themselves and the mid-range 32" models are priced more than the 40-42" entry-level range).
b. Despite the lack of screen resolution in the LG Plasma, it's superior colour depth and contrast in respect to the same size entry level HD LCDs, should I even be considering the entry-level LCDs?
c. On LCD, should 100Hz panel be the minimum?
Also, does anyone have any experience with the Sharp Aquos Range of TVs? What is Sharps' support service like?
We don't need/want 3D capability (my wife gets severe migraines from 3D), and no need for any of the Internet Enabled TV features. (The latter would be true in future, for when we replace this new one in 3-4yrs time). The power requirement is also a concern, as our old TV had a 320W rating, but all the ones listed above are between 180W and 240W, which is good, but I would like better - say <150W. (Which is something all 32" models seem to get).
Hope all that made some sense, and would greatly appreciate any feedback.
I must start this post with, we are having a royal PITA time with electronics recently, and am getting sick of having to replace our stuff...
Anyway, long story short, our current LG 42" Plasma TV (which is a 480p panel) decided to not play nice anymore. It's 3.5yr old, and the internal glass plate has developed a crack in it. Talking to some TV sales people today, they acknowledged that some old Plasma TVs, due to the heat the emit, bake the inner glass panel and after 4-5 yrs the glass becomes brittle and can collapse under their own weight or only need a very small impact to crack the glass.
It's rare, but does happen.So we are looking at a new TV for the main room. My wife is insisting on keeping to the 40-42" size, but in our budget range (absolute max AU$700), but I'm seeing better deals in the 32-37" size range.
In saying that we have narrowed down to a few models:
1. Sharp 40" Aquos LC40L500X 50Hz LCD TV - 1920x1080, 50Hz, 3yr warranty for AU$697.
2. LG 42" Plasma (42PT250) - 1024x768 res, 3M:1 Contrast, 1500cd/m2 brightness, 600Hz subdrive, 1 yr warranty for AU$600.
3. AWA 42" FullHD LCD TV - 1920x1080, 50Hz, 2500:1 Contrast, 470 cd/m2 brightness, 3yr warranty for $597. (on sale at the moment for $497 instore).
And other options from el-cheapo brands like TCL, Soniq, etc.
We only have need for 2x HDMI ports, 1 for our BR-Player, and 1 spare (most likely for a Wii in future if Santa is nice to us). Most TV watching is either kids programs or the occasional movie at night - little sport or other fast action shows.
While the 2x FullHD LCD TV options seem very appealing due to the resolution on offer, they seem to lack something in other areas. While the LG being only a 1024x768 panel (in a 16:9 format), the colour quality and contrast was far better than the other 2. My biggest complaint, was that in each store we visited (with 1 exception - the local Sony Centre) ran ALL TVs off a component input, and not a HDMI input. That included the big 60" FullHD TVs (WTF, why are they castrating the input option to 576i, when they can display 1080p via HDMI). Also few TVs had been calibrated correctly for the environment, so colours were washed out, blacks were grays, etc. But that rant over, it did make comparison of the models in store difficult.
Would it be worth to:
a. Consider a mid-range 32" model over an entry-level 40" model if price was the same. (The problem being most 32" models being offered a entry-level themselves and the mid-range 32" models are priced more than the 40-42" entry-level range).
b. Despite the lack of screen resolution in the LG Plasma, it's superior colour depth and contrast in respect to the same size entry level HD LCDs, should I even be considering the entry-level LCDs?
c. On LCD, should 100Hz panel be the minimum?
Also, does anyone have any experience with the Sharp Aquos Range of TVs? What is Sharps' support service like?
We don't need/want 3D capability (my wife gets severe migraines from 3D), and no need for any of the Internet Enabled TV features. (The latter would be true in future, for when we replace this new one in 3-4yrs time). The power requirement is also a concern, as our old TV had a 320W rating, but all the ones listed above are between 180W and 240W, which is good, but I would like better - say <150W. (Which is something all 32" models seem to get).
Hope all that made some sense, and would greatly appreciate any feedback.
