STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

JMR · Dooney & Bourke

does anyone have a plasma tv?

lsubatgirl · Gucci

I don't know much about them but you have to be really careful with them. Usually it is best if the store installs it on the wall for you and you don't do it yourself. If you tip the thing in the wrong direction you will mess the screen up and or the colors. Also every 5 years or so you will have to pay to have the plasma gas refilled which is about half the cost of the tv (just fyi since the sales people sometimes fail to tell you this when they are selling it to you).

That said I'm not sure on the brands that are good but I have seen the panasonic ones in best buy and they are nice. I really like the ones that have a small black border around the picture. For some reason it makes the picture stand out to me.

There is one other new technology type tv that is out and my coworker has it and loves it. Its not plasma, lcd, or hdtv but its just as sharp if not better and its cheaper than a plasma. I'll email her tomorrow for you and let you know what she said its called.

Deuce · Dooney & Bourke

We just got one. Everyone we spoke to said Pioneer is the best with the "blackest blacks". Even the poeple who worked at places that did not sell poineer said this is the one that they would get. Costco has them now. Depending on the size you definitely need Hidefcable or satelite. Regular tv channels look kinda cartooney. I personally would have got the lcd. plasma has to be recharded after a period of time and I like the pic on LCD better. hth

uesgirl · BCBG

I got one for my fiance a few months ago-- I went for a Panasonic because it was highly recommended to me as the best mix of quality and value. I'm very happy with it (and my fiance loves it!) I would check out cnet.com for info and reviews before you buy. But I do really like my Panasonic.

Cecilia · Nine West

I have a Panasonic that I got about a year ago. Everyone is amazed by it. As to your question of quality, it's all subjective, you need to go see them and check them out. For picture quality, don't go by someone else's opinion, without first seeing the unit, or I guarantee you will be unhappy. Panasonic, in my opinion, is the best "bang for the buck"--meaning, it meets all my technophile requirements (it's geeky), got a beautiful screen, but yet I was able to get a good price.

People like the Pioneers because they're sold at Costco. The great thing about Costco is their return policy. Occasionally what happens with these tvs is a pixel (a speck of plasma, which you can imagine is like the tail of a lightening bug) will not work when you first get it, and depending on where it is on the screen, could be annoying. Some stores require a certain number of pixels not working before they'll return it, but Costco will return just about everything. The disadvantage of Costco is that they don't take my credit card, so it was a choice between a few thousand air miles and dealing with a store return policy (my unit, like many, many out there, has no dead pixels, so it wasn't an issue).

I haven't heard that Pioneer performance is better than Panasonic (both, to me, have the blackest of blacks *g*), but it's been a few months since I last researched this. IMHO, Panasonic developers are better at consumer appliances (user interfaces) than Pioneer, but again, that's personal preference. Also keep in mind that all brands have many levels available (consumer grade, industry grade, with speakers or without, with a cablecard or HDMI or without, etc) so try to compare apples to apples, not oranges.

Isubatgirl is correct about the life of a plasma, they're usually rated for how many hours of use you can expect from them (generally around 5 years), Panasonic is highly rated there too, and technology has progressed quite a bit, although keep in mind that most consumer appliances (of any type) don't last more than 5 years these days...LCD screens don't have the plasma fading issues but the price of a *really big* LCD is much, much higher than a big plasma...if you don't mind a big tv, DLPs are considered the best picture with most flexibility...If you don't have HDTV, you might consider an EDTV screen which will save you lots of cash, since it will probably be a while before HDTV is standard enough to be worthwhile (see Deuce's comment on displaying standard cable on an HDTV screen, my Panasonic has display adjustment, which helps but isn't a full-on solution)...If you really want to save bucks, there is a brand called Olevia that is really cool among the technophiles for having a high technophile-per-dollar quotient...Okay, I'm ranting here, if you have any specific questions I'd be happy to help.

-- Edited by Cecilia at 14:37, 2005-12-13