Any other plasma owners out there?

[ugyvel]

Just curiousity on my part.  Most forum participants seem to to be RPTV owners as far as I can tell.  I went the plasma route primarily for space/design considerations (and bit the bullet on the considerable cost).  There are lively plasma discussions on AVS, but I'd thought I'd see how many plasma persons we have here.

[Dan]

i am in the process of deciding between Plasma and RPTV.

My findings are as follows:

1) Plasma is still not a cost effective entertainment solution WHEN compared to RPTV. I figure I can spend $3500 on either a 2003 model MITS or HIT 65" , which will buy me 2 to 4 years of viewing until obsolesence and/or Price decline of Plasma or LCD is enough for me to upgrade.

2) The Plasma warranty From my understanding allows for x% of pixels to fail before the warranty can be used> If this is true I will never buy a plasma. Who wants to look at white dots interspersed in their TV picture?

Plasma Advantages: Form Factor(will put cabinet manufacturers out of business), Contrast ratio vs. RPTV provides better viewing on plasma screens in brightly lit rooms.

Plasma Disadvantages IMHO are Warranty issues and PRICE

Dan

[Joseph S]

What made you choose plasma over a DLP?

I own an RPTV, but I think my next display will likely be a projector w/DVI. Was it the bulbs? That's my biggest worry. (aside from the cost. )

[AndrewP]

If you can wait 2-3 months:
Big chinese company SVC will enter US market with 42" plasma 1080I resolution with expected price tag $3800.

Andrew

[Ron Pollitt]

Hi!  I own a 42" NEC Plasma unit and I love it.  Interesting story,  I picked it up a year ago on eBay from a fellow who bought seven of them from a dot.com company liquidation sale.   I paid $3,000.  I do not have a warranty or white dots either.  We love that it does not take up any space,  hang it on the wall and it's like a living picture when showing HDTV.  Fits our situation.
Ron

[kjnorman]

Originally posted by AndrewP
If you can wait 2-3 months:
Big chinese company SVC will enter US market with 42" plasma 1080I resolution with expected price tag $3800.

Andrew

This press release is misleading.  The plasma is capable of inputing 1080i, but its resolution is truely only 850x480.  You can find the specs here.

So really it is only an EDTV, not HDTV.

Kerry.

(PS. I wrote a similar post after Gregg's news item, but it dissappear into Gregg's black hole of a email system, never to be seen again I suspect...:bang: )

[Gregg Lengling]

Kerry never saw a response from you...all posts are moderated on the NEWS forum to keep down the clutter and chatter..however I've never not approved a thread or reply (yet)...so maybe you just have fat fingers and hit the right mouse button instead of the left and never sent it.  I get an auto-response e-mail from the site anytime something is posted to NEWS so I can check it out and allow it.......better luck next time.:p

[ugyvel]

What made you choose plasma over a DLP?

I own an RPTV, but I think my next display will likely be a projector w/DVI. Was it the bulbs? That's my biggest worry. (aside from the cost.  )

My choice of plasma over anything but a 36" CRT was space.  The plasma is in a custom floor to mantle wall cabinet that had signficant depth limitations.  Rear Projection wouldn't fit, room isn't wide enough for a screen.  Plus room has a window wall, so viewing a screen or RPTV would always have been a problem.  It turned out great.  Cabinet depth is about 30", so we built a hollow space framed the size of the plasma, and bought one of those articulating mounts.  The arm is always partially extended out to the face of the cabinet, so the plasma is flush to the cabinet.

In any event, having been 'forced' to do that, I now am a huge plasma fan and would get nothing else for a main system.  Among the many advantages I see are:

very few people actually have dedicated home theatre rooms that can be darkened.  Probably most of us have families running around and lights on all the time.  Here the plasma really shines, you can be anywhere in the room and get the full bright picture, unlike the RPTV and Screens which really need a darkened room to show their best.

To me, at least, its a sharper, clearer picture than any RPTV or Screen I have ever seen (this is open to much debate, I admit)

It can take any mode (witness the discussions about watching the 720p superbowl on a 1080i display).  Not an issue.

You can put it anywhere, doesn't have to take up any room in the room.  That is always an issue with the RPTV.

It is VERY cool looking.  That is worth something.

IMHO.  I am a very satisfied purchaser even though it is painful to see how much prices have dropped,

[ugyvel]

Plasma Disadvantages IMHO are Warranty issues and PRICE

Price is a problem, no doubt.  However, the gap has narrowed considerably.  Over in AVS forum, it appears that the budget-aware people who still want one of the very best plasma displays are going to Dell Computer Online and ordering the 50" Pioneer 503cmx.  It can be ordered today, free shipping, for $6,600.  This is the equivalent of the consumer Pioneer Elite 1000HD (without the frame).  Still much more expensive, but no longer X times more expensive.

The pixels.  Based on AVS forum discussions, there seem to be very few people who get stuck with them.  If you order from dell, and you have some, you just return it.  If you buy from a dealer, have him power it up before you buy.  My understanding is that these almost always are upfront defects, they don't generally appear over time.  Plus, I think you really do have to look hard for the pixels to see them, unless its right in the center of the screen.  With care, I don't think the pixel thing should be an issue.

Whether I'm lucky or what, I had zero bad pixels.

[Dan]

The great room where the HT is in is very large thus a 50" plasma would require sitting to close to scrren. The room is designed around a 65" RPTV. So room ergonomics have much to do with choice of TV. In addition no PLASMA's are either available in 65" size or if they are affordability is a major barrier. Thus I am stuck with a RPTV for now until larger plasmas become avialable and affordable.

Dan

[ugyvel]

I was never so pleased with the choice of the plasma as I was yesterday afternoon.  We had a SB party to show off Hi-def, and the system came through perfect.  We had 17 people over and packed them all in a 13x22 room (guessing).  I angled the plasma (using the articulating swivel mount) in one corner so that all could see it.  Made full use of the wide viewing angles. I bet there was about 110 degress between the most extreme positions, and in both locations it still felt like you were viewing straight on (no distortion, reduction in brightness).  As host, I ended up sitting in back most of the time, at least 15 feet away, and it looked great and certainly was large enough for detailed, comfortable viewing.  Absolutely could not have done something like this in that room with a screen or RPTV.  Granted this is probably an unusual situation (although I may repeat it for the Masters if they do it in HD), but at least for yesterday, Plasma rocked!