New TV. Plasma the right choice?

Begbie

Begbie

Begbie

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So after my old TV giving up and borrowing my mates 24" Samsung to tide me over it is finally time to treat myself.

I will be purchasing in April, not that this really makes a difference. I have £500~ to spend. I have had a look around and the Panasonic G30 keeps drawing me in. Seems to have everything I need.

Now the problem is I would prefer 37" TV, the room it will be in is not exactly big with a viewing distance of maybe 6ft. But I'm pretty sure I can get over it being 42".

It will be mostly used for XBOX, Freesat and Movies, TV Shows ran from the PC. The room will be dark when using it (hence why plasma seems the right choice).

The question really is, is there anything else I'm overlooking and is Plasma still the right choice for the best picture quality?
 
I've recently changed to a Panny plasma from a Samsung LCD and the Panny is far superior imo.

If you look up plasma vs LCD the general results are plasma > LCD in every category apart from power usage, but LCD outsells plasma, go figure :)

Also regarding size, I had a 40" Samsung, so initially got the 42" Panny, but it was actually physically smaller! :o Because the bezels on the Samsung's are so big, and on the Panny so small you can easily go a larger screen size on the Panny and keep the same physical impression in the room.

I changed it for the 46" version which is only slightly larger than the 40" Samsung.
 
Sparky-F1 said:
If you plan on doing a lot of gaming on XBOX then i suggest LCD over Plasma.
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Why is that?

Plasma's dont suffer from input lag like an LCD panel will.

Ive gone from LCD to Panasonic Plasma and the Plasma is definatley far superior.
 
I'm not sure if it will still be knocking around in April but I picked up a G30 this week and have been nothing but impressed so far. Like you said it really does have everything short of 3D which I wasn't really bothered with. Managed to get the 42" one from the rain forest for £500, a good £60 cheaper than anyone else.
 
I too would vote Panasonic Plasma, picked up a 42s30. Hands down better than my Samsung 32 LED and my Samsung 32 LCD.
 
Rizo-UK said:
Why is that?

Plasma's dont suffer from input lag like an LCD panel will.

Ive gone from LCD to Panasonic Plasma and the Plasma is definatley far superior.
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My Panasonic plasma in the living room ghosts like mad when I had my 360 plugged into it; but in all fairness that thing is like 5-6 years old now.

I thought the only reason plasmas were bad for gaming was because of HUD burn-in?
 
Burn in really isn't an issue with modern plasmas.

I racked up 15 days play time on Black ops last year - all on my plasma screen and have no burn in whatsoever. Most people recommend a 100 hour burn in with special slides but that is for hair splitting pedants that really love a worry. If anything, just keep the brightness down for the same period then bang it up after that if you need to.
 
Great sets.

IMHO it's worth getting the G30 or above (2D) or ST30 or above (3D) for the better "Infinite black pro" "Neo plasma" panel. I've got an ST30 and love it, movies and xbox all look great.

Panasonic announced their 2011 range back in March, so by the time you are looking to buy the 2012 range might have been announced.
 
The Panasonic ST30 is an exceptional TV for £499. I have a two year old G20 and it is still an amazing set.
Panasonic are great.
Wanted to get the ST the other day for the bedroom, but in reality it was way to big. Ended up going for a 32" LED Samsung and it was awful. It looked and felt cheap and bled back light something terrible, took that back and got a Panasonic 32" LED.
The build quality of Panasonic is far superior.
 
Just made the switch from 40" Samsung LCD to 50" LG Plasma and gaming is so much better of the Plasma. Not a huge amount of difference in the physical size either as the bezel accounted for a lot of it on the Samsung.

Now I am on Plasma I will never go back to LCD.
 
I did see the ST, which of course has 3D. But the G30 (which I think I'm going to go for) has more 'smart' features which I will use. Pause, record, rewind on Freesat HD.

Even reading reviews the GT30 and G30 black levels, in a darkened room are pretty much on par.

Glad to see they get such glowing reviews everywhere.

Has anyone with a panny plasma suffered with this buzzing noise? The room its going in is pretty small (imagine uni halls) and it could be annoying if its annoying. Are Amazon could at returns on stuff like this? Could a price match with RS (etc) be worthwhile and paying extra for the 5 year warranty?
 
Mine does buzz a bit yea.

I am really picky about such things, but tbh,I can put up with it as its only audible sometimes, and the rest of the tv makes up for it.
 
I used to have a PX80 that used to buzz. I couldn't hear it sat back viewing it, mind you my hearing is a bit dodgy and the Mrs used to mention it. My G20 doesn't buzz at all and it was the first thing she checked when we got it.
 
Begbie said:
Has anyone with a panny plasma suffered with this buzzing noise? The room its going in is pretty small (imagine uni halls) and it could be annoying if its annoying. Are Amazon could at returns on stuff like this? Could a price match with RS (etc) be worthwhile and paying extra for the 5 year warranty?
Click to expand...

I was worried by the buzzing stories over on AVForums and mine is practically silent. May be worth seeing if John Lewis will price match as the give a 5 year warranty for no extra. No Freesat HD on the G30 only Freeview HD btw.
 
G30 here too (2010) model. I have the top of the range 32" Panny LED LCD in my bedroom as well and while that is the best LCD I could find (as the smallest Plasma was 37"), the G30 is far superior in colour reproduction, has no discernable input lag, no backlight bleed, much deeper blacks...

In fact the only thing I don't rate highly about Panasonic is the firmware/software which is not as up to date supporting file formats as some of the competition, struggles sometimes with iPlayer (quits back to iPlayer menu) and doesn't seem to be updated once the next year's model comes out.

Also consider buying a factory reconditioned one. You get a years warranty instead of five but will save a packet. I bought the G30 and the 755 Blu-ray 5.1 Surround speaker combo for the same price as you would pay for a brand new G30. Search the rainforest and a certain auction site for bargains if you're interested.
 
Darkman said:
G30 here too (2010) model. I have the top of the range 32" Panny LED LCD in my bedroom as well and while that is the best LCD I could find (as the smallest Plasma was 37"), the G30 is far superior in colour reproduction, has no discernable input lag, no backlight bleed, much deeper blacks...

In fact the only thing I don't rate highly about Panasonic is the firmware/software which is not as up to date supporting file formats as some of the competition, struggles sometimes with iPlayer (quits back to iPlayer menu) and doesn't seem to be updated once the next year's model comes out.

Also consider buying a factory reconditioned one. You get a years warranty instead of five but will save a packet. I bought the G30 and the 755 Blu-ray 5.1 Surround speaker combo for the same price as you would pay for a brand new G30. Search the rainforest and a certain auction site for bargains if you're interested.
Click to expand...

Thanks, not too fussed about iplayer etc.

Damn the price has just went up by £80. Should've bought it there and then. Is there any chance of this TV not being for sale soon, with pannys new range coming out soon?
 
Venares said:
There already end of line bud.
Better get in there before stock is gone because once it is, thats it.
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Thought as much.

That would then mean forking out a bit extra for a new line model, which I can't see being much better than current gen.

There is the ST30 too, which is a bit cheaper and from what I've read just as good.

Help ST30 or the G30?
 
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