Plasma, to repair or not to repair?

[Vilante]

Evening lads,

I have a 42" Samsung plasma that's 5 years old and is a standard def unit.

It went on the blink and needs a $300 power supply to be fixed.

Do you think it's worth it or should I get a new one, a true HD?

I've always wanted a full HD unit but not swimming in money and it seems such a waste to throw away a $2000 telly for a $300 part.

If it were $100 I'd fix it, $500 I'd replace it but it's right in the bloody middle!!

[Shaun]

I think I'd replace it. You cab pick up full hd 50" plasmas for around 800-900 when jb have deals on. I got my Panasonic 50" for 898 probably 18 months go so there is good deals to be had

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[Bauer]

it seems such a waste to throw away a $2000 telly for a $300 part.

Thats the bit you need to think on. It isnt a $2000 TV wanting a $300 part. It was, but it isnt any more. Consider 2nd hand value and it probably is a $300 tv wanting that $300 part.

Buy a new one

[pixelboy]

Yeah I wouldn't repair a standard definition telle!

Off to Jbhifi.. Dex will get you a good deal!

[NeilPearson]

Yeah I wouldn't repair a standard definition telle!

Off to Jbhifi.. Dex will get you a good deal!

this.

[Righteous]

Agreed. That's crazy talk getting it repaired. Who's to say some other component won't go boom in the next month or so. Have a look on Kogan or something like that. Even a cheap one would be better than your old SD tv.

[Vilante]

Thanks guys. This is the conclusion I'd come to but needed reassurance. It hurts when a bill like this comes up!!

I guess next I'll need advice on a good set around the $700-$800 mark

[plastik8]

Are you looking for a plasma or LED? How big? Want to stick with well known brands or happy to go with something cheaper (but with good warranty)?

Definitely made the right decision in not repairing... You could probably pick up a new Full HD LED 42" for not too much more than the repair would have cost.

[TIMMY30]

Never repair anything thats not under warranty. You might fix the power supply and then in 6 months the pixels start bleeding out. Then you CANT fix it.

[r8response]

Panasonic is exiting the plasma business next year. Might be an indication of things to come and It might not. I'd still be going for LED over LCD or Plasma.

[wabbit]

I was looking at your situation at the yearly cost, your telly has costed you $400/year. So you'd want at least another year after paying $300 and like Timmy noted your telly is quite old (relatively speaking from newer gen products that superseded CRTs) and it currently doesn't meet your "wants" because it isn't full HD capable.

Although I don't completely agree with the hard line Timmy has in general terms heh.

Panasonic is exiting the plasma business next year. Might be an indication of things to come and It might not. I'd still be going for LED over LCD or Plasma.

LED backlit LCD TV or something else? After the Panasonic news, I had half a thought of buying the latest Panasonic Plasma just so I wouldn't be forced to LCD (LED backlit or not). Then I read Panasonic see OLED as the replacement to Plasma. Which I believe most if not all top tier TV manufactures share the same view. Of course for many years these OLED tellys will have huge price tags attached.

[Vilante]

Thanks heaps guys!!

Looking at spending $1,000.00 on a 42" min.

I'm guessing that gets me either a 42" full HD LED LCD with 100hz like the Sony KDL42W800A or a bigger screen, 50" @50hz.

That's just with a bit of googling and a visit to JB. The Sony looks pretty good picture wise sitting next to some LG's and Samsung's.

I think I'd rather stay with the big brands but would love to hear opinions on other options.

[r8response]

Just my personal opinion (so take it with a grain of salt). I believe 3D is just a bullshit gimmick. My brother and sister in law have some monster panasonic tv with 3D, used it once or twice then packed up all the 3D shit in a box and threw it in the roof. That was about 12 months ago. I got to try GT5 with the 3D mode enabled, didn't add anything of value to the experience.

I'd never suggest to family or friends to buy a TV with 3D in mind. In saying that though THIS is on special with a $200 reduction at the moment. Great TV, and you can try the 3D but you'll probably never bother with it afterwards. Has WiFi, so connect it and it'll get an updated TV guide, browse the net and all that shit.



You can't go wrong with Sony, Panasonic or LG. It'll completely depend on your taste.

[Vilante]

Thanks r8. Not really intersted in 3D but they all seem to come with it. Do you think LG is on the same level as Sony? I had a bad experience with LG but that was years ago so probably doesnt count anymore.

[wabbit]

Vil, please don't make your final judgement call based purely on price, like often Business decisions are. Your a consumer and you'll be living with the thing for years and years... all the smaller things matter too.

I'd be careful about rating one telly to the next in any box pusher store (JB or otherwise), because their store lighting isn't what we all have at home (the final viewing place for the telly). I'd be trying to watch some content if possible of stuff your interested in and be grabbing the remote and thinking so... is the EPG easy to use? Does it have the features I may want from today and some time into the future (maybe you are interested in one feature over another).

Am I completely smitten with a 42" or would something slightly larger be better? Those sorts of things. And like r8 said, the big tv players you cant go wrong. Its the same old thing, often its the slightly cheaper nasty branded stuff which fucks out just after the warranty period has end.

[Sarsippius]

When I bought my 50" LG Plasma nearly 18 months ago it seemed to me they were discounted compared to LEDs because LEDs were 'the in thing'. Equivalent quality LEDs seemed to be smaller sized and a bit more expensive.
Not sure if it's still the case but I'd keep it in mind as you might get better value by going against the crowd.

[kwijibo]

For $1000, you should be able to pick up a 51" Samsung Plasma easily!

[SE1Z]

Vil, please don't make your final judgement call based purely on price, like often Business decisions are. Your a consumer and you'll be living with the thing for years and years... all the smaller things matter too.

I'd be careful about rating one telly to the next in any box pusher store (JB or otherwise), because their store lighting isn't what we all have at home (the final viewing place for the telly). I'd be trying to watch some content if possible of stuff your interested in and be grabbing the remote and thinking so... is the EPG easy to use? Does it have the features I may want from today and some time into the future (maybe you are interested in one feature over another).

Am I completely smitten with a 42" or would something slightly larger be better? Those sorts of things. And like r8 said, the big tv players you cant go wrong. Its the same old thing, often its the slightly cheaper nasty branded stuff which fucks out just after the warranty period has end.

Best advice here.

Make sure you take your time choosing too. You will be using this telly for many, many years.


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[DexterPunk]

This is how I'd approach it...

First decided on size.

Then LCD/LED or plasma.

Then consider what features are important to you.... 3D (passive or active), Internet TV (some have a greater choice of catch up TV etc), built-in WiFi, and the media player built in on some read more file types than others.

When you have worked that out, consider your options and have a look at the interface and whether you like it, look for motion that appeals to you. I don't like heavily processed smoothing. I prefer a bit of flicker, it feels more cinematic to me. Turning that smoothing off, some do a better job than others. I still like plasmas for how it handles this, but that's subjective. I find it hard to adjust some LCD/LED to have the right level of smoothing (frame interpolation basically - they all call it something else) and LCD/LED seem to require a small amount turned on.

Each brand seems to have their advantages in certain areas, but picture quality is really quite subjective. Don't let anyone tell you what a better picture looks like.

I agree with the others, buy the right TV for you... Even if you have to scrape together a couple hundred bucks more. Having said that, you should be able to get a nice Tele for $1000.

I love samsung image quality, but they make more lemons than most of the other big players. LG's are really nice, so are Sony, and you can't go far wrong with any Panasonic products of late.




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[Vilante]

Thanks so much all, very much appreciated. I will slow down a bit and do some serious shopping and investigating. I guess the first port if call is to get out and look at some screens, then follow up with some online investigstion of the models I like the look of. Legends.

[norbs]

I might be wrong, but aren't plasmas heaters with a TV on the front? What is there power usage like? Given the spiraling cost of power, it might be worth thinking about Mando.

[plastik8]

Also never trust the major shops to set the TVs up properly... For example, JB in Rundle Mall in Adelaide play a terribly bad quality video loop through ALL of their TVs. It's not even close to HD, although technically it might be a 1080p video file. Soon as I walk in (I often do so on lunch breaks), I notice it every time. Not sure how they don't?

And I'm convinced that they calibrate the TVs they want to get rid of better than the others.

[NeilPearson]

I might be wrong, but aren't plasmas heaters with a TV on the front? What is there power usage like? Given the spiraling cost of power, it might be worth thinking about Mando.

They are. I Switch mine off at the power when I am not using it.

[DexterPunk]

I might be wrong, but aren't plasmas heaters with a TV on the front? What is there power usage like? Given the spiraling cost of power, it might be worth thinking about Mando.

You're not wrong... they use a lot more power.

Also never trust the major shops to set the TVs up properly... For example, JB in Rundle Mall in Adelaide play a terribly bad quality video loop through ALL of their TVs. It's not even close to HD, although technically it might be a 1080p video file. Soon as I walk in (I often do so on lunch breaks), I notice it every time. Not sure how they don't?

And I'm convinced that they calibrate the TVs they want to get rid of better than the others.

I can't speak for other stores... We use a bluray player hooked up via component RCA leads (RGB). I think that will usually give you 1080i. I would highly doubt they would have the time to go around the store and reduce the picture quality of all the bigger sellers so the older models can look better and be moved. I have never heard of this, and I really don't think that's a thing. Usually the TV's are simply placed on the shelf, and switched on. Our HiFi guy sets them all to their dynamic settings from the box what ever that may be.

[Rots]

I just bought a 42" Sony LED 3D TV for $870 the other day. Love it, but still tweaking the settings. SD TV looks so bad now, HD needs to become the norm. For me the 3D is just a gimmick but I went that one because of being 100hz. I just can't watch a 50hz TV, as the frame rate is not smooth at all.

GTA V on it looks awesome and I do play it with the 3D on sometimes.