I'm 99% sold on Plasma...

[Sonny]

I've owned them all ,& truthfully the Panny's are by far the best especially the new 8 series just hitting stores . I have an 50'' Panny/800 already ordered & 65'' Panny/800 in the near future also on order & I cant wait these are going to be the best. Look at them all, & mess with the settings(look on the 'net' for pro calibrated ones ) , play around with it . The crappy "out of the box setting" suck. & the source signal split between 30+ TV's sucks. Just find a TV that will work for you , that your eyes enjoy. All I can say is the Panasonic plasmas are the best in every category from price to reliability, you wont be disappointed. Oh I just remembered besides having all the Panasonic 85u's great spec's the 800/850 will have 4 HDMI ports an Ethernet port & will be THX certified (don't know what benefit this will be , but...)

[JJ]

Despite owning an LCD, I've long realized Plasma is the best choice - I'm drooling over the prospect of picking up either a 5010 or a 5080 in a few months time - can't top these Pioneers.

[Ben123]

I have both a Samsung 63" plasma and a 46" LCD TV. I definitely would say that the plasma PQ is better. It has better blacks and richer colors, hence more "film like".

[Johk]

Originally Posted by BorrowedTime

For some strange reason the PZ85s aren't available in Canada, so I haven't really looked at them, and since I'm on a budget I wasn't sure I want to pay S&H, plus any duties/additional taxes to import one from the US.

Like richteer said, the PZ85 are available in Canada at Futureshop. I think that they have been available in my area for at least 3 weeks now...

The TH50PZ85 is 2999.99 and they also have the 46 inch in store, but I don't see it online.

I hope that this crazy price (3000$) will go down soon!

[hagar852]

Originally Posted by Sonny

I've owned them all ,& truthfully the Panny's are by far the best especially the new 8 series just hitting stores . I have an 50'' Panny/800 already ordered & 65'' Panny/800 in the near future also on order & I cant wait these are going to be the best. Look at them all, & mess with the settings(look on the 'net' for pro calibrated ones ) , play around with it . The crappy "out of the box setting" suck. & the source signal split between 30+ TV's sucks. Just find a TV that will work for you , that your eyes enjoy. All I can say is the Panasonic plasmas are the best in every category from price to reliability, you wont be disappointed. Oh I just remembered besides having all the Panasonic 85u's great spec's the 800/850 will have 4 HDMI ports an Ethernet port & will be THX certified (don't know what benefit this will be , but...)

How many friggin tvs do you need????

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by Jonty

Unless I am mistaken, the 100 hrs burn-in period is done for us in Canada by Panasonic. (At least that's what it says on the box )

I would say you're mistaken.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by thanksmrceo

You never can go wrong with a panny. One word of advice though with this set, make sure you calibrate in when you get it. The manufacture settings are terrible for this set right out of the box.

so are reflections on a tv set

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by john_1958

so are reflections on a tv set

That's why I've invested in curtains... they work wonders

[Scooby Blu]

More Bad News

link : http://www.switched.com/2008/03/07/p...plasma-panels/

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by Scooby Blu

More Bad News

link : http://www.switched.com/2008/03/07/p...plasma-panels/

They aren't no longer making plasmas!!!

Pioneer will still sell its well-respected Kuro series plasma displays, known for being some of the best on the market. But it will no longer actually manufacture the panels used inside of those sets, instead turning to a third-party

[savage1984]

That third party is panasonic I'm pretty sure...

[MaleManGuy]

Originally Posted by BorrowedTime

There are some great posts here, especially in the stickied threads. Very informative.

In the LCD vs. Plasma thread, I had stated that I was looking to buy a new HDTV in the next month or so, and at the time I was leaning heavily towards an LCD. After reading some of the other threads, and thanks in particular to MaleManGuy, I started to look closely at what Plasmas had to offer. I'm really liking what Panasonic has to offer, and following the aforementioned MaleManGuy's advice, I took particular interest in the PZ800 series. Unfortunately, PZ800s are a wee bit outside of the price range that I was looking at, and I believe I've found my new TV in the TH42PZ80. For some strange reason the PZ85s aren't available in Canada, so I haven't really looked at them, and since I'm on a budget I wasn't sure I want to pay S&H, plus any duties/additional taxes to import one from the US.

I am curious about one thing (maybe I really don't want to know, as it may trigger some more humming and hawing, but...) how much will I miss the native 24p on the 800s vs the 3:2 pulldown 24p offered on the 80? Is there a really big difference? Is "jutter" (is that the right terminology?) as prominent on plasmas as it is on LCD?

Regardless, I'm 99% sure about the TH42PZ80 and will likely to be purchasing mine in the next 3 weeks. Thank you everyone, for the information and advice.

P.S. I'm so excited about this, that all I could think about at work the last couple of days was this TV. Hopefully, the Flames will still be in the playoffs 3 weeks from now...

I have seen the 50PZ85 at futureshop :-) for $2999 or so. I am sure you can talk them down from that

Jeff

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Scooby Blu

More Bad News

link : http://www.switched.com/2008/03/07/p...plasma-panels/

This has been known for some time now Panny WILL make those few set's for Pio.

[Scooby Blu]

Originally Posted by Sonny

This has been known for some time now Panny WILL make those few set's for Pio.

Sorry, just heard about it yesterday.

[Jonty]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Really? I didn't know this. Can you take a pic of that?

Maybe it wasn't the box, but it was somewhere. If I remember I'll look for it tonight...

This is also discussed on another forum so I'm not going crazy....

[BorrowedTime]

Originally Posted by MaleManGuy

I have seen the 50PZ85 at futureshop :-) for $2999 or so. I am sure you can talk them down from that

Jeff

Will Futureshop be getting the 42PZ85? TBH, I haven't even seen a detailed spec on the 85 series. I imagine they will be much the same as the 80's. Can anyone tell me what the differences are? Aside from Doby's indication that the CR is higher, and there is an additional PC input (which I will likely never make use of) what other differences are there? I'm also going to assume that all new Panasonics going forward will have the pixel shifting feature. And lastly what is the difference in pricing between the 42PZ80 and 42PZ85? A lot of Canadian websites (Future Shop and Best Buy especially) need to update their product listings, lol, as of last night I could only find the prices on the 80's and 800's.

[Chaka]

I have 2 Panny plasmas at home 50 and a 42" bought my parents 2 42". Love them, looks great, no burn in problems and cold night the heat keeps you warm. Seriously, you cannot go wrong.

[MaleManGuy]

Originally Posted by BorrowedTime

Will Futureshop be getting the 42PZ85? TBH, I haven't even seen a detailed spec on the 85 series. I imagine they will be much the same as the 80's. Can anyone tell me what the differences are? Aside from Doby's indication that the CR is higher, and there is an additional PC input (which I will likely never make use of) what other differences are there? I'm also going to assume that all new Panasonics going forward will have the pixel shifting feature. And lastly what is the difference in pricing between the 42PZ80 and 42PZ85? A lot of Canadian websites (Future Shop and Best Buy especially) need to update their product listings, lol, as of last night I could only find the prices on the 80's and 800's.

Personally... I would pay the extra $ for the 20,000 to 30,000:1 contrast ratio. Altho I wouldn't really use the PC input... the contrast ratio may be worth it to ya ;-) TV's are just $200 or so apart... at least in US pricing :-)

[DezNutz]

Originally Posted by BorrowedTime

Will Futureshop be getting the 42PZ85? TBH, I haven't even seen a detailed spec on the 85 series. I imagine they will be much the same as the 80's. Can anyone tell me what the differences are? Aside from Doby's indication that the CR is higher, and there is an additional PC input (which I will likely never make use of) what other differences are there? I'm also going to assume that all new Panasonics going forward will have the pixel shifting feature. And lastly what is the difference in pricing between the 42PZ80 and 42PZ85? A lot of Canadian websites (Future Shop and Best Buy especially) need to update their product listings, lol, as of last night I could only find the prices on the 80's and 800's.

Time here are some prices I have found for these systems. Again what is listed is full retail;

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/pr...-tv-1459.shtml

The price difference between your 42PZ80 (1600) and 42PZ85 (1800) appears to be 200 dollars. If interested the 42PZ800 is listed at 2300, not sure if it is worth that or 500 more than the 85.. there are specs on that page as well.

[Midwest]

Pick up a Pioneer Manufactured plasma before they are gone.

Hands down the best tv's on the market. Probably not the most "bang for the buck" but picture quality wise, no contest.