$1999 42" Plasma HDTV @ Costco

[CStrikeADDICT]

Originally posted by: thenotebook

Originally posted by: CStrikeADDICT

Originally posted by: thenotebook

Originally posted by: Brackis

Originally posted by: thenotebook

Originally posted by: Brackis
I am unaware of the model myself, I am simply a messenger
Note: This is an HDTv, not an EDTV which costco has been seeling for betweel 1500 and 2000.

Please see if you can find any reviews on this tv.

What makes me capable of finding one?

You know how to search, right?

don't mind the notebook, he's too busy searching google for his penis.

This is the 3rd or 4th time you're talking about another guy's ding-ding.

just your lack thereof. i might stop, if you leave.

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: Chudilo
I have seen it in person last night. It's decent, however because of the 1024x768 native resolution , it's more suitable for a computer display. Native HD TV MUST have a 16:9 pixel ratio. What that means to you is it is not as sharp as a real HDTV. However it is muuuch better then any EDTV I've seen to date.

If you can spare 2 grand to be the coolest on your block for the next 2 years... go ahead. this is finally a more reasonably priced plasma display. However be aware of all the problems currently plaguing Plazmas.

1. Burn in : if the TV is on the same channel all the time ..like CNN (the logo will burn into the display .. meaning theere will be a discoloration at the spot where the logo normally is.
2. Estimated functioning time is about 20.000 hours which works out to be about 2 years of normal use.. At which time .. if it will indeed die at that moment..you will need to replace the plazma panel (the most expensive component) or have to purchase a new TV

Also if you do get it . make sure you get warranty and make sure the plazma panel is covered by the warranty.


They also have a real SONY HDTV set for 5999. but that's no hot deal.

This set is 16:9 native. It's 1024 x 768 with pixels that are physically 4:3, thus, a 16:9 native display.

1. Burn in: Burn in stil exists, but it's WAY overblown. As long as you're willing to spend 15 minutes calibrating the set when you get it, it should be reasonably burn in resistant.

2. Estimated functioning time is NOWHERE NEAR 20k hours, which in turn is NOWHERE NEAR 2 years.

Two years has a total of 730 days, which is a total of 17,520 hours. That means, even if the usable lifespan was 20k hours, you'd need to watch for more than 27 hours PER DAY.

Plasmas have a service life measured in what they call half life: the time it takes to reach 1/2 brightness. A plasma such as this, with 1000 cd/m2 brightness rating, even at 500 cd/m2 would still be several times as bright as the brightest tube CRT's. Furthermore, the shortest halflife of any modern plasma is 30,000 hours. Many these days are 60,000 hours.

If you have absolutely no life, and watch a full 12 hours of TV a day, 7 days a week, every single week of the year, year after year, AND this plasma only has the inferior 30,000 halflife, it will reach half brightness in 6.8 years. That means, in 6.8 years, this plasma will still be roughly 3-4x as bright as a tube TV, and about as bright as your typical new LCD or plasma display (most of which are 350 to 600 cd/m2 brand new). If this plasma has a 60k hour halflife, even watching 12 hours a day, it would take 13.7 years to reach 1/2 brightness.

 

[Yo2]

Now this was a great, brief but comprehensive post - way to go

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: Yo2
Now this was a great, brief but comprehensive post - way to go

Except for the occassional ding ding (or lack thereof), I am inclined to agree

 

[Crucial]

Originally posted by: Apex

Originally posted by: Chudilo
I have seen it in person last night. It's decent, however because of the 1024x768 native resolution , it's more suitable for a computer display. Native HD TV MUST have a 16:9 pixel ratio. What that means to you is it is not as sharp as a real HDTV. However it is muuuch better then any EDTV I've seen to date.

If you can spare 2 grand to be the coolest on your block for the next 2 years... go ahead. this is finally a more reasonably priced plasma display. However be aware of all the problems currently plaguing Plazmas.

1. Burn in : if the TV is on the same channel all the time ..like CNN (the logo will burn into the display .. meaning theere will be a discoloration at the spot where the logo normally is.
2. Estimated functioning time is about 20.000 hours which works out to be about 2 years of normal use.. At which time .. if it will indeed die at that moment..you will need to replace the plazma panel (the most expensive component) or have to purchase a new TV

Also if you do get it . make sure you get warranty and make sure the plazma panel is covered by the warranty.


They also have a real SONY HDTV set for 5999. but that's no hot deal.

This set is 16:9 native. It's 1024 x 768 with pixels that are physically 4:3, thus, a 16:9 native display.

1. Burn in: Burn in stil exists, but it's WAY overblown. As long as you're willing to spend 15 minutes calibrating the set when you get it, it should be reasonably burn in resistant.

2. Estimated functioning time is NOWHERE NEAR 20k hours, which in turn is NOWHERE NEAR 2 years.

Two years has a total of 730 days, which is a total of 17,520 hours. That means, even if the usable lifespan was 20k hours, you'd need to watch for more than 27 hours PER DAY.

Plasmas have a service life measured in what they call half life: the time it takes to reach 1/2 brightness. A plasma such as this, with 1000 cd/m2 brightness rating, even at 500 cd/m2 would still be several times as bright as the brightest tube CRT's. Furthermore, the shortest halflife of any modern plasma is 30,000 hours. Many these days are 60,000 hours.

If you have absolutely no life, and watch a full 12 hours of TV a day, 7 days a week, every single week of the year, year after year, AND this plasma only has the inferior 30,000 halflife, it will reach half brightness in 6.8 years. That means, in 6.8 years, this plasma will still be roughly 3-4x as bright as a tube TV, and about as bright as your typical new LCD or plasma display (most of which are 350 to 600 cd/m2 brand new). If this plasma has a 60k hour halflife, even watching 12 hours a day, it would take 13.7 years to reach 1/2 brightness.

as always a breath of fresh air in the stink of misinformation. Thanks Apex

 

[dbz007]

Very well put Apex!
A lot of people are extremely uneducated regarding plasmas and just make general assumptions.
I just went to costco here in socal and didn't see this unit. I have two other friends that looked at two other costcos down here as well and both of them didn't have it as well.
They all had the plain ED version.
Maybe they get some in before the 17th when the sale starts.

 

[CStrikeADDICT]

Originally posted by: Apex

If you have absolutely no life, and watch a full 12 hours of TV a day, 7 days a week, every single week of the year, year after year, AND this plasma only has the inferior 30,000 halflife, it will reach half brightness in 6.8 years.

you must be talking about thenotebook.

btw, remember costco has a return policy that would let you return this thing whenever you want.

 

[viewlike]

Not bad deal

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Apex
This is the "HD" model, with 1024x768 native resolution, not the ED model (852x480).

Is it possible to get native 1280 x 720 in a plasma? That's what my front projector is and it's exactly the output on many HDTV stations, so it doesn't have to be rescaled. 1024 x 768 would have to be rescaled for HDTV, DVD's also. My DVD player upscales to 720p (1280 x 720).

I almost bought a 42" EDTV touted in a thread in this forum a year ago. I was pretty close, but the deal (online) disappeared and there was a post in the thread that got me interested in front projection and I started researching it on AVS Forums and took it from there. Even so, I could use something better than my 20" analog set in my bedroom.

 

[huesmann]

Could you explain about the Coupon Wallet and Instant Coupon part again? Does this mean you need to have a paper coupon, or is it like an instant rebate at someplace like CompUSA?

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: huesmann
Could you explain about the Coupon Wallet and Instant Coupon part again? Does this mean you need to have a paper coupon, or is it like an instant rebate at someplace like CompUSA?

I think you need the coupon book from Costco. As a member, I got mine in the mail a couple of days ago. It has coupon specials for one week intervals going out through April 3rd, the first week being Jan. 10-16th. Each week has four coupon specials. All kinds of things from drinking water to French toast sticks to office chairs to bath tissue, living and dining room furniture, notebook computers (some refurb), mattresses, CDR's, some good deals some not such good deals. Some stuff you wouldn't want, some you might.

 

[jurovi]

I saw this unit last night at the Lewisville, TX Costco.. and it is NICE.. very good picture

this is a great deal.. but their price was $2389....

 

[greys2k]

couldn't resist replying

BURN IN - keep contrast lower duh
PANNY PWD7UY - since this is the industrial model - NO SPEAKERS!, u have to buy optional board for DVI input (~+$150) + optional stand (~$199) and at 2k + optionals, it's still only EDTV. at that pt, u might as well get the PX series with everything built in

i had a sammy hlp5039 50" plasma and returned it - too much fan noise
i now have a sammy hlp6163w and haven't looked back - 61" for 3k - can't beat that

 

[ir0nw0lf]

Originally posted by: CStrikeADDICT

Originally posted by: Apex

If you have absolutely no life, and watch a full 12 hours of TV a day, 7 days a week, every single week of the year, year after year, AND this plasma only has the inferior 30,000 halflife, it will reach half brightness in 6.8 years.

you must be talking about thenotebook.

btw, remember costco has a return policy that would let you return this thing whenever you want.

The FW thread has a lot of interesting tidbits about some stores not taking big $$$ stuff back and only offering exchanges, etc. Although there is not a Costco anywhere near where I am, I was amazed at how loose their return policy seems to be, but after reading that thread, I wonder if many Costco's are starting to tighten the leash of what is honestly abuse of a return policy (according to some at FW, not my words!!)

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: greys2k
PANNY PWD7UY - since this is the industrial model - NO SPEAKERS!

Pardon me for asking, but what kind of idiot buys a home theater TV without having a HT sound system?

 

[phenderson]

Originally posted by: viewlike
Not bad deal

I was just going to say the same thing Muse... This TV is crap if it does not do native 1080i or 1080p.
My Panasonic 45lc12 does 1080i and 1080p and it looks awesome. And it does 1280x720 via the VGA connection as well.

Folks this TV is ok. I will resend my remark of it being crap. But true HD is 720p\i and 1080p\i
If you want something shiney and nice to show your friends, but the TV.

I paid $1500.00 for my Panasonic 45 inch LCD RPTV and I have an HTPC connected to it, and it is awesome, hands down. I love it. DVD's look much clear.

BTW

Muse what DVD player do you have that upscales to 720p?

 

[JSanford]

So if I am looking into this being my decision for HDTV is this the deal I should go for, or not?

 

[macosx]

quote:

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Originally posted by: flot

quote:

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Originally posted by: Chudilo

2. Estimated functioning time is about 20.000 hours which works out to be about 2 years of normal use.. At which time .. if it will indeed die at that moment..you will need to replace the plazma panel (the most expensive component) or have to purchase a new TV

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Way to go there with the math - to watch TV for 20,000 hours in 2 years you'd have to watch 27 hours of TV a day.


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Most people overclock their plasmas so this is normal.

I use TIVO so when 2 or 3 shows are on at the same time, I can watch all of them. This way, I can watch as many as 48 to 72 hours of TV a day!

 

[Apex]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Apex
This is the "HD" model, with 1024x768 native resolution, not the ED model (852x480).

Is it possible to get native 1280 x 720 in a plasma? That's what my front projector is and it's exactly the output on many HDTV stations, so it doesn't have to be rescaled. 1024 x 768 would have to be rescaled for HDTV, DVD's also. My DVD player upscales to 720p (1280 x 720).

I almost bought a 42" EDTV touted in a thread in this forum a year ago. I was pretty close, but the deal (online) disappeared and there was a post in the thread that got me interested in front projection and I started researching it on AVS Forums and took it from there. Even so, I could use something better than my 20" analog set in my bedroom.

No, it's not.

42-Inch "HD" plasmas can only do 1024 x 768p or 1024 x 1024 (in a kind of interlaced format... not exactly, but close enough). 50" and above are either 1280 x 768p (rectangle pixels again) or 1366 x 768p.

 

[Muse]

... BTW

Muse what DVD player do you have that upscales to 720p?

I have the Momitsu DVD-V880 DVD player. I ordered it from overseas for $200 plus about $75 shipping, but nowadays it can be bought from a company in California so you don't have to pay such high shipping. At the time, I thought it was the best deal around but I think a number of such players have come out that may compete successfully with it now. I haven't been keeping up. You can check out the AVS Forums for the latest. The people there are very knowledgable and very helpful. That's where I started hanging out when I dove into the home theater scene starting about Oct. 2003.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: huesmann

Originally posted by: greys2k
PANNY PWD7UY - since this is the industrial model - NO SPEAKERS!

Pardon me for asking, but what kind of idiot buys a home theater TV without having a HT sound system?

Well, you have to start somewhere. In my case, I had the audio long before I got the video and just used my computer for the time being, including a Winfast TV card, which I actually got two of (for each of my PC's). I later got a front projector and after that a MyHD 120 HDTV card and sold both my Winfast cards. The MyHD cost over 4x as much but boy, it's Sooooooooo much better! It does digital TV, which is a huge inmprovement over analog and it does HDTV! Man, talk about an improvement (I'm talking about the HDTV, especially if you have a truly good means of displaying it, and I do)!

 

[Preyhunter]

Anyone have one of these Costco coupons that you're willing to let go of?

 

[huesmann]

I'm too lazy to search. Is there a place that explains the difference between 720i/720p/1080i/1080p etc.?

 

[Chudilo]

I apologize for the missinformation I posted above. yes you guys are right on the 1/2 life and math My bad.

However I'm still right about the TV not having a native 16:9 meaning picture has to be scaled in order to display any HD picture.

 

[Baked]

Originally posted by: Preyhunter
Anyone have one of these Costco coupons that you're willing to let go of?

My mailman/woman kept stealing my Costco coupon book. I get it maybe twice a year if I'm lucky. And I bet he'd go through my porn mags too, that's why I don't subscribe to any mags at all. I don't want any sticky pages.

Originally posted by: huesmann
I'm too lazy to search. Is there a place that explains the difference between 720i/720p/1080i/1080p etc.?

Should find everthing you want to know at AVS Forum if the bizarre color scheme doesn't blind you 1st.