Planar 42" Plasma Display w/ Tuner $2899 @ Dell

[DealChimp]

Go to Dell Software & Peripherals and search for "planar plasma1", select the 2nd result listed under "Monitors" and add to cart.

Coupon details available here. Total after coupon should be $2899 shipped.

 

[Mallow]

ouch... might be hot but my wallet couldn't take the hit Unless there is a $2799 MIR? ^_^

 

[DealChimp]

I'll let you know if I find one...

 

[SimMike2]

This isn't an HDTV or even compatible plasma TV. It is probably some lower resolution version that I have heard called EDTV.

 

[DealChimp]

Actually, all the EDTV plasmas accept and seem to handle 1080i HDTV and computer resolutions like 1024 x 768 quite well.

Its more of a consideration if you're going to do a lot of web browsing and text/graphics work on a plasma, but if its just for HDTV/DVD, I wouldn't pay the $1000 or so premium for the higher res models.

 

[Rally1]

Planar 42" Plasma Display w/ Tuner $2899 @ Dell

i dont think there is a built in tuner is there?

specs I would double check, and fix the original post if it doesn't.

that's what happens when you cut and paste a deal from techbargains

 

[Madcowz]

Looks like this can display progressive 480p resolutions, however is not suited for HDTV resolutions

 

[Gigaset]

Ok. before anyone else spews something ignorant. Get educated:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/video_signals.htm

Relative to the degree of improvement:
IMHO, EDTV(aka 480p) is actually like upgrading to S-Video from Composite. But upgrading from EDTV to HDTV is like upgrading to Component Video from S-Video.....in that the difference in change(delta) is smaller than that of the jump from composite to S-video.

But overall, hell yeah, from Analog to HDTV, without price concerns, it's no question. But for my pricepoint, EDTV will suffice.

 

[FuzzyBee]

Originally posted by: Gigaset
Ok. before anyone else spews something ignorant. Get educated:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/video_signals.htm

Relative to the degree of improvement:
IMHO, EDTV(aka 480p) is actually like upgrading to S-Video from Composite. But upgrading from EDTV to HDTV is like upgrading to Component Video from S-Video.....in that the difference in change(delta) is smaller than that of the jump from composite to S-video.

But overall, hell yeah, from Analog to HDTV, without price concerns, it's no question. But for my pricepoint, EDTV will suffice.

At the risk of getting off-topic here, how is 480p HDTV?

Please don't quote two-year-old articles when you call other people ignorant.

Back to the original topic, I wonder how the artifiacting is on this display?

 

[Rally1]

from a FW poster:

This is what it says on the MSN link. The Tuner is special offer included in the price.
Deal is HOT! - nuBee
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't forget to check out planar wall mount, table mount, and speakers for a complete entertainment solution! These products are available to purchase before checkout.

OFFER DETAILS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dell is offering an Outrageous deal on the PDP-42B Plasma from planar exclusively for MSN customers. Thanks to a thin, lightweight design, you can put a planar plasma display just about anywhere-on the wall or tabletop. And, the PDP-42B is HDTV ready.

For just $2899, MSN customers will also receive a FREE planar Video-Ex S-Video & TV Tuner with purchase - Today Only!

Simply enter this special coupon code 7F151C503F00 in the "Enter Coupon Number" box at checkout to receive your savings.

Plus, we are currently offering Free Ground (3-5 day) shipping on software and peripheral orders over $39 (before tax).

Offer good while supplies last.

Hurry, offer ends Wednesday, 4/9/2003 11PM CT!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[AmishPcFreak]

I am having trouble getting the coupon to work. Anyone else having any luck?

APC

 

[AmishPcFreak]

Duh, got it.

 

[FPSguy]

How would this be as a computer monitor? How far back would one need to be for it to be usable for surfing/gaming? Would it have ghosting in FPS games? If it's "just a TV" I am not interested. If it works with Unreal Tournament 2003, though, it could be awesome.

 

[DealChimp]

FPSGuy,

It would be awesome for UT...and I'm guessing still quite good for casual web browsing, it would just be somewhat less so for doing, say, word processing since it doesn't have quite the resolution of plasma's that do 1024 x 1024 or 1024 x 768 native resolution. Trust me, this would be a very subtle difference for any kind of HDTV/DVD viewing or gaming. UT rocks even on my 30" Samsung CRT-based widescreen HDTV, I can only imagine on this thing...

Chances are 90% of the plasma displays you've seen at Best Buy or wherever have been EDTV. In some cases, people have found EDTV panels to actually work better for some sources.

I would read this, and also check out the Plasma & LCD Displays forum at AVSForum if you're still wondering about the differences, they've been over this issue numerous times.

 

[disoriental]

Originally posted by: Gigaset
Ok. before anyone else spews something ignorant. Get educated:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/video_signals.htm

Relative to the degree of improvement:
IMHO, EDTV(aka 480p) is actually like upgrading to S-Video from Composite. But upgrading from EDTV to HDTV is like upgrading to Component Video from S-Video.....in that the difference in change(delta) is smaller than that of the jump from composite to S-video.

But overall, hell yeah, from Analog to HDTV, without price concerns, it's no question. But for my pricepoint, EDTV will suffice.

now let me give you some education. that article is biased to get you to purchase low-res projectors and expensive deinterlacers/scalers that they knew were going to be obsolete in a matter of time. the fact is, edtv (848x480p) is not a big improvement over standard ntsc (720x480i). hdtv (1280x720p or 1920x1080i) otoh, is a very big improvement over edtv. you will not see that on a 42" plasma of course, because hdtv would be downrezed to fit the available pixels, but on a 50" panel, the difference is obvious.

basically if youre going to watch only dvd and regular tv and dont mind running your pc at 848x480, then this panel will probably work fine. but for hdtv or higher pc resolutions, this panel wont cut it.

 

[RobK]

Disoriental - WRONG. I CHALLENGE you to see a noticeable difference at normal viewing distance between my EDTV Panasonic 42" and the comparable HDTV Panasonic 42. You will NOT see a difference from more than 3-4 feet away.

 

[Milkyman]

Originally posted by: RobK
Disoriental - WRONG. I CHALLENGE you to see a noticeable difference at normal viewing distance between my EDTV Panasonic 42" and the comparable HDTV Panasonic 42. You will NOT see a difference from more than 3-4 feet away.

Doesn't that depend on your video source?

 

[disoriental]

Originally posted by: RobK
Disoriental - WRONG. I CHALLENGE you to see a noticeable difference at normal viewing distance between my EDTV Panasonic 42" and the comparable HDTV Panasonic 42. You will NOT see a difference from more than 3-4 feet away.

are you watching a true hdtv signal in both cases? not many stores have plasma displays properly set up. besides, the 42" HD panny is 1024x768 (elongated rectangular pixels), which is kind of an odd resolution to display hdtv and doesnt quite have enough pixels. anyways i wasnt comparing those two plasmas. i was responding to the statement by gigaset and the linked article that hdtv is a smaller improvement over edtv than edtv is over ntsc. which, if youve ever seen hdtv, is not true.

 

[deeznuts]

Originally posted by: disoriental

Originally posted by: RobK
Disoriental - WRONG. I CHALLENGE you to see a noticeable difference at normal viewing distance between my EDTV Panasonic 42" and the comparable HDTV Panasonic 42. You will NOT see a difference from more than 3-4 feet away.

are you watching a true hdtv signal in both cases? not many stores have plasma displays properly set up. besides, the 42" HD panny is 1024x768 (elongated rectangular pixels), which is kind of an odd resolution to display hdtv and doesnt quite have enough pixels. anyways i wasnt comparing those two plasmas. i was responding to the statement by gigaset and the linked article that hdtv is a smaller improvement over edtv than edtv is over ntsc. which, if youve ever seen hdtv, is not true.

i have seen HDTV (in fact i have it), and it is true. HDTV is spectacular don't get me wrong. beautiful, clear, etc. etc. but so is a properly setup EDTV picture. if if you were to watch, say, gladiator, on regular TV, then on a DVD played through a prog scan (a good one, not that crap that sells for $69 over at sav-ons) on a good hi-scan display, then see it finally through HDTV, the difference between HDTV and the DVD is not much. it's there, but it isn't as drastic as going from a regular non-DTV pic to DVD.

i have also hooked up my HDTV receiver to an EDTV plasma (panny 42" one) and i tell you, it looks marvelous. almost as good as my Pio Elite. both calibrated by AVIA. yeah the Pio shows more detail, and colors are a bit better, but there are tons of issues with tubes compared to Plasmas. no geometry problems, perfect picture from edge to edge. this is with a regular EDTV plasma too. oh yeah, DVD's supposedly look better on EDTV plasmas than on higher def plasmas as well.

 

[cabezon]

It may seem counterintuitive for all you computer-oriented types, but the HDTV panels have very little (I challenge you to look at them side by side before you open your mouths) on the EDTV panels in terms of video viewing. In fact, the HDTV panels (42") don't even display a full 1920x1080, so there's still some downscaling on the "HDTV" panels.

Remember that these things are used for primarily for the viewing of video, where the primary goal is good response, good colors, and good brightness. With a good HD input source, the EDTV panel is beautiful. If you're going to be running your computer off the panels, and displaying text or whatnot, perhaps the extra resolution could be of some value. And for those of you who still don't believe me, go do some research.

That said, I'm not sure this Dell is that great a unit.

 

[disoriental]

Originally posted by: cabezon
It may seem counterintuitive for all you computer-oriented types, but the HDTV panels have very little (I challenge you to look at them side by side before you open your mouths) on the EDTV panels in terms of video viewing. In fact, the HDTV panels (42") don't even display a full 1920x1080, so there's still some downscaling on the "HDTV" panels.

Remember that these things are used for primarily for the viewing of video, where the primary goal is good response, good colors, and good brightness. With a good HD input source, the EDTV panel is beautiful. If you're going to be running your computer off the panels, and displaying text or whatnot, perhaps the extra resolution could be of some value. And for those of you who still don't believe me, go do some research.

That said, I'm not sure this Dell is that great a unit.

yes, edtv panels look very good with an hd signal, but they dont quite have that picture window effect that the larger panels do. i own a fujitsu 50" 1366x768p plasma with a zenith hdtv tuner, and gladiator on hbo-hd & abc-hd looked miles better than the dvd on the same screen. about 65% of the pixels is lost with dvd. and my panel still doesnt show all the resolution of hdtv.

i agree that dvds wont look any better on an hdtv than edtv, so like i said, if thats primarliy what you watch, then this planar might be fine. but if you plan on hooking a pc to this thing, 640x480 is all you will get, maybe 852x480 if your video card supports it

 

[Gigaset]

Oh, snap. Disoriental, you got schooled by those guys. Geez. I was speaking out of ignorance, compared to them. Since we have to limit the subject to 42" plasmas, you can't start talking about 50" stuff, especially if you got people with multiple 42" plasmas, which I'm not, poor boy that I am. I don't think anyone is saying that EDTV is so much better than HDTV, that's just silly. But let's not forget the word, TV in those plasmas, it's not EDPCMonitor or HDPCMonitor....it's primary purpose to the "general audience" is TV. Anyone can defend a tangent. Especially, if one is really rationalizing their 50" HDTV plasma TV purchase that almost have the same ROI as two 42" EDTVs. But then again, I'm just a Junior Member. But I appreciate everyone educating me.