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LCD TV Technology, who's the leader now? Samsung, Pioneer Elite, or Sony XBR, etc?
- Thread starter EuroBoutique
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Samsung all day! I had three. Gave one a way :smile:.
There are a lot of people in here that I really like and respect, but Dave is 100% right and the advice from everybody else should be ignored. Most all the info in here about plasmas that's not coming from Dave is old information that's no longer accurate. I was also recently in the industry (briefly) and prior to that was a huge home theater/audiophile fanatic and Panasonic plasma is the way to go if you value picture quality above all else (and you should). I had many customers that wanted THE BEST, MONEY IS NO OBJECT. I could have sold them ludicrously priced Runcos but THE best..... was the Panasonic VT50. I had people waiting for them to be released and calling every week asking "are they out yet?". The 2013 sets are just coming out now (the ZT60 will almost certainly be THE new reference set to which everything else in the history of TV will be compared), so you can go that route or look for deals on the 2012 VT50 (the current reference set, often compared closely with the Kuro), or the lesser but still amazing GT50 and ST50 (best bang for the buck). I'm actually looking to buy an ST50 myself right now, and will likely jump on one this week. I'd go VT50 but that's still too expensive for me (hook me up Dave!! 
The shop I worked for didn't have a direct relationship with Panasonic, so I could never get EPP prices through them)
The shop I worked for didn't have a direct relationship with Panasonic, so I could never get EPP prices through them)
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re: Smart TV's... when I first got my samsung, I *LOVED* all the features and the ability to download apps etc. What I came to realize though is that TV manufacturers put in crappy, slow-ass processors running Java apps and it makes the whole experience very unresponsive and unpleasant. Until they start addressing this (likely to happen soon as TV's start going Android), I would just go with an external box like an Apple TV or a WDTV etc. The nice thing about going this route is that it opens up a lot of other non-smart TV options, particularly at lower price points.
Out of curiosity Dave, what do you think of the (Sharp) Elite set? I sold a few of those and they had a much better margin than the Panasonics but would rather put a VT50 in someone's home at half the price. Reality is we made no money on TVs, people could buy them cheaper on Amazon than our cost. A few times I had to send someone out to Best Buy to buy a TV when we needed something NOW. Sad. The only thing I could get through work cheaper than online was Sonos gear and accessory crap and Lutron stuff I had no use for.
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I still have 2 DLPs in service. One is an almost 10 year old Optoma and the other a Samsung. I still swear by the technology, if not the implementation. I don't care about thickness. The biggest hassle to me is the fan noise.
Turbo, I sent you an email about a month ago but didn't hear back from you. Is the email you use on this site good? I am installing a dedicated home theater in my house. I'm almost done with it at this point. I was wondering if it was worth it to put in tactile transducers? I ended up doing so.
I have been doing all the work myself and have to say its very complex stuff that takes extraordinary planning. It is by far the most challenging project to date and as you know I've torn entire houses apart and rebuilt them many times. Installing the starlight ceiling was a lot of fun! It was like finding a needle in a rats nest. I've learned a lot that I will most likely never use again but its been fun. I ended up only 100% over budget so I think I did pretty well. Lol
I have been doing all the work myself and have to say its very complex stuff that takes extraordinary planning. It is by far the most challenging project to date and as you know I've torn entire houses apart and rebuilt them many times. Installing the starlight ceiling was a lot of fun! It was like finding a needle in a rats nest. I've learned a lot that I will most likely never use again but its been fun. I ended up only 100% over budget so I think I did pretty well. Lol
Bought a 50" ST50 today to replace a PRO-1110HD. Giving the Elite to the parents. I should have gone 60". Even though the panel is the same size, because of the much smaller bezel, the thing looks tiny to me compared to the Elite!!
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Need to get Jim D. to drop by now and calibrate. Kicking myself, found a 60" open box for $999 yesterday. Called last night, guy says "it's been here for months, we keep dropping the price but nobody has bit". Called this morning to see if they were open on Easter to go pick it up and coincidentally someone bought it in the two hours after I called before the store closed. Right..... wonder who.........
Course as luck would have it, I somehow broke the only HDMI out on my Onkyo receiver. Looks like another Onkyo (or Integra) are in my near future.
Course as luck would have it, I somehow broke the only HDMI out on my Onkyo receiver. Looks like another Onkyo (or Integra) are in my near future.
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It's got full warranty if anything comes up, it was their display model they were moving out as the 60's are rolling in. Not worth repairing the receiver, it was a $400 unit 5 years ago and is obsolete. I do movies in the park for the neighborhood in the summer, needed an amp for audio, it may come in handy for that. Sitting here watching Planet Earth BluRay while tweaking the color settings, pretty friggin amazing picture and the blacks blow away my other two plasmas. The people in this thread pushing the LCD TVs don't know what they are missing
I was all set to get a $2000 sony led for my next one, but I think I will check out the Panasonic plasmas now!
Epsom 6020, Stewart firehawk screen. Pic is stunning. Everything else is McIntosh and marantz, klipsch speakers. Sound is IMO, perfect. A lot of the money I spent was building the room. It's totally sound proof. I went way overboard on the construction. When the solid mahogany door, with full weather stripping is closed you can't hear anything outside the room. The room is so tight it could be heated with a birthday candle. Everything is sealed. There are no windows. There are no cables that go through more than one partition, and there are three partitions. Each is layered with double 5/8 sheet rock and 3/4 mdf board. Everything is glued and screwed. I used sound proofing insulation in every partition. Like I said I went way overboard, but it sounds great!
I have not watched an entire movie yet. I'm too busy trying to finish the project. Probably a couple more weeks and it'll be done. I have been planning this project and doing research for two years. I've only been working on it for about a month.
Steve, where in your house did you put it? Back room where you had the Rock Band stuff set up? Hmm... there were a lot of windows in that room if I recall. Maybe you boarded them all up from the outside so you can look like Old Man Withers' place down by the haunted lagoon.
Sorry to hijack the thread, but since we have the experts like Turbo + Ilya on here already, what are your thoughts on projectors? Specifically looking at PT-AE8000 for a ~120" screen. It will be a dark, controlled environment. Others I should be considering in the same price range? Also, any thoughts on ceiling mount vs pedestal behind seating? Also looking for advice on sound insulation. Thanks!
The 8000 is great, so is the slightly older 7000 ($500 cheaper)... I have a 4000 (two years old) and love it... had a Sony before that (also good). Hang it from the ceiling (to get it out of the way). Get a good screen. This is not a subject for a forum thread. Private me if you want to correspond -- first give some money to Prime.
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Funny I am looking at the exact same setup.
Great deal here. http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/projdtls.asp?itemid=27643&itmname=Panasonic+PT-AE8000U
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Just a note on LG. I bought a their top of the line THX certified 60 inch Plasma in Nov. 2011. It has a good picture and hasn't had any issues that would even have me contemplate a service call. It's a smart 3D TV that does Netflix, VUDU ect. Can't comment on 3D as I've never used it.
My only complaint is the TV only ever received 1 software update, which came a month or so after I purchased it. Not the end of the world, but Netflix is horribly slow and I've basically stopped using it as I can access Netflix much faster through other sources like our Blu-ray players. The chips they put in TV's to access content are garbage and though they "work" its a complete waste of time to use them. Akin to using a Pentium D computer to try to do graphic design work. It would probably "work", but it would be turrible (Barkley's voice). Add that to the fact it will never see new services or gui's, and it's really a waste.
To Turbo's point, While Apple TV 3 might stop getting updates in the future, it will likely be supported for years. Only 27 months since my TV was new, and LG stopped supporting it about 24 months ago. Panasonic supported my blu-ray player for a year, which was nice, but even it's being left behind.
My only complaint is the TV only ever received 1 software update, which came a month or so after I purchased it. Not the end of the world, but Netflix is horribly slow and I've basically stopped using it as I can access Netflix much faster through other sources like our Blu-ray players. The chips they put in TV's to access content are garbage and though they "work" its a complete waste of time to use them. Akin to using a Pentium D computer to try to do graphic design work. It would probably "work", but it would be turrible (Barkley's voice). Add that to the fact it will never see new services or gui's, and it's really a waste.
To Turbo's point, While Apple TV 3 might stop getting updates in the future, it will likely be supported for years. Only 27 months since my TV was new, and LG stopped supporting it about 24 months ago. Panasonic supported my blu-ray player for a year, which was nice, but even it's being left behind.
Funny I am looking at the exact same setup.
Great deal here. http://www.projectorpeople.com/projectors/projdtls.asp?itemid=27643&itmname=Panasonic+PT-AE8000U
Damn, that's a good price! I was also looking at the 4000 a couple of years ago and then had to put the home theater on hold. Looks like the 8000 is the way to go in that price range.
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