LCD/led/plasma specials

oronte said:
Good point. Having read about the D6000 no one seems to be particularly impressed with it
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Seems that some sites are just about negative reviews going in the lines of:

1) SD content is kak
2) blur
3) blacks are not blacks
 
oronte said:
Good point. Having read about the D6000 no one seems to be particularly impressed with it, so I'm crossing it off my list. I'm nearly sold on the PS51D550 but three issues concern me:

1. The reflectivity issue - I'm hoping it won't be a problem. I don't watch TV during the day much, and I can filter most direct light out with the thick curtains I have. I just got a little freaked out looking at this TV in Dion Wired (which was an exceptionally well lit store though): whenever the screen went black you could see absolutely everything behind it, none of the TV's nearby reflected as badly. Could this just be down to the extreme lighting of the store or is there always some level of reflection?

2. The TV's ability to scale SD content (since 90% of what I use my TV for is SD). According to this review here: http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-ps51d550-201109221412.htm the SD performance is less than stellar. Currently I have a 32 inch Samsung LCD (I think it's a 5 series from last year) - it does reasonably well with SD content (but fast motion usually results in blurs) if it can perform better then I wouldn't mind.

3. The plasma burn-in/retention issue - Can anyone tell me how long the burn in lasts for - say you watch a 3 hour film with black borders, how long does it take to 'reset' itself? I've read a lot of forums online where people complain about this.

Of course, I don't know if I should wait 2 months for the new TV's to come out? I'm guessing they won't be anywhere near the current prices? Should I bother waiting?
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1. Yes it's reflective, but your situation was certainly due to the lighting. Test the TV at a proper AV store with a dark room to see.

2. SD content is going to be hard to get looking good for the most part at 1920x1080 50". For SD quality you'd want the HD Ready PS43D450/PS51D450. Although I'd still say SD will be better on plasma at those sizes.

3. Burn-in is virtually non existent these days. Under some conditions you may get image retention. In most cases it's gone within a few seconds, up to a minute, up to an hour, up to a few days in extreme scenarios. Image burn-in, is permanent damage. It's unlikely these days.

Honestly, don't worry about it.

No plasma owners here mention it, so I can't see it being a problem. If you must, create a thread. Let plasma owners speak for themselves...
 
just bought the 32'' 550 and i am loving it. luckily i went to Makro to take some more measurements and saw that their price has changed to R3499. flee down to Game and they phoned Game. I got it for R3469. Im so chuffed and the tv is awsome. Game did not have a swivel bracket to mount the tv so i am off to Makro to get 1 there. will fit it properly over the weekend. will get my bud to help me mount it.

Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
oronte said:
Good point. Having read about the D6000 no one seems to be particularly impressed with it, so I'm crossing it off my list. I'm nearly sold on the PS51D550 but three issues concern me:

1. The reflectivity issue - I'm hoping it won't be a problem. I don't watch TV during the day much, and I can filter most direct light out with the thick curtains I have. I just got a little freaked out looking at this TV in Dion Wired (which was an exceptionally well lit store though): whenever the screen went black you could see absolutely everything behind it, none of the TV's nearby reflected as badly. Could this just be down to the extreme lighting of the store or is there always some level of reflection?

2. The TV's ability to scale SD content (since 90% of what I use my TV for is SD). According to this review here: http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-ps51d550-201109221412.htm the SD performance is less than stellar. Currently I have a 32 inch Samsung LCD (I think it's a 5 series from last year) - it does reasonably well with SD content (but fast motion usually results in blurs) if it can perform better then I wouldn't mind.

3. The plasma burn-in/retention issue - Can anyone tell me how long the burn in lasts for - say you watch a 3 hour film with black borders, how long does it take to 'reset' itself? I've read a lot of forums online where people complain about this.

Of course, I don't know if I should wait 2 months for the new TV's to come out? I'm guessing they won't be anywhere near the current prices? Should I bother waiting?
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I have PS51D550 and in my experience:

1. In bright daylight with windows reflecting towards you it is an issue during dark scenes. At night even with all the lights in my lounge on, there is no issue with reflections.

2. SD content looks excellent, much better than the Samsung LA40C530 LCD my previous flatmate had.

3. I have been looking carefully for any signs on my set over the last couple of days and couldn't find even a slight hint of it, even after watching cricket for a couple of hours which has permanent score bars at the bottom. I do however prefer to use the Zoom aspect ratio setting for 4:3 content instead of having black bars at the sides.
 
oronte said:
Good point. Having read about the D6000 no one seems to be particularly impressed with it
Click to expand...
Most of the reviews I read were very favourable about the D6000-6600 range, that is in the area that was most important to me, 2D FHD picture quality & motion handling. Even then my choice was based on my own experience, not some foreign review.

In the 10-13K price range I found the D6000 to be best at what was important to me. The PS51D550 was a close 2nd but there were a few thing swung me to the D6000.

As with most plasmas it couldnt push out much brightnes/contrast compared to the LED. In darker environments it looks very good, but in my well light room (full height windows & multiple spots) the LED is just better suited, and less reflective.

The other area that put me off the D550 was motion handling. Plasmas have little blur but the D550 engine often produces noticable juddering in horizontal panning/movement scenes, which bugs me. The exact same scenes on the D6000 with its faster engine combined with LED strobing, was silky smooth.

As mentioned before, spend some time to playing around with them, and chose based how your 1st hand experiences align with your needs/preferences.
 
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Stevie G said:
just bought the 32'' 550 and i am loving it. luckily i went to Makro to take some more measurements and saw that their price has changed to R3499. flee down to Game and they phoned Game. I got it for R3469. Im so chuffed and the tv is awsome. Game did not have a swivel bracket to mount the tv so i am off to Makro to get 1 there. will fit it properly over the weekend. will get my bud to help me mount it.

Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks for the heads up. I went to makro to pick one up, and as I was checking out I changed my mind and took the 46" which I'd also on sale (R6999).
Put the new 46" in the lounge, and moved the 42" LG from the lounge to the bedroom, and moved the 32" from the bedroom to my daughters bedroom. Everyone happy :)
 
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My 32" D550 was delivered today and I must say I'm loving it! Foto digital world for R2995 - what a steal. :D
 
FuLL_MeT4L said:
My 32" D550 was delivered today and I must say I'm loving it! Foto digital world for R2995 - what a steal. :D
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Yeah, that's damn cheap ... Bought both moms 32D550's and Sammy BD-players for Christmas, but paid R3500 for the TV's at Hirsch's ... hell, they're gonna have to babysit a few times this year!
 
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FuLL_MeT4L said:
My 32" D550 was delivered today and I must say I'm loving it! Foto digital world for R2995 - what a steal. :D
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how did u get this right ?...checked their site ..dont have that listed anymore, i assume all sold out

thx for the spreadsheet...nice work, next best pricing is R3699 on the 32 D550

It's a waiting game to see who is next in dropping their pricing
 
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swsup97 said:
how did u get this right ?...checked their site ..dont have that listed anymore, i assume all sold out

thx for the spreadsheet...nice work, next best pricing is R3699 on the 32 D550

It's a waiting game to see who is next in dropping their pricing
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I'll update it weekly... will give us an indication of market movement and volatility.. Started it before last year. It's how i picked up my d550 40" from game.. threw some major price beats at them. Got mine for I think 4700 if not mistaken. That's not bad for
a year ago pricing on the LA40D550.
 
swsup97 said:
how did u get this right ?...checked their site ..dont have that listed anymore, i assume all sold out

thx for the spreadsheet...nice work, next best pricing is R3699 on the 32 D550

It's a waiting game to see who is next in dropping their pricing
Click to expand...

Try reading the thread. The guy took it off the website while I was there in the shop, buying the last one. The other shops must have seen it's a winner and now are increasing their prices again. Makro used to have them for R3400 I think.

Correction: Makro still has it now for R3500 (standard price, not on special):

http://www.makro.co.za/p/48976/samsung-32-81cm-full-hd-lcd-tv/

I'm assuming they have plenty of stock since it was added today. Stock check also shows it at every shop.
 
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Just phoned and Makro Springfield has stock of the D550, going to get one tomorrow as they close in like 10 minutes :D
 
So went to game with a friend, all I can say was... Success ;-) they guy found it suspicious each time we enquired about a tv, I referred to my phone where I had my spreadsheet. So he got 880 bux off the la40d550. :)

Compared led's / plasma and lcd's in 6000 ballpark figure, landed up paying 5200 .. Not too shabby for the bargains of the week. I know in weeks to come and weeks that have passed better deals have come up.. But for today, this was it ;-)

Another great deal - another happy chap :P

So, any1 stroll out to game/hificorp/makro/hirschs today? Anything interesting/good bargains?
 
Not bad man. I won't mention the recent special price they/some place were doing on the LA40D550. :p

Enjoy!
 
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