Sanyo DP42545 vs. Panasonic TH-42PD50U

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I bought the Sanyo DP42545 at Wal-Mart earlier this week. I was reluctant
to buy it without having seen any reviews yet, but I wanted to see what
$2,000.00 would get me in a 42" plasma. I had also tried the Sylvania
6842PE 42" Widescreen Plasma Display, but I returned that because I decided
I wanted an integrated tuner. Anyway, I think that I may have made a
mistake because neither I nor my wife are particularly impressed with the
picture on the Sanyo. I have looked at CNET and they give the Panasonic
TH-42PD50U a pretty good review. I am thinking of returning the Sanyo and
getting the Panasonic from one of the internet dealers. My questions are:

-Has anyone here ever bought a large screen TV from an internet dealer and
what were your experiences?

-Is there much difference from one plasma TV to another?

 

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Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (More info?)

J&D Schnoor wrote:

> I bought the Sanyo DP42545 at Wal-Mart earlier this week. I was reluctant
> to buy it without having seen any reviews yet, but I wanted to see what
> $2,000.00 would get me in a 42" plasma. I had also tried the Sylvania
> 6842PE 42" Widescreen Plasma Display, but I returned that because I decided
> I wanted an integrated tuner. Anyway, I think that I may have made a
> mistake because neither I nor my wife are particularly impressed with the
> picture on the Sanyo. I have looked at CNET and they give the Panasonic
> TH-42PD50U a pretty good review. I am thinking of returning the Sanyo and
> getting the Panasonic from one of the internet dealers. My questions are:
>
> -Has anyone here ever bought a large screen TV from an internet dealer and
> what were your experiences?

You need to research the dealer thoroughly. I brought a Panasonic
commercial plasma form an on-line dealer, but the dealer had a well
established track record of being a good one.

> -Is there much difference from one plasma TV to another?

Yes, there are big differences between the picture quality of
different plasma brands. The spread in picture quality from the best
brands to cheap no-name brands has probably narrowed a bit in the past
year, but plasmas are still an evolving display technology, not a mature
industry such as CRTs. The best brands are generally considered to be
Panasonic and Pioneer/NEC with Panasonic offering the best black levels
in the industry. LG has made marked improvement in their black levels
and picture quality in their latest models.

I would avoid the Sanyo and Sylvania plasmas. The glass for those is
likely made in Taiwan, but Taiwan is losing out in the plasma market to
the Koreans - LG and Samsung - and Matushita, the parent company of
Panasonic for a reason. The Panasonic TH-42PD50U ED model is one of the
very best ED models available.

However, the HD TV is not the sole factor in picture quality. If you
have a poor cable hookup, older set top box model or watch SD channels
only, the picture is likely to disappoint for SD. True HD shows and DVD
viewing is where HD sets shine.

Alan F