Finally got a plasma tv.

I have two Panasonic vt 50 plasma tv's I love them.
Very natural looking picture.

 

About two years ago, I had a repairman come along, takeaway the plasma TV and tinker in the back of his workshop, then bring it back all fixed.

 

As the original poster said re; getting it fixed 75.00 bucks to have a look then if need repaired a $300/600 repair bill. For 700.00 ( assuming ) just buy get a new flatscreen whatever at the supermarket. My Sony 32" Wega ( 75kilo) was still going strong in 2013 after ten years. Current:I would think with a two thousand dollar new tv you would expect more years out of it than five.

 

It cost me $170 to get it fixed.

 

That's a good deal if it includes estimation fee as well. I think the cheapest average repaired including estimation would be around $300. Which is good assuming you get a few more years mileage out the faulty TV that was repaired. But ..of course that repair could be way way more $$$. Always good to anticipate a higher fee.

 

The deal already happened, 2 years ago. That was the full, total and complete price.

 

I have two LG plasmas, 50" and 60", and very recently purchased a TCL 55" 2017 4K UHD HDR LCD and a Hisense 65" 2017 4K UHD HDR LCD. Both of the new TVs are low-end models and were purchased at absurdly low prices. I saw the deal on the 65" after purchasing the 55". Only the TCL has been placed in service so far, I like it a lot. I just sold a 9 year old Vizio 42" 1080p LCD which was problem free since I purchased it in 2009. I have been using both technologies for a long time, when my plasma TVs are retired I will be fine with LCD but I do have a slight preference for plasma.

I don't want to sell either plasma although the 60" plasma is waiting on a fix and isn't currently being used, a well known issue with the y-sustain board and/or z-sustain board I believe I can do based on online videos. I replaced the power supply in the 50" LG plasma a few years ago, that was very easy to do. It is likely the head of household well insist I sell one or both of the plasma TVs before long. For 720p, 1080i and 1080p sources I watch, I tend to prefer my plasmas over the new TV and I only see a very slight improvement with the new 2160p technology and wouldn't guarantee I could tell you what I am watching if someone asked and I didn't already know what was playing.

To those that plan to continue to use your plasma TVs until the TVs quit working, I think that makes sense personally and believe you shouldn't lose any sleep worrying about what you might be missing.

 

Of the current batch of $2000/5000 thousand $$$ TVs, anything you favour Oled/4K/LCD wise ?

 

I haven't had an OLED TV in house nor do I know anybody that owns one but I do believe the hype based on what I have read and brief in-store demo, I favor OLED for what that is worth. My 2160p sources, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vudu and a few UHD 4K HDR Blu-ray discs played using a Sony UBP-X800 on my TCL 55S405 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Roku Smart LED TV (2017 Model) at a viewing distance of 10', the 2160p improvement is very slight.

The improvement with 4K, or UHD or 2160p, I don't even know what I am supposed to call it, doesn't cost much today so I say buy an LCD model now if you need a new TV. If I had paid thousands for the upgrade, I would say it isn't worth the price.

 

LCD
Any model ?

 

No, I am sure I wouldn't recommend you just buy any model LCD. My experience is too limited to be of much help, so far a single model from TCL is all I have seen at home. I do think the TV I own does really well with all resolution sources up to 1080p and I am uncertain about 2160p performance compared to others. I would be skeptical of any model from any manufacturer that makes 2160p sources look far superior to HD sources, my guess is that must be primarily a result of poor scaling of HD sources. Since I probably watch HD sources 10 times as often as 2160p sources now, I think that is an important consideration.

 

I'm not interested in tv per se I don't watch tv ( 2 hours a week most) it would be for blu ray( maybe 4K) DVDs.. .watching movies.

 

Maybe it’s the cost of living in NYC but the estimate fee was $175.00 non-refundable. I might do it eventually just because the waste kills me. The problem is the unknown $300-$600 repair cost.

 

I recently moved from Plano, TX (430' above sea level) to Montrose, CO (5975' above sea level). I pretty much moved my 50" Panny plasma by myself (one gentlemen at the storage unit helped me load it into rental truck; I had previously manhandled it from a different rental truck to the storage unit). I may end up in a CO city with an elevation of 7900', and nearby there is even this "alpine" neighborhood that I may end up in -- 8700-8900' above sea level.

I know the early plasmas had problems with high altitude, but I don't know whether that applies to my Panny plasma (purchased in about 2011 or so). I have decided I can't determine where I live based on a TV. But I just finished GoT, season 7 on blu-ray, and the plasma is performing flawlessly. I wasn't worried about Montrose's altitude, but I was concerned that vibration in the rental truck from the 1000-mile trip might do it in. It didn't; it is still ticking (paired now with a recently purchased OPPO UPD-203).

 

Precisely. If they repaire cost is high, you can forgo it..you just lost 175.00 only ..don't proceed to the $600 maximum repair cost, its a gamble but for 800 bucks maximum I'd think of just getting a new one instead,

 

GOT looks gorgeous on a panny.

 

I've still got my 2008 60" Pioneer Kuro, though it's no longer my main view for HT (now projector/screen). It still looks good, but black levels are rising and I've had to keep tabs on calibration, which I started to do myself a few years ago with a meter and software kit. This plasma was always in a cool, dark basement room on its own protected (voltage regulator) circuit, and I've never had any issues. Still a fantastic picture for Blu-ray. It also has 36-bit deep color. I think it's useful life is about 100,000 hours and it's at around 55,000 now.