Any reason why I shouldn't buy this plasma?

[Rave]

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=97168

Not for me, sadly- for my in-laws, who need a new telly since their current 28" CRT got knocked off its stand while they were re-decorating. It still works, but most of the screen is now purple. Here's a (phone-cam, sorry) pic of their living room:



For scale, as I said the current TV is a 28" and that's a standard 330ml can of coke on the mantlepiece. We are planning to wall mount the plasma just above the mantlepiece. So, is there any good reason not to go for that one? The spec looks good, it has built in tuner with teletext (which my father-in-law was most insistent about for checking the football results), component in for the new Lidl DVD player I just bought them, and DVI with HDCP (even though the panel is not HD res, I still reckon it'll look pretty good being fed high-def).

I just want some comments really before I spend £840 of someone else's money. Is wall mounting plasma screens easy? Do you need to buy brackets? If they use the gas fire could that harm the screen? (It's used very infrequently, but still).

The other option is a 32" LCD, but I'm strongly leaning towards the plasma on the grounds that the LCD will look a bit lost on the big stretch of wall, and that LCD picture quality, despite the higher res, doesn't seem as nice as Plasma.

[5lab]

a lcd at htat price will be a lot nicer than a plasma, in my opionion. cheap plasmas look like tat. but, some people dont notice. get them to wonder round richer sounds, and point out one they like - i cant really comment on the ebuyer one, having not seen it, but my reaction would be its pants..

try giving the old telly a good thump.

[directhex]

for £828, you could get a 32" HD IDTV LCD - the resolution on that plasma is pretty crappy (it couldn't even display an NTSC DVD without losing 20% of the image). i'd also steer well away from throwaway brands that you've never heard of - unknown brands are usually a way for small chinese manufacturers to avoid honouring warranties

try this one

[Funkstar]

If you can get to a Richer Sounds get the Relisys RP4206, it's great. i got it a few months ago for £1000 without the speakers (even that was a really goot deal at the time)

actually has a brushed metal surround unlike the eBuyer one

[Rave]

Originally Posted by Funkstar

If you can get to a Richer Sounds get the Relisys RP4206, it's great. i got it a few months ago for £1000 without the speakers (even that was a really goot deal at the time)

actually has a brushed metal surround unlike the eBuyer one

They appear to be out of stock, although at £800 it would have been a good deal.

Originally Posted by directhex

for £828, you could get a 32" HD IDTV LCD - the resolution on that plasma is pretty crappy (it couldn't even display an NTSC DVD without losing 20% of the image).

I thought NTSC discs were encoded at 720x480? It might have to throw away 20% of a PAL DVD, agreed. In any case, the pixel pitch of the panel is almost exactly 1mm. Now, according to Dan from Dan's Data, a human with decent eyesight can resolve detail down to about 1 minute of arc. My geometry is pretty rusty, but by my calculations, if you're sitting 2.5m away from a screen with 1mm pixel pitch, each pixel is maybe 1.5 minutes of arc wide. A bit more resolution wouldn't go amiss maybe, but we're talking about two people in their late 50s who AFAIK don't have perfect eyesight. I have 20/20 vision (I think) and even I wouldn't be able to discern all the details on a 1366x768 32" LCD from 2.5m away.

Were I in the market for a big HD-ready screen myself, I'd get a 50"+ DLP rear projector. For space reasons though, that's not an option for them.

i'd also steer well away from throwaway brands that you've never heard of - unknown brands are usually a way for small chinese manufacturers to avoid honouring warranties

The warranty would be with ebuyer, since they sold it to me. In any case, there are only a handful of Plasma panel manufacturers, so the panel itself is likely to be similar to any other display. Only the quality of the supporting electronics might give cause for concern IMO- and if it lasts for one year, I see no reason why it shouldn't go on indefinately.

[Paul Adams]

Slightly OT point, but would a TV mounted above that fireplace be a little high for comfortable viewing?

Some friends of mine in the US have their plasma mounted just under eye level as you stand and have it angled down slightly so when sitting in the sofa on the opposite side of the room it looks okay, but after a while your (or rather my) neck starts to ache.

[Rave]

Yeah, I wondered, and also thought to angle it down. At the end of the day, I've never had neckache in the front row of the cinema, so I don't reckon it'll be that uncomfortable.

[Paul Adams]

Originally Posted by Rave

Yeah, I wondered, and also thought to angle it down. At the end of the day, I've never had neckache in the front row of the cinema, so I don't reckon it'll be that uncomfortable.

Okay, might just be me then - I recall seeing Interview With The Vampire on the front row at the cinema in Reading and my neck gave me grief - now the furthest forward I will sit is about row 3-4 (though Swedish cinemas tend to have a little more room at the front so it's not too bad).

I considered having my 32" LCD wall mounted as the TV actually came with the brackets, but it was a rented apartment and I've moved once already - there is NO way I would attempt to wall mount a flat screen TV myself though, it's not worth the risk to me.
If you have to buy the brackets separately it might be expensive - I was with a colleague when he went to get one suitable for a 26" screen and the bracket alone was ~£150.

Having a surface to stand the TV on is more convenient for me too, as I then have somewhere to place the centre and R/L front speakers (I dislike TV speakers and speakers on stands so my Mordaunt Short Genies are perfect for me).

[Oakey]

Originally Posted by Rave

Yeah, I wondered, and also thought to angle it down. At the end of the day, I've never had neckache in the front row of the cinema, so I don't reckon it'll be that uncomfortable.

The majority of people on AVforums agree that above the mantle is too high for day to day viewing and causes neckache. They suggest cutting a piece of cardboard to scale (some manufacturers like Pioneer provide cardboard cutouts to scale) aqnd sticking it where you plan to have the screen. Then 'pretend' for a week and see how it feels.

[Funkstar]

I've got my plasma above my mantle, not a problem with height for me, but then my sofa is at the other side of the room, a good few meters away. Also got a wall mount with two sections so the angle can be altered (have it set at the minimum right now and is perfect).

Just in case anyone is at all interested here is how i mounted it.

this is the wall mount:
http://www.rs100.co.uk/product_info....roducts_id=170. I couldn't recomend it more. Extremely well made and very strong.

I cut a piece of 18mm plywood to the same size as the mount and fixed that to the wall using 10 70x6mm screws right into the studs. Then fixed the back plane of the mount to the plywood using 12 (if i remember correctly) 25x5mm screws in the pre-drilled holes evenly spaced round the frame. Managed to get all this done on my own, which was a bit of a struggle. My dad helped get the tilting plate fixed on then lift the screen into place.

The screen has two vertical metal battons screwed into frame and then just hangs into the mount at the top and bottom. Very clever, simple and works well.

[tfboy]

I'd definately stay away from that plasma. As all have said, resolution is pretty poor.

It's a fair amount of money to invest into something which *may* end up being a throwaway in a year or two.

Unfortunately, I'm terribly biassed, but if you (they) can stretch, I'd go for a Sony Bravia LCD. You can get the non-wega 26 incher (KDL-S26A12U) for just over £800 and it will truly blow away the plasma in terms of resolution (it's 1366x768, HD ready) and colour fidelity. Also has VGA input, 2x RGB scarts and HDMI

[Rave]

Originally Posted by tfboy

I'd definately stay away from that plasma. As all have said, resolution is pretty poor.

It's a fair amount of money to invest into something which *may* end up being a throwaway in a year or two.

Unfortunately, I'm terribly biassed, but if you (they) can stretch, I'd go for a Sony Bravia LCD. You can get the non-wega 26 incher (KDL-S26A12U) for just over £800 and it will truly blow away the plasma in terms of resolution (it's 1366x768, HD ready)

See my earlier comments re: viewing distance and visual acuity. What use is more res if my eyes aren't good enough to see it?

[Rave]

Thanks for the recommendation on the bracket Funkstar- I've just ordered it. I didn't realise they'd be so expensive but having shopped around that seemed to be the cheapest that you can get a decent one for.

[Workaholic]

Originally Posted by Rave

Thanks for the recommendation on the bracket Funkstar- I've just ordered it. I didn't realise they'd be so expensive but having shopped around that seemed to be the cheapest that you can get a decent one for.

May be a bit late, but when my cousins brought a plasma screen and a wall mount for it, the builder REFUSED to fit it as the wall wasn't strong enough MAINLY because there was a hole behind the wall, namely the fireplace, also is this turned on or just for decorations?

P.S. I would reccommend you get a glass stand......

[Rave]

The wall is pretty solid. My mother-in-law's brother is a builder who's been doing all the work on their house. When he drilled the holes for the bracket there was definately some brick dust coming out. With six mounting screws (rawl-plugged, obviously), it felt rock solid.

Irritatingly, having spent the extra for the tilt bracket, they decided that they wanted it flat to the wall so we had to take the screen off and remove the tilt mechanism. Apart from that, it all went smoothly, the screen looks very cool indeed. The control mechanism is a little bit unecessarily fiddly though, which has led to a couple of anguished phonecalls from my father-in-law.

[Jonny M]

Pics?