Bye bye Panasonic, hello TCL

great price!

i see the similar vizeo i paid $550. for 2 years ago for $300. at walmart. crazy.

 

We use to have Panasonic's plasma TV before it was replaced with Sharp LED TV about 3 years ago. It was not true HD plasma TV, but the picture quality was better than most 4K LED TV I have seen. True black levels and color saturation was far better on Plasma, IMO. I miss it.

 

we had a 2004 panasonic 42" plasma. that thing was a beast. i paid $2,500. for it

gave it to the painters when they were doing the living room, they were thrilled.

 

Yeah, ours was about the same age, same size, and similar original price. It quit working one day. ~10 years old, no HDMI, no WiFi, it was time to be replaced. The same size Sharp LED TV we bought was a 1/10th of price and so much lighter.

 

Plasma > LED

When I was in the market for a big screen, I did all the research; Contrast ratio, refresh rate, frequency and reviews. I was on the fence between, at the time, fairly newish LED 240hz 60" vs. the 60" plasma; both Samsung. I was leaning more towards the LED since it was more efficient and lighter, since it was going to be wall mounted. It wasn't until I went to Best Buy and was lucky enough to have both of the TV's I was interested in purchasing, displayed right next to each other that the decision was clear. The plasma blew away the picture quality of the most sophisticated LED. I purchased my plasma that day and have been a happy customer ever since.

I remember Panasonic being the industry leader in plasma tv tech but you cannot beat Samsung quality. Panasonic was one of the last to sell plasmas.

 

I recently bought a 55” 4K TV with all the bells and whistles.

...I almost never watch it because I spend most of my time in the kitchen/dining room....where there is a 24-inch TV on the counter......

 

TV Find:
A older relative in the family still had a square 27" CRT TV (Sony Trinitron) with off-air digital converter box as their only TV. Still worked, but with them being a bit hard of hearing, they'd have to replace the speakers every year or two, as they blast the sound. Well, WalMart had an online Black Friday special in December: $99 for a 1080p 40" TV. Bought one for them, along with a cheapie soundbar (that way if they blast the sound, the soundbar can just be replaced, instead of having to take the TV in, or ask a service guy to come out). Very happy. Made by Hisense. Picture quality is surprisingly good. No need for 4k, if content is all 1080p max (not to mention, I really hate the SOE look you see on a lot of 4k TVs -- which is why I only have 1080p max myself, at least for now). And 40" size gives a nice, sharp picture (a 55" 1080p set would be bigger, but less sharp). Remember, they're coming off a 27" CRT square (1:33) TV.

By the way, Sharp TV now in the US is not made by Sharp. It's made by Hisense now. Hisense has a licensing agreement to sell their (Hisense) TVs with the "Sharp" label in the US for a few years, for which they paid Sharp $$. Personally I think Hisense is a lower-end Chinese company (TCL and Haier and others are probably better quality) but the picture is good, and the $99 price sure is right (40" 1080p HDTV w/3 HDMI). We'll see how long it lasts!

Interestingly, it was made at Hisense's Mexico factory (the relative's old Sony Trinitron was also made in Mexico years ago at the Sony Mexico plant -- many companies have border-area maquiladora plants). Guess it was cheaper having it made in Mexico than to pay for shipping from China.

 

OLED is the “plasma” of today. Superior picture overall and inky blacks right next to bright pixels. Go above 65” on an OLED and one is quickly in exponential territory.

 

Probably just a bad cap or two or three.

 

+1 on OLED and I have one since 2014.
the TVs marketed as "LED" are still old LCD technology.

 

Like my Prius, I'm riding with my plasma until it dies. The picture gets compared with OLED by friends all the time.

Hopefully it will last until the 32k OLED variant is in Mass supply.

 

We still have a 65" Panasonic plasma we bought new around ~2012. Plasmas had become substantially thinner by then, although still quite heavy.

Despite only 1080p resolution, it's still a great unit and the picture has kept its color fidelity with deep blacks. Can't go anywhere else but OLED right now.

We're waiting on the 77" LG OLEDs to come down in price some more and will probably take the plunge later this year. The plasma will find a good home, if not another room in the house.

 

our '04 42" panasonic plasma was pretty bad

 

I have a plasma in my garage up high on the wall, I had to build a scaffold to install it. The garage is very dark and it still looks good.
I watch it a couple of times a year but my wife uses it when she is taking a break in the summer. She has her leather couch, her little refrig and her music or TV, what else is there?
My latest TV was for the kitchen, a 20 inch LCD, cost me $69, no expenses spared, it works.