Comments on: Get The Hottest 2009 Closeout Deal or Wait For The 2010 HDTVs?

By: Unlock a Wii

Unlock a Wii — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:21:42 +0000

“Guys, sorry to rain on your parade but attacking a reviewer for reviewing a product is unhelpful to us all – if you’re dissatified with products then blog the supplier and/or don’t buy their products.”

I second that

By: Doug Ray

Doug Ray — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:01:16 +0000

Guys, sorry to rain on your parade but attacking a reviewer for reviewing a product is unhelpful to us all – if you’re dissatified with products then blog the supplier and/or don’t buy their products. Yes, its a case of caveat emptor – a reviewers advice is just that – you dont have to agree with it and we dont want to hear the tirade against them. btw NZ laws allow replacement return of products for this type of supplier failing – thats another way of improvement forced on suppliers; changing consumer protection under law. cheers

By: Unlock Wii

Unlock Wii — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:39:12 +0000

I’m going to wait.

I want a 3D TV

By: Alex G.

Alex G. — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:05:17 +0000

Dear HDGuru !
After researching advantages of plazma over LCD I set my hear on Panasonic and march into the store
to take a look. I was really surpize – Panasonic
46S1 picture look as if i was looking through sunglasses – very dull blackish colors. I ask sales person if he could adjust the picture and he tried to use custom mode with no visible change. The picture still looked dim. I went to another store where Samsung plasma was on display and I also noticed that the picture was dim. The salesperson in this store told me that this is how plazma TV pictures generally look and that is why she prefers LCD. Please explain why the plazma picure looks as if TV covered with the thin black plastic. Is there anything could be done and how 2010 plazma TVs address this issue.
Thanks

We covered this issue in our article How Retailers Use Lighting to Confuse HDTV Buyers (link is at the end of my reply).

Plasma HDTVs produce bright images in normal home lighting conditions . The store’s very bright ambient light levels skew your perception to the brightest image, rather than the one with better black levels and superior shadow detail.

BTW the 2010 “S2″ models are shipping soon and provide better rated contrast at lower prices.

Here’s the link

HD Guru

By: Tzedekh

Tzedekh — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:52:59 +0000

Samsung plasmas have their share of problems, too. Pronounced buzzing was frequently reported in mid- to late 2009, although sets manufactured recently don’t seem to be as prone to buzzing. Also, the Cinema Smooth (96-Hz mode for 24p) issues — increased noise and/or black levels and loss of audio synchronization — apparently have not been fixed. Be aware, too, that Samsung plasmas are a little more prone to image retention than Panasonic plasmas.

By: Armaan

Armaan — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:49:49 +0000

Panasonic should have stepped up to the plate and offered some sort of firmware patch for this. I know that it David K. from CNET put the disclaimer before EVERY new Panasonic review (his latest is the Z1 review), I’m definitely going to go with a Samsung.

By: Sheikspeare

Sheikspeare — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:27:14 +0000

HDGuru doth protest too much, methinks.

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:56:34 +0000

Maybe Panasonic did testing and found these anecdotal reports wrong. They haven’t said and we don’t know. For the statement not to be arrogance, their brightening programming would have to be working well. Calling it arrogant is jumping the gun since we don’t know for sure either way. I’m suspicious of the claim cuz a software problem should be a problem in every panel. Maybe some folks have short memories.

A design is an intention by definition of the word ‘design.’ A design error is unintended, say the programmer typoed the brightening rate as 22*x instead of 2*x. A bad design process can lead to design errors. Bad design is intending something which doesn’t work in practice. Then there is the grey area that someone approved an error.

By: Tzedekh

Tzedekh — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:53:04 +0000

“If they’re sure that panels are brightening in a productive way, it isn’t. It would just be incredibly wrong at worst.”

The issue isn’t whether a very gradual brightening would be productive (i.e., it extends the life of panels), but how well or poorly it was implemented. If the reports are true (and Panasonic has as much admitted they are) and Panasonic has said that the 2010 panels’ black levels will increase more gradually (which Panasonic has stated), then the 2009 panels have a tendency to brighten too quickly, a problem Panasonic has corrected (or mitigated) in the 2010 panels. But for them to say it’s not a problem — and therefore the unhappy people with the affected sets have nothing to complain about — is arrogant.

“Toyotas weren’t designed for sudden accelleration. Pintos weren’t designed to blow up.”

Sure they were. The designers (and I include materials, mechanical, and software engineers under that designation) just weren’t aware of their design errors.

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:53:55 +0000

‘“There is no reason for dissatisfaction with a product that works as it was intended to” is an arrogant statement.’

If they’re sure that panels are brightening in a productive way, it isn’t. It would just be incredibly wrong at worst.

“Every product works as designed.”

Toyotas weren’t designed for sudden accelleration. Pintos weren’t designed to blow up. Panasonics were designed to brighten.