Panasonic TV Owners & Discussion Thread

[Polymer]

What's the difference between a robot building it in China vs a robot building it in Japan?

Should I check this for my 70A or not bother?

Probably not since when you got yours I don't even think anyone had seen one made in China.

There's probably very little difference if any in build quality...I just generally feel better about stuff made in japan because I would consider the quality control to be better..

I've also noticed that for Japanese goods...Made in Japan tends to be slightly better and on the first versions of a product, they tend to last longer....It's probably because early on they use higher end parts until they figure out how to make it more cost effective to make essentially the same thing. The only downside is if there are any bugs they haven't found, you're also subject to those as well.

[achw]

Probably not since when you got yours I don't even think anyone had seen one made in China.

There's probably very little difference if any in build quality...I just generally feel better about stuff made in japan because I would consider the quality control to be better..

I've also noticed that for Japanese goods...Made in Japan tends to be slightly better and on the first versions of a product, they tend to last longer....It's probably because early on they use higher end parts until they figure out how to make it more cost effective to make essentially the same thing. The only downside is if there are any bugs they haven't found, you're also subject to those as well.

i also rely a fair bit on panasonic's reputation. it's like our bosch washing machine - it's made in thailand (i think) but i still bought it, on the basis that bosch wouldn't allow crap manufacturing which would damage its reputation. if all the latest panasonic plasmas (or sony lcds or fujitsu plasmas etc) were made in china, i still would've bought one.

it would, of course, be different if it had a panasony or a fujitachi label on it...

[Dr Smith]

Myer Southland yesterday, $3200 + $400 for extra 4 y warranty...no haggling attempted so could maybe get lower, just stopped by after buying my daughter her Barbie - Fairytopia, Magic of the Rainbow doll...don't ask....and Myer Vic has upto 50 Pio 507's on back order atm.....

Edited July 31, 2007 by Dr Smith

[Ice_Magik]

Myer Southland yesterday, $3200 + $400 for extra 4 y warranty...no haggling attempted so could maybe get lower, just stopped by after buying my daughter her Barbie - Fairytopia, Magic of the Rainbow doll...don't ask....and Myer Vic has upto 50 Pio 507's on back order atm.....

was quoted the same $3200 straight up, no questions asked for a 700a in A Myer.

The bloke said he didnt have any, but was pretty sure he had plenty of 70a's in stock !!!!!

[spaceman]

Hi guys,

I got my 42" 70A for $2100 from Harvey Norman Auburn on Friday and received it yesterday (Monday). They have them in stock.

I actually paid $2790 all up for : 42" 70A ($2100) + Extended Warranty (5yrs in total) ($200) + stand ($325) + Scart to Component for Foxtel ($55) + Philips 1080P DVD Player (DVP-5980K/55) ($120) + Delivery ($40) - Extra Negotiation ($50). Watch out, they will try to con you that you need high quality Monster HDMI cables for $100-119. I actually did get them, but once I got my info and found I had a HDMI cable with the DVD player, I returned it unpacked.

The Plasma is brilliant. I was pro 1080P LCD, but Plasma is king in colours, blacks, viewing angles, motion, PQ everything and judder free. Considering Foxtel has bad PQ, it is actually very viewable (with SCART->Component). Showtime looks gooood , American recorded crap looks crap , and Fox Sports has pixelation problems around players and grass, but a bit of D-NR (Noise Reduction [Off, Min, Med, Max]) helps a bit.

Philips 1080P DVP-5980K/55 DVD Player plays Divx flawlessly from CD/DVD's and USB. There is also lip-sync adjustments!! But never needed to use them yet. Now what is sensational is DVD playback via HDMI at 1080P!! As you know 70A cannot show 1080P, but downscales 1080P to 1024x768. I believe this setup gave me best DVD PQ possible at a cheap price. HDMI cable came with the DVD player, but only with DVP-5980K/55 not /75. Thats enough about the DVD Player.

I find I have enough options to adjust PQ with Brightness, Contrast, Colour, Sharpness, Colour Management, D-NR, and Aspect Ratio (not in DVB-T). DVB-T is also great, very quick channel changes, as quick as my old analogue Tuner 1991 68cm Panasonic Big One, and way way faster than my TwinHan and Fusion PC DVB-T TV Cards. I watched CSI last night, and wow, I never watched this show before, lol. DVB-T HD PQ is so great, that I barely watched Foxtel.

Now the negatives, which are small. PC RGB accepts 1024x768, but this TV is 16:9, so you get a stretched screen. Should be perfect on the 50" with 1366x768 as its 1:1 pixel mapping. I wanted the 50", but it was too big for the small lounge room, and it wouldn't of fitted in the corner of the room. Funny thing is that I thought the 42" was small at the store, but its massive in the house. It feels like I have a Stargate in my lounge room . Anyways RGB/DVI->HDMI could solve this problem, but I'm not to fussed right now about it.

Another small negative is at extreme viewing angles there is a slight reflection of the screen behind the screen, that can be noticed when there is white text on the screen or there is a 4:3 program with black bars on. You can see this effect at the stores, and I knew I was buying this flaw. Samsung suffered the same, but Pioneer didn't.

Last negative is the speakers. My 1991 68cm Panasonic CRT speakers are far superior. 70A has a mono sound to it and errrr . BUT I found a way to improve them, by adjusting Volume Balance towards the right (via the OPTION button or Menu). You have to do this for every DVB-T channel, the do it for just the AV connections, ie HDMI/AV/Component.

I think thats about it for now. Any questions or advice???

[hddvduser]

Yeah I'm a bit peeved about that. No biggie, it's just the hassle of packing / unpacking it once the Jap panel comes in.

just to let you know all the new panels coming from panasonic are going to be from china , no more from japan, so if you can get the japanese panel you will do well , if you want japanese ask for display model , they havent been around for long...

[hddvduser]

Hi guys,

I got my 42" 70A for $2100 from Harvey Norman Auburn on Friday and received it yesterday (Monday). They have them in stock.

I actually paid $2790 all up for : 42" 70A ($2100) + Extended Warranty (5yrs in total) ($200) + stand ($325) + Scart to Component for Foxtel ($55) + Philips 1080P DVD Player (DVP-5980K/55) ($120) + Delivery ($40) - Extra Negotiation ($50). Watch out, they will try to con you that you need high quality Monster HDMI cables for $100-119. I actually did get them, but once I got my info and found I had a HDMI cable with the DVD player, I returned it unpacked.

The Plasma is brilliant. I was pro 1080P LCD, but Plasma is king in colours, blacks, viewing angles, motion, PQ everything and judder free. Considering Foxtel has bad PQ, it is actually very viewable (with SCART->Component). Showtime looks gooood , American recorded crap looks crap , and Fox Sports has pixelation problems around players and grass, but a bit of D-NR (Noise Reduction [Off, Min, Med, Max]) helps a bit.

Philips 1080P DVP-5980K/55 DVD Player plays Divx flawlessly from CD/DVD's and USB. There is also lip-sync adjustments!! But never needed to use them yet. Now what is sensational is DVD playback via HDMI at 1080P!! As you know 70A cannot show 1080P, but downscales 1080P to 1024x768. I believe this setup gave me best DVD PQ possible at a cheap price. HDMI cable came with the DVD player, but only with DVP-5980K/55 not /75. Thats enough about the DVD Player.

I find I have enough options to adjust PQ with Brightness, Contrast, Colour, Sharpness, Colour Management, D-NR, and Aspect Ratio (not in DVB-T). DVB-T is also great, very quick channel changes, as quick as my old analogue Tuner 1991 68cm Panasonic Big One, and way way faster than my TwinHan and Fusion PC DVB-T TV Cards. I watched CSI last night, and wow, I never watched this show before, lol. DVB-T HD PQ is so great, that I barely watched Foxtel.

Now the negatives, which are small. PC RGB accepts 1024x768, but this TV is 16:9, so you get a stretched screen. Should be perfect on the 50" with 1366x768 as its 1:1 pixel mapping. I wanted the 50", but it was too big for the small lounge room, and it wouldn't of fitted in the corner of the room. Funny thing is that I thought the 42" was small at the store, but its massive in the house. It feels like I have a Stargate in my lounge room . Anyways RGB/DVI->HDMI could solve this problem, but I'm not to fussed right now about it.

Another small negative is at extreme viewing angles there is a slight reflection of the screen behind the screen, that can be noticed when there is white text on the screen or there is a 4:3 program with black bars on. You can see this effect at the stores, and I knew I was buying this flaw. Samsung suffered the same, but Pioneer didn't.

Last negative is the speakers. My 1991 68cm Panasonic CRT speakers are far superior. 70A has a mono sound to it and errrr . BUT I found a way to improve them, by adjusting Volume Balance towards the right (via the OPTION button or Menu). You have to do this for every DVB-T channel, the do it for just the AV connections, ie HDMI/AV/Component.

I think thats about it for now. Any questions or advice???

do you know that your insurance is only for a dollar value.......... not a product value.....

ex..... you pay $2100 for tv , 2 years on it breaks down , it cost the extendend warranty $1700 to fix

so they fix it.......... then 2 more years pass , the tv breaks down again.... another $1500 to fix..... ic firth will say to you sorry you only paid $2100 for your tv so we wont fix it ... as you are ownly insured for $2100.... so you have no tv or anything and that is legal..........

the ownly insurance company who give you a warranty not on value is a company called oamps.... they would have fixed it the first time then 2nd time replaced your tv , jbhifi and clive peeters use them , problem is you wont get cheaper insurance cost from them , but a better extra warranty....... ring and as i know im right.......................

[pksw]

Good stuff !

Looks like we have abit of interest anyways !

is any1 able to start up a group buy thread ?

looks like i cant because im a noob to this forum!

????

Zacspeed - Cool, we will need to stay intouch!

Stucey, im sure if we organised a group buy we could possibly arrange 700a and 70a models.....

Maz78 - Thanks for the heads up, mine would also be returned if it were made in china!

Group buy thread started at http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=52487

[llsTixll]

Another small negative is at extreme viewing angles there is a slight reflection of the screen behind the screen, that can be noticed when there is white text on the screen or there is a 4:3 program with black bars on. You can see this effect at the stores, and I knew I was buying this flaw. Samsung suffered the same, but Pioneer didn't.

Pioneers don't have a gap between the panel and the glass front, hence you don't get any reflections (they call it direct colour filter or something). I never noticed this with plasmas until I was shopping for one. My 50" 70A obviously has this effect as well, but as you said it is only noticeable at extreme angles (vertically and horizontally).

[llsTixll]

just to let you know all the new panels coming from panasonic are going to be from china , no more from japan, so if you can get the japanese panel you will do well , if you want japanese ask for display model , they havent been around for long...

Just checked behind my panel... "Made in Japan"

Why does it matter anyway?

[hddvduser]

Just checked behind my panel... "Made in Japan"

Why does it matter anyway?

i like japanese panels but i guess it is still panasonic a very good tv

[nis200979]

do you know that your insurance is only for a dollar value.......... not a product value.....

ex..... you pay $2100 for tv , 2 years on it breaks down , it cost the extendend warranty $1700 to fix

so they fix it.......... then 2 more years pass , the tv breaks down again.... another $1500 to fix..... ic firth will say to you sorry you only paid $2100 for your tv so we wont fix it ... as you are ownly insured for $2100.... so you have no tv or anything and that is legal..........

the ownly insurance company who give you a warranty not on value is a company called oamps.... they would have fixed it the first time then 2nd time replaced your tv , jbhifi and clive peeters use them , problem is you wont get cheaper insurance cost from them , but a better extra warranty....... ring and as i know im right.......................

Myer Product cover will keep repairing it, or replace it to the original value.

I believe DSE ar similiar.

I'd be careful when you say ONLY JB and CP use them. It's probably better to say that HN underwrite their own policies and that they are virtually worthless. Either that or go through ACA re-runs till you find an "Extended warranty Rip off" article, I think you have to go back about 3 months, so the next story must be just around the corner.

[nis200979]

i like japanese panels but i guess it is still panasonic a very good tv

All TH50PX700A are Japanese.

[dlpnut1503560389]

Pioneers don't have a gap between the panel and the glass front, hence you don't get any reflections (they call it direct colour filter or something). I never noticed this with plasmas until I was shopping for one. My 50" 70A obviously has this effect as well, but as you said it is only noticeable at extreme angles (vertically and horizontally).

Pio uses single thick glass, Pana uses two thin pair of glass (with gap), hence the extra (more) reflection on the Pana, double image/reflection.

[hddvduser]

Myer Product cover will keep repairing it, or replace it to the original value.

I believe DSE ar similiar.

I'd be careful when you say ONLY JB and CP use them. It's probably better to say that HN underwrite their own policies and that they are virtually worthless. Either that or go through ACA re-runs till you find an "Extended warranty Rip off" article, I think you have to go back about 3 months, so the next story must be just around the corner.

it not dangerous , all companies who use oamps , have the same warranty, bing lee used to use them i believe as well , i think they have changed due to cost of warranties , if you ring all the warranty companies and ask them about the warranty you will find out all of the insurance companies in australia are using dollar value warranties except oamps , i dont work for oamps, yes i have been bitten by the harvey norman warranty......... the $ value.........

[ahhian]

Seems like everyone is talking about the 8th gen pio.

 

Any idea whether panny will launch their full hd pz700 series in Singapore?

 

Cheers

[spaceman]

do you know that your insurance is only for a dollar value.......... not a product value.....

ex..... you pay $2100 for tv , 2 years on it breaks down , it cost the extendend warranty $1700 to fix

so they fix it.......... then 2 more years pass , the tv breaks down again.... another $1500 to fix..... ic firth will say to you sorry you only paid $2100 for your tv so we wont fix it ... as you are ownly insured for $2100.... so you have no tv or anything and that is legal..........

the ownly insurance company who give you a warranty not on value is a company called oamps.... they would have fixed it the first time then 2nd time replaced your tv , jbhifi and clive peeters use them , problem is you wont get cheaper insurance cost from them , but a better extra warranty....... ring and as i know im right.......................

On the Extended Warranty it does not mention dollar value on repairs, but it states: "If a warranted item is replaced or a cash settlement is made under the plan then this warranty will end when replacement or cash settlement occurs".

Though there are loop holes that agrees with what you stated. If they cannot repair the item it will be replaced (most likely for the panel as it is a Plasma compared to LCD), or if the same component fails 3 times they will replace it, hence warranty ends. Better if they gave me a cash settlement than a replacement, but its up to their discretion. But you would reckon these TVs wouldn't be around a year later.

Anyways I'll take extra care of it and this is more of a TV gap purchase from my dying 68cm CRT to 46" Full HD LCD/Plasma/Laser TV in 2008/2009.

[Maz78]

i like japanese panels but i guess it is still panasonic a very good tv

I just got it swapped for the Jap version tody.

No doubt both are excellent, but I have more faith in anything that is manufactured in Japan.

[htfreak]

The last time I asked their marketing folks when they launched their PV series is that they have no plans at the moment but are evaluating the market to see if it is viable to launch it later in the year.  If cannot wait, you can get the Panny 65" Full HD model in Jepun for about 12k which is less than the 14k Pioneer wants for their 5000EX.

[ahhian]

The last time I asked their marketing folks when they launched their PV series is that they have no plans at the moment but are evaluating the market to see if it is viable to launch it later in the year.  If cannot wait, you can get the Panny 65" Full HD model in Jepun for about 12k which is less than the 14k Pioneer wants for their 5000EX.

 

Biggest I can accommodate is the 50".

 

Well, lets hope they decide to launch the full hd 42 & 50" pz series  :-X

[natrap]

I just saw an ad on TV for David Jones. I only caught the end of it but I'm sure it said 5 year warranty on LCD and Plasma TVs for many major brands (definitely Panasonic). I'll definitely be checking that out tomorrow.

[hddvduser]

On the Extended Warranty it does not mention dollar value on repairs, but it states: "If a warranted item is replaced or a cash settlement is made under the plan then this warranty will end when replacement or cash settlement occurs".

Though there are loop holes that agrees with what you stated. If they cannot repair the item it will be replaced (most likely for the panel as it is a Plasma compared to LCD), or if the same component fails 3 times they will replace it, hence warranty ends. Better if they gave me a cash settlement than a replacement, but its up to their discretion. But you would reckon these TVs wouldn't be around a year later.

Anyways I'll take extra care of it and this is more of a TV gap purchase from my dying 68cm CRT to 46" Full HD LCD/Plasma/Laser TV in 2008/2009.

im telling you they fix it for a dollar value first , if it isnt fixable , then yes they replace it, but if it gets fixed first for 1500 , then the 2nd time it will cost 1500 more they will not fix it ...... ask ic frith they are the insurance company for harvey norman ring they will tell you it is a dollar value............

its a scam with ic frith , staff dont tell you ,

mate , i brought a nikon camera for 1230 , after 3 days it had to be repaired as it broke down , i was on holiday in qld , so i had to repair it, then about 14 months after it broke down exactly the same problem, so they fixed it under extented warranty with nikon,at cost of about 600,12 months later it broke down again , different problem costing 550 , roughly,then 3 days after i got it back it broke down again , they fixed it , i then got a call from ic frith saying that all my funds had been used and they would not fix it any more....... they explained to me that the warranty is a dollar value once fixed and it is there choice to fix or replace depending on cost..... , i still had more warranty and it was tought luck , at the end i brought a new sony slr............. you warranty isnt what you think .......... call 02) 8853 9100 that is ic frith and speak to warranty dept...... they will explain what ive said

[diesel]

I just saw an ad on TV for David Jones. I only caught the end of it but I'm sure it said 5 year warranty on LCD and Plasma TVs for many major brands (definitely Panasonic). I'll definitely be checking that out tomorrow.

plus 5 years interest free

[Ice_Magik]

They also want $2700 for the TH-42px70A LOL

[Expon]

David Jones will price match so don't count them out so fast. The 5yrs int free requires 1/3rd deposit. But I'm pretty sure if you go int free you won't get the free 5yr extended warranty. So get it in the price your getting them to match.