Check out our new plasma tv. Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s our Christmas present to ourselves. Earlier today after seeing a couple of models at both Sears and Circuit City, I told Joe I wanted to get one, and even though at first he was completely against it, he quickly changed his tune after seeing a few models in person.
We originally looked at two true HDTV units in 42″ and 50″, both made by Panasonic since their picture quality struck us as the most impressive, and we came really close to getting the 50″. Joe was ready to bring one home, but luckily Circuit City didn’t have any left in stock. I told Joe I wanted to do a little research anyway since even though we had talked about getting one, we didn’t really know much about plasma. Then we saw this one, which is a Plasma EDTV (Enhanced Definition), and were really impressed, but couldn’t figure out why it was $1000 less than the other Panasonic 42″ on the shelf. Finally we realized it was because it wasn’t a HDTV, and since we weren’t keen on really spending almost $3000, we went home empty-handed and a bit disappointed.
I immediately got online to start researching tvs and not ten minutes later, Joe’s mom called asking him advice on none other than plasma tvs because she wanted to buy Joe’s dad one for Christmas. How freaky is that? It was like an omen.
So between our phone conversation and my internet research, I learned that the ED plasma can tune into HDTV programming (which we get through our cable provider automatically); it just loses about 20% of quality compared to a true HDTV. I also learned that unless you purchase a unit 50″ or larger, the difference in picture quality between a HDTV and a EDTV is negligible.
That sealed the deal in our minds, so we headed back to Circuit City and they had one (two actually, and they had just sold one right before we got there) in stock. We brought it home, hooked it up (and it was so easy too because it doesn’t weigh a ton and it required very little adjustments), and now we’re watching The Matrix Revolutions in HD. The picture is so crisp and clear it’s stunning. I’m so glad we didn’t spend almost $4000 on a tv (this one was $1800); that would have made me sick to my stomach.
Congratulations, and welcome to the glorious world of HDTV on a really big screen! I like watching NFL football in Hi-Def. It’s amazing what a difference there is in so many different programs.
We have the 50″ Panasonic Plasma HDTV, and yeah, um spending $4,000+ on it wasn’t fun. But I will say, you might not be able to tell from the pictures of my house, but a regular tv would not have worked well in our family room and to make good use of the space without blocking windows or book cases, we needed it on the wall. Plus, we got a discount through Scott’s office (they’re some sort of business partners with Panasonic).
I love HDTV! We have a 46″ Sony HDTV (not plasma though) and it’s great! We always get kinda pissed when network TV shows are not filmed in HD. But a lot of them are these days so it’s cool. “Lost” looks like a movie in HD.
that is one hell of a TV! I’m green. Hubby would drool.