[VW2010]

Dear VW2010,

Panasonic is exiting the plasma TV panel business, salvage what you can and as as soon as possible.

Update:- They either want me to wait for 25 days to get my panel replaced or take a direct exchange for 50DT60 replacement.

I have three years of warranty which means anything that happens till 2015 September, pana still owes me to service or replace.

WIth that in mind i am more convinced to move towards Plasma panel replacement where they have offered to provide a stand by TV till the tv is replaced.

All this post escalating to Manish who by his standards has acted to the customer request.

I wrote an escalation to Manish and in 2 hrs got a call and a final resolution. Now i have to chose between these two options.

[S_U_N]

@VW2010: Glad that it worked out at India level itself.
It is a sad state of affairs with Panasonic, but they have dug their own grave over the years.

Had you been in US, you would have got a replacement quite soon. The fact is that they don't want to do business of plasma TV's in India. So, those having these TV's get this step motherly treatment.

Edit: What is the MRP of 50DT60, btw?

[VW2010]

Hey S_U_N,

The MRP is around 1.2 i think. Post escalation the customer relation is ready to waive of the difference and do a direct replacement immediately.

I am still not impressed with LED's and specifically Pana LED's. I rather wait and continue to use the beautiful Plasma 50ST50.

[F150]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Update:- They either want me to wait for 25 days to get my panel replaced or take a direct exchange for 50DT60 replacement.

I have three years of warranty which means anything that happens till 2015 September, pana still owes me to service or replace.

WIth that in mind i am more convinced to move towards Plasma panel replacement where they have offered to provide a stand by TV till the tv is replaced.

All this post escalating to Manish who by his standards has acted to the customer request.

I wrote an escalation to Manish and in 2 hrs got a call and a final resolution. Now i have to chose between these two options.

I see two indicators,

First, they are offering you a direct exchange.
Second, they are offering replacement of panel in 25 days, but at the same time giving you a replacement TV.

Both these indicate shortage of panels.

If you choose to go with the second option, I dont know if it will really take 25 days or more for the replacement panel to arrive. Since they are giving you a standby TV, after a period of time, their response to queries on when the replacement would arrive, would change.


I would go with the exchange, unless the new TV is an inferior model.

[S_U_N]

Importing a panel is added cost to the company, whereas giving an LED from the stock is better utilization of available resources.
I don't know what the MRP of ST50 was, but I think it was around 1.2 lac range. The MRP of ST60 was 1.25 lac.

Panels are not really in shortage globally, just that they don't keep any of these in stock in India, since there are just a handful of customers.
But 25 days is very long time to import a panel from Japan.
The declared value at customs for a 65 inch ST50 panel is around Rs. 65000. I was unable to find any records for import of 50 inch panel in the import data at http://www.zauba.com/


Edit: Part number 6 from the site is what we are talking about here.

[madbullram]

If you really love the PQ, I suggest you wait and get the panel replaced. Their LEDs are nothing to talk about.

[S_U_N]

At least one review here talks about DT60 to be comparable to plasma in terms of PQ. So, do have a closer look at that option of getting a DT60 after a demo.

[VW2010]

The new TV is far inferior in PQ to the plasma. Their plasma is the top of the line when it comes to PQ and the ST series is the best VFM one can get.

I am going to wait and get the Plasma panel, for i like plasma tv's for over 7 years now.

[madbullram]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

At least one review here talks about DT60 to be comparable to plasma in terms of PQ. So, do have a closer look at that option of getting a DT60 after a demo.

Definitely not comparable to ST series. Plus remember he compared Plasma in Showrooms and we all know how that is.

[murillo]

Hi,

I currently use a Sony flat tv and I am planning to upgrade to an LED tv on the new year's eve. I have mentioned below my needs as best as I can and I request your expert inputs before deciding.

Planned setup:
I am planning to set up a small home entertainment center. It will consist of an LED TV, a DTH, a home theatre, and a blu-ray player. I have decided on the following:
LED: to be bought
DTH: Tatasky HD
Home theater: Yamaha YHT-196
Blu-ray player: no idea

Choosing an LED tv:

Budget: ~70,000 INR
What is important to me: largest screen (as per budget), best picture quality (as per budget)
What is not important to me: 3D, smart, apps, fancy features
What it will be used for mostly: movies, music, HD channels
What it will not be used for mostly: sports, gaming

Shortlisted LEDs:
Samsung UA46F5100AR - Pros: large 46 inch display; Cons: no wi-fi, costlier than the shortlisted Sony below
Sony KDL-42W670A - Pros: in-built wi-fi for internet, picture quality; Cons: small 42 inch display
(Although, I mentioned earlier that I don't need fancy features, I like Sony's direct 3G dongle plug & play and built-in wi-fi to connect to my home internet connection and enjoy the endless media of the internet on the tv)

My questions: I require your expert suggestions on the below points.

1. Which LED to choose among the shortlisted?
2. Is there any other similar LEDs I can consider?
3. Should I consider a home theater with an in-built player? If so, what are my best options at ~20,000 INR budget?
4. Should I keep my plan for a separate blu-ray player and YHT-196 amplifier?
5. If 'Yes' for question 4, how easy are connectivity option among various devices, e.g., STB/LED/amplifier/player?

My apologies for the long post. I want to get a clear picture of where I am headed - what better place than t-bhp for top-quality, expert guidance? Thank you for taking the time to read and reply to these queries. Any help is highly appreciated.

Thank you.

Regards,
murillo.

[VW2010]

My peanuts of suggestions

- With a 70K budget look out for brands including Sharp, Panasonic, Sony, Samsunga nd LG. Check for Plasma as well from Samsung. Fits your needs and you get a comparatively bigger screen for similar price between LED and Plasma.

- BD players mostly vary on playback speed. The Pana and Samsung BD players are pretty much high standard and they do the job exactly as you want. I will be leaning towards Samsung and definitely avoid Sony. Sony players in my experience will end up not playing most of the formats post a point or even to start with.

-@20k HT options are going to be so-so. You can actually pick one of the TV's with a free BD player which was a very famous offer for years. Some shops may still give away a BD player when you buy a TV.

- @20K budget you will have to compromise on the HT. There is a Logitect z5500 which will come for around 18-20K and this is a budget HT with only optical port. There is not even a HDMI port. But does a job so well with simplest interface and no nonsense options. You need to buy the BD player though

- Try the philips, panasonic or Samsung BD package with HT(The sound is totally crappy from these systems. I got a free Pana 5.1 speaker system with my TV that also had a 10 inch sub woofer. My Logitect z5500 will run around this system day in and day out.

Build the HT over a period of time. TV, Amps and speakers can be built over say 6 months. Thats the best way to do when money is tight. You dont have to go after high end systems, but even the HT can be built with different speakers and a more functional amp.

[madbullram]

What is your viewing distance for the TV?

Agree with VW on HT, build one slowly. Get a good basic amp from Yamaha and front speaker, then get a center, then surround, then woofer. this will make you happy for long. Dont hurry and get a HTiB.

[kaka46]

@murillo, Do check out the Sony range of TV's with the trilluminous display. The display is gorgeous. But AFAIK, they start at around 80-85k for a 40 inch model. Since you have a budget of 70k, I'd suggest you go and check out the TV in person and see if it makes sense increasing the budget to 80-85k.

The PQ on the trilluminous range of TV's is very good.

Originally Posted by murillo

My questions: I require your expert suggestions on the below points.

1. Which LED to choose among the shortlisted?
2. Is there any other similar LEDs I can consider?
3. Should I consider a home theater with an in-built player? If so, what are my best options at ~20,000 INR budget?
4. Should I keep my plan for a separate blu-ray player and YHT-196 amplifier?
5. If 'Yes' for question 4, how easy are connectivity option among various devices, e.g., STB/LED/amplifier/player?

My 2 cents.
1 & 2) I would not choose either of the shortlisted ones.
- Why 5000 series of Samsung. Try to pick either from 7000 series or 8000 series. 6000 series has 120 Hz.
- One should remember that the 5000 series still is on 60 Hz. You would need anything around 240 Hz. As you are saying for Home theater. As you are planning for 40+ inches.
- Consider phillips. Cheaper than both shortlisted ones + has 120 HZ. So, should be better. (42 Incher)
- Do not consider Sharp. Product wise, Sharp makes the best. But coming to service, its awful. If your product is good, you would be the happiest among the lot. If some problem pops up, you have no other choice other than regretting on your decision.
3&4) Why do you need a Blue - ray player? I really do not understand. Each Blue ray DVD costs ~500. I would do get a 1TB HDD and dump all my movies into it. Connect it to TV. Everything is ready. Select and play.
- Get a good speakers set, once you get a Good TV. It doesn't make any sense to me by compromising on display and getting good boom speakers blue ray players. Also, a Good cheaper speakers set could be bought @ 5K. Which should be good. Anyways, you are not going to do run your setup as a theater
- Also, there is a "BOSE" speakers set @ 22K around. Saw it in istore. You could get such box later on.

** You are investing 70k to see something. Picture/Video. But why are you compromising on on what you actually see. **

[murillo]

^^^^
Thank you all for your guidance.

As suggested by most members, I am putting on hold the home theatre thing for now. Fully agree it is better to build one over time then rush headlong into an HTiB. When home theater is removed, the picture gets more clear. First, I should get a good tv up and running on HD-DTH.

@madbullram: my viewing distance will be 10 feet.

@gemi kk: fully agree with your view points. A good tv with a good speaker set will do the job.

I am considering the two below:

Samsung UA46F6100AR
Pros: 200 hz, 3D (which I don't want)
Cons: smaller size than E6D, costly than E6D, 2 HDMI, 1 USB

Panasonic TH-L50E6D
Pros: larger screen size, less costly than F6100, no 3D, 3 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, some smart features (e.g., linking a phone/tablet to tv)
Cons: 100 hz (less than F6100)

Could members suggest which one of the above can I go for. The E6D has very good reviews on many AV forums; hence, I am leaning towards the Pana. Your valuable suggestions is highly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Regards,
murillo