New plasma TV, but with an unfortunate surprise!

[kini62]

You could return the tv and and get 125" screen and projector. For what you paid you can get a pretty nice set up. 2500 for a really good projector and 1k for a really nice screen.

Unfortunately, that's not practical in all applications.

I watch Blurays on the projector but wouldn't watch TV on it. Next spring I'll upgrade my 720p 50-inch to something in the 60-65 inch class.

Just an FYI Walmart is going to have the Vizio 70" on sale for $996 for black Friday in case you're interested.

[Heritage_Head]

You could return the tv and and get 125" screen and projector. For what you paid you can get a pretty nice set up. 2500 for a really good projector and 1k for a really nice screen.

i probably could, but it won't happen. And for multiple reasons:

1. In this particular room, a projector and screen is just not practical at all. Yeah, I could renovate one of the rooms down in the basement to put in a dedicated theater with projector and screen, and I even gave it serious consideration, but in the end I would probably hardly, if ever, actually use it.
2. I use this rig for much more than just watching movies. In fact, movies is a very tiny fraction of what I use this rig for. I find I watch quite a bit of "regular" TV, such as football games and things off of History Channel. I also like to play video games on this rig as well. These are just much better served with a good, high-end TV than with a projector and screen.
3. There is much more to it than size. For example, I've yet to see a projector come even CLOSE to the quality of image that this particular TV is capable of displaying, short of getting one of those ridiculously expensive, really high-end units. Yeah, the image a projo puts out may be bigger, but if it looks like $#!+..... Just like it is a lot more than how much wattage your amp is a capable of putting out. It may put out 200 watts, but if it sounds like a$$..... Granted, I've seen some pretty nice pictures from some of those projectors, but not good enough to still overcome reasons #1 and #2 for my needs and usage.

So yeah, as somebody already pointed out, a projector and screen is not always practical and is certainly not the end-all-be-all of video display solutions.

projectors have come a long way. this is a pic from a 125" jvc (cost around 2500)

Edited November 13, 2013 by reference_head

[Heritage_Head]

When i first got it i was pretty much going to only use it for movies. After all i have a 70" lcd behind the screen i bought 6mo before i got the projector. But now its hard not to watch it on the screen. Games tv movies whatever. And when i do want to use the other tv just hit a button and boom the screen is up and out of the way. Plus they have projectors that work with all the lights on. So you don't need a light controlled room like we used to years ago.

Im not saying buy one I'm just saying its something that for the money your spending might be a better value.

[sunburnwilly]

My first Kuro arrived like that .

It took a month for a replacement to show up .

I also still have the broken one which they did not want back .

Is that a pic of the broken one working?

I am actually curious myself. If you still have the broken one, did you try hooking it up and see if it still works? If it does and the crack does not affect the image quality (since it is there in the extreme corner), may make for a good "back-up" or second TV.

Once a plasma panel is cracked it is toast !

I did check a few years ago with the local Pioneer service shop and it can be fixed . Only issue is the panel itself cost $2.6k , at that point I did not bother to ask about labor . I figure that I have spare parts in case something other than the panel goes out . I have also toyed with the idea that it could be turned into a matching coffee table . A very heavy one at that .

[normh]

Congrats on the new Panasonic, I purchased the VT-60 65 a couple months back and it is awesome. I did have it professionally calibrated and what a difference. Before calibration I used the Cnet settings, for the calibrator I used D-Nice I recommend him highly he does do calibration tours and might come to you're area. Some contact info:

DeWayne

Video System Specialist

A/V Fidelity LLC

803.386.8002

support@av-fi.com

[CECAA850]

I believe the pic was of the cracked tv.

[peshewah]

I got a Panasonic 50" S60 and it looks great. I wanted a 60" but BB didn't have it at the time so I settled for the 50". I use Fairchild settings from AVS forum. For $700 I couldn't go wrong. Whites are a little washed out but thats it. I bet the highend models look great.

[skonopa]

Update!

Best Buy did indeed deliver a replacement this past Wednesday (13th). This time, since everything else was already setup, I just simply cleared out that little TV I had in place as a temporary hold-over. I got the delivery guys to unbox and setup the replacement TV as well as both myself and the delivery guys did a thorough investigation of the replacement set. It was flawless. Since it was pretty cold that day, I had to let it sit for a good half-hour or so before plugging it in and turning it on. At that point, I just went back to work (as this just happened to be my lunchtime break).

I then spent the last couple of days getting all the connections all setup the way I want to with the rest of my rig and tested everything else. I've heard about the "CNET Settings". I also found a set of "Sound&Vision" settings that I went and applied (before I knew about the "CNET settings". The S&V settings seem to work really nice with my particular unit and room, plus they have separate settings for both the 2D and 3D modes, which the CNET settings did not. I will get professional calibration done, but will let the TV break in the 300 hours or so that has been recommended.

Also, the delivery guys only took away the cracked TV itself (and power cord). They told me to go ahead and keep the rest of it, which was fine with me. That ended up giving me two additional pairs of 3D glasses and a spare remote. With those 3D glasses going for $80/pair, I'll take it as a nice compensation for having to deal with the inconvenience of getting a replacement set.

Anyway, I am REALLY impressed with just how awesome this TV looks. To be honest, I don't think there is anything that looks this good short of getting an OLED 4K set (which does not even exist yet). I have not tried any of the 3D stuff yet, though. Especially considering that I don't have any 3D content on hand, nor a 3D-capable player (although, supposedly the PS/3 can now play 3D movies).

Yeah, I could've probably gotten a screen and projector, but such a setup just simply does not work and is not practical in this particular room, so I opted to get what is arguably the best TV that is currently available right now. I am certainly happy with what I got here and hope this thing will last me as long as my trusty ol' Mitsu did (and that Mitsu is still going strong, thus why I am going to try to sell it on craigslist - I just don't want to junk it. Failing that, I'll see if the local homeless shelter could use it. And failing that, it will be interesting to try to load it in the back of my truck and take it to my ski house up in the mountains to replace that ancient 32-inch TV that is currently there).

Hopefully by the time I am ready to retire this unit, that elusive 4K OLED set will be readily available for a decent price.

Edited November 16, 2013 by skonopa