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For better or worse... I finally pulled the trigger.

Posted by AbeCollins (A) on February 25, 2005 at 19:50:29

In Reply to: Budget Plasma EDTV vs higher-end DLP HDTV? posted by AbeCollins on February 22, 2005 at 15:20:09:

Took a chance and picked up a relatively inexpensive ($2100 + tax) 42" LG RU-42PX11/H plasma set that is 'altitude rated' to 9000-feet. LG is a Korean company that is coming on very strong in consumer electronics. They have an excellent reputation with cellphones and they're making good progress in other areas. The LG was the only set in the store that came with a standard 2 year in-home repair/replacement warranty that didn't cost extra. There's also an LG authorized service center just 12 miles from where I live.

The store didn't have that highly rated (per CR magazine) Sony EDTV plasma. There were even 'lower end' sets available vs the LG that just didn't do it for me. In fact, those Philips sets (that cost more) were not that great even though they have a big name behind them. This LG plasma was also one of the brightest plasmas available and although it may look a bit washed out and not as saturated as some, that was quickly and easily corrected by turning the brightness down.

Some important factors for me in my decision:

0)Couldn't spend more than $2500.

1)Must be bright; Brighter than DLP or LCD RPTV's for daytime use in a bright open room.

2)Must not buzz like a chain saw at high altitude (as most plasmas are not designed for up high places like Colorado).

3)Must be reasonably good quality. The physical build quality on this unit is excellent. We'll see how the electronics and screen hold up.

4)Must look as good as other EDTV plasmas. Most of them looked better than anything I've owned in the past. The LG looked better than Philips, Zenith, Samsung. The LG looked about the same as the Panasonic which cost more.

5)And a given, it must cost less than an HD plasma. The HD plasmas were better looking in some cases but at distance, the differences were less obvious. But at almost twice the price for HD for a given size, I decided on EDTV this time around. A true 'videophile' would not have done this!

6)I wanted to buy local for various reasons including the need for a 'specialized' set that is known to perform at high altitude. This LG plasma is the /H model where the "H" specifically means High Altitude. Plus I needed the set delivered and the other HUGE CRT set moved. The two guys who delivered the plasma moved the 200-Lb+ CRT set without hesitation.

The LG plasma displays DVDs just fine through the DVI port which handles anything you throw at it... 480p 720p 1080i. When I feed it an HD signal at 720p or 1080i from my OTA HDTV tuner, the picture is clearly better than any DVD. To answer a question about the 480p resolution and how it handles HDTV, it is clear to me that even an HDTV signal on an EDTV set looks great... like I said, better than a DVD.... even an 'upconverted' DVD as my player will output 720p and 1080i via DVI port. The LG plasma also has two sets of RGB inputs plus a PC HD15 "VGA" port.

Only complaint so far... LG needs to get their act together with a better remote control. Some of the button labels are rather cryptic. I actually had to read the manual to understand some of the meanings. I can usually figure these things out w/o the manual. For example, the Jump button on the LG remote is labeled Review. Maybe I'm just used to all the Sony sets I've owned in the past but Review didn't make any sense to me. There are other weird examples I can't think of right now.

Accuphase DP65V cdp or Denon DVD-5900 Universal
PS Audio PCA-2 Pre - Krell KSA50S - Tannoy D500 spkrs

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