Panasonic to cease manufacturing plasmas

[postjack]

Forgive me if this is being discussed elsewhere, but I think it merits its own thread.

 

I know there are some panny plasma fans here. I've had my 47" plasma for maybe 5 years now, and have loved every minute of owning it. I heard a few weeks ago that manufacturing will cease on panny plasmas after the year (2013) is up. So I'm a little late bringing this news, as stock is already starting to run dry (amazon recently sold out of their ST60 series panny plasmas).

 

The ST60 series has received rave reviews from... well everyone, you do the googling. Plenty of "best tv of 2013" type awards, and its not even the top of the line plasma, it just happens to be in the sweet spot price wise ($1350 for the 55", $1500 for the 60", don't remember what the 50" is priced at)

 

I really don't even want a new TV, but with the threat of never being able to purchase a panny plasma again hanging over me, I just bought a 55" ST60 from Sears, to be delivered Christmas Eve.

 

Sooooo if you ever wanted to buy a plasma, dew eet now before its too late.

Edited December 21, 2013 by postjack

[Hopstretch]

 

Stupid fuckin' "average consumer".

[purk]

Whoa....who will continue the Pioneer Kuro's legacy?

[luvdunhill]

Before going crazy, check the Samsung 8500 series plasmas. They are competitive IMHO. Edit: not necessarily price competitive but performance could be considered by some to be better, depending on how you use it and environment.

Edited December 21, 2013 by luvdunhill

[shellylh]

Based on the excitement of Panny plasmas here, we bought my mother and father in-law one for Christmas about 3 years ago.  It had a very nice picture but they just called us and told us they have green and red horizontal lines across the screen.  I don't suppose there is an easy fix for this.  So my first experience with Pansonic plasmas is not very good.  I suppose with the lack of quality control over products nowadays, one should just expect a certain percentage of consumer electronics to die within a few years.  

[bozebuttons]

I have a 42 inch panasonic plasma in my bedroom about 6 years without a issue,still looks good,I have a  9 gen 50 kuro elite in my living room.

I have been looking at the panny zt65 to put in my living room & put the kuro in my bedroom.

[dsavitsk]

Forgive me if this is being discussed elsewhere, but I think it merits its own thread.

 

I know there are some panny plasma fans here. I've had my 47" plasma for maybe 5 years now, and have loved every minute of owning it. I heard a few weeks ago that manufacturing will cease on panny plasmas after the year (2013) is up. So I'm a little late bringing this news, as stock is already starting to run dry (amazon recently sold out of their ST60 series panny plasmas).

 

The ST60 series has received rave reviews from... well everyone, you do the googling. Plenty of "best tv of 2013" type awards, and its not even the top of the line plasma, it just happens to be in the sweet spot price wise ($1350 for the 55", $1500 for the 60", don't remember what the 50" is priced at)

 

 

After trying Samsung and Sharp LEDs, we bought the 50" ST60 a couple of months ago. It is really nice. Definitely worth the ~$200 price premium.

 

[MexicanDragon]

I can't afford it, buy I have been thinking about a 50" ST60 (street around 999 on sale), because I've wanted a Panasonic Plasma for years and years, but haven't bought a TV since my 32" 4:3 non-flat CRT. I don't even have anything with HDMI... and now worried I wouldn't be able to have what I wanted.

Stupid consumers.

**BRENT**

[roadtonowhere08]

Yep, I heard about this a while ago.  Major bummer, as I do not like LCD technology overall.  Just goes to show that consumers, as a whole, are idiots.

Edited December 22, 2013 by roadtonowhere08

[n_maher]

If my living room could have accommodated a ST50 that's what I would have bought.  That said, the 46" Sammy that we did buy is a big step up from the old Sony 3-LCD unit that we had.  I didn't realize how sad that TV looked until I watched the 2 back to back.  

[n_maher]

I went from 40 to 46 and it was a nice bump but obviously won't feel as big coming from a 42.  50 would have been too big for me unfortunately because of window spacing and viewing distance but that's the mark I would have like to hit.  When the old Sony bites it I'll put something at least that size in the "other living room" since it has a 12' viewing distance.  

[Dusty Chalk]

At 9 feet, I wouldn't recommend more than 46, in fact I'd probably stick with 42.  Otherwise you're going to start to see pixels.

[grawk]

I can't imagine you'd see pixels at 9ft at 1080p

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, that's probably an individual thing based on blindness and glasses prescription strength.  I am fairly hard of seeing, but my glasses put me right back at 20/20, I think.  I'm at about 7 feet from a 42, myself, and that distance is right on the edge.

[Wmcmanus]

I've never met anyone who regretted getting a bigger plasma, ever.  In my motorhome, I've got a 50" Panasonic VT-25 in the bedroom.  My toes can touch the bottom of the screen if I extend them in tippy toe fashion, so I guess I'm viewing from essentially 4-5 feet.  It's perfect, and non fatiguing.  At home, I'm 12 feet from the 65" version of the same plasma and it's nice but not quite the same.  I know people will say I'm crazy, but don't knock it until you've tried it.  At home sometimes I'll move my viewing chair forward by 3-4 feet to simulate the same experience, but the problem then is the screen seems too high.

 

Edit:  Should have stated that this is only for watching movies, usually Bluray (oh, and also mlb.com).  But I don't have any other cable/subscription type of services, and don't think I'd enjoy regular TV programming in the same way I do full feature movies in immersion style viewing.  Wouldn't recommend overly big (relative to viewing distance) TVs for families either, where most people would have off angle issues.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Wmcmanus

[Dusty Chalk]

It's not fatigue, it's just annoyance -- I don't want to see pixels.  I don't care how nice and non-fatiguing the screen is to look at, I don't want to see pixels -- I find it distracting.

[Dusty Chalk]

Okay.

 

Yeah, that's telling.  If you don't see notice them under those circumstances, then you won't see notice them.

[melomaniac]

had a TH series panasonic plasma monitor for almost 9 years, the kind you see in bars and airports, 42 inches but no sound or TV tuner - it worked perfectly every day, using a DVR/cable box and 2.1 stereo. sadly I left it behind when I moved this week (too cumbersome to take the mount off the wall etc), and I already miss the image quality now that I'm watching on a 40" samsung LCD. but I'm not tempted to buy just because there may not be any new panasonic plasmas. if that was a rationale to live by, I'd have to live in a museum of obsolete tech...

[Dusty Chalk]

I didn't say I didn't see them, I said I don't really notice them.

Comment adjusted.

[postjack]

Well I sit 9-10ft, and have been very happy with my 46" plasma. Tomorrow I should receive delivery of my 55", I'll let you know how it goes.

I honestly would have gone 60" but sears was already out of stock, and I got scared I would miss out on the st60 series entirely.

[deepak]

Before going crazy, check the Samsung 8500 series plasmas. They are competitive IMHO. Edit: not necessarily price competitive but performance could be considered by some to be better, depending on how you use it and environment.

I've never seen an 8500, but a calibrated D8000 plasma does look very good.

[luvdunhill]

From the comments in the thread, it's probably not the best choice for the price conscience folks