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April 30, 2008
Dear CNET members,
A recent Crave blog post by CNET News.com staff member Erica
Ogg reported that Pioneer is ending its in-house production of plasma panels and will be working with Panasonic to produce panels for their plasma TVs. Wow, that's big news to me! I have
always seen rave reviews by experts about Pioneer and how
their plasma TVs have always been regarded to be some of the
best. Why would Pioneer discontinue manufacturing plasma
panels when they are so highly regarded? Well, according to
the Crave blog, Pioneer's plasma business continues to lose
money and it would be more cost effective to go with a third
party manufacturer. That makes sense from a business
perspective, but are we getting the whole picture? I mean, to
have a big player such as Pioneer outsource their plasma
panels to someone else makes me wonder where the future of
plasma TVs lies. Is this recent news just the beginning of the
end of plasma TV technology (we've all seen what happened when
Warner Bros. pulled out of releasing HD DVDs)? Will LCD TVs
eventually rule, putting plasma TV to grave? It took a while
for LCD TVs to catch up with plasma TVs in terms of size and
competitive cost, but look at them now. LCD TVs are getting
slimmer with larger displays, yet weigh less, and consume much
less energy compared with plasmas. As far as costs go, they
have gone way down in price and now it sure seems as if LCD
TVs outnumber the amount of plasma TVs in retailers.
Personally if you asked me if plasma TVs are going to be dead
soon, I will tell you, I hope not! If they did die, I would
be very sad to see them go. Why? Because I love my plasma
HDTV. While I do own a LCD HDTV of almost equal size to my
plasma, in my opinion the plasma TV picture is far superior
to that of the LCD (remember folks this is my personal
opinion). While it's not comparing apples with apples, my
eyes do tell me what's true. My plasma TV is brighter, the
blacks are blacker, and colors are not washed out like my LCD
TV. Until LCDs can produce a picture like my plasma, I will
say that plasma will be sticking around for a while. Enough
of what I think, what do you think? Do you think plasma TVs
will be dead soon? Why? I know there are a lot of die-hard
plasma TV and LCD TV fans out there and I would love to get
your perspective on this. So join us in the latest Screening
Room discussion and let us know what you think the fate of plasma TVs will be.
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This week's hot topic:
Are plasma TVs on
the way out?
With the recent reports that Pioneer will stop making plasma panels, we've started to wonder if plasma technology itself is on its way out. Will plasma still be a factor in 2009, or will LCD take control of the HDTV market? When we asked our members if they thought plasma TV are on their way out, many told us what they thought.
"I hope not..."
"Plasma's are harder to find in stores--but they have such a better picture than LCD's I hope they stick around for a while. Pioneer not making their own glass is a bad sign but the new Panasonic Plasmas are priced low and have great pictures..." (Read more)
--Submitted by: CNET member BrodieB
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Plasma is the ultimate TV that combines the quality of CRT with the profile of LCD. Unfortunately, it's gotten a lot of bad rep in the past from an immature technology and misconceptions. I know a lot of people got turned off by burn-in which is rarely an issue nowadays and having to refill the plasma which is just a straight up lie..." (Read more)
--Submitted by: CNET member thesmilkman
"Plasma not leaving"
"wow...I couldn't believe what I was reading...I do graphic art and CRTs are still king...there is only one LCD that I know of that's better, but very expensive (its a 4 color system)...plasma technically is by far the best for TV...better luminance tracking, much better viewing angle, better gamut and greater usable..." (Read more)
--Submitted by: CNET member hlee
Speak up!
Now it's your chance to tell us if you think plasma TVs is a dying breed that will eventually be on its way out! Speak up; we are all watching closely!
• CNET HDTV reviews
• Everything HDTV: CNET's HDTV World
• CNET editors' TV buying guide
• TV blogs
• Home audio & video forum
 Here are some interesting comments members recently submitted
on CNET. Read up on it and chime in with your opinion. Enjoy!
• Is Windows XP good enough?
--Blog submitted by: Michael Horowitz (CNET Blog network)
CNET member georgefl38's response:
"If customers are standing put on the previous version, that means they're not sold on the company's technological vision, and they're no longer lining up as Microsoft tries to lead them to the future." Two comments on this. One, I totally believe that customers are (finally) getting around to not being sold on MS's technological vision, what ever that may be. Two..."
(Read more)
• Correcting the violent video game rhetoric
--Blog submitted by: Don Reisinger (CNET Blog network)
CNET member mosion's response:
"solid blog. I'm tired of people expecting the gaming or movie industry to raise their child. These are the same parents who blame public schools for giving their kids bad manners. News flash, your kid is rude because you are rude. He uses foul language because he heard you use foul language around him. He isn't smart because you never read to him and he never sees you... "
(Read more)
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CNET blogs
News, reviews, and opinions from CNET's editors and selected experts... Check them out and post your thoughts on them.
Hot products
Along with discussing the future of plasma TVs, CNET members had plenty of new tech products to talk about this week.
Kodak EasyShare V1253 (Black)
CNET member Piz7777 says:
"This camera has more then exceeded my expectations! The pictures are beautiful, the HD video is the best I've ever seen on a cam, and along with the HD dock (bought for only $64 bucks at Circuit City!), this cam is a dream come true! Just make sure you download the free firmware update on Kodak's site to the camera..."
(read more)
See
all user opinions | Compare prices
Panasonic TH-58PZ750U
CNET member rubenc78 says:
"Panasonic has done a very nice job of maintaining a quality product in its flagship plasma line, and the TH-58PZ750U does not disappoint. I'm sure a Blue-ray or HD DVD player would knock my socks off with the picture quality, but I'm waiting a little while longer before I decide on one. In the meantime, I have a Panasonic..."
(read more)
Read
all user opinions | Compare prices
Magellan Maestro 4250
CNET member tburns1119 says:
"I reviewed all the top products that Garmin, TomTom, and a few other companies put out and this one caught my eye. First off, the wide screen is great and very clear. The menu is very easy to navigate through and it only takes a few minutes to set up even without reading the manual..."
(read more)
Read
all user opinions | Compare prices
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