27" Sony Wega or Panasonic Tau... which one should I choose? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Kao]

Right now I'm in the market for a TV for my bedroom & I'm stuck between the KV27FS12 Wega and CT27SX10 Tau. I know the FV wega series is better but I would have to get the 24" if I was going to go down that route. Even still the 27" FS is more expensive than the Tau. I like the Wega's looks better but I'm not sure about the image quality compared to the Tau. I hear that the Tau's have geometry problems... is this present in all of them? Does anyone know how many scan lines the Tau has (not listed on website)? Please share your opinions & experiences as I would appreciate any advice!

 

[Mike Kao]

I guess I can add the JVC I'Art Series to my list as well! In particular, I'm looking at the 27" AV27F702 model which is the same price as the 27" Tau
I'Art
Link Removed
Wega

 

[ThomasL]

Mike, if you're looking into the flat tubes, then you may want to wait a few weeks since Toshiba will be releasing the 27AF41. The manual is already up at Toshiba's web site. So, you're looking at the Panasonic Tau, the JVC I'Art, the Toshiba and the Sony Wega. I have a friend who bought the 27F802 I'Art about 4-5 months ago and loves it. He compared it to the Sony and the Panasonic.
good luck,
--tom

 

[Ken Cerce]

Mike,
I am also looking for a 27 inch flat screen TV. I was in my local Sears last night and they had the Sony, JVC and Panasonic flat screen TVs set up all in a row. This allowed for a pretty good comparison. I was fortunate enough to see the new 27 inch Sony, the model 27FS13. Here are my observations: As far as sound and appearance goes, the Sony has a big advantage over the other two. The Panasonic and the JVC have the bright silver box they tried to copy from Sony. I feel it looks cheap. The Panasonic has all the controls behind the front door that felt like it was going to fall off any second. The Panasonic speakers also sounded like they were in a tunnel. The JVC sounded better than the Panasonic but not as good as the Sony. It appears Sony has made a significant improvement in the sound of their TV. The Sony TV no longer has the silver finish on it. It is now a more sophisticated medium grey. Unfortunately, there were no remotes available for review. Now as far as the picture quality, it was very difficult to compare. The sets only had two sources feeding them, an over the air antenna, and an instore Dish network feed that must have been split 100 times. I tried to adjust the pictures to be roughly the same. I hate the Panasonic menu. It is not easy to navigate thru but I guess like anything else you could get used to it. The picture quality on all three sets was very good. I think I am going to go to a retailer that lets me compare DVD inputs on all three sets. I also want to see the anamorphic "squeeze" seting available only on the Sony. Since all three sets were priced within $50 of each other, my ratings would be 1) Sony, 2) JVC and 3) Panasonic.
Good luck with your comparison shopping.

 

[Mike Kao]

Oh my god! I just went to Best Buy and guess what!? There were boxes of 27" Toshiba Pure Flat tvs! I talked to the guy and he said that they just came out and that they would be on display tommorrow. I definitely have to check that one out.... man, TOO many choices!

 

[Terisha]

I was looking for the same thing. What I found was that if you move up to the 32" in the Panasonic (CT-32HX40, a 4:3 set), you get true HD (1080i, as well as 480p). This is also a flat screen with a 16:9 sqeeze for DVDs. The other sets I believe have a maximum of 480p. We'll have digital HD from our cable company (one of the few cities that has it right now).
My problem is that I can't compare the set with the Sony or Toshiba. What you may want to check out is the bowing problem on many Sonys. I'm also disturbed by the lack of support Sony supplies. I haven't been able to determine if the Panasonic or Toshiba has the same bowing problem. It may not be noticeable on a 27" set, but can be very obvious on a wider screen during DVD playback. While we'll usually watch DVD's on the plasma in the family room, I also want to be able to do so in the master bedroom.
Terisha

 

[ThomasL]

To fllowup on Mike's original query...has anyone seen the new Toshiba flat tube direct view sets? Does Best Buy have them in stock and on display yet?

 

[AlbertH]

the best buy in west paterson nj has the 27" toshiba flat screen on display. It's sweet, but no 16X9 squeeze. It's got a great picture tho. I have the 20" tosh and i love it.

 

[David_D]

Best Buy here in Southern California has the Toshiba also. At first glance it looks very nice. If only it had the squeeze feature....

 

[ThomasL]

Albert, thanks for the information...I also have the 20 inch flat tube Toshiba - 20AF41 - in our fireplace room...it's a nice little tv...I'll soon post a review at audioreview.com with all my strengths and nitpicks Does anyone know what the pricing on the 27AF41 is at Best Buy and if the 32 inch version has been released? This would include all the various incarnations, the 32AF41, 32AF61, 32AFX61 and possibly the HDTV-ready direct view model. There is precious little/no information at the Toshiba web site. Funny that they're not using the web to promote their new products out of the gate.
cheers,
--tom

 

[Mike Kao]

I believe the Toshiba 27AF41 is about $500, correct me if I'm wrong. At that price it sounds very enticing, but I've heard that the toshiba pure flats have less lines of resolution compared to all other flat tubes

 

[ThomasL]

Mike, I would suspect the 27 inch - 27AF41 - to have at least the same horizontal resolution spec as its curved cousin - the 27A40/41. I have the latter set and using the Avia resolution pattern, I can see the lines all the way out to the end. Toshiba rates it at 600 lines of horizontal resolution which would equate to 450 per picture height (to compare to Avia's pattern) assuming Toshiba is talking about pixels across the entire screen length in its specs. So it seems to be doing a little better than that. Of course, it would be nice if Toshiba put information on its web site. It seems with the great Internet crash, companies now don't seem as interested as keeping web info up to date
cheers,
--tom