Q about the Panny WX42's at Best Buy... (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

Ok, I have one final question.

I was going to order the set from OneCall.com but I think I'd prefer to get it from Best Buy locally and just pay the sales tax.

However, I understand that some TVs sold by Best Buy, especially the Mitsubishi's, do not come w/ the exact same features as TVs sold by other dealers. Is this true w/ the Panny's also?

FYI, I did play w/ a floor sample at a Best Buy, but I couldn't find the user level setting for things like color matrix, which is listed as a feature at various sites including Panasonic's site. I also could not find the toggle for disabling SVM.

Am I missing something?

Thanks.

_Man_

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

If it's the same exact model number, it's the same set. The mits's a BB aren't the same model numbers.

 

[Patrick Sun]

You probably need to go into the 2 different advanced setting menus to get to those other features.
Remember, you must be absolutely certain this is the TV you want if you order it from Onecall because once you get the TV from Onecall, that's it, you're on your own. If you buy it locally, there's still a possibility to trade it it (within the 30 days of purchase) to get something else if you don't like it, or a refund in some cases.
So, the sagging overhang of the plastic bezel didn't bother you?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Ha ha!

I saw what you mean about the sagging overhang, and I wasn't sure about it. So I posted about the issue over in another forum dedicated to the Panny's to field some opinions from actual owners. It sounds like a non-issue although there might be concern about putting a center speaker on top of the TV(!).

Apparently, the weight of the screen seems to be held up just fine by the base, BUT the bezel itself is soft enough to sag a little.

Anyway, I think I'll get a short (maybe 2-year) extended warranty for it anyway even for a different TV, so if that becomes a real problem w/in that time period I think it should be covered by the warranty as a "normal wear and tear" thing. I doubt that would be a problem beyond 2 years.

_Man_

 

[Patrick Sun]

I do/will have a wire frame rack to hold my center channel speaker. I don't want to put any undue stress on the top of a RPTV with a 50+ pound speaker.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Heh heh. Actually, I don't use a center speaker right now. I've been doing the phantom center thing instead of buying a Vandersteen center to match my mains (pair of old 2Ci's). It's been working very well for me for the last 4 years.

 

[Chris Chang]

So, the sagging overhang of the plastic bezel didn't bother you?

Huh???? This means I can't put my center speaker on top of the tv?

EDIT: Oh, and I read your post on the "other" board and this only seemed to be the opinion of one person. So is this really true?

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm talking about the underside of the screen, which is larger than the base it sits on, thus there's like 6" on each side of the screen that overhangs the base. The plastic bezel of the bottom side will sag from the lack of support from the undersized base. No one has mentioned how much weight this TV will hold on its topside for a center channel speaker.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, it might depend on the actual weight of your center speaker. I assume not everyone has a heavy one.

Nevertheless, assuming you'll put the TV against a wall, you can easily put a bracket/shelf up on the wall to hold the speaker and aim it slightly downward. You'll probably need to reduce the delay on the center channel slightly if you do that--or increase the delays on all other channels.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

One more thing:
I finally took the plunge and bought the TV from my local Best Buy. They only offered a $300 4-year EW for their RPTVs, so I bit the bullet and got that. I was able to get them to knock off $50 from the TV to get the EW though. So the EW was effectively $250 on a $1700 TV w/ in-home delivery included. Oh, the TV also came w/ a free leather recliner plus ottaman. And I also found out I'll get a $25 gift card for signing up and using their credit card.
Anyway, will have the set delivered next Monday. Can't wait to see LotR on this baby! YUUUUUMMM!!

 

[Chris Chang]

I'm waiting for Preferred Customer Weekend, which is this coming weekend, to get 10% off. I don't know if they'll give me any deals or not with that. 2 questions:
- Is the free recliner only with the 52"? I'll be buying the 47".
- Do they give free in-home delivery or was it because you bought the service plan? I'll probably get the service plan anyway (hopefully I can get them to knock off a few more dollars). It would be great if they did that because I live in an apartment and I'm not bringing that thing in by myself.
Thanks.
EDIT: Oh, and can you please let me know or post what kind of tweaks you do? Like me, you're probably new to all this stuff. Besides doing Avia, I was going to disable SVM and MAYBE try E-focus, although I'm pretty nervous about opening up the TV. I don't know if I'll ever have the courage to enter the service menu.

 

[Scott_AH]

The free recliner is on all Hi-def projections through Saturday. This may be a non-issue to some but I could sleep in that chair.
Scott

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Ha ha! Yeah, the free recliner is for ALL RPTVs as far as I know although I'm not sure about non-HD ones, but then, you're only interested in an HD set.

Also, the free in-home delivery is their current standard offer(!). No need to haggle for that. The only thing I haggled a little for was the extra $50 off when I bought the EW. Everything else came w/ their current promo offer. Not sure though if they will still be valid when your Prefered Customer Weekend kicks in. You should find out if you still get free in-home delivery and the recliner, if you care about that, this coming weekend. Also, you should find out if the price will still be the same this weekend because the $1700 price for the 53" is already discounted by ~$100 from their regular price.

FYI, even if the in-home delivery is not free, I believe it's normally only $40-50, so it's not that big a deal. Of course, that would eat into your 10% savings.

I suggest that if you think the current combined offer is a good deal even w/out the extra 10% off, you should just go buy it now and have it delivered next week. That way, IF the deal still holds this weekend and you find out you can get an extra 10% off, you can probably go back to the store and make them give you the extra 10% off by telling them you want a full refund otherwise. If you don't do that AND the price goes back up to normal (ie. $1600 for the 47" and $1800 for the 53") AND they kill the free delivery and free recliner, then your 10% savings won't make up for the lost deal.

BTW, I have no idea what the price on the 47" is right now. I assume it's ~$1500.

_Man_

PS: The SVM can be diabled via user menu on this year's Panny's. I believe you should only need to open up the TV if you want/need to do E/M-focusing. The service menu settings should be easy enough to do, and there seems to be enough help over in the dedicated Panny forum/site. FWIW, I've tried fiddling w/ the service menu on my old 32" Toshiba before although I was never able to get very far w/ that set.

 

[Chris Chang]

Thanks for all the info. I'm not sure if the 47" is still on sale. It's coming up as $1600 on their site, but then again, so is the 53".

I'm kind of pissed that I didn't just get it last week. They offered $150 off the current sale price if I bought the 3-year service plan. I didn't know about all the other deals. It would have made this a lot easier.

Anyway, I'll call them tomorrow and see what the deal is with PCW and their current offers. Enjoy the 53".

 

[Chris Chang]

*wipes tears from eyes*
Well, I finally bought the 47wx42 today. I still can't believe I'm actually getting it. They're delivering on Monday. Here's the deal I got for a grand total of $1741 from BB:
Panny 47w42
Panny RP-62 DVD player
Monster component cable
3-year EW
Free recliner
Free delivery
Quite a deal. Can't wait!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Congrats! That's a sweeeet deal! How did you get a 3-year EW?? My local BB only had 4-year's for big TVs--it's all preprinted on their standard policy brochure/contract--and they don't seem to haggle much either. Of course, I'm really not a good haggler anyway.
I wonder if these things vary from BB's to BB's.
Anyhoo, can't wait for my delivery tomorrow morning!

 

[Chris Chang]

Whoops. I meant 4-year. They didn't offer anything else. Anyway, I'm pretty excited too. It makes me feel better about all the money I've invested in my DVD collection.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Hey, almost makes we want to go back and haggle some more! So your "grand total" includes sales tax? NY sales tax is 8.25%. :frowning:
Ah well...
Oh, when I spoke to the delivery rep to confirm delivery date/time, she told me to make sure any snow(!) is cleared out for delivery. Didn't realize we were forecast for light snow. How did Murphy's Law go again? :frowning: Might need to keep my fingers crossed... :-p

 

[Chris Chang]

Here in MI, sales tax is only 6%. Not much of a difference, but it's something.
I'm kind of worried about delivery, too. There's a lot of snow and I also live on the 18th floor of an apartment building (There are elevators, of course). I guess it should be easy if they can fit it through the front doors. *crosses fingers*
Btw, I feel kind of guilty having this tv in an apartment building of mostly college students. I mean, most people only have a little 13" tv. Oh well.

 

[Aaron Whitaker]

I got my Panny 47wx42 about 2 weeks ago from Best Buy. I had them price match HH Greggs $1450 sales price, so that took the price down to about $1420 or so with the 10% price match. Delivery was $30 which I was glad I got it because they had a tough time lugging it upstairs and into my apartment. I've already done the Avia calibrations, disabled the SVM in the user menu, and e-focus. E-focus was pretty easy, just took the speaker grill off and undid the front panel cover and removed the glue from the focus dials. I then slid my convergences off of each other so each color could be seen and focused them. Red was really easy, blue is slightly off but I heard blue was a tough one to focus, green is off a little too and I couldn't get it as sharp as the red. I then did the two convergences using a a grid pattern from Avia to make sure everything was right.

I do have a center speaker on the top (light one about 8 pounds), I'll check tonight to see if it causes any sagging.

One question I have though is there are some marks on the screen, not the outside linticular screen but probably on the inside. Is there a way of taking off the back and wiping the screen. I only see them when something light colored like white is shown in that part of the screen. They aren't sharp marks but blurry marks about the size of a nail. SHould I call Best Buy and get them out here before the 30 day replacement? Thanks.