Honey, this IS a necessity
Written: Apr 22 '03
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Pros: Wide-screen, viewing Angle, space conservation, HDTV, SUPER SIZE, colors.
Cons: Price, Lifespan, Heat, Finding the excuse to say "honey we need this"
The Bottom Line: The novelty will ware off.
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| oneazn2nv's Full Review: Fujitsu Plasmavision PDS-5001 50 in. Plasma TV |
Intro:
I never thought in my life I would ever own one of these flat screen plasma TV's. Well I don't own it, but I do sit by it 8 hours a day. So this review comes completely from the perspective of a person who is pretty common when it comes to Television stuff. I know all there is to know (well at least I think I do) about computer monitors and hardware and stuff, but here, plasma screens I'm not an expert. I'm just someone who gets to use one.
Pros:
1. Super-sized: large enough for anyone to enjoy.
2. Viewing angle: The viewing angle is 180 degrees. It's different than an LCD flat-screen or projection screen where you have to view it at a certain angle, (like straight on) for the colors to be accurate.
3. Colors: Amazing amount of colors that this thing can do.
4. Weight: Not too bad, in comparison to large screen TV's. This advantage is simply because it is a flat screen TV.
5. Space conservation: it doesn't take as much space as a Television screen that is the same size, and you can put it up on a wall. However, it is too heavy for just putting on the wall with a nail, you'd have to reinforce it or something with bolts.
6. HDTV and Computer monitor ready: You can hook up your monitor to this bad boy and play counterstrike the way it was meant to be played. (Well I've never done it at work cuz I could get fired and it's a little hard to hide that, but imagine the possibilities)
7. Hard to steal: =P Hard to steal from any work environment, it's heavy enough to require 2 people to pick it up and take it out.
Cons:
1. Heat: this puppy generates lots of heat, there are many fans on the back (granted they are quiet ones) and on a hot day I don't think it would be fun to watch this TV. You can actually see the heat rising from the top of it.
2. Durability: We left this on at work for 3 days straight without turning it off (watching CNN) and it was in a windowed version of a live connection, so the windowed part never changed. It burned a somewhat permanent image on the screen that you can see if you're standing far enough away from it. It only took 3 days so I'm thinking it's not as durable as a computer monitor.
3. Inputs: There's an input for a monitor, but no input for SVGA cables. Also the speakers are connected with speaker wires, so you couldn't plug in computer speakers to it without cheating. But I guess you'd be able to hook up your sound system to it easier.
4. No front inputs: If you want to plug anything into the monitor, you have to do it from behind, you can't plug them in from underneath, from front, the top or sides, only from the back.
5. No TV tuner: It doesn't come with a TV tuner, it's mostly meant for Digital Cable and computer monitors.
6. Cost: It costs anywhere between eight thousand and ten thousand dollars. I don't think a television set is worth quite that much no matter how big it is.
7. Hard to steal: You can't stick it in your back pocket and walk out of the workplace without being noticed. =P
8. Aesthetics: It doesn't have much aesthetic value. There's nothing special that makes you think, hm... I want this flat screen TV. It's got a boring Grey carbon fiber look to it and is pretty basic looking. I'm sure they'll make these more stylized in the future. For now, it's too boring.
Rating time
Price: 3/10
Too pricey when you can get 2 or 3 working cars for the same amount you need to evaluate whether or not this is a necessity.
Features: 4/10
It is a very Basic Monitor / HDTV screen, it doesn't have cool features like "dual monitor" like the new flat screen monitors from Viewsonic. It also doesn't have a built in TV tuner. It basically sucks for features. But it does have the redeeming wide screen =)
Game-play: 10/10
It turns on and off fairly quickly unlike a computer screen, which takes about 20 seconds to warm up a bit, this screen is a quick on quick off.
Sound: N/A
It all depends on what speakers or sound system you purchase with this, which means extra money, but it also means you can customize a really really nice sound system for this. (But it's kinda true for all TV sets.)
Durability: 2/10
"It will last a year" Most likely it will last 5 years and then the plasma inside will be mostly burnt out, so it wouldn't be a permanent fixture at home. I'm actually not sure how long it will last, we've had this in our workplace for about a month and it already has been victim to burn in, so it all depends on how often you use it. My best advice to you on this is that you wait about 5 years, if no one has any complaints about the screens durability and lifespan, then it would be okay to buy it, the price is not worth the risk.
Picture quality: 10/10
Absolutely the best picture I have seen before on a large screen TV. It's HDTV ready and looks great when hooked up to a computer. There was no holding back on making the picture quality absolutely the best possible.
Overall: 29/50
When you decide you want to buy one, wait a month, just to be certain. This is a decision not to be taken lightly. In my humble opinion, this is not a necessary piece of equipment, but if you're gonna buy a 50" screen; buy this one instead of a projection screen because both are heavy on the wallet.
I will Update every now and then with how well it holds up. Don't worry, I'll update more frequently that 5 years =).
-Oneazn2nv
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
oneazn2nv
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Location: Castro Valley, CA, USA
Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 3 members
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