Not for watching television
Written: Aug 11 '03
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Pros: The way it looks on the wall, the amount of inputs.
Cons: Picture quality, heat.
The Bottom Line: May be good for computer presentations. This is not something your going to want to watch regular television programs on.
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| AndreO's Full Review: Gateway PLSM42TV 42 in. EDTV-Ready Plasma TV |
I will cut straight to the chase on this review instead of giving any background to how I ended up with this tv.
First, This is the best packaged product that I've seen in a very long time. It may be the best packaged period. The box is very sturdy and easy for two people to transport. You will need two people to work with this tv as it weighs in at 110 LBS with the box and 70 without. Opening the box is easy as well. And unpacking everything from the box is also just as easy.
Once the television is out you have the option of using the included (and already installed stands) or using a wall mount kit. If you go the wall mount kit route setup is still very easy.
The television has every connector on it that you can think of, less BNC connecter and firewire. You have (from memory) VGA, S-Video, RCA, Component, and DVI. So the chances of you not being able to connect a component to this television is very slim. However, connecting components to the television once it's on the wall can be pain. There's not a lot of room between the television and the wall to get your hand up to the recessed jacks. Also jack lables are not viewable from the bottom of the television.
The television feels very solid and I didn't notice any rattling, or loose parts on the outside. The frame of the tv seems solid and well made.
But this is where the nice part of this television ends.
Lets talk about what you would really buy this tv for... The picture quality.
The one thing that I noticed right off the bat with this tv was how it handled colors. It seems to have a problem with a smooth transition of some colors from light to dark. So if you were looking at a face, around the cheek area there would not be a smooth transition from the tip of the cheek back to the rest of the face. It reminded me of when windows would come up with only 16 colors instead of 65,000. I found this problem with all sources including, DVD (progressive scan), S-Video, High Definition (over the air), DirecTV, X-Box and Playstation 2. They all had the same problem with some colors (mostly darker colors). I found this to be unacceptable even for a plasma priced as low as this was.
Another problem that I found with this set was after doing adjustments to sharpness, color, tint, and contrast. One of the first rules to longer tv life and less problems with burn-in is to turn down the contrast. Well, as some sets are setup from the factory, this one had the contrast set to 100. The problem was that if you bumped the contrast down the picture was almost unwatchable. Taking the contrast down to even 90 resulted in a very dark picture (rear projection sets that I've had in the past were normally set to about 40 and still gave a bright picture that you could watch with the lights on or with the shades open). With that said, this tv runs hot. And with the contrast up as high as it has to be I just didn't feel comfortable that this was going to last very long before burning out. It will be interesting to see if complaints about dead models start rolling in after a couple of years.
This television also has built in speakers. However they are a waste and I didn't use them for longer then 10 minutes. I have wind-up, crank powered AM/FM radios at home with equal sound.
I think where this set would shine is with PC displays. I didn't go to the trouble of hooking up my computer to it. But the computer that was hooked up to the demo in the store looked great.
If for some reason you still want to try out the Gateway plasma even after reading the reviews. Here are some things to watch out for:
The Gateway stores are not allowed to let you try your own material on the tv's when demo'ing them. They won't even let you try your own DVD's on the TV.
I've read reports from people who purchased from the website that wanted to return it that had to pay for shipping back. No suprise there, but keep in mind how much this tv weighs.
If you purchased the tv in the store, you cannot return it to the store. The have to have someone come out to inspect the television and then a second party deliver it back to Gateway. However the wall mount has to be returned to the store.
Actually receiving your money back takes a long time. I kept very good records of who I spoke with and when. I also know what happened on what dates. In my case, the television was returned to Gateway on the 3rd of the month. I didn't receive a credit until the 7th of the following month.
There is a virtual maze that you have to navigate through to find a customer service rep. The toll free number for Gateway uses every number on almost every menu that you get to. There will be 4 or five menus that you will have to navigate through to find a rep.
Finally, even though they don't mention it in the store. Even though it's not posted anywhere. Even though it's not any receipts that you may receive. There is a 15% restock fee in the case that you don't like the television. And pointing out the fact that nowhere does it say anything about a restock fee to customer service does no good. They are very hard nosed about this.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 2999.99
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Epinions.com ID:
AndreO
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Member: Andre Outlaw
Location: Saint Charles, Iowa
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 3 members
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