Panasonic tx-p65vt30b available for 2.5k ex display-would you??

What specs of the VT30 will you miss in ST50? ST50 is superior to the VT30 in performance. If you want more features, VT50 is an option but expensive.

If it was my money, I would go for a brand new, guaranteed ST50, rather than a used VT30. No brainer IMO.

Thanks for all the opinions guys. I was in the store again today. Still at the same price and the deal just the same. Like you all say it would be a wiser choice to not buy on impulse. I am going to cool off over the festive period and see if there are any deals to be had in the Jan sales. 

 

A very merry xmas to you all 

John

Local retailer has now knocked a further £500 off the price to £2000 still with 1 yr warranty.  Called hispek, they are selling the above for £2000 too but would require me to go to store to pay and there would be a £60 delivery up here to Scotland, he then went on to add that if I was down I might as well pick up too....

 

Have called the local retailer this am to ask if they could find out the hours on the display model too. I am going to have a further google about to see what other Scottish retailers have to offer.  

Any Povs/opps welcome

 

John

I would not buy an ex-display model even at that price. The TV would not have been run in properly, as the shop would've kept it running in "dynamic" setting which isn't good for the TV.

That is wild speculation on both the shop and that dynamic is bad for a TV. Despite what you may read there are one or two of us who have half a clue as to what we are doing.

Hello John,

I'm glad that you didn't buy anything in the immediate post-Christmas period! Like everyone else, I would steer well clear of a 2011 ex-display 65VT30. As bigboss says, you can't tell how it has been used. For similar money (even if the VT30 has been reduced by £500), the 2012 Panasonic 65ST50 is certainly the knees of the bees. You might want to read these two reviews of the 65ST50:

http://www.avforums.com/review/Panasonic-ST50-TX-P50ST50B-P42ST50B-P55ST50B-P65ST50B-65-Inch-3D-Plasma-TV-Review.html

and

http://www.trustedreviews.com/panasonic-tx-p65st50_TV_review

Note this quote from the first review "Minor niggles aside, for around £2,500 the P65ST50 is delivering truly large screen pictures of an extremely high quality with a price-tag that would have been unthinkable even five years ago. The only ‘problem’ we foresee for Panasonic is that it’s so good that it might take away sales from their 65inch VT50." 

And note this quote from the second review "The depth and purity of the black level performance from the P65ST50 feels pretty much in line with if not slightly better than the black level performance of last year’s flagship VT30 Panasonic plasmas. Plus it beats the black level efforts of any LED TV into a cocked hat and even, yes, its blacks appear to get deeper than that of Pioneer’s final released KURO generation."

So, the black level of the 2012 65ST50 is slightly better than even the acclaimed black level of the 2011 65VT50, which everyone in mid-2011 said was so wonderful. And to answer bigboss's question

directly : the VT30 had THX certification, more extensive picture calibration tools, and Freesat. I don't think the first two matter too much, and if you do need Freesat, you can buy a separate Freesat receiver or recorder for about £250 at most. Lastly in favour of the 65ST50 over the 65VT30, one factor that NOBODY ever seems to mention is weight. The 65VT30 weighs 56 kg without desktop stand, or 63 kg with stand. The 65ST50 weighs 38kg without stand, or 43.5kg with stand. The 65ST50 is about 18kg lighter, almost the weight of an easyJet suitcase.

I'm not sure where in Scotland you are, but if you come to the capital, about 5 minutes' walk (even allowing for those accursed tramworks) away from Haymarket station you will find a very well-equipped shop which will happily sell you home cinema receivers, loudspeakers, and displays, including an ex-display Panasonic 65ST50 for £1799, with a five-year gurantee and four pairs of 3D glasses. I believe it's the last model that they have, until the 2013 models come out.

Make no mistake, if someone gave me the 65VT30 I would say "Thank you very much" but I wouldn't pay about £2,000 for a 2011 television. DO NOT buy it.

 

Thanks guys, Further update... Requested the hrs from the retailer-3867hrs and sold with 5yr warranty. I thought that the hrs were quite high....  Any other thoughts??

3867hrs, hmmm, let's see. The 65VT30 was released in about mid-2011, so let's say it's been around for 18 months. So accumulating 3867hrs in 18 months is approximately (without a calculator) 200 or more hours per month, which is SEVEN hours per day, every day. That would be quite high for a domestic television (I would say that my televisions are each on for only about three hours a day, maximum) but entirely understandable if it's been switched on in a shop for about eight hours per day even on a six-day week.

It's your money. (Nearly) everyone on this thread has told you not to buy it. And especially as there is the last 65ST50 available for quite a bit less money, I just can't understand your continuing attraction for the 65VT30, even if it was a reference product 18 months ago. Things move on, and the 65ST50 is slightly better, cheaper, and 18kg lighter, significantly lacking only a Freesat tuner compared to the 65VT30.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Thanks so of sj. 

 

The local screen is beginning to loose it's appeal, have made enquiries with the Edinburgh store and may go through for a look, they are getting back to me regarding the hrs,  

Thanks 

John

Thanks everyone for their opinions and views.  Delighted with my tv. In the end went through to Edinburgh and picked up the st50.

 

John