Broon

Went to HN in Rundle Mall Adelaide yesterday. Dealt with Les - top bloke. Given that we dont have Dick Smith Powerhouse in Adelaide, it was difficult to use $2999 as a starting price, but after a good half an hour of haggling, these are the results: 42PV60 $2850 Extended 4yr warranty $300 LG PVR 160gb $850 Toshiba HDMI lead $80 Delivery $20 (to the Adelaide Hills) Arrives tomorrow. Thank you all for your help. Main piece of advice is "be prepared"...get prices from others before going hard for the haggle. Secondly, it is a two way street - let them win as well as you. Yes, I could have been a bit harder on the warranty and the HDMI lead, but I walked away without p*ssing off the retailer, who may be required later on for warranty/something else. Cant wait to play!!

With the price of the Panasonics literally plummeting, it begs the question....what's wrong? I know that a lot of people dont like the styling (I personally prefer silver to the black surrounds that are coming out at the moment), but this is starting to get ridiculous when the 42" PV60 can be bought for less than $2700. Are they moving that slowly in the stores or are Panasonic about to spring upon us an update?

Tony I am looking at the same combo. Where did you get the package from?

Toshiba to Start Selling HD-DVD Recorders in Japan July 14 2006-06-22 01:18 (New York) By Pavel Alpeyev June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Toshiba Corp., whose HD DVD standard for high-definition DVD competes with Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray, will begin selling recorders that use the format for the first time in Japan next month. The machines will be priced at 398,000 yen ($3,465) and will include a 1 terabyte hard drive, the company said in a statement. That's US 3,465 by the way!

Well said Peter....Hear! Hear!

Myer Rundle Mall Adelaide

Let me first say that I know the saying "You get what you pay for" but sometimes you get even less. Myer had advertised a little Sansui DVD 2.1 Home Theatre System. I justed wanted something cheap (and functioning!) for the spare room. Was $179 Now $79.....what a bargain (in hindsight, this was the first light flashing) Went into Myer and the sales guy told that they had been very popular and sold out of the floor stock, but could get one in a couple of days. Sure enough....two days later, ready to pick up. Drove down to the delivery/pick up bay and was handed the box. Well, that should have been the second light flashing. The cardboard board had surrounded in sticky tape - along all edges and gaps. I expect boxes to be sealed appropriately but this was ridiculous. Next light flashing was on each side of the box were little white stickers saying that if this product is not functioning, call Yale Appliance Centre to get a reference number before returning it to the retailer. From a marketing point of view, a great way to instill confidence in the product. The rest of the farce played out as expected....plugged it in, wired up the speakers, load the DVD....and it worked! It is even sounded good and looked good. Turned it off. Went back to it a couple of days later....DVD player doesnt work. I have returned it and Myer gave me my money back, which is fine but it was obvious that someone else had a problem with this thing, returned it and Myer just simply put it back in the box and sold it to some other sucker (ie me!). Moral of the story....dont take delivery of items that look like they have been opened before.

Just looking at this TV at lunch in HN....advertising it for $3500.....great looking picture and not a bad looking set as well

Have been reading a couple of threads on upscaling DVD players. Obviously people are buying HD plasmas and LCDs and they want an upscaling DVD player to get a better picture from existing DVDs. With the HD DVD players coming soon, I have read that they are backward compatible so they will play current DVDs, but has anybody heard whether they will upscale current DVDs? Lots of us have plenty of DVDs. Do we need to have two DVD players - one for current DVDs and one for HD-DVDs? Do we turf out and replace all our existing DVDs when the HD-DVD version comes along (a la LPs/tapes vs CDs)?

David Jones have 15% off Panasonic at the moment. 500A now only $3399......sensational!!

Spotted the 37" MGW version in Radio Rentals in Adelaide today at lunchtime. About $3600. Dr Phil never looked so good!!

Hmmm.... You pay $13990 drive away for an Excel 10 years ago and get say only $2200 trade in today- total loss of $11790. Or, you could have bought a BMW 328i in 1996 for $86000 and today get a trade in price of $18700 - total loss of $63700..... A Corolla - $21990 plus on roads in 1996; today worth $5600 trade in - total loss of $16390..... So who's lost the most money? Well......Excel $13990 to $2200 is a fall in price of 84%, BMW $86000 to $18700 is a fall of 78% and Corolla $21990 to $5600 is a fall of 74%

Thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations, Josh. Just had one question regarding how DVDs look on the screen, given that it's not an upscaling DVD and the resolution on the TV is higher than what the DVD player is outputting. Cheers

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Announces First Wave of 20 Blu-ray Disc Titles BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. & LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 4, 2006 Continuing its unwavering support for the Blu-ray format, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced today the first wave of feature films to be released by the studio on the much-anticipated new Blu-ray Disc (BD) platform. The broad range of titles chosen will optimally demonstrate the next generation format's superior high-definition audio and visual elements. The initial titles in development include such action-packed blockbusters as FANTASTIC FOUR, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, BEHIND ENEMY LINES and KISS OF THE DRAGON, the CGI-animated comedy ICE AGE along with many others that will bring Fox's total number of first wave releases to 20 titles. The company plans to debut its initial line-up of BD titles to coincide with the Blu-ray hardware launches in North America, Japan and Europe in 2006. Twentieth Century Fox will also plan simultaneous releases of its films on BD and DVD as the format takes hold and household penetration grows. "Blu-ray is the superior high definition technology that fully delivers on the promise of a next generation format and represents the bright future of home entertainment," noted Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. "The release of our films on Blu-ray will provide consumers with in-home entertainment beyond anything they have imagined." Fox's commitment to emerging technologies is dedicated to enhancing the consumer experience of its products and providing for backward compatibility with their existing home entertainment libraries while also aggressively protecting its intellectual property from piracy. The Blu-ray member companies fully embrace the Studio's steadfast commitment to the fight against piracy and the preservation of the integrity of its properties. Twentieth Century Fox joined the Board of Directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association in 2004 and remains an active contributor to the formats continuing development. What a surprise....no mention about Australia!