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Old thread but since it is dedicated to PANASONIC TH-50PZ800A I thought I would update My TV just died with weird defect EVERYTHING works except actual picture images Black screen. OSD, letterbox, guide, sound etc all work Even service mode works telling me all boards are OK Same for all inputs (not aerial issue) Supposedly it is A board Pulled off back had a look, removed A5 to D5 cable a common issue but white screen without cable, black with cable in. Had to get technician out. Never seen this issue, supposedly quite a good model. Made the old $200 for part, $180 for labour. Bummer, as it is getting close to what this model is worth now I am currently trying to find a replacement board and do it myself as it is about 8 screws and 8 plugs. There seems to be second hand parts from broken screen models around and overseas dont fit (it contains aerial) If anyone knows where to get parts,has blown their model and wants to sell me a board let me know or if anyone has had this issue

Issue 1 I also watch 'downloaded" movies via a similar panasonic HDD. yes is does not see all movies , but mine sees most no expert on video formats, containers, codecs etc but this should help Does not have to be DIVX format to work, in fact downloaded files with divx suffix dont seem to, avi's work If it comes up as "video clip" in "type" on your PC it should work. 90% anyway The others i convert using the free converter from DIVX own site.(see your manual) It is a terrible convertor / GUI and reduces the quality/size, is very slow but they ALL work . I havent bothered to use another convertor but I should PS avi's loaded via dvd tray work exactly the same as those loaded via usb Issue 2 not noticed any buffering issues via DLNA to my lappy or netbook, both via wireless Issue 3 Not quite sure what you mean by 3+1.?? I have had this issue though which may help. I have set up to record a show then I look at the guide few days later and guide has changed by a minute or 2 and my little recording symbol is gone (still in list of timer recordings i realised later) so i then press ok twice to record the "show in its new time slot" and both will then record at their respective overlapping times. two unique recording. Deleting one did not delete other though. It is really hard to record same show twice Are you managing them through timer recording?

Will be playing Top Spin 4 (I love a tennis game, TS 3 sucked so I hope they learnt from EA grand slam) and Lego Star Wars 3 later this week, can't wait. Anyone already playing them or anything else good?

Wiispeak What is it good for? Wii speak is kinda like the first phone. Whats the point if you have the only one! There are probably ten games which use it, Off hand that would be the Conduit, endless Ocean, Animal Crossing MH3 plus the default ability to send voice messages via the wii to friends, cute but rarely used. I got this to use with Monster hunter as it was only $15 bucks at Dick Smith but alas almost no one uses it, preferring the anonimity or perhaps more likely universal lanquage of the keyboard. FYI Most people on MH3 seem to be german at the time I play. To use you must register a friend in game, they agree, than the wii speak cuts in. I did quest with one supposedly mature player (who never spoke) but his mum came and told him to go to bed as it was a school night lol. It may be like that great XMAS concept of giving your BFF a walkie talkie so you can communicate whenever. That never works and the same applies here. Even at $15 (bargain bin in DSE now) sadly it is a waste as your friend needs one and also needs same game. I wanted to try it out on Endless ocean 2, but could not get a friend on, same for MH3, rarely on at same time, etc, etc etc Once again Nintendo has come up with a good concept, just did not do the Market research to find out if people would actually buy and use it Oh yeah and the sound sucks, its like talking down a long echoey tube.

Its all about Monster Hunter tri I have usually been trying more than 3 games a month on the Wii over the last few years. It has given me a good understanding of what constitute a good game or not. It all comes down one game Monster Hunter tri If you have not bought this game , please do. It is the right combination of jump on and play to being really hard to master. If you will not play online ever than maybe it will have limited appeal It s across between World of warcraft, because of it almost endless combinations of materials to get to just make you armor or sword one better. Sometimes you know 5 seconds before you get hit you will, but there is nothing you can do as you are winding up for a hit But unlike WOW it is also a third person hack and slash game where skill ultimately plays a part in winning every battle, not your level which is only an indicator of the battles you have won, not how powerful you are It has some frustrations The game has purposely built in lag to every sword slash or side step, depending of the size of our weapon (some are twice as big as you) causing me much button mashing waiting for the split second when a move can be performed (my personal gaming weakness built from a young age playing Space invaders) You also must use the web wikia to find out where to get a certain ingredient, monsters moves, weakness, etc I have spent over 50 hours looking for skills, answers Also any game that comes with its own controller is a worry, MH3 does need a lot of buttons for menus, item switching and the extra joystick may be a godsend as you need to constantly move the camera but I have used wiimote exclusively perhaps to my detriment It has a low frame rate that comes with suiting all players online You also need a USB keyboard for effective online play The game uses Wiispeak, it was traded from the japanese version which allows for 12 players to join. PS the wiispeak sucks, read next post on that Other that its all good. The monster have beautiful detail and realism The progression required to beat tougher monsters just keeps pace with getting more powerful weapons and armor. Online you hook up with up to 3 other players and away you go, allowing for noobs to hide whilst the other three do all the work. But aha, certain quests need you to initiate, so very few amass great weapons without the associated monster hunting skills. Yes teh more you play teh more you can tell what monster are about to do From beating a low level monster that takes you the full 50 minutes, all quest are capped at that, then coming back 100 hundred hours later all juiced up and beating it with 8 well placed hits. The top monsters can still own you in matter of minutes even when maxed out in your chosen departments (hundreds of possibilities) There is no better wii game online, mario kart is a distant second and MH3 does not seem to suffer from code cheats Anyway, I tried this game unaware of how good it could be and highly recommend it when it comes to longevity.

Cheers Lance. I had no idea they did not record to DVD RU sure about the ext HDD seeing they offered free external HDD's when they were released Or was that sneaky marketing? Panny always has that extra section for programming the main buttons from any brand, shame others don't it would seem. Thanks for the feedback, looks like the panasonics do everything (but 3D)

Why would I buy a panny over the LG bluray HDD, about part from bluray recording of course as it is a fair bit cheaper Does the LG work perfectly with the panny vierra link?

Forgot about this great thread, it has been a good one Of course there are many sites that give reviews, this is just a different opinion FYI on a few games I have played in the last few months Rugby League It has all the teams which is great, commentary is one of the actual commentators, but its poor cousin to FIFA. Still fun, but learning curve for friends to play casually is too high. Supposedly you can play eight players, 4 wiimotes plus four gamecube controllers which sounds fun. If you like rugby league you will buy it. I couldnt help but win the state of origin and teh world cup a few times but it took a while monster hunter tri. It is a game with a long history of fans. It reminds me of World of Warcraft. There is always more food, ore, monsters to kill which makes it engaging. The game gives you massive weapons (Great sword, Lance, Hammer, Crossbow) but then slows you attacks down so much it is frustrating. Supposedly that is the appeal of the game, learning to preempt, LEARN the monsters moves, thoughts, give an almighty slash, block, step and repeat. Also the camera angle constantly needs to be manually changed (like on occasion in mario galaxy) as the monster is in front of you, you slash it, it runs by, many times you need to run for cover before you need to turn around quick but drag the camera to see if you are being chased. But I have been drawn into playing this game a lot, completed many quests, got lots of money and upgrading my armour, weapons and beaten (and captured) the first real monster of which there are many which took many attempts but is now fairly easy. I have stuck with the sword (the worst option in the long run supposedly) which is quick and you can run with it, other must be put away to run. Working the combos is key. Luckily you can pop out to the forest anytime and practice against herbivores, and weaker monsters. This game comes with a gamecube style controller, never a good sign as it indicates it does not do so well with the Wii and need the two joysticks for the camera issue This game really shines with its online component, you can easily go on quests together with up to three online friends or offline with another saved file, meaning you can level up another file for a friend to join you on a friendly quest which is handy. This game provides some of the most longevity of any Wii game I can think off. Lego Harry Potter Same old same old but lego are still one of the best co op games around. Feels a bit more like sandbox game but I rate this the worst of the series, more spell optins, but this one is a bit more annoying with lots of draggging things around with the wand, locking on is a bit off with things passing in front and early on there is little difference between the main characters. And of course the frustrating thing with all lego games, you can only save when you finish the stage, which can be 10 to up to 25 minutes, delaying the kids bedtime. Played a few others but obviously havent rated

Quick review of pokemon rumble Good for the kids A very easy game to get into but as it progresses your skill level and smarts come into play recommend it for the kids (or pokemon fans) I breezed through to win the first Battle Royal Rank C in about 30 minutes the bosses are easy to start off, stand and deliver and you will outlast them But is does get harder and switching pokemon in and out with the right weapons does become important as ranking increases My daughter informs me it is similar to DS Pokemon Mystery dungeon games. and yes this game could easily exist on a DS It is a top down walk and shoot one or two weapons game with the only other option to switch pokemon in and out that you capture(time does not stop when switching increases the difficulty) 1500 points is a bit high (N64 games like super mario64 which have better value and longevity) But it is perfect for the right age bracket, I would say 8-12 and it is multiplayer and of course the old "gotta catch em all" philosophy which is where the longevity exists but without trading to other games or friends, whats the point. Oh yeah I forgot I am not 10.

Log on to the wii store and search for "most popular" that will find you the free stuff quickly it will show how many points you need "0 points" and follow the prompts Use about 20- 50 megabytes as a guide to determine how long download takes I think there are about 6 of them, not sure of they all fit in Wii memory, back up to SD

Nintendo has a few freebie Wiiware trial downloads for the Wii ATM Pokemon Rumble etc On that note I really hate the downloading percentage status Nintendo use. 3 blocks, grrrr! I can only watch a mario bro run across the screen so many times

Well that reallly bites then, what brand?

Skip the official one (see previous posts) type "wii component" into ebay Heres one for less than $5!!!! http://cgi.ebay.com.au/AV-Audio-Video-Comp...=item3efb9e0c4c

FYI Wii guitars are not compatible with both rockband and guitar hero There are several sites that mention what works and what doesnt, thrird party ones are the best I recommend the les paul

Sounds like we have all established that any cable will do.

Has any one played the new "my body shape" (with the webcam) or the new lego indy 2 (any differences from previous lego games)

IMO gold plated are better as they don't tarnish and you will get a better connection overall but any old connector will work, if you can tell the difference I will eat my wii and if you ever notice a bad signal a twist will do the trick, Try not to touch connectors when you plug it in

wii guitar is $48 delivered on catch a day ($44 for second one) still available from a few days ago

I bought the cheapest ones I could on Ebay (sorted from cheapest to dearest) can't remember now, maybe $13 delivered from asia a year ago Yes I could instantly see a better picture. I would say 20% sharper best investment ever

As for classic controller IMO they are a poor investment. I have many games but have never required a classic controller IMO wireless gamecube controllers a much better option. It usually applies to the same games and has more varied uses and cheaper (second hand new on ebay) and of course you can play classic gc games on the wii (mario kart double dash, Kelly slater surf, buffy, American truckers, powerpuff girls (well maybe not that many classics )

Well kids will kill you if they dont get their own save game slots If you are serious you can transfer save file to an SD then PC that way you can have as many save files as you like It is annoying to transfer back and forwards though. At least do this once before clearing files if you have concerns

Been playing a few games lately An odd one called free runningor "parkour" where you run around and jump of ledges and roll and flip etc. like in quantum od Solace its a good concept, the game plays like a dave mirra or skate, its is sweet when you link several moves and find a new jump spot but longevity was not that high for me Just played Wiifit plus, It pulled across all my Wiifit data. extra games are fun and more of them, I liked the snow ball fighting, you step out from behind a barrier using the wiifit soccer goalie method and use the wiimote to target opposition. Cycling was fun and hard, stepping as fast as possible. It has multiplayer now, so that helps. But alas for actual fitness it still falls short as you cannot easily just say "make me work for 30 minutes" and off you go, must create workouts. back to My Personal Trainer, it has definitely help get fitter Ashes 2009, felt very PC, always struggled with games where there is a random element such as player makes a miraculous catch, next time they drop it, grrr. Use of wiimote is as you would expect. I hear "CRICKET" is coming soon, we shall see. Of course every match takes a while, derrrr Played Ulimate Alliance 2, same old same old, better graphics on other consoles would help or an online co op. Game says it has online but this is only to upload scores, sneaky Cloudy with a Chance of meatballs. OK but repetitive as you would expect from a movie tie in. Not really multiplayer as second person always the same sidekick And a few other games i have forgotton already, playing mario and sonic at winter olympics this weekend, should be fun

Catchaday was selling wii's for $249 and ds's for $99 a few days ago, (only 100 or so) recommend becoming a member so you are in the loop when they happen. I have not been able to get onto Catchaday server when midday hits from work PC, but is a bargain if you can

What a crock! My wireless nunchucks don't work with motion plus (please connect nunchuck) Be warned!!

I am OK with 7PLUS as well Does that mean we would also get PRIMEPLUS?