Hitachi 42pd960dta - Anyone Got One?

[metal beat]

Also is it the same as the Cnet editors choice in Asia 42PD9800TA??

Looks exectly the same, except the Aussie model does not mention Picture Master HD11 picture

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0...9786042p,00.htm

[diesel]

Hi fellow Hitachi owners.

My brother is steering towards buying one of these in the next week or so. Does anybody have any prices better than $2500 and is there any known issues with these panels???

[vtrvtr]

Also is it the same as the Cnet editors choice in Asia 42PD9800TA??

Looks exectly the same, except the Aussie model does not mention Picture Master HD11 picture

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0...9786042p,00.htm

Had mine for about a month... love it! AFAIK it is the same as the 9800, except with the digital tuner optimised for Aus. Remember reading on these forums that the 960 also has HD11.

[diesel]

Had mine for about a month... love it!

What made you choose the PD960 over the PD900 model? Was it just that it was a newer model? How much did you get yours for roughly?

[Bilby]

Hi

I've been doing the rounds as well, looking at what is on offer in the 42" range and I've decided to go with the Hitachi PD960DTA. There are four local retailers who carry the model - JBHiFi, Bing Lee, Harvey Normans & Joyce Mayne. So far JBHiFi have it listed in their catalogue for $2493, which everyone else will beat, but by how much I don't know yet. Had a quick haggle with a young bloke at JBHiFi late yesterday afternoon, he would drop the price to $2390 but wanted $500 for 5Y extended warranty. Got him to drop the warranty down to $400, but I still think there is more room to move.

As far as extended warranties go, is JBHiFi's the best of the bunch? I know from another post that Woopsy got one in April from JBHiFi for $2600 including the 5Y warranty, surely with the end of the finacial year coming up, would $2500 (or lower) be a realistic price?

Your opinions please.

[diesel]

I paid $400 for the extra 4 years for my Panny 50PX600 back in October, but that was on a sale price of $4100 for the plasma. Rule of thumb I thought was about 10% of purchase price for extended warranty. For $2300, I would expect to pay $220-$250 for extra 4 years.

Bit off topic but JB have "No Lemon Guarentee" in their warranty

[vtrvtr]

What made you choose the PD960 over the PD900 model? Was it just that it was a newer model? How much did you get yours for roughly?

went for the 960 cause it was a good looking set with a great picture, paid $2375 for mine, also like having the SD card input for photos... really handy!

[Guest tobes06]

I went for this model as well - thanks to fellow owners for their reply to my previous thread, which gave me the confidence to take the plunge.

I must say we are extremely pleased with our purchase. Had it a couple of weeks now, and it continues to blow us away. When it first arrived, my wife sat there looking at it impressively, before we'd even tuned any channels in, or turned it on! She commented to a friend on the phone 'I'm sitting here watching it with nothing on!' (she meant the tv was off, but it bought howls of laughter from our friend, who thought she was naked!)

Anyway, the picture quality, sound and aesthetics of the set combine to make us very happy campers.

Got it for 2400 delivered from our local Hardly Normal. We are in a country area, about an hours drive from any competition (Bing Lee, JB, etc) They could do it slightly cheaper but wanted to hit fairly hard with delivery, so the HN deal was as good as any. I'm sure you could do better in a metrop area.

I could certainly recommend this model to anyone who has it on their shortlist. We are stoked with it.

[LeeH]

I too bought the 42PD960DTA on Saturday, and though it is very early days we are very happy with it.

I've been keen on it for a while (well actually I was keen on the 880/890), but missed the boat savingwise last time, so decided to get it this year.

For those who are interested, I've been tracking the price in Sydney for the past 3 months, and its been up and down a bit. On special at JB, then at Bing Lee, then back up a couple of 100 dollars etc. I'm a bit of a scrooge, and really didn't want to pay a cent more than I had to, and since I saw the previous one I had wanted for $2100 much earlier in the year, I just dug in my heels and decided to wait until the 960 was on runout special.

Then I came across an oldish article, which made me reconsider how long I could wait to purchase it. In a nutshell, the article was announcing Hitachi building a new plant in the Czech Republic for flatscreen production of LCD and Plasma to meet growing global demand - and that they would be in production mid 2007...

(Many sources now, try Hitachi + Czech in Google)

While I'm pleased about the increase in production, I'd really prefer a tried and true product made in an established environment, than the first new model from a new factory. If there are going to be teething problems, or quality control issues I don't want it to be on my plasma.

I've also been monitoring the Hitachi Australia website, and had noticed that now only the 42PD960DTA and the 50PD960DTA are listed as current model, which made be wonder if the new stuff will be rolling in sooner rather than later.

Last pay, we decided to go ahead, so I starting ringing around for availability, and in Sydney at least, not a lot are in stock.

The best price I could haggle was at Clive Peeters, and that was $2250 - and he had to get managerial approval for that, since he was trying to beat a Bing Lee price I'd gotten 2 days earlier.

Interesting to note, I rang 4 Bing Lee's and got 4 widely different prices, and none of them had it in stock... Clive Peeters in Sydney had 3. We picked it up, which saved on delivery (Note to others, unless you have a huge station wagon and the ability to remove your rear seat, don't try this, the thing is huge and keeping it upright wouldn't be possible in a lot of vehicles)

I also bought a cheapish glass stand to stash it and the associated amp/dvd/cd player on, which was an additional $430, so I don't think it contributed to the cost of the Hitachi in any great way.

I'm now hunting down settings for it, for once it has been on for a while and has settled in.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else has any information about new model availability and manufacture location. Neither the JB, Bing Lee nor Clive Peeters staff had any information about upcoming models.

Regards Lee

Edited June 27, 2007 by LeeH

[Bilby]

Hi all

I took the plunge as well and picked mine up today from my local Joyce Mayne for $2500 including the extended warranty for an additional four years over the manufacturers one year. Set it up to surprise my wife and kids when they got home this afternoon. Looks good straight out of the box, but I would also like to hear from others as to what they find are the best picture settings. Just need to get an upscaling HDMI DVD player to do the panel justice.

[vazzwells]

... The best price I could haggle was at Clive Peeters, and that was $2250 - and he had to get managerial approval for that, since he was trying to beat a Bing Lee price I'd gotten 2 days earlier...

I purchased one on the weekend for my sister, negotiated $2250 at Clive Peters (with store manager approval also) warranty to bring it up to 5 years was around $500 think (discounted slightly)... with no lemon policy.

[logatron]

I purchased one on the weekend for my sister, negotiated $2250 at Clive Peters (with store manager approval also) warranty to bring it up to 5 years was around $500 think (discounted slightly)... with no lemon policy.

Ok so it seems a few people have the 42pd960dta. I'm really happy with mine but i have a few issues i would like to know if anyone else has. In a previous thread someone mentioned channel switching times. It takes my set about 7 seconds before the chosen channel appears on the screen. This seems like an excessive wait.

Secondly, occasionally, usually during periods of poorer reception, the audio completely drops out from the tv signal. It can only be fixed by turning the set off and then on again. When this occurs, audio can still be heard from other inputs, if i switch to DVD for example. It is just the Tuner audio that is affected.

Anyone able to shed any light on these? I can only assume that i have a dodgy tuner.

log

[-geejay-]

Ok so it seems a few people have the 42pd960dta. I'm really happy with mine but i have a few issues i would like to know if anyone else has...

...occasionally, usually during periods of poorer reception, the audio completely drops out from the tv signal. It can only be fixed by turning the set off and then on again. When this occurs, audio can still be heard from other inputs, if i switch to DVD for example. It is just the Tuner audio that is affected.

Anyone able to shed any light on these? I can only assume that i have a dodgy tuner.

May not necessarily be a dodgy tuner though.

Audio dropouts are commonly experienced when reception of digital television is slightly below par, (and DTV is considerably more critical in this respect compared to analogue TV). Note that instead of turning the set off then on again, briefly changing channels can sometimes restore normal operation when a dropout occurs.

But a more effective solution will obviously be required if this is a continuing and frequent problem. The first step would be to check the condition of the antenna & its associated cabling. Sometimes problems can be simply rectified by removing unused antenna splitters etc. Other scenarios could involve a better antenna location, or a newer high-gain antenna, or perhaps even a masthead amplifier. But check the simpler aspects first.

[woospy]

It takes my set about 7 seconds before the chosen channel appears on the screen. This seems like an excessive wait.

Log, with my 960 (which I've bought 4 months ago), it takes about 7-10 seconds for the image to appear from a cold start but switching channels takes about 2-4 seconds, but sometimes a bit more if the reception is average, especially with the windy conditions we've had in Brissie lately. As Geejay said before, it may be a signal strength or bad reception problem. We have had a new aerial put in last year and have had brilliant reception since then.

good luck mate.

[logatron]

Log, with my 960 (which I've bought 4 months ago), it takes about 7-10 seconds for the image to appear from a cold start but switching channels takes about 2-4 seconds, but sometimes a bit more if the reception is average, especially with the windy conditions we've had in Brissie lately. As Geejay said before, it may be a signal strength or bad reception problem. We have had a new aerial put in last year and have had brilliant reception since then.

good luck mate.

thanks for the help people. i live in south melbourne and our reception is pretty poor. i had to turn the tv off and on again every 2 minutes last night while watching the wimbledon final! changing channels doesn't seem to correct the issue.

i also rent so no real chance for me to upgrade the aerial. before the digital tv we could hardly see channel 9 and even now i still dont receive SBS, the tv guy said it was to do with the tall buildings in the city causing multiple reflections, plus the distance from the towers, but its obvious the aerial is lacking.

i'll stick with DVD's for entertainment for the moment.

regards

log

[jbl540]

i just picked up a 42 inch model. Does anyone know how to output the sound from the tuner to an external amp? it doesn't have a digital output.

Thanks

Edited July 9, 2007 by jbl540

[Struggo]

i just picked up a 42 inch model. Does anyone know how to output the sound from the tuner to an external amp? it doesn't have a digital output.

Thanks

Left & Right audio from monitor out.

[Inego1503560167]

i just picked up a 42 inch model. Does anyone know how to output the sound from the tuner to an external amp? it doesn't have a digital output.

Thanks

A second for Struggo's advice - even after reading the manual a couple of times I emailed Hitachi to confirm no digital audio out from the internal tuner.

Or maybe I'm just slow......

Kent

[jbl540]

thanks Struggo & Inego. Still a little bummed no digital out My old LG PX5D had one

[Struggo]

thanks Struggo & Inego. Still a little bummed no digital out My old LG PX5D had one

I think any of Hitachi's inbuilt panels have digital out. Hopefully the next models will.

Don't worry too much Jbl540, soon enough HD PVR's will drop in price and hopefully perform better also.

Do you have Fox? You can run digital out from that and the showtime movies look quite good running component.

[Struggo]

thanks Struggo & Inego. Still a little bummed no digital out My old LG PX5D had one

I think any of Hitachi's inbuilt panels have digital out. Hopefully the next models will.

Don't worry too much Jbl540, soon enough HD PVR's will drop in price and hopefully perform better also.

Do you have Fox? You can run digital out from that and the showtime movies look quite good running component.

[Inego1503560167]

Yeah, with my (SD) Toppy I rarely use the internal tuner - and the Harmony remote means even my ageing parents have sorted the system out.

Waiting for the issues with the Topy to sort themselves out before going HD PVR too - maybe Christmas.

Things have been pretty quiet around this Hitachi panel - maybe those of us with them aren't really tweakers. That said, mine produces an absolutely stunning picture at times, even with some of the good SD programming. Robin Hood just drags me in with its realism.....

But DVD is getting a bit disappointing - maybe an upscaling player should be the next investment......

I've had mine for 4 months with nothing negative to report!

Kent

[Struggo]

Yeah, with my (SD) Toppy I rarely use the internal tuner - and the Harmony remote means even my ageing parents have sorted the system out.

Waiting for the issues with the Topy to sort themselves out before going HD PVR too - maybe Christmas.

Things have been pretty quiet around this Hitachi panel - maybe those of us with them aren't really tweakers. That said, mine produces an absolutely stunning picture at times, even with some of the good SD programming. Robin Hood just drags me in with its realism.....

But DVD is getting a bit disappointing - maybe an upscaling player should be the next investment......

I've had mine for 4 months with nothing negative to report!

Kent

Yeah I have a Pana DVD-S97 running HDMI at 1080i. Great picture on the Hitachi.

Check out the current Sony,

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=43213

Cheers

Struggo

[metal beat]

Yeah, with my (SD) Toppy I rarely use the internal tuner - and the Harmony remote means even my ageing parents have sorted the system out.

Waiting for the issues with the Topy to sort themselves out before going HD PVR too - maybe Christmas.

Things have been pretty quiet around this Hitachi panel - maybe those of us with them aren't really tweakers. That said, mine produces an absolutely stunning picture at times, even with some of the good SD programming. Robin Hood just drags me in with its realism.....

But DVD is getting a bit disappointing - maybe an upscaling player should be the next investment......

I've had mine for 4 months with nothing negative to report!

Kent

I have the 8900 and the Sony upsampling player at around $200 is a steal. Looks great as well.

[Inego1503560167]

Thanks guys - it's a bit of an issue whether to go for the Sony (for example) or shell out a little bit more for the oppo. I picked up a cheap marantz DV4300 last year as a stopgap before 1080 when my old Denon died, but it's not too happy with some recordable disc formats (such as picture OK but no sound on DVD-R).

I reckon by time the 1080 disc formats sort out their war and prices drop well under the $1k mark we'll be a few years down the track and I'll have got my money's worth...

Kent