Good news for those who found themselves a few yen short after hearing the
Japanese prices of Panasonic's first 3D plasma HDTVs -- their American counterparts will be considerably cheaper. Even at a recent line show the company kept the MSRPs close to its chest, but March 10 Best Buy's 24 hour location at Union Square will sell the first full HD 3D home theater system, consisting of the aforementioned
VT25, DMP-BDT350 Blu-ray player and active shutter glasses. Japan's
Nikkei pegs the bundle price at around $3,000, with
50-inch televisions by themselves arriving for around $2,500. Compare that to the ¥430,000 ($4,813) price in Japan and you've got an idea of the discounting going on so Panasonic can hit its targets of 1 million 3DTVs (worldwide) sold in 2010. Can't get to Manhattan by Wednesday? The Panasonic/Best Buy team up will reportedly place demos at 300 or so stores shortly, rising to 1,000 locations by the end of the year. Unfortunately they won't be able to advertise an Academy Award for Best Picture winner (catch
Samsung's ad last night?) in the 3D demo reel, but between
Avatar and this week's box office smash,
Alice in Wonderland, we're sure there will be at least a few people interested in
taking 3D home once it's available.
posted March 8th 2010 4:59AM
Nice, my next TV just might be Panasonic with this offer....but question is, just how good is the picture quality and all that other good stuff nerds like myself look for..
I'm definitely taking 3D home soon with these prices :D But is Panasonic the best option in this segment at the moment?
It says something to me when tech companies have started to direct discount products at release.
That marketing has figured out the customers don't really want it yet. Man, early adopters shelled out like 15-20k for large plasmas. Not saying this should be that much but seriously.
This is the lamest tech upgrade I swear. No glasses, no post processed faux 3d re-releases of movies as pay again full price and let us change focal depth. Or No deal
just calling this hustle for what it is
Last year I bought a Panasonic G10 in NY for about 1500 USD. A month later I go to Japan and see that my model of TV sold for 4000 USD at a popular Japanese electronics store. Don't know why there is a price discrepency but I was told that Japanese get some sort of financing plan that's popular with corporate workers.
3d not 4me
I suppose it'd help if there was even *one* 3D Blu-Ray available to purchase...
@philnerd I was thinking the same thing. There is not a single piece of content on TV or blu that you can watch with this (beyond maybe a demo disc or clips that it comes with or something).
I'm more interested in holding out for RVU; 3d should be a little more stable by then.
The mind control devices are now spreading to the family living rooms. All is lost!
I'll hop on the 3D train when I don't have to use those damn glasses.
Just going to go look for 09' models as seeing there prices will be rock bottom soon for clearance.
@UMAD , You're 100% correct. The 3D hype has further discounted the non-3D stuff. I saw Magnavox (not Oppo's) Blu-Ray players for fifty bucks at a Wal-Mart in Louisiana. I'm amazed at the costs of displays now.
These will also have a black level rise per Panasonic's admission. It's funny to see the "deep deep blacks quote" above, given what has been festering for months now,
@Bervick
whatever- these vt25s are basically pioneer kuros!
I went through Best Buy Canada's website and figured out that after the TV, glasses, blu ray player, and perhaps 1.4 hdmi cable I'm looking at around $4000 after tax. Oh and that was without a movie, which I'm sure will be $60 each. No thanks. Unless the prices are going to be about 1/3 of that for everything, 3D is going to FLOP.
BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS BLACK LEVELS
They're gone!
I believe besides being 3d, this will be panasonic top of the line plasma screen. the 2010 model of the v10. of course if you don't need 3d or 96Hz refresh option for 1080p/24 compatibility, you can save 50% by getting the g20/g25. The 50" g25 is available from the panasonic store for about $1250 with EPP.
@nsfw What is EEP?
@PaultheGeek Employee purchase program
The 50" g25 is 1,241.55
You can research how to get into the EPP store.
Pansonic Plasma's suck balls. Mt gf's dad has one. The burn-in is really bad. I will never buy a plasma. Besides, this is a first gen 3d tv. I will wait for a second generation sony OLED 3d. And yea, glasses blow. I think Intel was demo'ing some glasses-less tech at CES a little while ago.
@craiggger You don't know what you're talking about.
@craiggger Burn in? Either that plasma is 10 years old or you are talking about ghosting which is really a non issue because it disappears in seconds. Plasma is and will always be superior to LCD/led.
@craiggger
I have to disagree with you here. You sound like another uneducated buyer drinkin the LCD coolaid. There's a bunch of, I heard blah blah blah. Don't spread your nonsense around here.
Soon (in all it's glory) we'll be able to watch "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl" in 3-D.
I've seen 3D HD content on this screen during the Vancouver Winter Olympics and take it from me, I'm super picky when it comes to quality, these things are ASTOUNDING! BETTER than going to the theater!
If I had the money I'd be pre-ordering.
While I'm not sold on the whole 3D thing as of yet, it's a real shame we don't have an American company cranking out these first 3DTVs. We could definitely use the boost to the economy. 1 Million bundle sets sold at about 3k each...indeed.
I do not want to watch TV in 3D all of the time, I think it will cause headaches & eyestrain; will this be a function that can be turned on & off? Also, my nice 1080p LCD sets are all less than 2 years old, it's too soon to replace them!