52 replies to this topic

[redsmeg]

Hey guys heads up.
Good Guys is currently selling a Conia 1024x768 Hi def set for $999. Model CPDP4209.

After talking to pebble electronics I found out that the unit has a Samsung panel, but could tell me no other info.
Sounds like a good bargain. Doesn't have any digital Tuners... but hey Im going to use a HTPC anyway.

If anyone is able to see these in store and perhaps get a model number of the panel (perhaps by looking through the back grill) please post any info you find. My local Good guys hasnt any in stock ATM until tomorrow or Monday.

[corellian]

redsmeg, on Sep 14 2007, 12:14 PM, said:

Hey guys heads up.
Good Guys is currently selling a Conia 1024x768 Hi def set for $999. Model CPDP4209.

After talking to pebble electronics I found out that the unit has a Samsung panel, but could tell me no other info.
Sounds like a good bargain. Doesn't have any digital Tuners... but hey Im going to use a HTPC anyway.

If anyone is able to see these in store and perhaps get a model number of the panel (perhaps by looking through the back grill) please post any info you find. My local Good guys hasnt any in stock ATM until tomorrow or Monday.

Nice find!  I went to see the same set at WOW Wicked but they dont have any stock whatsoever, and never did! (at least at the Underwood store).

I'll go and check out my local good guys (bundall, gold coast) and report back.

[corellian]

corellian, on Sep 14 2007, 12:22 PM, said:

Nice find!  I went to see the same set at WOW Wicked but they dont have any stock whatsoever, and never did! (at least at the Underwood store).

I'll go and check out my local good guys (bundall, gold coast) and report back.

Yeh they had them there but they seem really poor quality.  They had a 50" which kept turning off, and the 42" had a jerky image.  Out of 6 displays running off the same source the Conia was the only one that had non-fluid movement...

I picked up a Sony V300 LCD for $1700 instead

[automan]

I saw this Plasma at GG hoppers crossing yesterday.

I looks like good with all matt black front with silver along the top.

It had HDMI input, 2 x component ins,2 x av ins, pc in, ect.

I looked through the back top left corner grill and it is a samsung panel.


It blows the Soniq plasma at JB away for style and PQ imo.

[redsmeg]

automan, on Sep 15 2007, 07:53 AM, said:

I looked through the back top left corner grill and it is a samsung panel.
It blows the Soniq plasma at JB away for style and PQ imo.

You didn't happen to get a model number of the panel by anychance?
A mate once bought a Plasma from Harris Scarfe that was advertised as Hi-Def yet when he looked up the model number of the actual panel it was an SD panel.
Its always good to be sure it is actually a 1024x768 panel.

[chrissyoscar]

I was at Harvey Norman today looking into the Pioneer 508 and the Panasonic PZ models and started talking about the cheap Soniq's and Conias which are being sold elsewhere for $999.
I was told that Conia has gone bust so if this is true beware.

[Jaap74]

chrissyoscar, on Sep 15 2007, 09:41 AM, said:

I was at Harvey Norman today looking into the Pioneer 508 and the Panasonic PZ models and started talking about the cheap Soniq's and Conias which are being sold elsewhere for $999.
I was told that Conia has gone bust so if this is true beware.

well their brand name has "con" in it so that can't be a good thing

[GazGlids]

We use a 42" Conia plasma as a straight monitor in a our church foyer - either to ouput looping powerpoints or live production (camera footage).
It is an older model (couple of years now) that was picked up when they first dropped under the $2k barrier.
For the looping powerpoints it does it's job, displaying a nice, big, clear picture.
For live production, it is average at best. For starters, we need to run our signal through a wireless AV sender to take the grounding loop out of the system that the crap internal components of the Conia introduce. As soon as the composite plug is connected to the Conia, the Buzz starts through the record system. For me, that says it all about the internal componentry of the TV. Don't be fooled by the fact that it has a Samsung piece of glass....that is only one piece of many that make up a quality TV.
As a home TV - you would have to be absolutely desperate!!! I took this Conia home for a week, and as excited as I was to have a 42" plasma in my lounge room 2 years ago....within a day or so I couldn't stand it! The functionality itself was enough to drive me insane! (and still does when the TV needs to be switched from AV1 to VGA). The picture quality was average at best and really just turned FTA tv into a big blur.
If you really want a 42" plamsa as a home TV that you will love watching, double your investment and get quality - either a Panasonic or a Samsung (my personal choice).  These have to be the best TVs around in the 42" plasma bracket.
If you can really only bring yourself to spend under $1k, expect to be disappointed with the results of the Conia. The other option is to buy smaller - by spend the same $$ on a smallish, but better brand, LCD.

[automan]

I went and checked this TV out today and gave it the test.

The resolution is definately 1024 x 768. Running a HD set top box, the PQ looked good, not fantastic but above average - good.

The appearance of the tv looks pretty good, it does not look cheap at all.

DVD running through  component looked good also.


I think for anyone considering a plasma and absolutely cant spend say $1700 for the LG 42PCDV(Next cheapest brand name plasma) then this is a better buy than the Soniq plasma going for the same price.

[Colin 2905]

I'm not 100% on model numbers, but GG at Tuggeranong currently has a 42" LG SD panel with integrated HD tuner sitting next to what I think was a Conia HD panel. I didn't ask what what was feeding them (same HD promo loop on both), but the LG blew the Conia out of the water for picture detail.

[Adza]

I took the plunge and purchased one of these units from Good Guys Fyshwick today. They only had 2 left after I bought mine.

The picture is actually quite good, it's not as good as more expensive brands, but hey I'm upgrading from an old 51cm tv to this, so anything is better.

I also got an extended warranty... so 4 years all up for $1167. Interesting to note that only a month ago these units were $1399.

Overall it seems to be an excellent budget plasma.

Interestingly it was sitting next to another model Conia with an integrated tuner for $1399. However the tuner was only an SD tuner in a unit with 1024x768. The salesman said the panel is exactly the same between the 2... just different styling. I didn't think $400 was worth paying for an SD tuner.

Edited by Adza, 19 September 2007 - 11:25 PM.

[Brazzwald]

Regarding Conia going bust, they aren't.  Pebble Electronics is the company that supplies Conia and Hicon branded products in Australia, and there are no rumours of them folding.

Brazzwald

[Colin 2905]

Brazzwald, on Sep 20 2007, 08:57 AM, said:

Regarding Conia going bust, they aren't.

Maybe chrissyoscar was confusing Conia with Centrex, which is under voluntary administration.

[colcam]

hi guys,

bought one today, will be delivered tomorrow. The price was just to irresistible for my budget. They thru in, a scart to component cable (i will mainly use it for foxtel) although i have older set top box that i have to try and get foxtel to change, so i've found out. In the meantime i will use svideo which i setup tonight on my teac 51cm which it will replace.

when i spoke to the salesman and asked him about the dvi-plus input he looked at the back and said he couldn't see it but saw a hdmi contrary to the specifications. so am not sure what is happening there.

He also said, when asked on the topic, contrary to many other plasmas and lcds  that conia make their own screens in china rather than using someone elses.

i saw the $1399 conia with a SD tuner, referred to in a previous post in this thread but i thought the screen looked slightly different in size beside it, so i figured part of the cost was that it seemed to have different screen.

i will give an update (or probably ask a question ) when its setup.

will look into the extended warranty thing too.

Edited by colcam, 20 September 2007 - 10:32 PM.

[Colin 2905]

A Google search on "CPDP4209" only returns a couple of hits.

$1.180+GST /unit, eh? I'll take a couple at that price.

http://prestigedeals...in.php/v/Conia/

[Brazzwald]

DVI-Plus is Conia speak for HDMI, they didn't want to pay the license fees to use the HDMI logo etc on their product  , another cost saver!

Brazzwald

[colcam]

got it at home now, no adjustments, running foxtel on svideo, movie one, and showtime look good, if not great  (much better than the demo model they had at Good Guys). The other channels a little less so. This is probably foxtel's bandwidth allocation, although the showroom guy yesterday said foxtel had recently committed to supplying HDTV over their network.

text looks very crisp.

with the hdmi/dvi plus badge thing, it actually says hdmi over the socket on the back of it, bit confusing for people such as myself new to HDTV.

with the $1180 price at prestige, the good guys one ended up costing me about $950 (with a little minor haggling), they had quite a few in stock at the Bankstown store (Sydney) yesterday.

wonder what the PC will look like on it, running 1024x769 as its several times broader than a monitor, imagine it might stretch the images dramatically.

Edited by colcam, 21 September 2007 - 11:36 AM.

[Colin 2905]

colcam, on Sep 21 2007, 11:35 AM, said:

with the $1180 price at prestige

You mean that it's not $1.18?

Quote

wonder what the PC will look like on it, running 1024x769 as its several times broader than a monitor, imagine it might stretch the images dramatically.

If it's anything like my Panasonic plasma (1024 x 768 native) when I hooked it up to my notebook "just for fun", at 1024 x 768 from your PC it should look pretty good, but the aspect ratio will be wrong. If I then correct the aspect ratio, the result doesn't look so good, as expected. But I didn't buy it to hook up to a PC.

[Sneferu]

colcam, on Sep 20 2007, 10:28 PM, said:

<snip>

They thru in, a scart to component cable (i will mainly use it for foxtel) although i have older set top box that i have to try and get foxtel to change, so i've found out.

Word of advice - i too had an old foxtel STB, they will attempt to charge you $75 to switch boxes.

Try the following;

Tell Foxtel, you need a new box for optical (digital) audio out, its a good bet your existing box has NO optical out.  Foxtel advertise they offer digital audio - your current box does NOT, thus they are potentially in breach of the 'fit-for-purpose' legislation.

The phone rep, will possibly respond with 'so what?' - stand your ground - tell them you are staying on the phone until they resolve the issue of a 'non-compliant' box.  

Remember the (poor) operator is just trying to close the call.  Give the operator a opportunity to pass you onto a supervisor - or consult with a supervisor - After a few minutes hold, they will possible assume you have hung up - (call centre tactic), Again stand your ground - (this is your tactic) - at no point get annoyed or angry - if you do - you will have lost the negotiation.  Simplly let them know the the $75 fee needs to be waived, ask how this can be achieved - in my case i was a 'long-term' customer - 13 months was described as 'long-term'.  - Foxtel don't need your 75 dollars, they didn't get mine!  

Good Luck,  

NB: Anybody considering Foxtel - ensure you get the latest STB, if you don't request it - you may just be given colcam;'s old box !

[iann]

I saw the Good Guys ad for this TV last night so checked out their website today.
The resolution is stated as 1024x768, but isn't 1024x768 a 4:3 ratio?
Shouldn't 16:9 widescreen be 1366x768, or am I missing something?
Pebble Electronics doesn't have any info on their website for this model, is it a current or discontinued model.

On the Prestige Deals website, it says the CPDP4209 has a built-in SD Tuner, but doesn't the one from the Good Guys only have an Analogue Tuner?
Can someone please verify the model number for the $999 model and verify if it has an Analogue or SD Tuner.

Cheers

[Colin 2905]

iann, on Sep 21 2007, 02:18 PM, said:

The resolution is stated as 1024x768, but isn't 1024x768 a 4:3 ratio?
Shouldn't 16:9 widescreen be 1366x768, or am I missing something?

Rectangular pixels.

[Colin 2905]

Adza, on Sep 19 2007, 11:23 PM, said:

I took the plunge and purchased one of these units from Good Guys Fyshwick today. They only had 2 left after I bought mine.

Someone told me today that GG Fyshwick's latest TV ad goes something like, "They didn't take everything......".

(For those who haven't heard, they were broken into last weekend, and LOTS of stuff was stolen.)

[com5984]

automan, on Sep 15 2007, 07:53 AM, said:

It blows the Soniq plasma at JB away for style and PQ imo.

Must be good then, I bought the folks the 42" Soniq from JB, nice panel all balck, hooked it up tuned in the hd tuner picture pretty good adjusted picture while watching the 7 hd loop got it looking really nice. Then hooked up my pio 989 via hdmi watched a couple movies picture fantastic considering the price. Overall very happy.
So if this one is better I might upgrade my lcd in bedroom to the conia

[iann]

Colin 2905, on Sep 21 2007, 03:21 PM, said:

QUOTE(iann @ Sep 21 2007, 02:18 PM) *
The resolution is stated as 1024x768, but isn't 1024x768 a 4:3 ratio?
Shouldn't 16:9 widescreen be 1366x768, or am I missing something?

Rectangular pixels.

Thanks, I never knew that.
After a bit of Googling I've noticed that a lot of LCD's have a resolution of 1366x768 (square pixels), while a lot of Plasma's have 1024x768 (rectangular pixels).
So when watching a DVD for example, would the Plasma TV give a slightly stretched picture than the LCD?

[jakes]

iann, on Sep 21 2007, 04:08 PM, said:

Thanks, I never knew that.
After a bit of Googling I've noticed that a lot of LCD's have a resolution of 1366x768 (square pixels), while a lot of Plasma's have 1024x768 (rectangular pixels).
So when watching a DVD for example, would the Plasma TV give a slightly stretched picture than the LCD?

No. The plasma scales the picture so that it looks correct.