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Dell Enters HDTV Market with Plasma Display

Posted by timothy on from the pushing-pixels dept.

ThinSkin writes "It was only a matter of time before PC giant Dell would jump headlong into the HDTV market. But what does a company built around making inexpensive PCs know about HDTVs? ExtremeTech has done a full review with benchmarks on Dell's offering, the Dell W4200HD 42" Plasma HDTV."

16 of 285 comments (clear)

  1. They do it well by erick99 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Dell is a smart company that runs a lean & mean R&D machine. They seemingly put a lot of thought into new product introduction as well as price point. These folks are going to be hellish successful for a long time. It doesn't really matter much what product they are putting out, they seem to do it well. Hate 'em or love 'em, you gotta admire them.

    They are particularly good about not reinventing the wheel, rather, working with other vendors or manufacturers who have already figured it out (so to speak) and then putting the Dell spin on it if needed. Once again, a pretty cool business process from my point of view.

    As an aside, I don't work for Dell and I don't buy their products (I like Sony Vaio's and HP printers for some reason) but I do admire their business acumen and their business models. (I do, however, have extreme HDTV Plasma Display envy).

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    1. Re:They do it well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Whats wrong with that? Why does a business need to invent things in order to get respect?

      They're a business. They make money. They're good at what they do. They used the internet to make money AND save money on a large scale before any other company I can think of.

      You sit at work doing jack shit (reading slashdot) and you have the guts to put down Dell because they don't make their own processors or what not? hahaha.. What a joke.

  2. Dell by NerdConspiracy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    what does a company built around making inexpensive PCs know about HDTVs

    Do they really need to know much about HDTV? It's probably like with PCs, buy cheap components in large volumes, assemble them together. Sell online at a discount. Works with pretty much anything.

  3. Plasma/LCD vs DLP by Bruha · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm sorry but there is no compelling reason for me to ever want a plasma tv. We've got plenty and they have all had burn in issues.

    I dont think image quality is better than a CRT

    And I dont need to mount it on the wall.

    I consider either a DLP big screen or projector as a more logical choice and the price helps also.

    1. Re:Plasma/LCD vs DLP by FirstTimeCaller · · Score: 2, Interesting

      there is no compelling reason for me to ever want a plasma tv.

      Amen. While I love the large screen, the cost and lifetime issues make it a non-starter for me. Personally, I'm holding out hope for OLED TV's. But it looks like we'll need to wait until 2007... hurry up already!

      --
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  4. Plasma short lifespan... by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I dunno. Unless plasma TV have gotten a lot better...I don't want one. I guess I'm old school, but, when I lay out money for a nice, large TV, I expect to get more than 2-3 years use out of them. We have plasma tv's in the lobbies of the bldgs I work at...they're on during the day on the news channels. They have to be replace almost annually as you can see where the logos and talking heads of people are....the first ones were early ones at $25K each...cheaper now, but, still. My $2K 60' projection tv has a great picture on it in my living room...is on every hour I'm at home...and doesn't have the problem with display degradation over such a short period of time.

    Are LCD tv's any better?

    If I'm gonna lay out over $3K...I expect a tv that will still be working well for at least 5-10 years. All my old ones did....

    --
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    1. Re:Plasma short lifespan... by lowrydr310 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I'm asking myself these same questions. I'll soon be in the market for a big ass TV and I started doing a little research. As thin and light as plasma TVs are, their price doesn't exactly make them disposable.

      Are there any issues with burn-in on the HD projection TVs? Can you play video games on them without loss of picture quality?

      From what I understand, LCD TVs don't have these problems, however they're not exactly cheap.

    2. Re:Plasma short lifespan... by shawb · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Maybe you want to look into low profile CRT then. They aren't QUITE on the market yet, but neither are you, from what I understand. They are cabable of getting a bit larger viewing area than standard CRTs, and have less depth (physically, not colorwise.) They also have better color/contrast/brightness/viewing angle than LCD/Plasma. Of course they will cost a bit more than standard CRTs, but less than LCD/Plasma. I haven't heard anything about how well they hold up, though. Haven't been able to find much info online, just what I heard from a friend who sells TVs for a living, who heard it from a rep (I believe Toshiba, but don't quote me on that.)

      Or depending on your definition of big ass TV, you could go with a standard Sony CRT up to 36". True, those are some heavy SOBs, but the tubes will last through anything. If you're looking for a good clean picture, this is the way you probably want to go. If you're looking to impress people, just spend that extra couple thousand dollars you would have spent on flat panel to build up an impressive movie and video game collection, or spend it on a really good sound system.

      Seriously, If there is so little room in the house that you NEED flat panel, then you probably won't be able to sit far enough from the screen that you need anything larger than 36". Unless you just want to show people how much disposable cash you have. And if you're looking to impress, girls would probably be more impressed with you spending money on a good set of copper pans and learning how to cook well enough that you can actually use them.

      --
      I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman
  5. Broadcast Flag by Metapsyborg · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Yes, but does it utilize the broadcast flag?

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  6. Nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It's probably re-badged

  7. Maybe just wait for SED display. by zymano · · Score: 4, Interesting


    Flat panel SED

    Photos of SED

  8. Re:I would like to enter Michael Dell by voorko02 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ah, the bitter words of someone with both a small penis and small TV.

    How tired and cliched is this arguement. At least you didn't say it was bought by men going through a mid life crisis.

    Hell this overcompensating logic could apply to just about everything posted on slashdot. Why do people buy iPods? Small penis. Why do people overclock a mac mini? Inadequate in bed.

    Sorry its just this combined with another comment using the term "Jump the Shark" was a little too much for me. Lets just Skip the Monkeys and stop spouting tired cliches to give meaning to our opinions.

  9. There is a bigger fish to be had... better n cheap by zioncity · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A friend of mine recently got a Pioneer Plasma at Best Buy recently. The size is like 42 or 43 inches... After all rebates, 500 from Pioneer, 100 from Comcast and also with buying the 4 year warranty for like 400 clams.. and taxes... I believe the set was costing about 3500-3550. Now he also got a 300 dollar best buy gift check and 200 in bonus bucks... for 500 in extra spending cash.

    This set also comes with their PureDrive video processor which handles processing, filtering of all HD, SD and ED signals... for those rednecks out there... Standard TV or SD, ED or 480progressive signals and of course, HD or 720p. This processing unit on his tv.. a 43 inch now confirmed, fuckin rocked serious ass. Cartoon Network and Dexters Laboratory or Toonami never made Standard TV look so good and for us size queens,.. bigger is better... LOL.

    But seriously.. even with the PixelWorks chip... the Pioneer is not only superior quality in terms of longevity, but that PureVision Box rocks and is an excellent video processor for the buck. Another comparison is my 30 inch Syntax Olevia HDTV lcd has the same PixelWorks chip and contrary to popular belief... it is freaking awesome for the buck... especially after you fine tune each input via the setup on the remote, each input has it's own settings...

    So unless Dell can come up with a better trick,.. I say go Pioneer for Plasma... Syntax Olevia or other for a better deal and and better quality LCDs. By the way... I got mine for $999 at MicroCenter in Boston and with my Denon 1910, with DVI and 720p upscaling... Finding Nemo, Sky Captain and LOTR 3, Return of the King with very good night fight scenes on the Syntax... gave me a good ole woo... er uh... you know what I mean.

    Nuff said.

    Zion

  10. Re:(I-Z)DTV and floppy drives. by grumpygrodyguy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    HDTV has been a long problematic transition, which won't be replaced in the foreseeable future.

    Yes, but many of us have been waiting for years to play PC games on a widescreen. Some of us are already doing it, but the majority of us would like to be doing it very soon. Some companies like these guys are recognizing the demand.

    So I guess my point is that the 'killer app' that starts widespread adaptation of HDTV may have nothing to do with television at all, but rather with the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, and PC.

    --
    The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
  11. Re:disposable $4000 appliances by MonMotha · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Now be fair. The bad capacitors that you're referring to were caused by some shoddy manufacturer cutting corners (and a fair bit of industrial espionage gone wrong too, I've heard). In general, that was considered a product *failure*. True, there were some motherboard makers who refused to provide replacements (whom I, for one, will never buy from again), but on the whole, leaking electrolytic capactitors (at least over any reasonable term) is considered to be component failure. Capacitors are not considered user replacable, and certainly aren't considered disposable.

    Also, I don't know about you, but my Li-Ions don't "last for a year or two". Sure, after a couple years they're not like they were at first, but neither is a Ni-Cd or Ni-MH, and you're forgetting that most battery types aren't rechargable at all. The world of batteries hasn't caught up with the uses of batteries yet. It's not like there's some other product on the market that's not "disposable" or that similar products in the past were more reliable. The only battery I can think of that handles recharge/discharge cycling better is good ol' Lead-Acid (like in your car), and I'm doubting you want to lug one of those around to power your PDA (they don't scale down to that size very well).

    I agree, though, that Plasma TVs are silly. I personally like a good DLP for larger sizes or a direct view LCD or CRT in smaller sizes (depending on the use). Even projection CRT is still viable up at larger screen sizes (and, while they require continuous twiddling to keep a good picture, they generally don't fail completely in any reasonable term). Plasmas just don't cut it in my opinion. They're expensive and subject to burn-in. There's no real reason to buy a plasma unless you absolutely need to hang a large screen (bigger than a feasable direct view LCD) on your wall, in which case, like the batteries I mentioned before, there's no feasable alternative, so you have to accept the state of technology.

    Now, hard drives that aren't rated for "continuous or *heavy duty* use" (emphasis mine) is silly. What exactly constitutes "heavy duty" use? I would say that basically any use of a hard drive is normal use. Continuous I could understand if the normal failure mode for hard drives wasn't the stress of power-on...

  12. Advertorial Alert by SethJohnson · · Score: 4, Interesting



    This fellow, ThinSkin, is a schill for ExtremeTech.com. Check his user info. In February, ThinSkin has submitted four articles that were accepted for Slashdot publication and all of them were links to ExtremeTech.com content.

    Clearly this is paid placement to increase traffic to ExtremeTech.

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