Hi,
Please bear with this - it's not a rant. I actually would like to know what the real honest answer is. The dealers I'm mentioning are examples - I'm not singling them out as bad guys.
In fact my dad, who is a professional wedding photographer & videographer, swears that Alliance Electric are easily one of the best shops he's dealt with in his many years as an electronics professional.
Panasonic TH-50PZ80 50" 1080p HD plasma TV from 1staudiovisual.co.uk: £1145 + £130 shipping to ROI = £1275 = €1600 (today).
[broken link removed]
Panasonic TH-50PY80 50" 1080p HD plasma TV from panasonicshop.ie: €2200.
http://panasonicshop.ie/product.php?PID=1&ID=1
Panasonic TH-50PY80 50" 1080p HD plasma TV from allianceelectric.ie: €2500.
[broken link removed]
The TH-50PY80 is apparently identical to the TH-50PZ80 in every respect except the tuner.
The PY model has a tuner that recieves only Ireland's soon-to-be-defunct analog terrestrial broadcasts.
The PZ model has a tuner that receives only the UK's digital terrestrial broadcasts ("Freeview").
It seems that the 4 Irish channels are broadcast in Dublin on analog UHF, and the tuner in the UK TH-50PZ80 is able to receive them. I haven't connect to my aerial yet, so can't personally confirm this, but am reliably informed that this is the case.
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58867697&postcount=4
Neither PY nor PZ model has a tuner that will receive Ireland's looming digital terrestrial broadcasts ("DTT") - a newer Ireland-specific model (with a tuner for the new DTT broadcasts) may in the future come onto the market - I wonder what price that'll be?
I think it's fair to say that anyone in the market for a 50" 1080p HD plasma TV will have little or no interest in analog terrestrial broadcasts - these TVs will almost definitely be paired with some sort of external digital tuner or receiver: Sky+ or Sky HD, Freesat or free satellite (with free HD content).
These are not TVs that will be bunged in the kitchen with rabbit's ears on top for watching Fair City while making a sandwich.
So in terms of their suitability for the Irish DTT-era market, both the TH-50PZ80 and TH-50PY80 are effectively the same TV - the tuner in each will be equally useless once analog terrestrial broadcasting is completely replaced by DTT (within two years, IIUC).
Another brief example is the Panasonic DMR-EX88 400GB HDD DVD recorder.
It's in exactly the same boat as the TV above in terms of its tuner.
That actually makes it a far less attractive product than it is in the UK. In the UK, the exact same machine (no difference at all - the same batch from the factory can be split for shipment to UK or Ireland), can be connected to the aerial and it's the TV tuner and PVR - pause-RW-FF live TV, series record, fancy EPG, etc..
There's no DVD recorder available from the UK or domestically in Ireland that has the ability to perform as a DTT tuner and PVR in Ireland (they do exist for analog broadcast, AFAIK, but as I said, and as is becoming common knowledge, DTT will be replacing analog broadcasts soon, rendering these units obsolete in terms of their tuners), yet those models that are on sale here cost more than they do in the UK.
The Panasonic DMR-EX88 costs £450 (€565), including shipping, from 1staudiovisual.co.uk.
It costs €700 from both allianceelectric.ie and panasonicshop.ie, but has less of the functionality here than it has in the UK... for €135 more.
So to my point at last...
Why does a TV supposedly for the Irish market (that Irish retailers know is effectively the same, with the same tuner limitations, as the UK model), cost between €600 and €900 more here than if bought from the UK?
Why does a DVD recorder with less functionality here cost €135 more if bought over here than if bought from the UK?
Why?
Mark
Please bear with this - it's not a rant. I actually would like to know what the real honest answer is. The dealers I'm mentioning are examples - I'm not singling them out as bad guys.
In fact my dad, who is a professional wedding photographer & videographer, swears that Alliance Electric are easily one of the best shops he's dealt with in his many years as an electronics professional.
Panasonic TH-50PZ80 50" 1080p HD plasma TV from 1staudiovisual.co.uk: £1145 + £130 shipping to ROI = £1275 = €1600 (today).
[broken link removed]
Panasonic TH-50PY80 50" 1080p HD plasma TV from panasonicshop.ie: €2200.
http://panasonicshop.ie/product.php?PID=1&ID=1
Panasonic TH-50PY80 50" 1080p HD plasma TV from allianceelectric.ie: €2500.
[broken link removed]
The TH-50PY80 is apparently identical to the TH-50PZ80 in every respect except the tuner.
The PY model has a tuner that recieves only Ireland's soon-to-be-defunct analog terrestrial broadcasts.
The PZ model has a tuner that receives only the UK's digital terrestrial broadcasts ("Freeview").
It seems that the 4 Irish channels are broadcast in Dublin on analog UHF, and the tuner in the UK TH-50PZ80 is able to receive them. I haven't connect to my aerial yet, so can't personally confirm this, but am reliably informed that this is the case.
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58867697&postcount=4
Neither PY nor PZ model has a tuner that will receive Ireland's looming digital terrestrial broadcasts ("DTT") - a newer Ireland-specific model (with a tuner for the new DTT broadcasts) may in the future come onto the market - I wonder what price that'll be?
I think it's fair to say that anyone in the market for a 50" 1080p HD plasma TV will have little or no interest in analog terrestrial broadcasts - these TVs will almost definitely be paired with some sort of external digital tuner or receiver: Sky+ or Sky HD, Freesat or free satellite (with free HD content).
These are not TVs that will be bunged in the kitchen with rabbit's ears on top for watching Fair City while making a sandwich.
So in terms of their suitability for the Irish DTT-era market, both the TH-50PZ80 and TH-50PY80 are effectively the same TV - the tuner in each will be equally useless once analog terrestrial broadcasting is completely replaced by DTT (within two years, IIUC).
Another brief example is the Panasonic DMR-EX88 400GB HDD DVD recorder.
It's in exactly the same boat as the TV above in terms of its tuner.
That actually makes it a far less attractive product than it is in the UK. In the UK, the exact same machine (no difference at all - the same batch from the factory can be split for shipment to UK or Ireland), can be connected to the aerial and it's the TV tuner and PVR - pause-RW-FF live TV, series record, fancy EPG, etc..
There's no DVD recorder available from the UK or domestically in Ireland that has the ability to perform as a DTT tuner and PVR in Ireland (they do exist for analog broadcast, AFAIK, but as I said, and as is becoming common knowledge, DTT will be replacing analog broadcasts soon, rendering these units obsolete in terms of their tuners), yet those models that are on sale here cost more than they do in the UK.
The Panasonic DMR-EX88 costs £450 (€565), including shipping, from 1staudiovisual.co.uk.
It costs €700 from both allianceelectric.ie and panasonicshop.ie, but has less of the functionality here than it has in the UK... for €135 more.
So to my point at last...
Why does a TV supposedly for the Irish market (that Irish retailers know is effectively the same, with the same tuner limitations, as the UK model), cost between €600 and €900 more here than if bought from the UK?
Why does a DVD recorder with less functionality here cost €135 more if bought over here than if bought from the UK?
Why?
Mark
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