# Used Pioneer Elite Pro-1130HD... good buy or not?



## subeluvr

Have a chance to buy a used Pioneer Elite Pro-1130HD 720P at a good price. Seems to be operating correctly and WHAT A PICTURE!

The control box that is separate from the TV has advantages in my install so that's a plus.

Would run it with an HR24 @ 720P... is 720P enough now days?

I recall that plasmas from this generation had problems at altitude and I'm at 7000 ft.

Any experience with these?

Good buy or not?


----------



## Earl Bonovich

I have a similar (maybe slightly older) version of the TV. The PDP503cmx
Max 720p

Having 1080i and 1080p and 120hz on most of my TV's now, it is day and night from what I thought was the greatest picture since sliced bread on the 503-cmx.

One I have about 40,000hrs of viewing on the TV, and starting to get overheating and green pixelizing issues.

I would say if you are getting it for sub $150... probably fine.
It is a HEAVY TV though. 

Anything more than that, you are starting to get to the point that you can get a new LED/LCD TV, with a better picture (in most cases), lighter, newer, much more energy efficient.

And with the fact that these TV's today only really need a power and a single HDMI cable, I am not sure how that would be any different then the seperate control box. (If you have some other AV device to do the source switching)

The 503 has now been relegated to the basement, for video game play and a spare TV.
Still a good picture... but really outdated by the TV's over the last two or three years.


----------



## P Smith

If it has 40k hours then I wouldn't give more then $100 for it - it's good for basement video games and tripe X video casettes


----------



## John Williams

There is NO WAY your TV has 40,000 hours on it. You would have to have had the TV on for over 12 hours a day, 365 days a year, for the life you have had it (no more than 8 years). And if you did, the picture would be so dim at 40K hours, it would be nearly unwatchable. I'm guessing you are guessing and it's more like 10K-20K hours. ???
About 10,000 hours is the useful life of a plasma for good picture quality. At that many hours, the panel's brightness is significantly lower than when it was new and enough to be a big deal. At 20,000 hours (if the TV has lasted that long), the brightness and contrast are such that it's time for replacement (it would be pretty dim - 50% or less).

LCD's suffer from 2 problems with hours.
1) the backlight with dim over time and eventually fail [with CFL you can replace them sometimes].
2) The LCD panel will yellow over time. I've seen this happen after only a few short years on some cheap models.

To the original poster:
That Pioneer TV is one of the best picture quality, flat panel TVs, to come out of the digital age; when it was new. It sold for over $6000 and was well worth it. There are 2 factors you want to look at if considering purchasing this TV.
1) The amount of hours on the panel. If it has less than 10K hours on it, it's worth some money. If over that, I wouldn't even consider it unless they were selling it for dirt cheap (i.e. a few hundred dollars). Unfortunately, I don't believe this TV has an hour counter that's easy to get to. You would have to get into the service menu (a secret menu for repair centers and calibrators).
2) The amount of hours of use the TV has seen is also tied to how the TV was used and picture settings during that time. You should ask what picture mode the TV has been used in. The choices are STANDARD, DYNAMIC, MOVIE, GAME, USER, and PURE. If DYNAMIC has been used the whole time, walk away. That mode puts more wear on the panel than any other mode (4x). Not to mention more possibility of burn in, uneven color wear, etc...

If (and it's a big if) the TV has less than 10K hours on it (need to check in the service menu) and it has been well taken care of (correct picture modes and formats), I would spend up to $1K for it. It would still have a better picture than a lot of the crap TV's coming to market. If however the TV has more hours than that on it or has not been well taken care of, certainly not worth much and the picture quality will probably show it.
You should demo the TV and take someone with you that knows picture quality. A test disc with the patterns you'll need to evaulate. And the codes needed to get into the service menu to check hours. Really no different than going to buy a used car.


----------



## PokerJoker

What John said.

Also, those Pioneers were somewhat subject to burn-in. If you get a chance to test it, be sure to try a solid-white test screen. If the previous owner watched a lot of 4:3 pictures with sidebars, or had ESPN or CNBC up all day, or played a lot of video games, it will likely be obvious.

BTW 7000 feet is right at the top of the altitude spec for the unit. (actual spec is 800 millibars pressure.) I know that I watched mine at 6500 feet with no problems. It should be OK.

Keith


----------



## Earl Bonovich

Well tell that to the meter in the TV that states 36,478 hours... (yes, this particular model actually has a hour counter/display in it's setup menu) so yes, I am a little less then 40k hours, I rounded up for conversation pieces.

And if you seen my house, and how we use TV's... 12 hours a day is nothing. The Main TV is usually easily on from about 7am till midnight daily.

And honestly... the "brightness" has never been an issue, and I can't recall what it look exactly like 8.5 years ago when I put it up... But it is certainly a bit dimmer today, but not "half" as bright".

And if it wasn't for the temperature issue (The thermastate won't turn the fans on anymore) which leads to green pixels on the top... this tv would probably still be in my main room. (in the basement for game play, having the fans forced on and running is fine, but not in general viewing).



John Williams said:


> There is NO WAY your TV has 40,000 hours on it. You would have to have had the TV on for over 12 hours a day, 365 days a year, for the life you have had it (no more than 8 years). And if you did, the picture would be so dim at 40K hours, it would be nearly unwatchable. I'm guessing you are guessing and it's more like 10K-20K hours. ???
> About 10,000 hours is the useful life of a plasma for good picture quality. At that many hours, the panel's brightness is significantly lower than when it was new and enough to be a big deal. At 20,000 hours (if the TV has lasted that long), the brightness and contrast are such that it's time for replacement (it would be pretty dim - 50% or less).
> 
> LCD's suffer from 2 problems with hours.
> 1) the backlight with dim over time and eventually fail [with CFL you can replace them sometimes].
> 2) The LCD panel will yellow over time. I've seen this happen after only a few short years on some cheap models.
> 
> To the original poster:
> That Pioneer TV is one of the best picture quality, flat panel TVs, to come out of the digital age; when it was new. It sold for over $6000 and was well worth it. There are 2 factors you want to look at if considering purchasing this TV.
> 1) The amount of hours on the panel. If it has less than 10K hours on it, it's worth some money. If over that, I wouldn't even consider it unless they were selling it for dirt cheap (i.e. a few hundred dollars). Unfortunately, I don't believe this TV has an hour counter that's easy to get to. You would have to get into the service menu (a secret menu for repair centers and calibrators).
> 2) The amount of hours of use the TV has seen is also tied to how the TV was used and picture settings during that time. You should ask what picture mode the TV has been used in. The choices are STANDARD, DYNAMIC, MOVIE, GAME, USER, and PURE. If DYNAMIC has been used the whole time, walk away. That mode puts more wear on the panel than any other mode (4x). Not to mention more possibility of burn in, uneven color wear, etc...
> 
> If (and it's a big if) the TV has less than 10K hours on it (need to check in the service menu) and it has been well taken care of (correct picture modes and formats), I would spend up to $1K for it. It would still have a better picture than a lot of the crap TV's coming to market. If however the TV has more hours than that on it or has not been well taken care of, certainly not worth much and the picture quality will probably show it.
> You should demo the TV and take someone with you that knows picture quality. A test disc with the patterns you'll need to evaulate. And the codes needed to get into the service menu to check hours. Really no different than going to buy a used car.


----------



## subeluvr

Thanks for the feedback...


----------



## John Williams

Earl Bonovich said:


> Well tell that to the meter in the TV that states 36,478 hours... (yes, this particular model actually has a hour counter/display in it's setup menu) so yes, I am a little less then 40k hours, I rounded up for conversation pieces.
> 
> And if you seen my house, and how we use TV's... 12 hours a day is nothing. The Main TV is usually easily on from about 7am till midnight daily.
> 
> And honestly... the "brightness" has never been an issue, and I can't recall what it look exactly like 8.5 years ago when I put it up... But it is certainly a bit dimmer today, but not "half" as bright".


Wow, you did put a lot of hours on your TV lol
I would be willing to bet you that the picture's peak light output is way less than 12 foot lamberts right now (new that TV was around 28-32; when calibrated). It would be near impossible to notice the difference in light output over time, since it happens so slowly. Kind of like 'the frog in boiling water'. And 8.5 years is a long time to remember what it looked like new, especially when everyday your memory was upgraded with the new dimmer picture each day.
If you have a local photo shop, professional photographer, video calibrator, etc... in your area that has a light meter, I would be curious just how much light output your TV has after 40K hours.


----------



## Earl Bonovich

John Williams said:


> Wow, you did put a lot of hours on your TV lol
> I would be willing to bet you that the picture's peak light output is way less than 12 foot lamberts right now (new that TV was around 28-32; when calibrated). It would be near impossible to notice the difference in light output over time, since it happens so slowly. Kind of like 'the frog in boiling water'. And 8.5 years is a long time to remember what it looked like new, especially when everyday your memory was upgraded with the new dimmer picture each day.
> If you have a local photo shop, professional photographer, video calibrator, etc... in your area that has a light meter, I would be curious just how much light output your TV has after 40K hours.


Hmm... funny, I actually just had profession photographers in my basement over the weekend... didn't think of having them put the meeter on it.

Maybe over the holidays when they are here again.

And yes... my family is TV Junkies... the new TV doesn't get the same type of abuse, because of the iPad and several other HD TV's in the house now.


----------



## subeluvr

Been pondering this decision for a while and had the chance to really look at the Pioneer sitting right next to a 50" Panasonic P50GT30 (my choice for a new TV).

No burn-in to see under any conditions on the Pioneer and at 10 feet a far superior 720P picture to the Panasonic 1080P... not even close... not in the same league. Cosmetics on the Pioneer are perfect. Apparently well cared for as a $6k TV should be.

Power consumption is not really a consideration for me as this Pioneer is replacing a Mits 40" CRT which almost requires it's own power generating station. What a great TV the Mits has been... truly an incredible display for the 90's but then they were $4k then.

The price was right and I pulled the trigger.

Thanks to all who replied and especially John Williams for his objective post.


----------

