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Help with plasma TV choice

Greetings,

I would appreciate comments/suggestions to help me with my choice of plasma TV. This TV will be our first HT set-up, and will be used in a weekend home. It will be used for DVD playback, movie downloads, and the kids' video games (Wii). NO cable or satellite. Video signal will be supplied by an Oppo DVD player, and/or the TV's (or Oppo's) internal Wifi connectivity for movie downloads. As such, I would strongly consider a dedicated display, but don't seem to be able to find one in my price range.

Size-wise I would like something in the 55-60 inches diag range, and I
would like to spend $1300-2000 (street price), or so. After some research at a local dealer, I am pretty sure my choice can be narrowed to either
Panasonic or Samsung. The Samsungs' picture quality looks somewhat better to my eye, but I have concerns about screen reflectivity given reported issues with the Samsungs and the fact that there are many windows in the room where it will be used. The Panasonics in general look very good but somewhat subdued and less bright and defined than the Samsungs.

Rest of the system will be a Totem Dreamcatcher 5.1 setup driven by a B&K 307 receiver.

Thoughts? Thanks.
frogman
jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,074 posts
 
I replaced my Proton tube TV with a Panasonic about four years ago. The Panasonic plasma is so much better, I have been nothing but happy.
tfl303's avatar
tfl303
83 posts
 
I had the PAN vt30 found pic to be too dark for my tastes
Replaced with Samsung E8000 really love it
Asa far as picture the smart hub sucks but not that important to me
The new pan vt 50 looks brighter in store
It's your call good luck!!!!E
ghostrider45
449 posts
 
All sets come out of the box in torch mode for the sales floor. As mentioned above, you can't really compare without some careful time consuming adjustment.

Based on my own and friend's anecdotal experiences, I'm not convinced that Samsung has a firm handle on product quality and consistency. They make stuff that looks great on paper but seems to me to have too many premature failures.

YMMV!
audiomike1
21 posts
 
Just purchased a 60" Panny GT50... Bottom line.. the best TV i have evr owned.. blew away my old DLP Samsung 61" and totally outdid the Sony LED HX850 that i tried... has a more real picture with accurate colors and a fantastic looking cinema-like picture.. can't be beat for $2,000.00!!!!!
The Sammy plasma came in a close second.. which I almost bought.. just think the Panny is superior. But these plasma's totally blow away all of the LED's I have seen.. the LED's give me a headache literally and are hyper-real and not very good looking...just my opinion.. hope this helps!!
bojack
630 posts
 
LOVE my Samsung Plasma. It has made concert DVDs a revelation. I have heard the Pannys are good as well, but I remember reading that the Samsung has a better rep among the hard core videophiles for naturalness of skin tones (if that matters to you) and picture adjustment options. I never thought I would like watching DVDs as much until I got mine.
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