Panasonic TX-P42GT60B vs Samsung UE40F8000

[zion]

:help:

Hi everyone,

I'm stuck between two units - the plasma Panasonic TX-P42GT60B @£1100 and the LED Samsung UE40F8000 @£1350 - please help!

The Panasonic is the What-Hifi Best Buy, amongst other things.... the only reported downsides being sound, boring design, and only 3 HDMI ports. The Samsung unit doesnt appear to have been reviewed by What Hifi... but has receieved decent reviews at other places .....(trustedreviews, AV forums etc)....The samsung doesnt seem to get any criticism other than an overly complicated interface.....

I love the look of the samsung - the contrast is amazing - but I haven't yet been able to see the Panasonic....

I guess the LED will be a bit cheaper to run.... and a bit cooler?

Anyone got any guidance? Any help would be really appreciated....

Thanks!

Z.

 

[Tarxman]

I have the 65" VT60 Panasonic and it's amazing. I think the Samsung is decent far as LEDs go, however I much prefer the picture of plasma myself. What are you upgrading from?

 

[rocketrazor]

Check out the below review of the 55" it shouldn't differ that much

http://www.whathifi.com/review/samsung-ue55f8000

are you a gamer at all and do you do most of your viewing during the day in a bright room or at night in a dark room?

dont worry about running costs, i think someone said its about £40 a year extra to run a plasma, not much at all. Although you wont need your heating on as much in the winter as they can run a little hot at times

 

[rocketrazor]

If you go for the samung try John Lewis price match on the below link, it should work if you price match the shop, not the website. You'll then get it with 5yr warranty and cash back, so I think that's £999 total

http://www.totaldigital.biz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=43_51&products_id=4768

 

[zion]

Thanks for the thoughts...

We are upgrading from an old sony 28" CRT! so either is going to be a big step up!

The room is south facing and is therefore quite bright and the CRT suffers from a lot of reflections....

Thanks for the price match tip! I will check out the what hifi 55" review too...

 

[strapped for cash]

I love the look of the samsung - the contrast is amazing - but I haven't yet been able to see the Panasonic....

Plasma TVs will always outperform LED TVs in terms of native contrast. (Don't confuse this with dynamic contrast, which gives no indication of how the TV will perform with any content on screen, even a flashing white pixel.) The advice, as always, is to audition.

I know which I'd choose, but that has nothing to do with your preferences and requirements. The biggest difficulty with the GT60 is finding a retailer with the TV on display. If you can tick that box, I'd urge you to see the GT60 in action. Failing that, you can get a sense of how the GT60 performs by auditioning either the ST60 or VT65.

 

[strapped for cash]

Thanks for the thoughts...

We are upgrading from an old sony 28" CRT! so either is going to be a big step up!

The room is south facing and is therefore quite bright and the CRT suffers from a lot of reflections....

Thanks for the price match tip! I will check out the what hifi 55" review too...

The reflection issue may mean that an LED TV is the better option; though mid-to-high-end plasma TVs perform better under such conditions than many people acknowledge, due their effective AR filters. If you were looking at a cheaper model, such as the X60, screen relections and washed out images would be more of a concern. In any case, I'd still recommend auditioning both TVs before making a decision.

 

[zion]

Hi,

Well, I managed to find a Richer Sounds with both units on display next to each other! (albeit different sizes).I have to say I was really dissapointed by the Panasonic. Compared to the SAMSUNG it looked washed out and pretty poor....

I was a bit shocked. Even the guy in the shop said he was shocked at the difference......He was certain there was no difference in the way the units were being fed.... we also tried fiddling with various settings but to no avail...

The difference was so stark that I'm not convinced there wasn't something wrong somewhere....but I love the SAMSUNG so I'm going with that!

Cheers.

Z

 

[zion]

Hi,

Well, I managed to find a Richer Sounds with both units on display next to each other! (albeit different sizes).I have to say I was really dissapointed by the Panasonic. Compared to the SAMSUNG it looked washed out and pretty poor....

I was a bit shocked. Even the guy in the shop said he was shocked at the difference......He was certain there was no difference in the way the units were being fed.... we also tried fiddling with various settings but to no avail...

The difference was so stark that I'm not convinced there wasn't something wrong somewhere....but I love the SAMSUNG so I'm going with that!

Cheers.

Z

 

[rocketrazor]

I must admit, when I've seen any plasma on the shop floor it's always looked underwhelming with the picture. That said I stll keep buying them

enjoy your new tv. Any chance you can increase your budget to get the 46". You will not regret it, bigger is always best if you can get it