Samsung UE65F9000

[IJ]

I had been thinking for some time now about a TV upgrade having been living with a 42 inch Pioneer Plasma for the past 7 years or so, that was now looking rather small. Another reason to change was to simplify the connection process and remove a nightmare of cables behind the cabinet. Originally i was set on the latest Panasonic 65 inch plasma, the equivalent LED panels just not having the same wow factor for me. Having been reading the reviews and comments recently on UHDTV, i was begining to wonder what it was all about.To cut a long story short, the time came to buy a new TV, so a decision needed to be made. The Panasonic 65 inch Plasma or alternative. Looking at the various Sony, LG, Hitachi and Samsung UHDTV sets, it quickly became clear the future potential that was available with these TV'sOk, they all show 4K demo's in the store, but they looked fanatstic compared to the std HDTV's. Having looked at the various sets on offer, in my opinion the Samsung UE65F9000 was as good or better than any of the other panels. Could i differentiate between the LG, Sony and Samsung - No, but the Samsung looked the part with its attractive design and thin panel. The LG is thick, to accomadate the speaker bar, the Sony too wide, with its side speakers. Add in the fact that the Samsung was what they describe as future proofed, a 25% discount off the list price and a free Airtrack F-551 thrown in, it was a no brainer. Installed yesterday and blown away by just how good it is. The realism and clarity of the picture with HD broadcasts and Bluray is stunning.So it cost a little more than the 65 inch plasma, and even closer in price to the top of the range 65 inch HD LED TV's from LG, Samsung etc. but i am ready for when 4K broadcasts and discs are avilable. I keep my TV's for 7-10 years so made sense to pay the little bit extra rather than buying a current HD set, knowing that i might need to change it quicker when 4K content becomes more available. The review says that the picture is not as good as a std HD TV with standard DVD's, well only having purchased bluray discs for the past years and all my broadcast programs being in HD, i can live with that. Other than that, a stunning TV

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Congratulations on your new Samsung TV! I myself, if I had the money, would probably not buy one just now, I would go for the Panasonic 65VT65 (which is currently almost £2K cheaper than your Samsung) but I would be hoping in about 2016 to get an even bigger 4K set, you see. Whereas your Samsung UE65F9000 is your final purchase for the next five years at least. I'm very pleased that you are so happy with it. This has been mentioned a few times on these forums, but get it calibrated in about a month or two, and it will look even better. I was speaking to a respected dealer here in Edinburgh, and he told me that 1080p Blu-Rays look even better on the 4K set he had seen than the Blu-Rays look on ordinary Full HD sets. I'm not sure which 4K set he had seen, but certainly the reviews of your new set (on HDTVtest, on Trusted Reviews) are very, very favourable. Only What Hi-Fi's review seems a little lukewarm, but regular forum members have noticed that What Hi-Fi reviewers seem harder to please than most others.
Out of curiosity, which particular 42 Pioneer plasma do you still / did you have? Will you keep it, and do what I and several other forumites do, and relegate it to another room, or will you sell it?

 

[rocketrazor]

Congratulations on your new Samsung TV! I myself, if I had the money, would probably not buy one just now, I would go for the Panasonic 65VT65 (which is currently almost £2K cheaper than your Samsung) but I would be hoping in about 2016 to get an even bigger 4K set, you see. Whereas your Samsung UE65F9000 is your final purchase for the next five years at least. I'm very pleased that you are so happy with it. This has been mentioned a few times on these forums, but get it calibrated in about a month or two, and it will look even better. I was speaking to a respected dealer here in Edinburgh, and he told me that 1080p Blu-Rays look even better on the 4K set he had seen than the Blu-Rays look on ordinary Full HD sets. I'm not sure which 4K set he had seen, but certainly the reviews of your new set (on HDTVtest, on Trusted Reviews) are very, very favourable. Only What Hi-Fi's review seems a little lukewarm, but regular forum members have noticed that What Hi-Fi reviewers seem harder to please than most others. Out of curiosity, which particular 42 Pioneer plasma do you still / did you have? Will you keep it, and do what I and several other forumites do, and relegate it to another room, or will you sell it?

how big a tv do you intend to get son_of_sj?

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Ha-ha, rocketrazor! This is two or three years ahead in 2015 or 2016, I'm some months away from getting even my Panasonic 65VT65 in the meantime, after all. If Panasonic would make another plasma like the VT65 series, but 84 inches and 4K, then I would try to get that. But that may not happen because of European energy dissipation requirements which would be hard to fulfil for a plasma of that size. But enough of that, let's get back to the existing Samsung UE65F9000 that is the excellent subject of this thread, please.

 

[IJ]

Overall the price i ended up paying was about £1k more than the plasma you mentioned(included wall mounting and an extra 2 pairs of glasses). In fact, pretty similar to the price of my original Pioneer plasma when i bought it. The bigger 85 inch panels are just way too ££££ for now.

So far i have watched Les Mis on Blueray and Man of Steel on a HD on demand broadcast. The difference between the old plasma and the new set is hard to describe considering that i was happy with the Plasma, apart from size. Things have moved way forward.

I would need to check what model the plasma is, it was early but was HD ready(a bit like the 4K tv's now, waiting for content) . For now its leaning against the wall in the spare bedroom. No thoughts as yet on its final resting place.

Big plus with the new TV and wireless sound bar, i have manged to remove a large Pioneer panel control box, 1 center speaker, 1 large Denon cinema amp, 1 large subwoofer and a huge mass of dirt collecting cables.

Only saw the What HiFi review after buying it, the other report you mentioned reads to be more of a fan. Checked std non HD broadcasts last night and can't say it was really any worse than what it was on the old plasma.

I was a little nervous about the potential complexity of a smart TV, but the remote and interface is simple and a breeze to navigate without having to refer to a manual.

I also compared the Hitachi eqiv whilst shopping, but it was not in the same league as the Samsung, LG or Sony in my opinion.

 

[IJ]

One thing i have noticed with HD movies, such is the level of detail that some scenes loose the reality of the movie/effect. All too easy to notice that they acting against a projected image and not actually being where they are supposed to be(if you understand what i mean)