Sony, Panasonic, Samsung - What is best brand

[admin_exported]

Hi Everyone,

I am so completely and utterly confused. Before Xmas I had it all sorted. I very nearly bought the Sony 40w4500 until I saw all the negative comments in the forums. Prior to buying What Hi-Fi I had almost decided upon a Panasonic but they don't seem to fare as well as the Sony's on What Hi-Fi. Now here's the funny thing! Whenever I go into a store with loads of Tv's all lined up next to each other, my eyes are always drawn to the Samsungs.

So to cut a long story very short, I just don't know what 40" tv to buy and was wondering if you guys can help a poor soul like me?

Cheers

Pete

 

[matthewpiano]

You've answered your own question. Buy the one your eyes are drawn to and that YOU like the picture of. As long as it has all the features you want/need, there is no better way to buy because its you that will have to watch the set for the next few years.

I only sell one of these brands but I am not naive enough to think that it is the only good quality option. In fact, some friends recently purchased a Samsung and are very pleased with it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply. What brand do you think is best?

 

[nads]

Pioneer Plasma.

Opps they dont do a 40"

 

[professorhat]

foncused.com:
Thanks for the reply. What brand do you think is best?

No such thing as a best brand really, it depends what you're after. Sony is doing very well with WHF ratings at the moment with its current range of TVs, though others disagree with them as shown by the various posts here about them. Personally, I've always had the mantra, "Can't go wrong with a Panasonic" (TV wise that is), which is true to an extent, virtually every Panasonic TV gets good reviews, but that doesn't mean I think they are necessarily the best. Pioneer make some excellent (if not the best) plasma TVs but their new LCD TVs aren't quite as good as the competition. Samsung also make excellent sets which have won awards at certain size groups - my friend's 26" Samsung is a brilliant TV.

However, without doubt there is at least one model of TV from all the above brands which is bettered by another brand - thus, there is no best brand. You need to look at your needs, research up on the TVs which fit those needs, audition those TVs and decide for yourself which one is best. WHF and these forums can help with that middle research part, but as matthewpiano said, if your eyes are being drawn to the Samsung, that might well be the one for you. I'd just be careful to ensure you are seeing it in a normally lit environment. The shop floor of Dixons, Comet and the like are very brightly lit and TVs that look good in these conditions won't necessarily look good in your living room. If you can, get an audition in a proper dimly lit demo room and make your decision from this.

ÿ

 

[Rorschach]

Well said, prof.

 

[matthewpiano]

foncused.com:
Thanks for the reply. What brand do you think is best?

I'm not sure I can give a wholly unbiased answer as one brand (Sony) puts the food on my table!! I do, however, genuinely feel that many of Sony's TVs are excellent and the engineers I speak to all rate them higher than any other brand for overall reliability.

Its a very competitive market though and Panasonic and Pioneer, in particular, provide real competition for Sony which can only be good for everyone. I think Samsung's sets have improved immensely as well although I feel the sound is often a weakness on their designs. I've also been very very impressed by the picture quality of the most recent Philips LCDs, although I'm told reliability is still a weakness.

In short, there really is no single best brand. I'd say the three main market leaders in terms of performance and quality are Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer but we all look for different things in a product and there are some great alternatives out there.

 

[Davro83]

Best Brand. Easy..... Logik

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the replies chaps. I'm now thinking about the Panasonic Viera TX-37LZD800. I've now seen the Sony 40w4500 and I thought it was Ok but it didn't really leap out at me. I also didn't really like the menu system. I haven't actually seen the LZD800 yet but I've seen the reviews on both WHF and Which and it seems to fair well on both. A couple of slight negatives on this set are slightly pale blacks and images that are too sharp. How can a picture be too sharp?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Davro83:Best Brand. Easy..... Logik

Really helpful, Bobby...

 

[Anonymous]

foncused.com:
Thanks for the reply. What brand do you think is best?

No question - Pioneer Kuro Plasma TVs.

 

[m.j]

having just bought one i'd also say pioneer kuro's

by far

absolutley amazing tv's

 

[Anonymous]

I don't really have much in the way of brand loyalty. My first HD TV was a Samsung 26R41 which cost me £700 and it was awful. There was an irritating white flicker every so often at the top of the screen and its detection of video and film material was very poor. I had it for only 7 weeks before I couldn't take it anymore and swapped it for a Panasonic 26LXD500 (which cost an extra £300) and have had that ever since though it's being replaced next week by a Pioneer 32V. Despite my horror experience with this particular Samsung product I would still buy from them though, admittedly, I'd hesitate getting another Samsung TV.

 

[Anonymous]

Just reading some of the other threads and a couple of questions spring to mind. At present I have a Sony 32fx60b that has served me well for about 9 yrs. The first point is that there do seem to be a lot of issues with LCD screens, more so than plasmas ( ithink) So my question is do you think these are isolated incidents experienced by an unlucky few. Or do you think that the negative comments about certain TV's are due to contributors on here being very exacting and (quite rightly) hard to please. Could it be that the vast majority of veiwers wouldn't notice the faults?

Secondly, the advance in picture quality. Is this a true improvement over the top CRT screens? Or are they just getting better as LCD screens?

I guess like many people on here, I do tend to research things before I buy them so I can ensure highest quality for my hard earned cash. This time around though seems to be a more nerve racking experience due to clouding,pale blacks etc.....When will it all end

As a footnote. I did a search on the 40w4500 last night. I found one of these price comparisome sites that showed john lewis selling one at £1075 with 5ys guarantee and free delivery. On closer inspection i find that it's a KDL40W4500/4710. Whats that all about?

Reading another thread on here it looks like Panasonic are releasing a new range. When are they likely to be onsale?

Cheers

Pete