What to buy - advice

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I'm about to replace my trusty Panasonic Quintrix Acuity SR CRT tv and have got a shortlist of 2...

Panasonic TX-P37X10B Plasma or

Sony KDL37W5500

I've seen both in shops and the Sony is undoubtedly better on Blu Ray, but I don't watch that many DVDs! I will be getting Sky HD and this will be my main viewing. The Panasonic is a lot cheaper, but is the Sony a better bet (a few scare stories re this set on here for the backlight issue)? Or is the Panasonic better if all I'm doing is watching SD or Sky HD? Confused! Will the picture on either set be better than my current Panasonic in SD?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

In my opinion there's no doubt that the Panasonic is the better TV. You say that the Sony is easily better on blu-ray, why? Remember that viewing TVs in shops tells you nothing. Not only are different TVs set up better than others (often LCDs are set up well because they're easier to sell) but the bright shop lighting really doesn't agree with plasma technology, whereas this is where LCDs thrive and look the best.

For watching regular TV I would personally go for the Panasonic, black levels are similar on both, maybe slightly better on the X10, but shadow detail is certainly better on the X10, and the image is more natural, motion is better, viewing angles are better. If the room is very bright then go for the LCD, but otherwise the X10 would be my choice

EDIT: I don't know your CRT specifically, but there's every possibility that it's better for regular TV than any LCD or plasma on the market, however, my PX80 and LG plasma both exceeded the abilities of the CRTs they replaced (but one was ancient and the other was very cheap, so I expected them to!)