I am currently going crazy trying to decide on which tele to get

I decided to go with the LE40a656 LCD tv (currently on order from dixons), but didn't look into plasma tvs. Now I've seen a Panasonic TH-42PZ80B plasma for a similar price (£760) and I starting to think I've made the wrong decision.

Before its too late can somebody help me decide which is the best tv out of the 2 or any others for around £800? lcd or plasma will do.

If it helps I will be getting a ps3 once I save up again and I currently play games and watch movies and sports. At the moment watch mainly SD tv but still want the best for the future (FreeSat, PS3, etc) It would be much appreciated if you could explain the reason for your choice to make it easier for me to decided.

[BlkKnight]

I was in a similar situation to you.

Went for the plasma.

If you can, ask the shop to run some HD material for you in store so that you can compare them

[Syphonic]

Well it would depend largely on how much you game and how much you watch movies and sports.

To be honest if you are trying to compare the Panny against an LCD you should probably look at the Sony 40W4000 which seems to be rated slightly higher than the Samsung especially when it comes to 'colour management and gaming response'. The Sony is criticised for not being able to achieve D65 plus has no film mode deinterlacing for SD content. You should also look at the Toshiba 40ZF355D which is well reviewed.

That said even if gaming is your primary concern, take this from the HDTVTest review of the PZ80:

The combination of LCD-trouncing blacks, LCD-equalling brightness, almost blur-free motion handling and full high definition screen resolution brought Gran Turismo 5: Prologue to gloriously photorealistic 1080p fruition on the Panasonic TH42PZ80 plasma television. Input lag was non-existent, either measured objectively or assessed subjectively as we hugged the racing lines on the tracks.

Thanks for the replies

Funny enough I seen the Panasonic TH-46PZ85 (not sure if there is any difference from the Z80) next to the samsung LE46a656 today in HD via Bluray, SD and HD via Freesat. I could definetly see the Panasonics blacks wear blacker and the SD picture was smoother but the Bluray images was close I think the samsung was a little sharper I was left more confused than when I went in.

Syphonic I think that gaming will be my priority does that help. Also thanks for the alternatives I will give them a look I think I'm going to cancel my order and have a think (again).

[nikz06]

LCDs are getting there, slowly! With a 100% perfect positional view on LCD blacks can appear deeper than certain plasmas. But move your head a little bit and they are gone, the viewing angles on LCDs are fairly bad.