[fwefw]

Hi guys,
I want to buy 50" cheap plasma to replace my small crt. I don't want to spend much money for it. I have a few candidates : Samsung PS50A457, Samsung PS50A557, TH-50PX8EA or maybe some cheap LG. I spent hours watching them in stores and personally I would go with PS50A457. I will watch mainly SD and PS50A457 looked a bit better than his opponents. Maybe the black wasn't so deep as PS50A557 ( but I don't like crystal clear panel on PS50A557 ) and the colors looked a bit washed out, but this could be because of bad settings. Colors on both Samsungs were a bit oversaturated more than on Lg or Panasonic, they both have more natural colors. Panasonic wasn't good on SD and I don't like design of this model and LG is known as a brand, which has still problems with image retention. I'll buy PS50A457.
What do you think about my choice. Any idea ? It's the cheapest model and maybe after calibration PS50A457 will provide smooth picture with some good colors.

[Craig8718]

Alright mate,

The Samsung PS50A557 (Series 5 Samsung) is the next model up from the Samsung PS50A457 (Series 4 Samsung). They do look almost indentical.

The main difference in them being is that the Series 5 model is FULL HD (1020) wheras the Series 4 model is HD READY (720).

If your only watching SD, the sets probably rate about the same, but for £50 extra I would advise you to go for the Series 5 model so your full HD ready if you decide to buy a Blu-Ray or PS3 to hook up to it. I have the Samsung PS50A556 which is exactly the same Series 5 set your looking at but with a slightly different trim (hence the '6' instead of the '7').

Try not to rely on what the colours looked like on the sets on display in the shops as they always put the colours right up. Best to read reviews (have a look at the owners threads on here) before you buy.