Samsung 40A786 LED vs Sony 40W4500 vs Panasonic 42PZ85 Plasma

jonnymc4 · 11-11-2008, 7:53 PM

I'm looking to buying a new TV, with the 3 in the subject in mind; Samsung LED Backlit 40A786, Sony 40W4500 and the Panasonic 42PZ85B. I'd be using it mostly for Sky with a view to upgrading to HD, PS3 and watching Blu-Ray DVDs.

Of the three, which would you recommend for the above viewing/playing? Also I don't really want to spend more than £1000, although if the TV were special I'd give it thought.

I've seen the Sony and Panasonic for ~£880, and the Samsung for £999 with 5 year warranty from Robert Whyte. Does the Samsung justify the extra £100 or not? I understand each of the TVs has their faults, but is there a TV that is better than the others all round?

Regards,

Jonny

juLZ007 · 11-11-2008, 9:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnymc4

I'm looking to buying a new TV, with the 3 in the subject in mind; Samsung LED Backlit 40A786, Sony 40W4500 and the Panasonic 42PZ85B. I'd be using it mostly for Sky with a view to upgrading to HD, PS3 and watching Blu-Ray DVDs.

Of the three, which would you recommend for the above viewing/playing? Also I don't really want to spend more than £1000, although if the TV were special I'd give it thought.

I've seen the Sony and Panasonic for ~£880, and the Samsung for £999 with 5 year warranty from Robert Whyte. Does the Samsung justify the extra £100 or not? I understand each of the TVs has their faults, but is there a TV that is better than the others all round?

Regards,

Jonny

forget the sony as its garbage

panasonic
- sd performance far superior
- motion performance far superior
- viewing angles

samsung
- contrast; very good black level
- nice design

+1 for the Panasonic from me. i prefer the overall pq you get with a plasma, and, although maybe the lcds are a safer option when playing games through, just take care not to play the same game hours on end and it will be fine

if aswell as ps3 youll be using it _often_ as a computer monitor, then go for the samsung

overall the Panasonic wins imo, hope this helps

ChrisGgr · 11-11-2008, 9:54 PM

could you elaborate why you think the sony is garbage?

As for the OP I think the panasonic is an excellent overall choice!

juLZ007 · 11-11-2008, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHRISGEO

could you elaborate why you think the sony is garbage?

As for the OP I think the panasonic is an excellent overall choice!

because i hate the way sony can get away with the prices they charge for 'ok' lcds... for 2/3 the price you can get a 42PX80 which is miles better.. even the samsung 6 series lcds are better imo

although i am very much a plasma lover, i would certainly go with a Samsung lcd as at least you get value for money (i.e an led backlit tv which, when next to even a z4500 [overprocessed pile of 200hz garbage], makes it look half the price or less)

sony trinitron yay, sony lcd get lost

audiphile76 · 12-11-2008, 6:47 AM

If you play less games(not more than 2 hours at a stretch), watch a lot of movies, HD content and SD, I would recommend the Panasonic.

If you game more, use your screen for PC use as screen, i would say go for Samsung.

**Curly99** · 12-11-2008, 7:57 AM

Moderator comment: Can people use the full TV manufacturers names, IE: panny for Panasonic and sammy for Samsung, using the correct names helps people who search the forums for topic's, threads, answers...etc

Curly

ChrisGgr · 12-11-2008, 1:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juLZ007

because i hate the way sony can get away with the prices they charge for 'ok' lcds... for 2/3 the price you can get a 42PX80 which is miles better.. even the samsung 6 series lcds are better imo

although i am very much a plasma lover, i would certainly go with a Samsung lcd as at least you get value for money (i.e an led backlit tv which, when next to even a z4500 [overprocessed pile of 200hz garbage], makes it look half the price or less)

sony trinitron yay, sony lcd get lost

the over-pricing periods are over now,look at the W4500.Its price is £850 for the 40" and its about £100 more than 40A656/686 and its better than it.the Z4500 is an other story yes,but for 2008 line up at least,the price matter applies to Z4500 and X4500

ziffius · 12-11-2008, 4:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHRISGEO

the over-pricing periods are over now,look at the W4500.Its price is £850 for the 40" and its about £100 more than 40A656/686 and its better than it.the Z4500 is an other story yes,but for 2008 line up at least,the price matter applies to Z4500 and X4500

Not for long! Sterling is doing very badly against the Yen. The UK interest rates are 3% compared to 0.3% in Japan. So Sterling has a lot to fall against the Yen yet. In the end Sony will have to raise prices.

A2a · 12-11-2008, 5:00 PM

Good point, but if the supply is already there (no doubt they've manufactured a lot of sets because of the launch and new line release) and demand is low, raising prices is just gonna be a shot in the foot.

It's like cars... Lots of jobs been cut, factories operating at part time hours and yet this is a very good time to buy a car and get a good deal

ziffius · 12-11-2008, 5:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A2a

Good point, but if the supply is already there (no doubt they've manufactured a lot of sets because of the launch and new line release) and demand is low, raising prices is just gonna be a shot in the foot.

It's like cars... Lots of jobs been cut, factories operating at part time hours and yet this is a very good time to buy a car and get a good deal

I still think prices are going to have to go up, the pound has plummented to the point where prices here are much cheaper than in the Eurozone. I think Sony are already making a loss on some of the Bravia's and Toshiba made a big loss this year.

I don't know if the LG/ Samsung do business in the Won or Dollar.

ChrisGgr · 12-11-2008, 5:19 PM

in UK definitely there wont be any price falls with the new launch models not by sony only but from all manufacturers as well.for example a limit price for 32" branded is £350,it cant go further down,as the smaller ranging will be virtually destroyed.maybe there will be a small drop in 40" and above but UK wont see much lcd drop generally,yeah

nemrtvy · 12-11-2008, 5:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juLZ007

forget the sony as its garbage

panasonic
- sd performance far superior
- motion performance far superior
- viewing angles

samsung
- contrast; very good black level
- nice design

+1 for the Panasonic from me. i prefer the overall pq you get with a plasma, and, although maybe the lcds are a safer option when playing games through, just take care not to play the same game hours on end and it will be fine

if aswell as ps3 youll be using it _often_ as a computer monitor, then go for the samsung

overall the Panasonic wins imo, hope this helps

Is Samsung A656 better LCD than 40w4500? Or is it just better price ratio than 40w4500?

ChrisGgr · 12-11-2008, 5:20 PM

its the price ratio mainly otherwise I prefer the W4500 over A656 in performance although by not big difference obviously

nemrtvy · 12-11-2008, 5:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHRISGEO

its the price ratio mainly otherwise I prefer the W4500 over A656 in performance although by not big difference obviously

Does the Samsung has simillar problems to 40w4500 cloudings? Or any other issues? And is the clouding the only 40w4500 problem?

audiphile76 · 12-11-2008, 5:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemrtvy

Does the Samsung has simillar problems to 40w4500 cloudings? Or any other issues? And is the clouding the only 40w4500 problem?

Samsung does not have clouding issues like W4500 or W4000 or W3000 or W2000. However 100Hz on Samsung does not work as well as W4500.

ChrisGgr · 12-11-2008, 6:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemrtvy

Does the Samsung has simillar problems to 40w4500 cloudings? Or any other issues? And is the clouding the only 40w4500 problem?

there have been A656 clouding as well,there have been some fw issues/bugs.clouding is mainly an lcd issue

jonnymc4 · 12-11-2008, 9:29 PM

Well it looks as though I'll go for the Panasonic. I did go in to Sound and Vision a few weeks ago and they said they would only ever go for a plasma. I must admit the SD picture was far superior to the W4500, but have yet to see the Samsung SD performance. I'll go out this weekend and have a look/buy one.

Do you know how well the Panasonic 800 performs in comparison? is it worth the extra £100+?

ChrisGgr · 12-11-2008, 10:01 PM

I wouldnt say the 800 is worth it so much,the 85 is excellent too

juLZ007 · 12-11-2008, 10:29 PM

the 800 has a 'nicer' design (one pane of glass), and has an sd memory card reader capable of video playback aswell as pictures

only you can say whether its worth the money as you may very well want to play back video off an sd, but picture quality will be the same of all other sources

jonnymc4 · 12-11-2008, 10:48 PM

Suppose that's all I wanted to know. I'm not to bothered about the sd card reader, so it looks like the 85.

I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully soon!

audiphile76 · 13-11-2008, 1:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnymc4

Suppose that's all I wanted to know. I'm not to bothered about the sd card reader, so it looks like the 85.

I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully soon!

imo, PZ80 is better and cheaper than PZ85.

D3NNO · 15-11-2008, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiphile76

imo, PZ80 is better and cheaper than PZ85.

why is it better?

szhjcn2 · 24-11-2008, 2:39 PM

So no clear winner, mind you I guess everyone has thier favorites.

What I like about the Samsung is the 4 HDMI input (of which 3 are on the back and usabl on a permanent basis).

I also want a 40" maybe 42" display and not sure if I should wait or jump in with one of these models.

Wish the Sony Z4500 had 4 HDMI's and/or the combined inputs of the X4500.

My issue with the W4500 is the sound as the X & Z have a better sound setup (but not sure how the Samsung compares).

I have a full-blown Cinema room so won't be looking at adding a sound system to the TV as it's only used for daily viewing and the cinema room for serious films.

Guess at least I have a long/short list to check-out in the shops when I have a minute.

My CRT TV is getting very tired now and I want to replace it sooner rather than later.

YellowSphere · 24-11-2008, 3:08 PM

If you want 4 HDMI and good sound and are interested in the Panasonic range, then the PZ800 has 4 HDMI and good sound.

audiphile76 · 24-11-2008, 7:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D3NNO

why is it better?

With PZ80, you get same PQ with lesser money. PZ85 has IFC and some more features which is not worth the extra money. when i meant better, i meant "more value for money".

tony_st83 · 24-11-2008, 7:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiphile76

With PZ80, you get same PQ with lesser money. PZ85 has IFC and some more features which is not worth the extra money. when i meant better, i meant "more value for money".

HDTVtest thinks the same!

Panasonic TH42PZ80 / TH42PZ80B Review: 42" Viera Plasma HDTV

Panasonic TH42PZ85B Conclusion: Recommended; IFC Flawed

szhjcn2 · 01-12-2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YellowSphere

If you want 4 HDMI and good sound and are interested in the Panasonic range, then the PZ800 has 4 HDMI and good sound.

Must admit I was looking at a LCD rather than Plasma. Mainly for minimal Glare due to the TV being located in a room with virtually a full wall of glass and ceiling windows. Also for the lower power consumption.

I will however take a closer look at the other options including the Panasonic's. Have had several Panasonic TV's CRT including my current one and have always been happy except for the 2nd Scart dying (not able to pickup the colour signal for some reason which has happened on a couple of sets).

Guess the Jury needs another recess before it can finalise on it's decision