which and why?

Panasonic.......better blacks,better build quality,better customer support

^^^

What he said.

only 2 opinions on this whole forum???

panasonic.

I like my panny, seems like they have better color accuracy than the samsungs.

I'll put in a vote for Sammy, even though the new ones are just now coming out and not much info yet. Most Sammy owners say their set looks more vibrant. I, myself, am mystified why Panny does not allow more tweakability on their normal menu. I like to tinker and Sammy lets you do all u want. My daughter had a very good experience with Samusng customer service which seems to be the opposite of what is pointed out on AVS.

I cannot pull the trigger until I see most models and reviews. As much as I'd like to buy now my advice is to wait and see both.

One of the Samsung 50" plasmas got VERY high reviews (above all the Panny's) in the latest issue of Consumer Reports... I was reading it at the train station and unfortunately don't remember which model they specified.

I have a samsung plasma pn50a510 and love it. My brother in law has a 50" panasonic and it is awesome too. So I say buy whatever the hell you want and dont listen to what anyone says. Pick whatever u think looks the best within your chosen price range. It seems to me that everyone is stuck on recommending only the brand that they happen to own at the moment. Just my opinion.

I have a samsung plasma pn50a510 and love it. My brother in law has a 50" panasonic and it is awesome too. So I say buy whatever the hell you want and dont listen to what anyone says. Pick whatever u think looks the best within your chosen price range. It seems to me that everyone is stuck on recommending only the brand that they happen to own at the moment. Just my opinion.

Actually you can have this backward, since people tend to buy what they like the most :D

One of the Samsung 50" plasmas got VERY high reviews (above all the Panny's) in the latest issue of Consumer Reports... I was reading it at the train station and unfortunately don't remember which model they specified.

I believe that's the PN50A550, which CNET also picked over the comparable panny Z80. From what I've seen on last years models the samsungs tend to have better color accuracy and the panasonics tend to have better black levels and shadow detail. Panasonics also have better anti-reflective screens than the samsungs, and depending on the particular sale it seems to me the samsungs often end up a bit cheaper than the panasonics.

I still like the Z80 myself for bang/buck, but the new G10s are looking mighty nice.

only 2 opinions on this whole forum???Well you should have posted it in the Plasma forum where all the plasma enthusiasts are, not the general flat panel forum which has a very small subscriber base.

That said, Panasonic offers better build quality, higher reliability, better blacks, more resistance to burn-in, better customer support, better parts availability, and unlike Samsung they are not a criminal empire. Some people say Samsung has better colors but i'm not so sure about that, and the new 12G Panasonic models are getting very good reviews and glowing reports from owners.

From what i see in stores when side by side with other displays, and from some reviews it seems some panasonic plasmas have trouble displaying skin tones correctly. I can't stand off skin tones.

I plan on picking up a sammy plasma in a couple of months unless the panny 50" s1 can display skin tones okay without professional calibration.

only 2 opinions on this whole forum???

It's because this topic has been beaten to death. Do a search and you'll find hundreds of opinions.