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Panasonic TH-58PZ850U vs. Samsung PN58A760

post #1 of 13
11/13/08 at 9:05am
Thread Starter 
After weeks of reading reviews and this forum, I was all set to buy the Panny TH-58PZ850U before I landed upon this comparison of five "gold standard" plasmas in Playback Magazine. The 50-inch, rather than 58-inch, models are reviewed here, but they did give the nod to the Samsung over the almost equally well-reviewed Panasonic 800u THX model. What say you here?
http://playback.avguide.com/issue/14
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post #2 of 13
11/13/08 at 9:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by s2silber View Post

After weeks of reading reviews and this forum, I was all set to buy the Panny TH-58PZ850U before I landed upon this comparison of five "gold standard" plasmas in Playback Magazine. The 50-inch, rather than 58-inch, models are reviewed here, but they did give the nod to the Samsung over the almost equally well-reviewed Panasonic 800u THX model. What say you here?
http://playback.avguide.com/issue/14

I have compared both the pz850 and a760 at Magnolia. Also, there happen to be a 111FD next to them. Clearly the 111FD was the winner but in reality, when bringing any set home, you will can't wrong with either.

At first glance the Samsung's picture was better, but then I got the remote for the 850 and saw the picture was in Vivid mode. After playing with both Studio Ref mode and Custom (which has the pro) options, I preferred the picture of the Panny. Seems the shadow detail was better. The reviews of flicker on the 24p/48hz mode had me worried a little but recently Panasonic has responded to this and claims a firmware fix in the making.

I ended up getting the 850. Really though, you cannot go wrong with either set. Good luck.
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post #3 of 13
11/13/08 at 10:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe33221 View Post

I have compared both the pz850 and a760 at Magnolia. Also, there happen to be a 111FD next to them. Clearly the 111FD was the winner but in reality, when bringing any set home, you will can't wrong with either.

At first glance the Samsung's picture was better, but then I got the remote for the 850 and saw the picture was in Vivid mode. After playing with both Studio Ref mode and Custom (which has the pro) options, I preferred the picture of the Panny. Seems the shadow detail was better. The reviews of flicker on the 24p/48hz mode had me worried a little but recently Panasonic has responded to this and claims a firmware fix in the making.

I ended up getting the 850. Really though, you cannot go wrong with either set. Good luck.

They are both great units and you can't go wrong with either one. They both have there pro's and con's, but the pro's outweight the con's.
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post #4 of 13
11/13/08 at 10:20am
Thread Starter 
Isn't the Panny less expensive? Hard to tell as prices online are all over the place, but how much more is MSRP?
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post #5 of 13
11/13/08 at 10:51am
Yes the Panasonics are cheaper. The 760 are hard to get and that is why the pricing is like that. We have sold more than a few of the 760 and have many happy clients. I personally feel in this case it is a tie, flip a coin.
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post #6 of 13
11/13/08 at 10:55am
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Originally Posted by Cleveland Plasma View Post

Yes the Panasonics are cheaper. The 760 are hard to get and that is why the pricing is like that. We have sold more than a few of the 760 and have many happy clients. I personally feel in this case it is a tie, flip a coin.

Yes, this is deff a coin toss. But make sure you like the look of the Samsung. Some prefer the red die around the frame, some don't. But performance wise, either set will impress.
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post #7 of 13
11/13/08 at 11:21am
The Samsung will definitely have more features over the PZ850, but like everyone mentioned the picture quality from both should satisfy most people.

Chris
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post #8 of 13
11/13/08 at 11:26am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by creemail View Post

The Samsung will definitely have more features over the PZ850, but like everyone mentioned the picture quality from both should satisfy most people.

Chris

What are those features? I thought the PZ850U was the most advanced with its Viera Cast capabilities (e.g., YouTube, AVCHD video playback, etc.)
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post #9 of 13
11/23/08 at 3:47pm
which does a better job handling ambiet light and glare...does the 760 improve over the 650
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post #10 of 13
11/23/08 at 8:36pm
na, not really. All three of these units have a glass screen. All will show reflection.
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post #11 of 13
11/23/08 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 
Anyone?
Quote:
Originally Posted by s2silber View Post

What are those features (that the Samsung has more of)? I thought the PZ850U was the most advanced with its Viera Cast capabilities (e.g., YouTube, AVCHD video playback, etc.)
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post #12 of 13
11/23/08 at 9:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by s2silber View Post

After weeks of reading reviews and this forum, I was all set to buy the Panny TH-58PZ850U before I landed upon this comparison of five "gold standard" plasmas in Playback Magazine. The 50-inch, rather than 58-inch, models are reviewed here, but they did give the nod to the Samsung over the almost equally well-reviewed Panasonic 800u THX model. What say you here?


I just read the article. Not sure if I missed something, but I didnt notice them give the nod to anything. All of the sets were reviewed objectively and, from what I could find, not compared.

If anything, it seemed the Panasonic had the strongest conclusion in that "it was one of the best HDTVs they'd seen" The only caution was that people wanting to stray from the true HDTV color standard and experience "exaggerated surrealist color" should avoid it.

As for the "features" piece, I do know that the 760 line has DLNA support and features very similar to Vieracast. The 850u doesnt do DLNA, so that would be a differentiator. In addition, I think it has a 120hz mode.
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post #13 of 13
3/11/09 at 3:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by s2silber View Post

After weeks of reading reviews and this forum, I was all set to buy the Panny TH-58PZ850U before I landed upon this comparison of five "gold standard" plasmas in Playback Magazine. The 50-inch, rather than 58-inch, models are reviewed here, but they did give the nod to the Samsung over the almost equally well-reviewed Panasonic 800u THX model. What say you here?
http://playback.avguide.com/issue/14


What are you watching
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