Panasonic P50GT25 vs. Samsung PN50C7000: Fight

First of all, apologizing in advance is no excuse. These models have been metaphorically vivisected on these forums, so do us all the favor of searching a bit before starting a new thread.

That said, I wouldn't pay $300 more for a C7000. Also, the Panasonic has a better reputation for avoiding image retention. Actually, it seems that the larger Samsung models do better in this regard than the 50" models, at least anecdotally.

The buzzing on the Samsung 50 inch TVs is not bad at all. Although the C7000 is a better TV in general, $999 for the GT is a great price.

If I were buying at this point, I'd wait for 2011 models. Samsung is cutting their black levels in half and introducing faster phosphors (along with adding an extra inch). Panasonic is coming out with a number of improvements as well. Then again, $999 for the GT is hard to pass up.

Does either option come with the 3D bundles (glasses and 3D Blue Ray)?

That price for the GT25 is hard to pass up. If you can live with the rising/floating blacks, I say go for it.

I just came back from HHGregg and it's funny you ask b/c they had these side by side. It was tough to determine what had better PQ but I will say the Panny had a very nice picture while the Sammy, having a good picture, had some issues with skin tones. Was it the settings? Probably, but that GT25 had a very nice picture, maybe better than the Sammy.. BTW, I have the 58C7000 and after combining various settings from some very knowledgeable forum posters I have a TV whose picture is wicked sick. Base a decision on what you can afford.

NO Excuses walk the plank! Geez some people take this way to seriously. Not an unreasonable request, I've read up quite a bit on the aforementioned sets and come across the same issues.

I think you already made the most reasonable decision (going with the Panny). I seriously doubt the Samsung is 30% better than the Panny; thus does not warrant the premium.

Costco had/has the 46" version for an even lower price (+ comes with a pair of glasses). They were selling a kit with 2 pairs of glasses + 2 movies for about half of what you could find anywhere else.

Assuming Cnets assumptions on rising blacks stabilizing are correct the black levels are still better than most. I would hope Panny would have been smart enough to fix this issue properly after '09 knowing the potential additional liability (legal & brand) of screwing up an additional year.

The '09 mess almost initially made me eliminate Panny from consideration, but after my research it appears it was the best choice for my specific situation (bedroom, bluray, ps3). Based on cnets aging tests, and my usage, my black levels will still be at great levels after 3-4 yrs at which point the TV would probably get passed down.

BTW i purchase the 42" GT25 a couple of weeks ago and am quite satisfied thus far.

I was going to mention to probably skip Sears as I had a similar experience. The "available for pickup" doesn't actually mean it's in stock, but will be shipped there within 24 hrs (this was the case with a few of my orders). They also have very limited stock of these sets as I was told they had been on clearance and no longer have display models.

1st the S2 is a very poor representation of what the GT25 would look like. 2nd the settings at the stores are always all messed up. The LCD are turned way the hell up and over-saturated and the lighting in these areas are nothing like what you would experience at home. You don't notice how bad the picture is on the LCD since the typical feeds favor this garbage settings and you don't sit there long enough to notice. Properly tuned LCD & Plasma have a more comparable picture in terms of perceived brightness.

My advice is to stop over analyzing, buy from Amazon with there 30 day return (free return shipping); experience the set and if you don't like it return it. I've yet to read a review from someone that was truly disappointed (for any legitimate reasons anyways).

COSTCO, I already mentioned this, they have them in Chicago. This is the only store i'm aware of that has a display model of the GT series