Nearly ready to buy a Samsung HP-S5053 but...

I'm not an authority on Samsung, as I've always considered Samsung to be an inferior brand of electronics. If it were my money, I would certainly purchase the Panasonic or Hitachi over the Samsung, as I believe both sets offer a better value. In terms of the silver bezel on the Panasonic...I agree with you wholeheartedly! They are ass-ugly and we're all hoping that someday Panasonic figures out just how ridiculous these tv's look. Having said all of that, I still purchased the Pansonic for the picture quality!

John from Boston

OP, I would suggest that you view the two sets side-by-side then decide yourself and not buy into the marketing hype. If you buying strictly on picture quality, there is a good chance you will choose the Samsung. This set offers a crisper, more realistic picture with much less video noise and motion artifacts. Additionally, it has a better SD processor and two forms of burn-in protection.

I went with the Samsung about a week ago and I'm happy with my purchase. The Panny seems to have a little better black detail, but I like the Samsung picture a little better overall. Check a couple of the threads here for suggested settings on both TV's and go to the store and make some adjustments and see which you like. Oh, and Samsung is just as good a company as Panasonic.

Jon

Samsung is the largest electronics company in the world

I agree 100% with this statement. If you are concerned with the picture quality of darker scenes, then try to bring in a copy of Batman Begins with you and see if they will let you play each movie on the TVs and adjust the picture settings on each of the televisions to get the best picture. Since that movie has many dark scenes, I think you will definitely see why the Samsung is not a leading brand when it comes to picture quality. But to each his own.

I disagree with the previous post. I did a comparison at Ken Cranes in pasadena Ca and I liked the Samsung over the Hitachi and the Panasonic. I went to Best Buy the same thing was discovered. The Samsung 5073 was exquisite along with the Pioneer and Panasonic.

Samsung plasmas give you the best HD bang for your buck, hands-down. But don't rely on OUR word for it; go and view with YOUR eyes and let them tell you the tale.

Also, don't buy into the C-NET hype - that's all it is.

Not sure what this even has to do with anything here! Being the largest of anything doesn't mean you're the best. I stand by my statement that I don't view Samsung as a high-end electronics company, in the field of home entertainment. I'm not saying my word is gospel...It is simply one person's opinion that is no more or no less valid, than anyone else's on this site! I would simply suggest you bring a bit more to the dance than "they're the largest", because if that's what you're hanging your hat on, it's a pretty weak argument.

I will say that in the interest of full dislcosure, even if Samsung got rave reviews, I probably still wouldn't purchase anything with the Samsung name on it, as I've watched them buid horrendously poor electronics, over many, many years, long before they ever got into the tv business!


John from Boston

I've been looking for a flat screen plasma TV also and finally narrowed it down to a Panasonic and a Samsung. I compared them side by side and I could see no difference. Comparing in the store is not always reliable though because the sets are never set up properly. However I did find a major difference on an issue that seems to be little mentioned. All of the Samsung plasmasI have looked at and I have looked at a lot of different ones are high heat producers- real furnaces. The backs of most are too hot to comfortably touch and I believe that is due to them using an older cheaper generation glass while the Panasonics use the latest generation. The Panasonics are much cooler to touch and are energy star rated. The Samsungs are a bit brighter but use much more electricity and I feel must have an open area around them - no putting those boys in an entertainmenet center box. I feel the Pannys are the better set because they run cooler and will cost less to operate.

I would 100% agree with this statement.

Jon

Why would you make such an unsubstantiated statement? What makes you think that heat is coming from the glass panel as opposed to the power supply or other board sets? Why would heat generation = poor quality? Old glass panels? Did you measure the temperature? The Panny is a great set, but please don't pull a bunch of BS out of your butt to justify your purchase.

Jon

WLSINWI must be looking at sets made by the Samsung clones out there. You know the ones; they go by the name "Sansung" or perhaps "Simsung" or even "Sumsang"

Whatever, my Samsung is NOT a furnace. Hell, it wouldn't even make a very good tea cozy. Saying that Samsungs aren't practical to hang on a wall makes a mockery of the literally tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of wall mounted Samsungs out in the real world.

As for power consumption, should mention not be made of the Samsung feature called "Power Save", whereby in one of the 3 modes, the set can automatically decrease power consumption (and brightness) by up to 25%, based on available light conditions? Is that feature not worth mentioning when comparing to the Energy Star sets? Or is your energy research faulty?

We have gone through 3 hydro billing periods since our plasma purchase and our consumption has NOT increased by any noticeable amount. What HAS increased since our plasma purchase is the amount of time spent watching the darn thing. More TV - both SD and now HD. More DVDs.

They are no more or any less suitable for wall mounting than any other plasma. Give your heads a shake, people.

Without measuring, my Samsung does not seem to run noticeably hotter than my friends Panny. Concerning the vents, they are appropriately place for wall mounting. Mine has vents on the bottom edge, the lower back, the top edge and the upper back. The lowest profile wall mount will get 1" from the wall, tilt mounts will hold you off the wall anywhere from 1.5" to 3". I will be wall mounting mine in a few weeks.

Here are pictures of both backs.


Jon

hmm..my Samsung has been on for 72 hrs straight for burn in. I can touch the back with out a problem..sounds exaggerated to me

When you say you don't believe Samsung to be a quality brand you bring only your anecdotal experience to the table. Being the largest electronics company in the world means they are doing a lot of things right. So, if they are the largest then your opinion is based on your expereince not what the marketplace thinks of Samsung. Because if the marketplace thought the same as you then they wouldn't be the largest. Simple Socratic reasoning

dude..do yourself a favor and do your own comparison..use your own eyes..
Ive not been on this forum long but have been on long enough t to be amazed at the way some people here slam Samsung
most times its not backed up with facts other than "my buddy said..." or "i hear that.." or its that freaking Cnet review..
read the owner reviews on that cnet review and you will see that most Samsung owners are happy with thier purchase
both sets are great products and are priced so close that you really have to go with your own tastes

Times change. I agree I am struggling with the same predispostion, however I think we need to keep an open mind. When I was a youngster a new Japanese car company entered the USA. I recall standing next to the car laughing at the small tires,they were smaller than my bike tires, saying "who would buy that!" That car was a Honda! Not exactly a laughing stock 35 years later.

Judge the Samsung picture on it's own merits. Reliability may be an issue, but that isn't generally sighted in the Panasonic/Pioneer/Samsung discussion.

Great point and that's how change comes about. Look at the top companies in America in 1929 and virtually none exist today. Samsung has broken through in the flat panel market and has changed everything. Used to be Panny (low end), Pioneer (mide tier) and Fujitsu (high end). Samsung has jumped in between Panasonic and Pioneer with arguably the best LCD and one of the best plasmas. This has caused panic with Panasonic and Pioneer which is why they dropped there prices in the last 3 months. Panny was giving their low end plasma away at Thanksgiving for $1000. Why?---because of pressure from Samsung.

Samsung is dumping billions into flat panel technology and I expect them to be the dominant player in 2 years. Panasonic is still selling 2 year old technology and Pioneer introduced low end models to compete with Samsung

Regarding picture quality and reliability, the Samsung plasma blows away the Panasonic with a crisper picture, better color and less video noise and artifacts. I have owned two Elites and like the Samsung better. So, someone can come here with stories of a Samsung VCR that crapped out in 1999 but the reality is that make some great products and will dominate the market soon.

I think that everyone (myself included) needs to keep an open mind that things do change, and honestly, if I ever start to read in Sound and Vision that Samsung tv's are in the upper echelon, I'll give them a look. I still haven't read a single article ranking a Samsung plasma in the upper echelon. I'm not saying this literature isn't out there. I'm just making the point that my eyes haven't seen it, at this point.

Also, while I have been quite open about my bias against Samsung, it should also be quite evident that Mr. Egg Omelette man has a VERY strong bias toward Samsung (quite evident by every post). As always, the original poster should do some side-by-side comparisons and let your own eyes be the judge and the determining factor, in your purchase decision! I also think it makes sense to read some of the electronics' publications out there, who don't have the same biases that many of us have. For the record, I think Pioneer makes the best plasma out there, and I don't own one of these sets (simply couldn't justify the higher cost).


John from Boston

What are you talking about "flame". I haven't seen any of that in this thread. Just people voicing their opinions.

And Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer, and Best Buy is the world's largest electroncs seller, and GM is the world's largest car maker... so what's your point? That you should buy from them too? They're the biggest and therefore best?

I like a lot of Samsung's new products. My general study has found, though, that they're best for the casual viewer, and not the more tweaking-oriented, perfection seeking videophile.

Tdavis, this is also what I said and my "point":

"Being the largest electronics company in the world means they are doing a lot of things right. So, if they are the largest then your opinion is based on your expereince not what the marketplace thinks of Samsung. Because if the marketplace thought the same as you then they wouldn't be the largest. Simple Socratic reasoning"

Can't make it any clearer than that

Here goes mr. omeletpants and his SUPER-BIASED opinions towards Samsung. Do you get like some kind of bonus points everytime you praise Samsung? Just curious.

And you follow up with your usual troll act. Try to remain civil on this forum

I'm not a salesman like some people on here who try to push the brand that they own, so you aren't going to get a sales pitch from me on how big a company is or why you should buy from ________ company. All I can tell you is that I've owned many different Samsung products in the past and will definitely NEVER EVER buy another Samsung product in my lifetime again. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, so I will state mine. I would never ever put Samsung and reliable in the same sentence together.