[Chorzz]

I am trying to make a decision between these three sets. The tv will be in a living room and be viewed from approx 10 - 12 ft away. There are no windows, but will often be viewed with the lights on. I do not currently own a blu ray player, but plan on purchasing one within the next year. I like to watch a lot of sports - baseball, football, and basketball, and do not watch much SD tv. I plan on buying another HD tv in approx 2 years, that is much larger and plan to move this set into my bedroom, or possibly somewhere else.


pdp4280hd was a display model that i saw at a BB. The price was similiar to the samsung a650. My two concerns are that it is only 720p and has a decent amount of viewing hours on it as it was used as a floor model. It was not hooked up so I could not see its picture.


ln40a650 - watched pirates of the carribean on a blu ray dvd on the 50in 650. I was absolutely blown away by the PQ, i had never seen anything so crisp or colors so vibrant. The one thing that turned me off was the soap opera effect of 120mhz, it would def take some getting used to. When they ran the demo of 120on/off split screen, the 120mz side looked noticably crisper, but it made me even more aware of the seemingy unnatural movements.


42pz800u - I have only seen this set with a hd cable feed, and not with a blu ray. I was not that impressed and it seemed like the other models 80u and 85u. I did watch spiderman 3 on an 85u with blu ray, and while i may have been a little close, i was not at all impressed with the PQ, it looked a lot better on an older 700u that i had seen in another store. I watched Irobot on a 700 in the theater section of a BB and was fairly impressed with the PQ. Should i be considering a 700, even though it is in older model?


The 800u is the most expensive of these three, and the pdp4280 and the a650 are about the same. Which one should i go with considering there is a $300 range in the prices.


Thanks

 

[shears]

Tough to answer. I'd like to know what people think too.

 

[BetaB]

I've owned the 800u and the A650, and can say that the 800u is definitely worth the extra $300, it's the TV that converted me to plasma for my situation. BUT, if you are considering the 42 800u, then I would SERIOUSLY consider the sammy PN50A550. The bigger real estate will make you quite happy if you can fit it. After having the ln40a650, it thought to my self"i don't need a bigger screen!" I was so wrong. However, of you are trying to get a high quality small panel and can live with the green flashes, go with the 800u. If you can handle the viewing angles and color shifts of the LCD, go with the 650. But as far as just the picture alone, I REALLY liked 800u in THX mode. Outside of THX mode it gets a little noisy, but still a great "set it and forget it" monitor.


Just for clarification, I now own a sammy 5084 b/c i got an amazing deal on a return(half the price of a an 800u). The wife thought 50" was way too big until it was in our living room

Now she LOVES it.

 

[Jim_0068]

I'd go for the plasma for the sports watching and then i'd go for the panasonic for the warranty/service aspect if anything ever goes wrong.

 

[revivalizt]

how about TH-50PZ800U plasma vs. Samsung LN52A650 LCD

 

[Jim_0068]



Quote:
Originally Posted by revivalizt /forum/post/14223291


how about TH-50PZ800U plasma vs. Samsung LN52A650 LCD

Same response as mine above

 

[Jim Hef]

Chorzz, any reason to limit your picks to 42"? Sitting 10-12' from the set, you'd be much better off with the 50" range of panels. And, even at that size, you'll not notice much difference between 768p and 1080p, although the higher resolution panels have the now better processors and color gamut.

 

[Moretorque]

I just bought 2 new 85PZu 42's and a 650 Sammy last month. This really may sound hard to do but you should try and get the set's home and see what you like best. I can never trust what I see in the store. My results at the house are superior to what the store usually does.


Another thing about which tv has the best picture alot of it has to do with power supply, I read these threads where these guys are chasing their butt's around exchanging TV's because of this or that and alot of times they do not realize if you have a noisy line it will show up bad on your TV!


Power supply is alot,one TV may be the exact same build as another but in order to make it a little cheaper they will use a cheaper power supply over another model and the picture will show it even though TV wise it is the same TV. garbage in garbage out.


All this being said my Sammy 650 KILL's and I mean Kill's the Panny's in picture quality and realism but that is with over 5000$ in power supply tricks to clean the power up before the 650 even gets the juice.


I personally do not think plasma's are that great,to me the colors look over done and blotchy in alot of cases. I am not that impressed with the Panny's but they are a great value and think the Pioneers are vastly superior in color shock and awe but I feel the Pioneer colors are not that realistic but this is in viewing at the stores.


The LCD to me has the best cobination of whites and blacks,the whites on a Plasma to me do not cut it. THEY STINK! Dingy to say the least and last night I was watching a fire works display on my 650 and when a big bright burst goes off it was like blinding like in real life kinda bright the Panny's could not produce this no where near as well. contrast also means being able to go from bright to dark in my opinion.


I love the Panny's for the money but my correctly set up 650 smokes with the super duper power supply and the difference in picture is so obvious to every body who just walks in the room.


No dought about it the Panny has a little brighter colors and better motion but from there the 650 stomps it . MUCH better resolution to where the people are in the house in front of you much more 3 demensional much better shadow detail and color seperation. Much more life like.


I am very impressed with the way I have my 650 52 set up to where i will say if the LCD tech keeps going like this and the plasma boy's do not step up to the plate and keep pace most of them will be looking for a job.

 

[avguy1272]

I sell them all including the 81 series from Samsung. Sorry but the new Samsungs seem to be a step back in pq. They seem to be push TOC over actual picture quality. I've seen Blu-Ray on Panasonic 85 series and Samsung 1080p and guess what the Pioneer plasmas kill them all. The PDP-4280/PRO-950 and their bigger brothers smoke all current displays. Call me a Pioneer fan boy but when you see them side by side it makes you wonder why anyone would buy anything else (besides cost). Personally I'd put up with an old CRT that is green and save my money to buy a KURO. Don't dismiss high quality 720p from Pioneer. Best bang for the buck.

 

[Moretorque]



Quote:
Originally Posted by avguy1272 /forum/post/14231592


I sell them all including the 81 series from Samsung. Sorry but the new Samsungs seem to be a step back in pq. They seem to be push TOC over actual picture quality. I've seen Blu-Ray on Panasonic 85 series and Samsung 1080p and guess what the Pioneer plasmas kill them all. The PDP-4280/PRO-950 and their bigger brothers smoke all current displays. Call me a Pioneer fan boy but when you see them side by side it makes you wonder why anyone would buy anything else (besides cost). Personally I'd put up with an old CRT that is green and save my money to buy a KURO. Don't dismiss high quality 720p from Pioneer. Best bang for the buck.

I will go along with that ,I would have liked to have gotten a Pioneer home and tried it in my set up the 650 looks way better at home when set up to my system and the panny stayed about the same. I am extremely happy with the Sammy 650 and feel the Pannies are good for the money but the 650 even thouggh it is more is a better value picture wise.


To my eyes the Pioneers seem to maybe over do colors but they sure are pretty but I have seen when a Pioneer screen is supposed to be white it is still grey so the set's still have typical plasma issues and is not perfect at all!

 

[The Bruiser]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Moretorque /forum/post/14231990


I will go along with that ,I would have liked to have gotten a Pioneer home and tried it in my set up the 650 looks way better at home when set up to my system and the panny stayed about the same. I am extremely happy with the Sammy 650 and feel the Pannies are good for the money but the 650 even thouggh it is more is a better value picture wise.


To my eyes the Pioneers seem to maybe over do colors but they sure are pretty but I have seen when a Pioneer screen is supposed to be white it is still grey so the set's still have typical plasma issues and is not perfect at all!

no tv is perfect... and i cant wait for the day that there is one that is

 

[Jim_0068]

You can't compare the 85u to a sammny 650, that's not fair. The sammy will win everytime.


Also it's a known fact that the 650 does color the best however, however the thx settings on the 800u are pretty damn close.

 

[Chorzz]

I live in an appt in NY and so my living room is fairly small, 50 in, is probably too large for the area. Additionally, once I have a larger place, I want to purchase larger pioneer, and move this one into another room, so anything larger than 42" would probably be overkill.


Thanks for all of the replies. I think I am going to wind up with the 85u, and save some money. Since I will be mostly watching hi def cable, and uponverted dvd, I don't think the cost justifies spending more. Once I get the set, I'll be sure to update how i feel about the set.