New TV: PS64D8000 or TH-P60/65ST50A

Backstory:

Had my Toshiba 62" DLP Rear-Projection television die on me recently; after many tired to ressurrect it, she will be taken away to her grave.

Needs:

A BIG TV + EXCELLENT PQ. I have this TV hooked up to my PC to play all my movies & upscaled DVDs & all my consoles. It doesn't need to be 3D, or be a Smart TV or have apps (but I'll take them if they're there). 2 HDMI minimum. Needs to be a fairly low price.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Edit: Now going whole hog with one of these three plasmas (in thread title)

 

Panasonic Plasma and never look back.

 

I havent used the pana, but I have the ps64.

Great TV for the price, big screen, excellent picture quality and some of the apps are cool... the divx/xvid playback of USB seems to be pretty spotty on my tv though, some files work, some dont...

 

Samsung Plasma and never look back

I am very impressed with my Samsung 64" D8000 and in my opinion the blacks are black. I recall watching a 1080 movie and there was a dark scene with no noise for long enough for me to reach for the remote thinking the movie had stopped.

I have a HTPC but had a quick look at the built in media player which does play all MKV files I have without fault or issue.

Hope that helps.

 

Many thanks for the ideas/feedback guys!

I've changed my outlook and I'm going the whole hog now. Either Samsung PS64E8000 ($3000) or Panasonic TH-P60ST50A ($2300) or TH-P65ST50A ($3300).

Heading towards the Panasonic as everyone is saying they look spectacular once calibrated and too many *BUZZZZZING* stories about the Samsung. But is 5" on the Pany 65" extra really worth an extra grand?

It's a tough decision

 

Read reviews of the two range (difference sizes but 99% of the time performance is identical across a tv range) and decide:

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsung-ps64d8000-201111191526.htm?page=Performance
http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p42st50b-p42st50-201203191731.htm?page=Performance

 

See if you can find a Samsung PS64D8000 (2011 model). I picked up mine for $2,500 back in Feb 2012. Hopefully if you can find one at that price (or lower) it should help you make your decision.

 

Shouldn't you be comparing E8000 to a VT instead of an ST?

This is my opinion:

Samsung have better Smart TV. If that's what your after, Panasonic just can't compare. In terms of their LCD/LED range, Samsung is second best only to Sony in picture quality (tested D7000 vs HX825, haven't tested the current range yet). Their Plasmas though aren't that impressive. I haven't seen the D8000 in plasma, however I've seen the C7000 and D7000, however the difference in picture quality shouldn't be noticeable. The new range of Samsung TV's have built in motion control via camera and voice control, as well as a dual core processor, which helps aid it's Smart TV credibility.

Panasonic make the better high end plasmas. I say this because their lower end and mid range plasmas (talking about UT30 ect) are utter crap, with blacks actually closer to greys, and the picture, noticeably laggy (not sure if it's because their on day in day out which kinda overloads the processors). Kinda voids the whole point of getting a plasma if you ask me. The ST30 is much more impressive, then theirs the VT30 which has black blacks, something no LED LCD can match. I know that the VT20 was actually a rebadge Pioneer, which was prob the best maker of TVs back then, only to pull out of the marketed due to poor sales resulting from their high prices. VT30 wasn't that much of a step up over the VT20 which isn't a bad thing, the VT20 was just that good. Panasonic has a bad habit of not providing any 3D glasses with their TV's though, bar the top of the range VT which they gave 1. No idea of their logic here. Smart TV isn't their strong point, in fact, I reckon their Smart TV is prob the worse compared to Samsung, Sony and LG. Panasonic's LED LCD are crap too, I've seen their new THL47ET50A, and blacks are grey, and there's no anti aliasing done at all, so the lines are jaggered instead of sharp. Very disappointing for an LCD that has LED, 3D, 800Hz equiv etc.

Summary for the TLR
Samsung make great LED LCD, and have way better Smart TV, the best of any brand. Panasonic still make the best Plasma's in terms of picture quality.

Again, I have compared the top of the range, only the second best, and haven't been able to compare the latest range of TVs. All testing was done in the same conditions (actually, I was bored and had spare time, so I dropped by Dandenong Myers, where the sales rep, who I suspect was equally as bored as me considering how empty it was there, very kindly and helpfully helped me through my comparison. Who says Myer had the worse service, lolz).

 

Since you are going the whole hog, also consider the 70" Sharp. After all, everyone know that bigger is better

 

I have both the 64" 8000 Plasma and the top 65" Panasonic both purchased within the last few months. (Long story), I'll be honest, I find the contrast on the Samsung to be nicer and smoother, but the Panasonic has better support in the apps. 3D is much of a muchness on both though.

 

Thanks for the post. Unfortunately I think you missed most of my question. I couldn't care less about Smart TV or 3D or motion controls - they are both useless gimmicks to me which I won't use. Why should I be comparing the E8000 to a VT if the ST has as good or better image quality and are very similar in price? Why tell me about the UT range if no-one, not only in this post, but anywhere on this forum has mentioned them or cares about them?

Once again, thank you for the long post; but it wasn't very helpful.

Haha; true! I just came from a 62" Toshiba (which I wanted to get the 72" at the time, but money wasn't in abundance! ) - but I haven't heard anything about the Sharp's really - I'm mainly looking for great image quality for HTPC and console gaming.

Thanks man; you're talking about the VT yeah? The VT is out of my price range unfortunately & supposedly with calibration, the ST can look as good as the VT (I'm a tinker'er at heart & will be in that service menu soon after which ever TV i purchase arrives ).

A funny think you wrote was about the Apps; looks like you and an above poster have the opposite thoughts on the 'Smart TV' side of things. Either way I won't have a use for them, so it doesn't really bother me

I'm pretty sure I'll pick up an ST50 but just whether I get a 60" or splurge for a 65"

Thanks again for everyone's posts!

 

Debating the exact same choice at the moment, have you made a decision yet?

Come on people, no fence sitting, which one!

 

Get the Sammy, I love my D8000

 

If money is an issue, get the samsung.
Great TV. Lags like hell (well the D8000 does) when channel surfing.
That said, it plays 3d SBS 1080p files off the portable hdd very well.