I love plasma but parents want LCD - models narrowed - opinions invited

[vaibhav]

Hello

We're very happy CRT tv viewers but absolutely have to buy an LCD / Plasma TV now for various reasons. So, last two days have been spent in malls and showrooms looking at various brands / models. I used to read this forum very regularly a few years ago and hence I understand this is an unfair comparison (plasma vs LCD / LED) but I have to make it for reasons given later in this post. Decision variables -

• Room is 13x12 feet (viewing distance would be 8 feet +).
• Sound output will be through a Denon 033DM39S mini component system. Link here.
• Content will be Tata Sky (may upgrade to HD, but not at the moment) plus usual 720p rips stored in a drive (or via USB). As you can imagine that years of CRT viewing have spoilt us, we enjoy natural colors, not into gaming / 3D, etc - essentially, anything soothing and easy works.
• Budget should be around 30K, a few thousand higher is OK.

I was about to buy the plasma when an elderly couple (standing in the Panasonic showroom) completely turned my parents mind against plasma by telling a sorry tale of the TV dying on them every 11 months, they've apparently ran through 4 plasmas in 4 years (2 Sammys and 2 pannys). Hence the running around LCD / LED shops again.

The models narrowed down are as follows:

a) Samsung 43 inch plasma - 43f4100 (non 3D) - Rs 34000
b) Toshiba 32 inch - PT200 - Rs 26000-28000.
c) I was quite OK with Sony 32BX350 for Rs 24900 but the brightness and color bleed (relative to that Toshiba) threw me off.

So:
a) Is the horror story about plasma true?
b) Is that toshiba model OK? I cant seem to find any reviews on the forum.

Thanks for reading this long post. Any opinions welcome!! I have to decide this week ....

thanks!!
Vaibhav

 

[baijuxavior]

Stating your budget will help in getting more suggestions.

 

[vaibhav]

Thank you for your response. Budget is stated in my post - INR 30 K give or take a few thousands. (fourth bullet point)

 

[Dirac]

The elders who advised against plasmas appear to suffer from schizophrenia.
There is nothing like that with the latest plasma models either of sammy or panny. Many of the forum members are enjoying their plasma sets here.
A plasma could produce a soothing picture that makes it easy to live with.

 

[vaibhav]

Thanks Dirac. I too much prefer the plasma picture. Any opinion on the model given? I doubt if there's any other model in that range but if I were to up that by going for a grey market product, what model should I look at (42 inch size, non 3D)?

 

[Dirac]

How are the reviews about the sammy 4100?

 

[vaibhav]

There is an opinion about the resolution not being high enough on this forum, but I cant seem to get any reviews online, hence asked. Surprisingly same about that Toshiba model too.

Any recommendations you have in the 42 inch category?

 

[Dirac]

Regarding 42 inch plasmas, only thing that comes to my mind is st50.
But a ut series plasma is quite good according to some members here.
For an led my choice would be w800.
But that does not fit the budget.
But since sammy is offering a plethora of latest plasma models, I would like to ask the sammy owners and enthusiasts to pitch in and advise a model.

 

[prosenjit]

ask the couple what exact was the problem..
seems like their area suffers from voltage probelm which is frying the board..plasma or lcd is not culprit here..
anyway for a good plasma 43k is needed..sammy 4900..

otherwise for 32 inch sony lcd is fine...at 25k..adjust the settings to avoid the clour and light bleed..

 

[aakashr]

Please strongly suggest to increase budget to 40k and get the Samsung 43F4900, you will not regret it and is worth every penny. Please do not go for cheap entry level LCD / LED, you will never get the picture quality. The non 3D model of F4900 is F4500 which is not launched in India. F4100 is not even 720p so would not advise.

You need to explain to your parents the advantages of plasma over LCD, essentially the price vs performance factor.

 

[just4kix]

I am not sure about the old couple who faced such severe problems. Possibility of one TV failing in 11 months is there, regardless of LCD or plasma. But 4 TVs in 4 years? There is something wrong somewhere else.

- power fluctuations as suggested by prosenjit
- display pieces given (even then they should not fail so many times)
- Earth and Neutral not 0V, bad earthing

Plasma has issues like temporary IR and reflective glass surface. If these were the reasons stated for not going the plasma way, I can understand. But even an HD-Ready plasma will produce better picture than many higher end (and much more costly) LED TVs, will have no motion issues such as ghosting, natural colours, etc. Anyone who says judder and dirty screen effect (DSE) is a plasma-only issue is lying. Judder (jerky motion) is an issue with the source itself and DSE is an issue that is in LCD panel also.

 

[prosenjit]

Judder (jerky motion) is an issue with the source itself

yes true,
i am reconfirming this as this is experinemted by me many times...

 

[vktyagi]

Entry level plasma from Samsung is not advisable for home viewing in my opinion. I have one at my office, unaware of the model number, and the same is good only for commercial viewing preferably slide shows. Resolution is not fine and pixels are very big.
In this budget look for a LCD/LED. TVs with IPS panel are closest to plasma. LG and Panasonic TVs have IPS.