Need help in buying 40/42 inch Full LED - Sony 42W700B or Samsung 40H5500

[brainstorm87]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and what a wonderful community this is!
I've read many threads here and super informative stuff!

So here's my situation:
I'm looking to buy 2 Full HD LEDs, in the 40/42 inch segment.
Upon reading a lot about Sony and Samsung models (the only two brands I'm considering because of their reliability/ previous experience), in particular Sony 42W700B, Samsung 40H5500, and even Samsung 40H5100.

I will be using the TV for mostly:

• Regular TV viewing (with HD set top box)
• Movies/ Series from External HDDs (I'm a big movie/ series buff and have 3 hardisks of 1 TB each) - I will be doing this a lot, maybe even more than regular TV viewing sometimes when I'm on a spree
• YouTube videos (if I buy the SmartTV, this is the app I will be using the most)

Not very keen on the Smart TV features, but won't mind them also. It's not a deal breaker, I mean.

Now, I checked out the prices of the above-mentioned models, and they are not very different.
Let me list the pros and cons of each model (and why I'm confused in choosing between these two).

Sony 42W700B > Samsung 40H5500

• 2 inches extra screen size (every inch matters you know)
• Better picture quality
• 4 HDMI ports versus 3 in Samsung (I'm not sure how many I will need or use, but having an extra one is always a boon)
• Previous experience with a Sony Bravia 32 inch LCD I have been using for quite some time, and it's very nice

Samsung 40H5500 > Sony 42W700B

• SmartTV features are smoother to use (Heard there is a lot of lag in Sony)
• Faster detection of External HDD (can someone confirm this please?) - this is important because I plan on watching A LOT of movies/series
• Better service/ spare part availability (I am considering purchasing from the grey market and since I will not be having original bill, this might be important). A friend recently choose a Samsung over a Sony (he bought it from the grey market) because he was worried about higher Sony repair costs/ non-availability of spare parts if anything goes wrong with the TV. Also he said Sony is in loss and might go bankrupt while Samsung is expanding like anything (important because he bought it from the grey market). This is a very important factor in my decision and it would be great if someone could talk about this point.

Also haven't ruled out Samsung 40H5100 because if I don't get a SmartTV, this is the latest one available in the grey market from among the non-smart ones. Sony has R35 series model and I think that's not as good. Also this one has only 2 HDMI ports - and this is the only factor of note when comparing it with H5500. My question is - how important is 3 vs 2 HDMI ports? (Disregarding the Smart features).

So there's my dilemma. Waiting for experts here to highlight and help me better decide on which one to buy.
I have to make the purchase decision within 3-4 days.

Thanks a lot for your time.

 

[mohit9206]

I don't have knowledge which tv between them is better but why buy from grey market? Better to pay a little extra and genuine warranty because if any panel issue arises then cost to replace panel is almost as much as the cost of the tv itself.

 

[brainstorm87]

Thanks Mohit for the reply. I am considering the option.
Anyone else can you please help?
It's crucial and I need to make the decision ASAP.
Thanks.

 

[JD1]

One of the things you need to check is the video formats that these TVs can play. In the past Sony was strict with what formats you can play from the USB drive. I don't know to what extent this is still true but do check on this (for example if your video library is in mkv format, then will Sony TV play it?). Also if you are into subtitles and your video library has subtitles, then will the TV display it? I have seen TVs having this subtitle issue.
When you are going for demo, take your video library (or a sample with videos of different formats and subtitle, audio options) and play it in the showroom.

 

[ValarMorghulis]

Hi,

As a first hand user of the Sony 42W700B I can tell you what I think. Disclaimer: I have no experience of Samsung TV apart from viewing in retail stores.
The TV is fab. It is sleek, looks great and the bezel is pretty thin. Overall the TV looks great. It has 4 HDMI ports (as you rightly pointed out) with one of them as ARC. There are 2 USB ports as well. Well connectivity wise, be assured. As for the file formats it reads a plethora of formats. I have played quite a LOT many since I am a binge viewer as well. The website mentions compatibility with the following files for USB play:
MPEG1/ MPEG2PS/ MPEG2TS/ AVCHD/ MP4Part10/ MP4Part2/ AVI(XVID)/ AVI(MotionJpeg)/ MOV/ WMV/ MKV/ WEBM/ 3GPP/ MP3/ WMA/ WAV/ JPEG/ MPO/ RAW(ARW)

As for smart features, they are pretty good. It reads a 1TB disk in around 3-4 seconds. The smart features are good and subtitles run smoothly. Youtube can be run via pairing with the phone and if you have a fast net connection viewing in 1080p is heavenly.
Sony Service centers are everywhere!

The only drawback on this TV (if at all) can be the sound. It has 2 8W RMS speakers. Since I have a HT connected I don't use the TV speakers.
Audition the TV in a store and check the sound. Take a Hans Zimmer movie!

As for Sony going bankrupt, well they plan to spin off their TV business which simply means a different subsidiary run separately from the rest of the business.
Check the news link for more info:
Sony Spins Off TV Business In Bid To Reconquer Market - Forbes
Sony spins off TV business | T3

 

[suga49]

I can comment on both the TV's since I used them.

I will recommend you Sony. Below are the few points to justify that.

Sony pros over samsung

Better Picture quality. even SD channels looks great than in samsung. I always look how well the TV can handle moderate to Bad quality of videos. Because HD content going to looks good anyway. In tat sony is better than samsung

Sony handles videos with latest codec like H265. I downloaded True detective series and I was unable to play in Samsung. But Sony Plays them without any issues.

4 HDMI Ports and sufficient amount of gaps between USB ports.

Lots of Picture settings options. Lots of Scene selecting option.

Sony's Football mode is lot better than Samsung's Cricket mode

True 16:9 format. If u compare both the TV side by side U could see few
frames getting cut in Samsung along the right and left hand sides. But not in Sony.

U can swap between Set top box/Antenna content and USB content. If you pause some video which is playing via USB and go to set top box channel and come back to USB content you can still view the video where u left. This is not at all possible in Samsung. I find this feature to be extremely useful.

automatically selects subtitles. In samsung you need to select the subtitle for each video manually every time.

Looks. Especially the Illumination LED under the Sony Logo

Neat Interface and tutorial.

Youtube app. You can play the video in your mobile youtube app and there is a option to watch the video in TV directly using mobile without going to youtube app in TV

Sony Cons

Bezel. Its thin compared to old sony models. But definitely not as thin as Samsung H. But Bezel Quality is superior than Samsung.

Laptop kind of power cable with big box attached to the power code.

Sound. A Big letdown. Samsung sound was nice. Yet its not as bad as some LG models. But if you have sound bar you can manage.

No USB to USB transfer. No screenshot option and No sound recording options.

Application interface. It takes some time to load. (Except Youtube which loads pretty fast)

Samsung Plays .VOB format. whereas sony doesn't.



Apart from this HDD detection takes same amount of time in Sony & samsung. But samsung reads the files pretty fast. But the interface in samsung is so dull and looks very old. Sony mediaplayer looks good and it supports different views like Thumbnail, Folder etc..

So my vote is for Sony.