Sorry, another HDTV purchase thread! Help me choose! (Panasonic/Samsung)

[The Stig]

Due to the search not letting search for "TVs" I was able to go back a few pages to find info.

It seems the general census is that:

LCD is ok for most things
Plasma was bad initially, but now is actually quite good, bang for buck, type deal, good for gaming
LED is currently overpriced, somewhat, but thinner/less power consumption i think?
3D-TV I don't care about for now as it's still relatively new and I have no desire to watch/do 3D things

Power consumption wise, I'll probably have the TV on 5 hours a day, weekdays, and 12 hours saturday and sunday, if I'm at home. So I'm not too concerned as this is not a full time family TV, it's just my TV for my place.

So, lets get down to it. I'm shopping at a specific place only in the UK because we get discount there, and special cover/warranty/easy to throw back at them and stuff considering my family works there. I know it's possible to get a possibly better deal elsewhere, but for the ease of being able to just shove it right back at them and the extra cover/insurance/stuff we get, I prefer to shop here.

I've narrowed down some TVs within my budget, and I want a 50inch one, with 1080p of course, etc. Note that some model numbers might differ due to the products being in the UK/EU. Main uses:

PS3/Xbox360/Wii gaming, but minor (10 hours or less a week? Not much time to game lately but I will want to game)
Movies/Blu Ray of course (10+ hours a week maybe. I have a backlog of movies and also I like to listen to commentary tracks after watching the movie lol)
Normal TV (large portion of its time will be this)
Will hook up a netbook or cheap desktop to it to watch other media (I'm too lazy to set the PS3 up for such tasks at the moment but this may change)

Panasonic Viera TX-P50S20 Plasma HD 1080p Digital Television, 50 Inch
http://www.johnlewis.com/230911083/Product.aspx

If anyone has experience with Viera's, please share. This TV kinda looks fugly though. But from the other threads people seem to be saying Panasonic for the win!

Samsung PS50C550 Plasma HD 1080p Digital Television, 50 Inch
http://www.johnlewis.com/230906901/Product.aspx

A few say Samsung are good for movies but not games? This looks gorgeous though.

The rest seem borderline too expensive. Until I get promoted at work or come into some more money or find a rich girlfriend I don't think for now I need anything more! So what do you guys think?

I'm not much of an A/V phile so both of these TVs might be already overkill. But as a gateway for now to TVs until I get more money for some spanky 60inch 3D tv/etc

[Isiolia]

If you'll be gaming, then the Panasonic between those two, if I recall. Current-gen Samsungs apparently have bad input lag, which is what makes them not as great for games. Even current Plasmas will tend to have some image retention - not the same as burn-in - though this should become less of an issue after the TV is broken in.

Panasonic has been catching flak lately for rising blacks on their Plasmas - the black level goes up over time, which is sort of contrary to the reason you'd buy a Plasma to begin with. According to them, it's something that's done to increase the life of the TV. Should still be good, just mentioning it so you know up front, and if you're not a big A/V person (as you said) then it may not even be something you notice.

If you can (and haven't), try to demo the TVs in question as well - even an easy return policy on these things can be a pain, given that Plasmas must be transported upright, and the general size of one in a box, etc. Some people can notice flicker with Plasmas, they all buzz to some degree, and so on. Watch some black and white (particularly) video if you can too, since that tends to be the most noticeable for phosphor trailing, another possible Plasma quirk that can depend a bit on the individual watching. There are tradeoffs either way for LCD/LED and Plasma - Plasma does better with motion, color, and viewing angle, but if you happen to be sensitive to some of the issues it can have, then that could easily outweigh the benefits.

[The Stig]

Thanks for info! I had also went around a few other people at work, and it seems though they prefer the Panasonic, the one I linked there isn't the "top end" model of the 50inch, and recommended me to buy the cheaper, but smaller, but "top end" 42 (or was it 46?) instead.

Demo-ing the TV is no a problem, I had actually considering throwing my PS3 with me and going there and asking if I can plug it in haha. And test it on FF13 or something XD

I'll see though, but I value your input on the Plasma stuff!

[shiarua]

Whats your budget?

Im also looking for a decent HDTV. My parents have a 46" Samsung LCD. Its pretty good, but I'm looking at Plasma atm. LED is overpriced and Plasma gives a better picture anyways.

Panasonic just announced their new VT30/GT30/ST30 TVs. My budget was originally between 1500-2000 but if the price is right on the 55" VT30, I might grab one. It uses Kuro technology which is still the king when it comes to plasmas.

[The Stig]

Unfortunately due to country differences my budget will always be very different to yours, as stuff is cheaper over in the States, but otherwise i'm looking at £800-900 which goes to $1200-1300, but with that cash you can get something incredibly decent I believe.

If you browse around the site I linked for the TVs you can pick some from there! Otherwise, I'm wondering whether there's an incredible difference between 42/46/50 now hehe. Will go to the store later this week/next week to browse again.

[shiarua]

As for size, it all depends on the size of the room, seriously.

Judging from whats available on that website, I'd pick the PS50C550. Samsung makes some good quality TVs, though Im not sure about their plasmas. Look for some reviews on it first. Personally, I love the design of the Samsung plasma. The others are just kind of meh when it comes to design.

You can pick it up cheaper on Amazon UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-PS50.../dp/B003DNSJCW