New TV - Samsung or Panasonic?

OK, the old (2010) TV died and John Lewis wrote it off of I'm in the market
for a new TV again. Looking around it seems it comes down to a new
Panasonic, Samsung or Sony so what don't know I, but should?

The models that I'm considering are Panasonic TX-L32E6B or Samsung UE32FF500
or Sony KDL32W653ABU. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

FWIW, the specs I need which got me here were...

- 32 inch
- 1080p
- Freeview HD
- 2+ HDMI
- 1+ SCART
- 1+ Component
- 1+ Optical out

that's pretty much it. Anything else is a "nice to have" but not a deal
breaker. At some point I might use catch-up TV but frankly, if I've missed
it there's rarely anything I care enough about to catch-up on.

The one possible exception, if it worked well, might be Skype, so the whole
family can sit happily in the lounge instead of squeezing into the office to
call the US relatives, but even here I'm not that excited.

So, it's picture quality, support etc that I'm interested in here -
thoughts?

2010 has died, really? Seems a bit recent to write off.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Paul D Smith" wrote in message
...
OK, the old (2010) TV died and John Lewis wrote it off of I'm in the
market for a new TV again. Looking around it seems it comes down to a new
Panasonic, Samsung or Sony so what don't know I, but should?

The models that I'm considering are Panasonic TX-L32E6B or Samsung
UE32FF500 or Sony KDL32W653ABU. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

FWIW, the specs I need which got me here were...

- 32 inch
- 1080p
- Freeview HD
- 2+ HDMI
- 1+ SCART
- 1+ Component
- 1+ Optical out

that's pretty much it. Anything else is a "nice to have" but not a deal
breaker. At some point I might use catch-up TV but frankly, if I've
missed it there's rarely anything I care enough about to catch-up on.

The one possible exception, if it worked well, might be Skype, so the
whole family can sit happily in the lounge instead of squeezing into the
office to call the US relatives, but even here I'm not that excited.

So, it's picture quality, support etc that I'm interested in here -
thoughts?

In article ,
Paul D Smith wrote:
FWIW, the specs I need which got me here were...

- 32 inch
- 1080p
- Freeview HD
- 2+ HDMI
- 1+ SCART
- 1+ Component
- 1+ Optical out

that's pretty much it. Anything else is a "nice to have" but not a deal
breaker. At some point I might use catch-up TV but frankly, if I've
missed it there's rarely anything I care enough about to catch-up on.

The one possible exception, if it worked well, might be Skype, so the
whole family can sit happily in the lounge instead of squeezing into
the office to call the US relatives, but even here I'm not that excited.

So, it's picture quality, support etc that I'm interested in here -
thoughts?

Nothing about sound quality which says it all, really. No wonder the set
makers get away with not bothering.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message ...

2010 has died, really? Seems a bit recent to write off.

Brian
+++++++++++
Apparently the entire LCD panel required replacing. The symptoms were that
grey areas (looking like grey, windswept snow) started to appear on the
bottom corners and bands appeared down the screen about 1/3 and 2/3 of the
way across.

These bands were almost invisible with a still screen but very visible with
a moving background such as a football pitch or following a golf ball. The
bands were also very "brush like" and no hint of straight lines i.e. clearly
a physical not a digital or electronic phenomenon.

When it was just the bands, I first thought this was dirt on the screen (but
they kept "reappearing") but when the corners appeared and were more visible
I was able to see that this was happening BEHIND the glass panel. My
suspicion is that the reflective white surface behind the LCD panel was
deteriorating, the bands being where minute bits were starting to fall off
and end up in corners.

Anyway, the cost of a totally new panel was apparently too great and the TV
was written off.

I should add that we don't smoke, the TV was treated very gently and in all
the years I've used LCDs on computer monitors, I've never seen anything like
this.

In article ,
Paul D Smith wrote:

The models that I'm considering are Panasonic TX-L32E6B or Samsung UE32FF500
or Sony KDL32W653ABU. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Is that Samsung model number right? Or do you mean UE32F5000?

- 2+ HDMI

I think you might well find yourself wanting quite a lot more than
2 HDMI sockets in the future. I found myself wanting 5 recently,
though that was only because I wanted to plug a Raspberry Pi into
the TV.

-- Richard

"Richard Tobin" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Paul D Smith wrote:

The models that I'm considering are Panasonic TX-L32E6B or Samsung
UE32FF500
or Sony KDL32W653ABU. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Is that Samsung model number right? Or do you mean UE32F5000?

- 2+ HDMI

I think you might well find yourself wanting quite a lot more than
2 HDMI sockets in the future. I found myself wanting 5 recently,
though that was only because I wanted to plug a Raspberry Pi into
the TV.


My Samsung UE32ES5500 has three HDMI inputs and has excellent sound
considering how slim it is, IMV the 'Smart TV' feature is a must, especially
as the TVs remote works as if it was made for XBMC on the Raspberry Pi. also
apart from loads of various apps, including, ITV - 4od - Demand5 - iPlayer -
Allshare finds virtually everything wireless - from the RP, computers and
mobile phones.

So, it's picture quality, support etc that I'm interested in here -
thoughts?

Nothing about sound quality which says it all, really. No wonder the set
makers get away with not bothering.
++++++++++++++
The optical out is for my 7.1 surround system.

But as per my earlier thread, if I thought there was a chance of finding
some decide audio, I would take notice. The problem is that unlike buying
audio equipment, the chances of finding a "listening/watching" room to
sample the TV seems remote. I will certainly turn up, look at the picture,
try and get hold of a remote to confirm I can tweak it to my preferences but
in a busy store, odds are I won't be able to make any sensible audio
comparisons.

Paul DS.

On 24/04/2013 10:17, Paul D Smith wrote:
OK, the old (2010) TV died and John Lewis wrote it off
of I'm in the market for a new TV again. Looking
around it seems it comes down to a new Panasonic,
Samsung or Sony so what don't know I, but should?

The models that I'm considering are Panasonic
TX-L32E6B or Samsung UE32FF500 or Sony KDL32W653ABU.
Any other suggestions would be welcome.

FWIW, the specs I need which got me here were...

- 32 inch
- 1080p
- Freeview HD
- 2+ HDMI
- 1+ SCART
- 1+ Component
- 1+ Optical out

that's pretty much it. Anything else is a "nice to
have" but not a deal breaker. At some point I might
use catch-up TV but frankly, if I've missed it there's
rarely anything I care enough about to catch-up on.

The one possible exception, if it worked well, might
be Skype, so the whole family can sit happily in the
lounge instead of squeezing into the office to call
the US relatives, but even here I'm not that excited.

So, it's picture quality, support etc that I'm
interested in here - thoughts?

We have a Panasonic and a Samsung model - both at
least 3 years old so may not compare exactly with
current models, but I can offer some opinions. You
can check for yourself whether they're still valid.

Panasonic screens have been credited with best picture
quality in some respects - mainly for their wide
viewing angle. The Samsung colours fade more as you
move to the side. This is something you can check for
yourself in the shop. It won't matter if you sit in
front of the set, but can make a difference if your
chairs are arranged around the room.

What bugs me most about the Panasonic is its User
Interface. The company seems to have spent nothing
recently on development and I think even recent models
have the same fixed menu appearance. The Samsung menu
system has graphics, animation and overall better
design, making it much easier to use. The Samsung
Program Guide keeps the tuned channel visible and
audible in a quarter-screen, while the Panasonic one
stops tuning while in the Guide - you can't continue
to watch/listen while browsing.

The Panasonic can't be manually tuned (for digital
services). Whenever a new service appears, you have
to do a complete auto-tune, then re-edit the channel
list to hide all the dross services. The Samsung
detects new services automatically - they just appear
in the lists with a "new service" icon to point them out.

I'd agree 2 HDMI ports might not be enough. At times,
I've used all 4 on mine. On the thin LED models,
Samsung don't do a full-size SCART port (not enough
space) but instead provide an adaptor. New TVs are
likely to have an option for hard-disc recording via
USB port. I think the Panasonics need a dedicated
disc (or flash drive) with proprietary formatting, so
you can't use it elsewhere or copy content.

I saw the Viera Smart TV stuff on last year's model
and wasn't impressed. Only iPlayer seemed worth
having. Current Samsung models advertise all the
catch-up services. I would guess Samsung still has
the lead in this department.

The DLNA/uPnP media playback on my Samsung is superior
to that on even a 1-year old Panasonic, which seemed
to have more limited codec support, though specs for
the latest models suggest this has been improved.

Whichever model you choose, the Skype app will most
likely need a proprietary USB web-cam. Only you can
decide if this is worth it. You may also need the
proprietary Wi-Fi dongle if you don't have a cable
connection. Both these items are expensive extras.

In article , Jim wrote:

I think the Panasonics need a dedicated
disc (or flash drive) with proprietary formatting, so
you can't use it elsewhere or copy content.

Or even on another instance of the same model of TV, if you
have it replaced for some reason.

Whichever model you choose, the Skype app will most
likely need a proprietary USB web-cam. Only you can
decide if this is worth it. You may also need the
proprietary Wi-Fi dongle if you don't have a cable
connection. Both these items are expensive extras.

However, the proprietary dongles and webcams may in fact be some
particular cheap one in disguise; this was certainly true of the
Panasonic wifi dongle a few years ago. Of course, you'd probably want
to be sure of this in advance.

-- Richard

Jim wrote:
You
may also need the proprietary Wi-Fi dongle if you don't have a cable
connection. Both these items are expensive extras.

If the TV has an ethernet socket, get one of these for less than 20 quid,
to enable connection to your WiFi network

http://www.dabs.com/products/tp-link-150mbps-wireless-n-nano-router-86HZ.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc%20produ ct%20search&utm_content=Q200&origin=pla


--
Mark
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