You make the call - 46" Panny Plasma or 47" Phillips LCD with 120 Hz and 2ms Response

[Nick Graham]

My tax refund should be here within a week, perhaps two. At that time it will finally be time to retire my 1080i 32" Panny tube. I have narrowed my choices down to two options:

Panasonic TH46PZ85U 46" Plasma (1080p, 30,000:1 Contrast)

Philips 47PFL7403D/27 47" LCD *Refurbished* (1080p, 120 Hz, 2 ms Response Time, 29,000 Contrast)

My primary use will be for Blu-Ray movies, DirecTV HD, OTA HD, and Xbox 360/PS3/Wii gaming. When I game, it does tend to be for one to two hour sessions at a time, so I don't know if that should affect my decision making.

What's your take?

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

My tax refund should be here within a week, perhaps two. At that time it will finally be time to retire my 1080i 32" Panny tube. I have narrowed my choices down to two options:

Panasonic TH46PZ85U 46" Plasma (1080p, 30,000:1 Contrast)

Philips 47PFL7403D/27 47" LCD *Refurbished* (1080p, 120 Hz, 2 ms Response Time, 29,000 Contrast)

My primary use will be for Blu-Ray movies, DirecTV HD, OTA HD, and Xbox 360/PS3/Wii gaming. When I game, it does tend to be for one to two hour sessions at a time, so I don't know if that should affect my decision making.

What's your take?

My call is for a 52" to 55" ANYTHING. Why did you narrow it down to these two units?

[DBlackGT]

Not even a question.

Panasonic Plasma

[Sonny]

Since it's between only these two...? Go with the Panny. You'll be very happy with it.

[Steve]

Plasma all the way for the best PQ. The 120Hz thing is only LCD trying to find a way to keep up with plasma with regard to displaying fast motion. Forget about that contrast ratio number as well. I recently found out there is a standard that can be used to measure contrast ratio, but not all manufacturers have adopted said standard, and many don't even tell you what method they use to measure by. In short, it's probably the most useless of all TV specs.

[JJ]

I'm a Philips fanboy - having owned their 47" 7432 for a while, and they make great mid-range LCDs with great aesthetics, but I'm also a plasma fanboy, so you should go with the 46-85 hands down!

[GoYanks]

Originally Posted by DBlackGT

Not even a question.

Panasonic Plasma

i agree. Panny's are without a doubt a quality piece or plasma technology.

[theu715]

I recently bought the Panasonic th46pz80u. I love it! I had a Sony 42" lcd rear projection for a while and just upgraded. I say you should go with the Panny, you will not be disappointed.

[My_Two_Cents]

Not even a close comparison. Go with the Pany plasma. You'll have a much better, more realistic picture than with the LCD.

[Hammie]

I would go with the Panny plasma. Here is why...

I originally purchased a Samsung 46LN860 LCD. It is one of the top of the line LCDs on the market at the time. I really did not like the picture once I got it home. I thought it lacked something. In addition, the backlight issues were horrible. I had flashlighting and clouding... on two different units. With that, I decided to move to plasma at the recommendation of the manager at the store I bought my TV at (not a big box store but a local company here in Washington, DC metro area). He suggested the Panny over the Samsung plasma because it had more realistic colors out of the box.

Granted, I have seen that LCDs will look better in brighter viewing areas while plasma performs in areas that are light controlled. My viewing area is in a light controlled room with no windows.

Hope that helps.

[Nick Graham]

I think that pretty well settles it. I picked those two because I was aiming for 46"-47", wanted good flight specs if I went with an LCD, and they both came within $100 of each other.

Thanks for the input, guys. Now I just have to wait another week or so for the feds to deposit my money.

[PS3+HDDVD OWNER]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

I think that pretty well settles it. I picked those two because I was aiming for 46"-47", wanted good flight specs if I went with an LCD, and they both came within $100 of each other.

Thanks for the input, guys. Now I just have to wait another week or so for the feds to deposit my money.

Nick,


Hands down, get the Panasonic set. You'll thank yourself in the long run.

[KCLARK]

Originally Posted by Ricshoe

Not even a close comparison. Go with the Pany plasma. You'll have a much better, more realistic picture than with the LCD.

I will vouch that if you get the Phillips without being able to compare it to another set, you'll be fine. Fair warning to you that you will regret your purchase just like my friend did if you end up comparing it to a new Panny.

Most of the ppl I know who even look at phillips sets only consider them cause there always on sale and at a far deeper discounted price (at least all the one's i've seen were) than all the rest. My good friend and neighbor fell for this, and swore up and down he had the deal of the century for the phillips he got (which was a 50 inch) for $1100. My tv is a Panny 42/600, granted I paid more for mine back in 2006 so he def felt veirfied in the comparison of the amount spent. I think he was fine and seemed happy when he first got the set, but he had nothing to compare it to at the time. When football season started, we would both watch the games over each others house and it wasnt until THEN that he saw the difference. Even he admits that he messed up buying the Phillips! With HD channels it is a much closer comparison, but with SDTV channels, its not even a close. His is grainy ALL THE TIME! The thing that puzzles me is my set is a 720p and his is supposedly a 1080 set but my Panny just flat out looks better with everything, I dont get it and neither does he