[VW2010]

E8000 is the top of the line series from Samsung. Its the best that samsung has in offer at this point.

Between Samsung and Panasonic there is very little to chose from yet there are some differences

Blacks in Panasonic is darker and colors are slightly better

Samsung has better brightness compromising very mildly on dark areas and has the top of the line design, package and smart features.

Samsung is very close in delivering picture quality to Panasonic and you cannot go wrong with either of them

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by VW2010

E8000 is the top of the line series from Samsung. Its the best that samsung has in offer at this point.
Between Samsung and Panasonic there is very little to chose from yet there are some differences

Thanks Vw2010 for your feedback. I may take the plunge for the Samsung subject to approval from higher authorities( read as wife!). I have a friend at Samsung who should be able to help with some employee discount which may sweeten the deal a little!

[MARCUS_520i]

As said in my earlier posts, it's Thursday today and I'm just back home after an afternoon full of TV hunting!

*Showrooms visited:
Sony Dealership - Sion-Trombay Highway
Vijay Sales - Bang opposite Sony on Sion-Trombay Highway
LG Dealership - Amarmahal, next to McDonald's/Shoppers' Stop
Samsung Showroom - R-City Mall, Ghatkopar
Reliance Digital - Phoenix Market City, Kurla West

*TVs checked out:
Well...several! Although the ones that I was really focusing on were the Samsung PS51E550D1R, Panasonic TH-50XT50 and Th-50ST50, the LG 42PM4700 & the LG 50PM6700.

Since I've always been a plasma guy, for some reason the LEDs seemed to hurt my eyes! lol
The brightness is just too much for me and I stuck to plasmas. 3D was never a necessity and the various demos that I went through didn't do it for me! Besides, IMAX Adlabs is only ~12 minutes from where I stay, so the 3D department has been taken care of! ;-)

Coming to my requirements; as mentioned earlier, I was looking for a BIG plasma 47+ inches, 50 inches preferably, which was a Full HD and a value for money deal. Reflecting surface of the panel wasn't a problem since plasmas have always been that way.

So there I was, at the LG showroom and something caught my eye! It was a plasma, it was BIG and for some reason, I just liked the look of it(even though it wasn't ON). So I asked the sales person about it to which he told me that it was the LG 50PA6500, a 50 inch plasma with Full HD and without 3D or SMART features! That sounded like just exactly what I was looking for. I told him to put it on and voila! Jaise koyle ki khaan mein heera! :P
ESPN HD in full glory!!! Browsed through some other channels; News, Soaps, Music videos, everything was flying! If 'love at first sight' exists then this was it! I knew I had to get this.

MRP : INR 75000/-
Post negotiation : INR 67000/-
Manufacturer warranty : 1 year
Extended warranty(+2 years) : INR 6500/-
Offers : None(This one bites since there're none happening even with the festive season 'round the corner!)

And so I booked the LG 50PA6500 with an advance payment of INR 10k. Delivery scheduled on my birthday next Thursday, the 20th!

Will keep y'all posted about the happenings. Once again a big thank you to everyone who helped with the suggestions, your inputs were very valuable. Thanks again!

Cheers!

[Guite]

Black

What's the big deal about black level?

Okay, that’s an attention grabbing (I hope) question. Its not that I don’t care about it. Rather I want to understand why it is considered so important. Finer things in life can only be appreciated by knowing something about it, like sports (golf), food (shushi / ??), music (classical / opera), art (modern), etc. Throwing light on it isn’t necessarily important (it might dilute the black?); a brief primer will suffice just fine, thank you.

Does deeper black increase the contrast and dynamic range of the picture displayed? I feel it does but I am not sure.

Light and reflection

A lot has been talked about viewability of or plasma TVs in bright rooms. Based on my few weeks worth of ownership of Panasonic plasma UT50, a room bright enough for reading has no adverse impact on picture clarity; no washed out screen whatsoever. To put it in perspective, consider watching this TV at night in a 12’ x 20’ room. Whether its two 28W tubelights + one 18W CFL ON or just one 18W CFL light ON makes no difference. Ditto for daytime viewing.

On the other hand, reflection is a more pertinent concern for me. To put it simply its one big mirror, particular in dark scenes. It doesn’t help that I am very conscious about reflections. Any bright spot or window opposite to the TV is big problem. Best possible layout for this kind of TV is blank wall with no light source opposite to the TV. Light source on TV wall does not make for comfortable viewing, so window / light source should be on the side(s).

[VW2010]

Talked a little soon. The panasonic Helpline extended my warranty and provided a PDF that states the same with the details of the TV, Name, address and 36 months of warranty with expiry date.

Impressed that they respect e-mail based evidence with details of TV, invoice and warranty request.

Great job Panasonic

[Guite]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Talked a little soon. The panasonic Helpline extended my warranty and provided a PDF that states the same with the details of the TV, Name, address and 36 months of warranty with expiry date.

Impressed that they respect e-mail based evidence with details of TV, invoice and warranty request.

Great job Panasonic

Lucky you VW 2010. As for me, emails and phone calls to Panasonic as well as frequent visits to showroom has not yielded results. They are beginning to appear like government bodies: passing the buck. Customer care says it is with dealer, dealer says there is no such warranty card with them. Just waiting it out, what else?

[khoj]

Guide who is the dealer? Is it a brand shop or one of the multi brand outlets?

[Guite]

Khoj, it is a brand shop. What is surprising is that some people get warranty card directly from Panasonic but some don't. Apparently some get to fill up a form at dealership. There is no clarity.

[VW2010]

The warranty card u have says 1 +2 if purchase is between august and September.

If you have the invoice let me try to send you a copy of that warranty that comes in box

You should use that and mail to Panasonic.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by VW2010

The warranty card u have says 1 +2 if purchase is between august and September.

If you have the invoice let me try to send you a copy of that warranty that comes in box

You should use that and mail to Panasonic.

VW2010, what exactly did you do? Was there a warranty card and/or a registration card in the box, you filled it up and posted it to Panasonic? In my case there was no such card in the box.

I do have the invoice. In fact I had the TV replaced because I was originally delivered a showroom piece. Can you please scan and send a soft copy of the warranty card you are referring to?

[VW2010]

The mail i wrote to Panasonic attaching the Invoice copy and the below details.

Also i sent the scanned copy of the warranty leaf. Your dealer should give this and he cannot say he does not have this. Take a print out of this and ask him to check.

Use the same as a reference to the customer care saying your dealer did not give something like this. Use this as a reference. Attaching with this post for help.


Dear Sir/Madam
I have purchaved a Panasonic <PLASMA TV TH P50ST50D-3D> from <Store Details> on <Date>. Attached is a copy
of the bill.
Could you please register this product and provide me the 3 yr warranty?

Regards,
Name
Mobile : <XXXXXXXXXXXXX>


I am attaching the copy of the Bill and the Serial Number of the TV is Serial Number XXXXXXXXX

Items attached -
- Bill
- Extended warranty customer copy i received in the box.

The response from Panasonic

Dear Customer,

Greetings of the day!!!


We are in receipt of your E-mail Dated 1Sep2012 addressed to our Helpline.

We thank you very much for your interest in our Product and Services.

We have registered your product vide registration number: XXXXXXXXXXXX.

We request you to please use this Unique Warranty Identification code for future communication.

Please find the acknowledgment copy of warranty registration.

(See attached file: XXXXXX.pdf)

For any further assistance feel free to contact us.


Regards
Ravi Verma
Executive Customer Care
Panasonic India Pvt Ltd
Helpline - 1860 425 1860 / 1800 103 1333
Visit us at www.panasonic.co.in

[khoj]

@Guite, I purchased mine Last year from the local Croma Zip store(not full size Croma) and had to wait for the WC like the one above for a month plus. Meanwhile, I called up Panasonic's helpline followed by email correspondence and basically received pretty much the same response as VW2010 has, except for the acknowledged WC. Infact I recall explaining this to one of the fellow members via pm. Go ahead and use the toll free number and have this sorted out.

BTW the WC issued for the panels that I bought in July this year (for a cousin, from a brand shop) are common for PDPs & LCDs unlike the one I got last year which is similar to the one shown above stating valid only for "PDP or LCD" as the case may be.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by VW2010

The mail i wrote to Panasonic attaching the Invoice copy and the below details.

Also i sent the scanned copy of the warranty leaf. Your dealer should give this and he cannot say he does not have this. Take a print out of this and ask him to check.

Use the same as a reference to the customer care saying your dealer did not give something like this. Use this as a reference. Attaching with this post for help.

VW2010, thanks a lot for the detailed information. Did you send the mail to helpline@in.panasonic.com? I will certainly pursue this matter. Otherwise there is no benefit of purchasing from official channel and paying more as compared to buying from Gaffar market. I am generally brand loyal, however my first Panasonic purchase hasn't been starting out well.

Khoj, thanks for the input.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by VW2010

The mail i wrote to Panasonic attaching the Invoice copy and the below details.

Is the extended warranty only for 50D series or for 30D series as well? I have only one year warranty.

[chetans]

hooked again on getting a 42 plasma.
although i was looking for full hd, there were none on display at amanora or local stores in hadapsar.
so looked at samsung 43e490 (48k) and lg 4520(~35k).
There was some lg led fullhd model placed right next to the lg plasma one.
Both were running same star cricket hd channel. but i didnt find any difference in picture quality...
add to this the money deficiency, i am now convinced to go for non-hd models.
again i am not interested in 3d nor smart tv functions.
just hdd support with some good no. of hdmi ports.
i am not sure how good the specs of lg plasma's are.
so which ones should i consider out of the following :
42x50d, 43E470, lg ????