My dilemma: Panasonic ZT vs. Samsung F8500 (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Samsung just approved the final close-out price reduction on 51" and 60" F8500s.

We're allocated for our very last shipment the end of this week. Tell friends and family; supply is limited so act fast if you want one.

[*]PN51F8500 $999

[*]PN60F8500 $1,499
[/list]64" F8500 are still available and are also very limited, no further price change on the 64" so they are selling out at $2,498.

-Robert

Amazon basically matched that pricing for me at $1,501. I must say I am very impressed so far by this unit's performance. My initial reaction is the Samsung F8500 3-D performance is superior to my Panny's VT and GT models. More to come as I make further adjustments and get this bad boy professionally calibrated in the next 2-3 months.

 

[DaveF]

Quick question: the F8500 series is a great (the best, even?) plasma for normal 2D viewing? If it would never be used for 3D is it still a top choice (if it can be found)?Thanks!

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's top notch whether 2D or 3D viewing!

 

[DaveF]

60" for $1500! Killing me. I so want to buy one and swap out my Kuro 5020 in the living room. But now's not the time for me. (sigh)

 

[DaveF]

After a three weeks of searching, since Black Friday, my BIL found a BestBuy that had eight 64" F8500's in stock, about to get shipped to a different warehouse. He bought one, and is driving it 14 hrs back home in his SUV after Christmas. He learned that BestBuy doesn't have national warehouse tracking all the stores have their regional warehouse. So you go online and try to buy a TV, and it will be out of stock if it's not in your store's warehouse, even if it's in a warehouse in another region.

 

[Robert Crawford]

These F8500's have dried up pretty quickly. I'm very happy I bought mine when I did.

 

[Bryan^H]

These F8500's have dried up pretty quickly. I'm very happy I bought mine when I did.

I tried to get the 64" model right before Thanksgiving. Nothing, anywhere. Oh well, my fault for waiting(and knowing) they would be gone sooner rather than later

 

[DaveF]

There are a few out there. But they require local pickup. If you fused the right Best Buy, they won't ship to your local store.

 

[Granceshin]

For years I have been wanting a Panasonic plasma. Almost bought one three years ago until by chance, I won an LG display at a trade show. The LG display was a top-of-the-line THX certified 3D plasma and I have been rather pleased with it.


But with Panasonic announcing it was stopping production on its displays, I suddenly realized that this would be the last opportunity for me to own what many consider to be the absolute best plasma available, the ZT series.


My goal was to buy the 65" ZT display this very morning....


...that is, until I actually saw one on display today.


I took a trip to visit my friend, Robert Zohn. He owns Value Electronics located in the cozy town of Scarsdale, NY.


He has a Panasonic ZT 65" mounted on the wall next to the Samsung 64" F8500. Both were showing the same identical demo content consisting of various daytime and nighttime sequences designed to show off different levels of HD.


It was very clear to the both of us that the Samsung had the better picture -- so much so, that the Panasonic ZT looked almost lifeless next to it. The Samsung was pushing a brighter picture (both displays were maximized in luminance), and you could see far more detail and sharpness. The Panasonic looked dull next to it.


Blacks? I would say that the Panasonic probably had 2% better blacks than the Samsung, but it was only slightly more pronounced when the demo material went totally black, displaying nothing but the television logo.


I could not have been more frustrated by what I saw. Robert Zohn told me that everyone that has seen both displays side-by-side show the same frustration. He explained that the novices generally immediately select the Samsung over the Panasonic. However, the purists will pick the Panasonic purely for the deepest levels of black that they can get....


...but for me, the black levels were negligible while the Samsung clearly had more picture pop to it.


This is really killing me, because I have been programmed to believe that the Panasonic ZT series is the Kuro killer. To pick anything else would be buying a vastly superior product.....yes?


...but to my eyes, that Samsung didn't look a little better --- it looked vastly better. It even won the Value Electronics shootout over the Panasonic ZT, by the slimmest of margins, just because of the level of luminance and detail.


Want to get one of these displays in my home next week. So, I have a day or two to make my decision. I know I am about to get a wealth of conflicting opinions, but perhaps as I wade through them, I will get a clearer idea of which display I should choose.


Looking forward to any input.

In my opinion you must go with the Panasonic TC-P60VT60 as it is better than PN60F8500 in terms of Brightness,Color Accuracy/Rendition,touch pad remote and Smart TV Apps are among fastest loading and are easy to display.