Need feed back on a HD plasma ASAP

[biff]

I was doing a job in a Future shop today and went over to see the TV's and got talking to guy there and they have a "open box" Sammy PN58C7000 that he said he's sell me for $1700, and add their 4 year warranty for $150 extra. The story is it was 1" too big to fit in the cabinet for the original buyers. I can't really find any direct comparisons for price except the new 5xx series are about $100 more expensive and the last price I can find for them was about a month ago @ $2000.

Should I jump on it or no?

Thanks

[Nodscene]

I don't know enough about the Sammy's to recommend or not. I have an LG 60" and a Panny S1 58" and I can say the Panny blows the Samsung out of the water. Of course there was quite a bit of price difference and I never found the proper calibration settings for the LG.

I just checked out the review here Samsung PN58C7000 Review - 1080p 3D Capable 58" Plasma TV and it's pretty good. It's also a 3D tv which may be a bonus for you. I also checked Sound And Vision quickly and it gets 8's across the board. If you can find the calibration settings for it I'd say go for it. Seems like a good deal. I do have to say I haven't done any research since Christmas but I believe the Sammy was my second choice behind the Panasonic when it came to price/performance. Just don't hold me to that :)

EDIT:

Here is some calibration settings for that tv (you may want to look around for others as well in case there are some slight differences...

TweakTV | Samsung PN58C7000*-*TweakTV

EDIT2:

I found the full calibration settings here...

Samsung C7000 Picture Settings: PN50C7000, PN58C7000, PN63C7000 Calibration and Test Results

[biff]

Thanks,

I spent a good amount of time looking at the TVs and it's picture seemed great in comparison to other TVs. TBH I really couldn't see much if any difference between it and the LG and Panny (unsure of model #'s) though I'm not sure I'm really all that anal about colour rendition etc. to an extent. However I am picky about motion blur and the blacks being black especially watching a movie in the dark. It seems like this TV will get me that and then some over my cheaper 42" LG LCD that I use now. At this moment 3D isn't important to me but I plan on having the TV for quite a few years so I'd rather have that feature in case I want/need to use it later.

[Nodscene]

Sounds like a good reason to buy it if you ask me. You probably won't notice much difference in a store setting as it isn't optimal lighting. Frankly I didn't notice too much difference when I bought the Panasonic compared to what I saw at the store haha. I just knew it had great reviews on PQ and inky blacks. It wasn't until I got it home and set it up in the basement (it's a lot darker there) that I really noticed it. I don't think I'd pay $400 to get a tv calibrated as the difference was not mind blowing, but it's well worth the effort to do when the settings are readily available online. I kind of bought it as an impulse and had buyers remorse for about a week but I have zero regrets now. I'm also prone to take advantage of good opportunities when possible so I couldn't really pass up the deal. Let me know if you decide to get it and what you think of it once it's setup.

Cheers.

[biff]

Excellent. I knew somebody here would help me spend my money. Just wanted to make sure it was a decent price -which it appears to be- and and I wasn't getting a snow job.

I've been looking into getting a bigger/better TV for a while now doing half assed research here and there. I sort of found that panasonic vs. samsung seemed to be ford vs. chevy argument. Fanboys of one brand would say theirs are better than the other and vice versa (not that I'm accusing you of that). Sammy's had a problem with the PSU's possibly developing buzzing, and the pannys had an issue of the blacks not being as dark as they age. Probably just a bad batch from either manufacturer that got a lot of hype.

Just gotta sneak it past the wife. Meh, it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission!

[biff]

Well it's a done deal, I picked up the TV. $1900 for the TV with 4 year service warranty, a wall mount bracket, and they ate the environmental tax. Can't wait to watch hockey on it!!!

Originally Posted by Nodscene

I don't think I'd pay $400 to get a tv calibrated as the difference was not mind blowing, but it's well worth the effort to do when the settings are readily available online.

The guy brought up the calibration. He says it's more elaborate than just changing the settings in the menu, they use some sort of test equipment to dial in the colours, grey scales, etc. correctly. He said he'd do it for $200. Do you still think it's a waste vs. the settings found on the internet?

[YukonTrooper]

The best investment you can make now is to pick up an i1 LT colorometer and use HCFR to do your own at home hardware calibration. I would also suggest picking up a USB extension cable so the colorometer will reach the TV from a comfortable position using your laptop.

Link to guide: GREYSCALE & COLOUR CALIBRATION FOR DUMMIES

A must, trust me!

[Nodscene]

Yeah, calibration is usually a pretty big job from my understanding of it. Properly done it will take a couple hours for the tech to do it (if I remember correctly). I haven't had a professional do mine so I'm just going by what I've read. So I can't honestly answer that question for you. You are also supposed to wait a few months to get it done (unless it's a demo unit) so the picture settles down. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on the subject can pitch in on this. Usually when you see calibration numbers on the net it's take from a tv that's professionally done so a lot depends on whether there are any large picture differences between tv's of the same model. If you do end up using the calibration settings just make sure to write down what the old settings were just in case you want to revert back.

Congrat's on the tv, I'm sure you will love it.

Originally Posted by biff

Well it's a done deal, I picked up the TV. $1900 for the TV with 4 year service warranty, a wall mount bracket, and they ate the environmental tax. Can't wait to watch hockey on it!!!


The guy brought up the calibration. He says it's more elaborate than just changing the settings in the menu, they use some sort of test equipment to dial in the colours, grey scales, etc. correctly. He said he'd do it for $200. Do you still think it's a waste vs. the settings found on the internet?