Suggest 32" LCD TV for around 35k

I need to buy an LCD asap. I am confused between samsung 32 550 which am getting for around 29.5K without bill, samsung 32 530 which am getting for 32K with bill.
Whats the big deal about crystal in 550? I need to know this and other difference asap.

I dont think am buying philips coz i dont really like its looks. But will surely give it a check at croma tomm. Please advise which one to go for between Samsung 530 W/B, 550 WO/B and Philips 5609?

As of now I am inclined towards Samsung 550. I liked it at showroom and getting it under 30K feels good, what is the failure rate for LCDS?
 
meghna said:
Went to buy a Philips LCD 32PFL5609. However, i was turned down by everyone. Croma had the model in display but when i nailed the deal, they did not have the stock in the warehouse.. so Croma was out of question. Went to Vijay Sales, but they said they just keep the usual Samsung, LG & sony products. After like calling eZone, Kohinoor Tele and other outlets listed on the Philips website and everyone of them turning me down on that model.. I decided to call the tollfree and found out about the Philips exclusive store (Effarsons, thats wat they are called and are based in Worli, Mumbai)

I was told by them that the model that i am looking (5609) for has been out of stock since 6-8 months and that they have an alternative product model number 32PFL5409

Now i am confused, can somebody help me in finding out if its a wise choice to go for Philips 32PFL5409 vs the 32PFL5609 ? The differences are minor but one major difference is that 5409 (the avlable model) is 720p (HD Ready) compared to the 5609 (Full HD)?

If not Philips/5409 then what are other alternatives better/eqivalent, under 40k :)

Feature priorities I'm looking for (in following order):

Picture Quality
Connectivity Features (HDMI, Component... more the better)
USB media features (photos/music/movies). (IIRC, 5609 was the only model I found to have mp4/mkv support)
Full HD (or at least HD ready)

Thanks !

Philips might have good products-like 5609- but in india they have lost the marketing plot. LCD TV,s are never available with their dealers!, perhaps Philips has sold the indian market entirely to Korean Giants Samsung and LG !
 
Dealers don't have it becoz 5609 was not expected to be a huge hit. Only after some members starting recommending this model, everyone went out to buy it and since there was less supply, the stocks were over.

I think even Philips didn't anticipate that their LCDs would be a hot selling item.

A few months back, I had virtually removed Philips from my list since I found them to be very expensive and less in technology than LG/Samsung.
When I enquired at Philips Arena, Jayanagar, a year back, the prices were rip-off and features were less than LG/Samsung.

vijayshimla said:
Philips might have good products-like 5609- but in india they have lost the marketing plot. LCD TV,s are never available with their dealers!, perhaps Philips has sold the indian market entirely to Korean Giants Samsung and LG !
 
somebodystopme said:
I need to buy an LCD asap. I am confused between samsung 32 550 which am getting for around 29.5K without bill, samsung 32 530 which am getting for 32K with bill.
Whats the big deal about crystal in 550? I need to know this and other difference asap.

I dont think am buying philips coz i dont really like its looks. But will surely give it a check at croma tomm. Please advise which one to go for between Samsung 530 W/B, 550 WO/B and Philips 5609?

As of now I am inclined towards Samsung 550. I liked it at showroom and getting it under 30K feels good, what is the failure rate for LCDS?

Why take the risk? LCD if it fails, are usually replaced by the manufacturers as the repairs are difficult to come by. Always buy with bill and warranty.

BTW, When I checked the samsung b530 alongside the philips 5609, the SD performance felt better in the b530.
The b550 has one extra HDMI port and some crystal display which demands a premium of 6-8k.
 
meghna said:
^ Both 5409 and 5609 seem to have same Dynmic Contrast as per specs listed on website. Regular Contrast is not mentioned anywhere. I think you meants to say that 5609 has higher brightness (500 cd/m2) compared to 5409 (450 cd/m2)

as for the sony variants.. is there anybody having these currently? if so, wat r ur experiences regarding picture quality and USB features? Too bad that sony dosen't support mpeg4. Also, on their website I couldn't find any brightness or contrast info given.

the 720p panels are of previous years tech no improvements in contrast,where as the 1080p panels are the now the standard they use the latest in panel tech such as .
the dynamic contrast means nothing.

always-shri said:
Why take the risk? LCD if it fails, are usually replaced by the manufacturers as the repairs are difficult to come by. Always buy with bill and warranty.

BTW, When I checked the samsung b530 alongside the philips 5609, the SD performance felt better in the b530.
The b550 has one extra HDMI port and some crystal display which demands a premium of 6-8k.

well i and many others in this forum have bought lcds in the grey market for years,some of the lcds are close to 5 years old still running strong.

as far as the philips the SD performance is above average to good,all it does is adds a bit of edge enhancement which cannot be set any lower ,which gives u the illusion that its better.the philips doesn't have a backlight control.so adjustmenting the brightness controls the lc layer brightness and the backlight together.

tweak the samsung or sony settings properly they will be superior,better contrast,better SD performance,better de-interlacer and have a separate backlight control.
lastly much better A.S.S .
 
I don't know how u guys feel about Phillips but imo it is a very under-rated brand. I've had music systems from early 90's till 2007 and also sony products, sony and others died on me within an year or two but phillips never died on me till date. They are long-lasting at-least have been with me. They are not in the rate-race to capture the indian market unlike the samsung/lg either.
 
adder said:
well i and many others in this forum have bought lcds in the grey market for years,some of the lcds are close to 5 years old still running strong.

Well, for me just cant take it without the warranty backup.
 
meghna said:
Went to buy a Philips LCD 32PFL5609. However, i was turned down by everyone. Croma had the model in display but when i nailed the deal, they did not have the stock in the warehouse.. so Croma was out of question. Went to Vijay Sales, but they said they just keep the usual Samsung, LG & sony products. After like calling eZone, Kohinoor Tele and other outlets listed on the Philips website and everyone of them turning me down on that model.. I decided to call the tollfree and found out about the Philips exclusive store (Effarsons, thats wat they are called and are based in Worli, Mumbai)

I was told by them that the model that i am looking (5609) for has been out of stock since 6-8 months and that they have an alternative product model number 32PFL5409

Now i am confused, can somebody help me in finding out if its a wise choice to go for Philips 32PFL5409 vs the 32PFL5609 ? The differences are minor but one major difference is that 5409 (the avlable model) is 720p (HD Ready) compared to the 5609 (Full HD)?

If not Philips/5409 then what are other alternatives better/eqivalent, under 40k :)

@meghna: The Philips 5609 is available at Hypercity, Goregaon/Malad [next to Inorbit mall] for around Rs.35k. Just saw it there about an hour back.

@adder: How's the Sony 32bxr/exr @~32k compared to the competition in the same price range, mainly in terms of PQ for SD. Was surprised to see Sony TVs @ this price. TIA mate. [My existing TV might give way soon, so I'm just trying to stay informed]
 
always-shri said:
Why take the risk? LCD if it fails, are usually replaced by the manufacturers as the repairs are difficult to come by. Always buy with bill and warranty.

BTW, When I checked the samsung b530 alongside the philips 5609, the SD performance felt better in the b530.
The b550 has one extra HDMI port and some crystal display which demands a premium of 6-8k.

I know but I have friends whose LCDs brought from abroad without warranty are running just fine. I know its a risk but there is difference of contrast ratio too 60000:1 in 530 and 70000:1 in 550 other than crystal thingy??
 
Thanks everyone for the response..

@Netwix - Out of the 3 Arena shops only Effarsons is valid.. the Tardeo number isnt working and the Thane dealer is no longer keeping Philips products. Had inquired in Effarsons yesterday and they denied having the 5609 in stock.

@Kidrow - These places have the TV in display, but don't have the stock. Happened to me in Croma as well yesterday.. they had it in display but when inquired, there was no stock available. After reading ur comment i called Hypercity and i got the same response as well :(

@Adder / Vijay - Will be trying to get a demo of the Sony and the Samsung pieces tomorrow.

My instinct still says i should go with Philips 5409.. but i am still very confused.. Probably the mp4 and the Ips panel is adding the lure factor and i m being biased to the philips one.

How i wish i could decide it all with a simple eeny, meeny, minie, mo !!! :) Do you all think 5409 would be wise for the reasons above ? Just a simple Yes n No will help from all of you ! Thx !!
 
kidrow said:
@adder: How's the Sony 32bxr/exr @~32k compared to the competition in the same price range, mainly in terms of PQ for SD. Was surprised to see Sony TVs @ this price. TIA mate. [My existing TV might give way soon, so I'm just trying to stay informed]

the sonys are right their on the top in PQ in SD,samsung is very close.the philips does a decent job handles motion a bit better.

the new tvs are indeed cheaper,mainly due to cost cutting,the build quality have taken a hit compared to 09 models,although still better then the competition.
 
Meghna, you can go for the 5609 which is on display. Croma sells display units with good discounts. The only drawback is that the TV is a bit used (but I don't think running time will affect the unit) and you will not get the standard box but the discounts can be quite good depending on your skills. I assume you will get anywhere from 2.5k to 4k of discount. My advice: try.

kidrow said:
@adder: How's the Sony 32bxr/exr @~32k compared to the competition in the same price range, mainly in terms of PQ for SD. Was surprised to see Sony TVs @ this price. TIA mate. [My existing TV might give way soon, so I'm just trying to stay informed]

Philips beats every TV in my opinion, except the Sony V Series and Samsung LED. I have seen some replies in this thread about Philips being better than Sony V Series. In my opinion Sony V Series will eat Philips in Lunch anyday!
 
^ Thx Justin.. Yes, i'll try giving it a shot and haggle with them on the discount for the display piece as i m left with no option (Will be checking out others as well). Will have to check the piece out throughly and then make up my mind if i want the lil bit used display piece. Don't mind it if it all looks fine ! :)
 
somebodystopme said:
BUMP any help guys?
Also Which how sony W series? with 100hz? is it equal to sammy 550?

the sony W series is 09 model,but if u can still find it assuming a new sealed piece then u can go for it.the equivalent alternatives are the sony EX500 lcd,EX700 LED lcd and the samsung B650 lcd /B6000 LED lcd.
 
@meghna: The Philips 5609 as well as the 5409 are available at Croma, Malad [next to D-Mart] for around Rs.37k & 34k [not too sure abt this one though]. Also asked him if it's the last piece n he said 'no, you'll get a peti pack'. Still, here's the no. 61508200. Call up before you go.
 
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