55" LCD TVs: FHD Panasonic or 4K Veon?

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jonathan18

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#239442 17-Jul-2018 20:14

An email from Smith City today says they'll have the 55" Panasonic TH-55ES500Z for $799; the cheapest it's been anywhere (according to Pricespy) is $997.

We had planned on picking up one of the 55" 4K Veons, but for only $100 more for the Panasonic I'm wondering if that's the better deal. While this Panasonic is only FHD it seems decent value, plus it also supports Freeview OnDemand, Lightbox etc - which would save Airplaying content.

I've had no chance to see the Panasonic in the flesh (email came only tonight), and there aren't many reviews I can find (Consumer gives is a tick, but I'm not totally trusting of their reviews of electronics), but wondered if any others had any thoughts on the merits of this vs the cheap-as-chips Veon?

We currently have no 4K sources, but have plans to get the kids a PS4 Pro later this year; but TBH I don't think they're too fussed about it being 4K. The TV is just the 'family' set in the house, so no need for it to be the latest and greatest - I'm happy to spend an extra $100, and drop back to FHD, if the general consensus is the Panasonic will still be the better quality TV.

Thanks for any advice.

richms

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#2058006 17-Jul-2018 20:31

How far away are you from it is the big decider.

Keep in mind the kids should have much better eyesight than you so just because you arent disgusted by giant pixels when 2m from a 1080 screen doesnt mean they wont appreciate the greater resolution.

Richard rich.ms

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#2058015 17-Jul-2018 21:06

Can sell you a 4K Samsung if you're in Dunedin

gehenna

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#2058040 17-Jul-2018 22:09

Steer clear of Veon.

jonathan18

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#2058047 17-Jul-2018 22:32

Thanks for the comments. I get the comments re Veon as a brand, but I'm also aware that at this price point it's a lot of TV for the money; it's just a matter of whether we can live with the compromises that comes with this, but in this case we're probably thinking we'd willingly give up 4K for the other benefits buying the Panasonic will bring.

Another plus for the Panasonic is it will (I assume) have discrete power and input IR codes, so will be fully compatible with our Harmony remote - whereas this is a problem that's been well-documented here on GZ with the Veons.

If we went with just a FHD TV, is it worth the extra dosh to get a PS4 Pro over the standard PS4? (Like, would there be any advantage to have the superior graphics processing power even if it's not running in 4K?)

Dial111

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#2058052 17-Jul-2018 22:57

Re the PS4 Pro IMO no it won’t make much of a difference, but it’s still worth it for future proofing reasons if you’re looking to upgrade to 4K in the future.

To answer your question I wouldn’t consider a Veon in a million years but given your price point I’d prefer a 4K set over a FHD tv and your safe with the 3 year warranty that TW gives, so no need to bank on CGA if anything goes wrong.

It’s a hard one, to me the TV is very personal and I built everything like HT and media around a decent panel.

tchart

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#2058086 18-Jul-2018 07:56

gehenna:

Steer clear of Veon.

Can you elaborate? Plenty of happy Veon owners on here.

We have 4 Veons in our house (various sizes) plus a Panasonic and LG. I'd rate satisfaction factor on the Veons much higher than the Panasonic/LG. Our latest Veon (which replaced the 2 year old Panasonic as our main TV) is the 4K 55" which for the price is brilliant.

Compared to any entry level "known" brand I'd go for a Veon.

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jonathan18

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#2058380 18-Jul-2018 15:57

Thanks for the feedback; in the end we purchased the Panasonic FHD set not the Veon 4K model. My wife was sold by the inclusion of Freeview on Demand and Lightbox, and given it’s replacing a 12 year old 42” ‘HD’ (yep, count all of those 768 lines - it’s easy enough to do so!) Panasonic plasma, the ‘upgrade’ will be an improvement anyway.

It’s only a secondary set, used 99% by the kids who are surprisingly ok with the current plasma, and personally I’d rather save money on this set to put towards an OLED to one day replace the otherwise decent plasma in the HT...