Starting this thread for possible sharing of tips and setup with other members. No immediate plans of getting a new TV, but my Samsung 51-inch Plasma TV conked-out, so I had to find a replacement immediately as the big TV is the main entertainment hub of my parents who are both 77 years old. I was bent on finding a Samsung 55-inch KS7000 model due to the low pricing and good reviews from other PDVD members, but after going through two SM Appliance stores, Abenson, Western, and Ansons, I gave up as there's no more stock available. Another target was the LG UH7700, which also has good reviews from other PDVD members, but was no longer in stock. I ended up in Anson's Cash & Carry, and narrowed down my choices to the Samsung MU7000, LG UJ75, and LG SJ75. I'm aware of the deeper blacks that the Samsung VA panels produce compared to that of IPS panels, hence I was a bit leaning on Samsung.
I was initially considering the LG UJ75 because of the huge discount, SRP is 84,990, but it was discounted and the salesman was giving it to me at 63,999 with 0% interest at 6 months term and start paying the installment after 3 months, cash price was 59,990. I did a lot of testing, watching both UHD, HD, and SD contents - UHD contents are impressive, but comparing it to a Samsung MU7000 nearby, it was really behind on PQ. I inquired about the Samsung MU7000 best price, and they were giving it for 72,000 (89,990 tag price) with the same 0% interest and deferred installment as the LG TV. I almost got the MU7000 because of the picture quality, but I find some of the added features lacking, especially the sound quality - compared to the LG TV which uses Harman Kardon speakers, the sound quality difference is significant. The salesman then asked me to check the SJ85 model - I can immediately see that this one looks to be at par or has even better picture quality than the MU7000, but the tag price is 104,990, so I told the salesman that I cannot afford that one. Salesman went to his manager and got me a price that I could not refuse - from 104,990, they offered 75,800 with 6 months to pay at 0% interest and first payment deferred after 3 months. The discounted price was almost the same as the discounted price of the MU7000, and is more than 29k below SRP - this made me decide to get the unit.
Freebies include a wall mount kit (free installation), rechargeable lamp worth Php 700, and 3 months Premium Netflix subscription.
Initial observations - picture quality on Cignal cable TV is excellent (at par or better than my Samsung Plasma TV), UHD test video on Youtube was excellent, sound quality is excellent for a flat screen TV. Some negatives - still does not support NBA app (Samsung also does not, among the TV's I tested today, only the Sony UHD tv's with Android supports the NBA app); it was advertised that the remote can control the set top box, but no luck on controlling the Cignal Cable TV STB (I'll try some more on this one, and will report it to their tech support if it doesn't work).
More to come ... I still have to test other smart features, such as sharing phone contents and controlling the TV using a smart phone ... my initial observations are very positive, hopefully it is more reliable than the TV it is replacing.
Hopefully other owners can share their setup and tips ... I have the picture quality setup with strong HDR setting at this time.