Okay, so this is my first ever foray into the grey market and I've been reading posts a lot on the Bangalore Grey Market and accordingly, visited Sukh Sagar Mall today and was quoted 44.5k and 43.5k for the Samsung 40" Series 5 EH5600. I felt the guy selling for 44.5k to be a bit more reliable as he even offered to take it back within a week if any problems cropped up. So is 44.5k a good price and should I go ahead with the purchase? His shop is on the ground floor - extreme right lane... I was quoted 43.5k at a shop on the extreme left lane near the staircase. I could not bargain with either as they just stuck to the price.
Grey Market(Bangalore) Samsung 40" EH5600 for 44k --- Should I buy?
- Thread starter Mr Suj
- Start date
- Status
RS4
Herald
Did you get prices of any other Tv or any phone number etc? there is no model with name EH5600, its Samsung ES5600 and for that budget its better to go for sony EX650 with SPVA panel.
3 Doors Down
Contributor
Does anyone know of any GREY market stores in MUMBAI?
Thane specifically!
Want to buy Samsung 40es6220
Getting it for 55k on eBay.
Also, can anyone tell me how is this TV compared to other TV's.
Picture quality etc. Should i go ahead and give that TV a try? Need to buy it in THIS week!
Thane specifically!
Want to buy Samsung 40es6220
Getting it for 55k on eBay.
Also, can anyone tell me how is this TV compared to other TV's.
Picture quality etc. Should i go ahead and give that TV a try? Need to buy it in THIS week!
Yes, sorry its the ES5600. No, I had short-listed the ES5600 and the Sony EX650( quoted 46k in grey ) but finally decided on the Samsung as it can play back almost all USB media files and also on recommendations by eZone and Reliance digital showroom reps.
And yeah, the panel lottery has me worried a lot and as far as I could find out, the SPVA panel's only superiority over AMVA/SMVA panels is that blacks are a bit deeper when seen at night with low ambient light and that in AMVA panels, when viewing angle goes below say, 35 degrees, the contrast isn't as good as it would be on a SPVA panel but viewing angles are not an issue for me as I will very, very view it beyond a range of say, 60- 9- degrees.
Is there any other difference? And in PQ is the Samsung on par with Sony? Showroom reps. say that in these two models, the Samsung's PQ is slightly better while online comparisions( which are very, very few for these two ) say its a tie.
RS4
Herald
Any showroom rep will push samsung over sony as sony has low profit margin for showrooms, dont know about any online website comparisons but almost everyone who has compared on forums say that they prefer EX650 for better picture quality, i dont have that budget otherwise i would have gone for EX650.
If USB media playback capability is your priority then go for samsung as sony doesnt support NTFS( it supports FAT32, exFAT) and also cant play mkv files, simple way to solve this problem is to connect a laptop via HDMI to the TV, But finally its your call and preference, Go for the TV which you like.
I am also planning to visit sukh sagar mall for an LED but in lower budget, do you have any phone number from those guys? so that i ask prices of TV's in my range.
swordfish123
Forerunner
If you buy TVs from grey market, can you still go to Sony/Samsung service center and get paid service?
RS4
Herald
No issues with the samsung model, just demo once in showrooms and go for it if you like it as the difference will be minor, i didnt demo models in that price range, in my range 40EH5000 was good so bought it for 34k from sukhsagar mall.
I bought the Samsung 40ES5600 for 43.25k. Came with the Wifi-Dongle. Man, those guys don't budge on their price by an inch.And after the purchase, when I was about to carry away the TV, the guy said to me, " You have searched for this model and asked quotes for the same all over this mall, Burma Bazar and National Market, no? I have got so many phone calls telling me about you. You will not get a price lower than this anywhere".
BTW, You could have bought the 40" 5330 for 34k and it would be better than EH5000.
Even I am in a search for EH5000 in Bangalore. Which panel you have got out of the 3 ? Is it S-PVA ?
I demoed EH5000 , D5500 and the Sony KLV 40EX430 , but I felt all the three had the same picture quality .
Can you give me some pointers on how to judge the picture quality as it is purely subjective
Are you willing to buy it in the grey market? If so, visit Sukh Sagar Mall. You can get the EH5000 for INR 34,000 (or less 
)
You can also consider the ES5330, again available for 34k in grey.
Do not listen entirely to the showroom rep.'s recommendations as they only want to push whichever TV fetches them more profits. But Samsung and Sony are almost equal on Picture Quality. Only thing is that on Samsung, you get more features( IDk about mid-range models ) and adjustments than the Sony. But you will no be left dissatisfied with either. And ask the showroom to change the Picture mode on both the TVs while demoing to suit your likes as the Factory Defaults will not allow a fair comparison. And lastly, Sony doesn't support all USB formats mainly mkv. If this is a concern for you, get a Samsung( I did as it was a major concern for me )
Finally, what I'd recommend if you are still left undecided is to carry with you a 1080p video file of the best quality you can get, on a thumb drive and play it back on both the TVs.
Hope this helps. 
)You can also consider the ES5330, again available for 34k in grey.
Do not listen entirely to the showroom rep.'s recommendations as they only want to push whichever TV fetches them more profits. But Samsung and Sony are almost equal on Picture Quality. Only thing is that on Samsung, you get more features( IDk about mid-range models ) and adjustments than the Sony. But you will no be left dissatisfied with either. And ask the showroom to change the Picture mode on both the TVs while demoing to suit your likes as the Factory Defaults will not allow a fair comparison. And lastly, Sony doesn't support all USB formats mainly mkv. If this is a concern for you, get a Samsung( I did as it was a major concern for me )
Finally, what I'd recommend if you are still left undecided is to carry with you a 1080p video file of the best quality you can get, on a thumb drive and play it back on both the TVs.
Hope this helps.
Thanks a ton for the information.
Sorry I am not buying from the Grey market as I am thinking of getting the extended warranty for 3 years but the 34k price is too tempting.
You said you got the Samsung 40ES5600 , is the panel lottery present on every model of Samsung including the EH5000 ? What panel you got ?
Sorry I am not buying from the Grey market as I am thinking of getting the extended warranty for 3 years but the 34k price is too tempting.
You said you got the Samsung 40ES5600 , is the panel lottery present on every model of Samsung including the EH5000 ? What panel you got ?
RS4
Herald
Model availability varies from day to day and 5330 was not available with anyone, anyways 40EH5000=40EH5330 that is same tv with smart functionality but no dongle included, so got the 40EH5000 itself.
Regarding pricing i felt that all these shopkeepers call the same fellow for pricing and that is the reason you will get same quotes at all shops with no negotiation.
Yes, panel lottery is present on all Samsung 5 series models 5000,5330,5600. Even the samsung 6 series has panel lottery, get Sony 40EX650 for guaranteed SPVA panel.
Panel lottery is the problem right now. Would have gone for Sony 40EX650 with eyes closed if it was within 55k and if had played all video formats.
When you get the TV from the grey market do the shopkeepers allow you to check the panel type before buying or is it like the normal malls like Chroma ,staples where it all depends on your luck ??
Did you check what panel you got ?
One more doubt I have is that when they say dealer warranty, will the shop keeper himself replace/repair the TV in case if something happens to it ??
"Panel lottery is the problem right now." ---- Man, tell me about it. This worried me for days before I bought my TV. I read a lot about it and thought that it would be a waste of my money if I ended up with an AMVA panel. Then I did some research about the difference between AMVA and SPVA panels and heres what I found-
SPVA and AMVA panels, especially those used in this year's TVs have absolutely no difference until your viewing angle reduces below 35° which would be very rare in normal situations when you are watching TV in your living room. Now, if at all you do view from below 35°, then an AMVA panel will display a slight contrast shift before a SPVA panel could. Also below 35°, SPVA panels display slightly deeper blacks relatively to AMVA panels and that is only noticeable during night time if the ambience lighting is dim. And really, there have not been any issues or complaints from customers about AMVA panels. And Samsung would not have established panel lottery if the panels themselves had varying standards of quality which, as I just said, they don't.
So I'd suggest that you go with the Samsung as it also comes with a Wi-Fi dongle in-the-box and if you buy it in retail, even a Skype camera. It can playback almost all USB media formats especially .mkv which is a very popular format which Sony can never play.
I've been watching stuff on my hardly 1 week old 40" ES5600 and honestly, the PQ is great. Details are sharp and vivid. The UI is great too, especially the Smart Hub. The speakers are also excellent and audio doesn't crack at even 100% volume (which is very, very loun and could be heard even in the lower floor of my building ). It also gives out a pretty good bass which I've not experienced in many TVs.
Soooo, anyway, do let us know of what you finally go for....
- - - Updated - - -
No, dealers are not even aware of panel lottery and yes, you may check the panel when the dealer asks you to inspect the product but IDK whether he'll give you another and anyway they don't stock that much quantity of the same model.
And coming to your second doubt, let me firstly tell you that some defect coming up in these day's LEDs are very rare. And if at all that happens, your dealer may replace the TV if you take it back but he will certainly not try to repair it as - a) He does not have neither the knowledge or the skills to do so and neither does he have the required equipment nor spare parts. b) Repairs on LEDs are almost always done by authorised company in-house technicians.
3 Doors Down
Contributor
Wth panels?
Just purcjased 40es6220 off ebay at 57.5k
I can get it repaired locally irrespective of what panel it has right?
Just purcjased 40es6220 off ebay at 57.5k
I can get it repaired locally irrespective of what panel it has right?
RS4
Herald
The major companies like Sony, Samsung, LG give only 1 year warranty, so its better to save 20k on a 50-55k TV by getting it through grey market.
- Status