Home > Consumer Reviews > Samsung PN58A550 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

Hi guys
I generally do not write reviews but this is such a new TV without many reviews in the public domain and so decided to put my two cents;
1. Why plasma not LCD...well, plasmas, are cheaper once you are in the post 50" realm. Past 50", plasmas rule when it comes to price. They are also not limited by 60/120 Hz. cycling issues like the LCDs (remember we never had a "triple ball" effect with our old CRT based TVs, that we have used for the past 50 years; well, plasmas are an extension of that technology, just way more sophisticated.
2. [...]
3. Amazon service: 5/5 Top class. Ordering on line was a breeze.
4. Free white glove delivery included delivery, unpacking, set up, and trash haul. Also, if you do not like what you see, Amazon will take the TV on the spot at their expense. On my TV, there was a free white glove delivery! CEVA tracking promised delivery on 7th May but delivered the TV on 1st May. How is that for under promise and over deliver. 5/5 to CEVA for white glove! It took 2 guys to haul this beast in. I had the cart ready and they spent half an hour unpacking and helping me screw the TV to the stand (M8 36 mm screw). The screws on the back from Samsung are not long enough (though M8 type). You will need to undo the swivel base (the CEVA guys did that and hauled my old 36" (read heavy) clunker into the basement also).
5. Return policy: 30 day no questions asked on Amazon as opposed to 15 days in bricks a mortar stores.
6. The TV picture quality itself blew me away. For the price, it is a no brainer. Sound quality does need enhancement with a home theater system for a full HD/HT experience. The picture out of the box is truly marvelous. I did not have to tinker with the settings much. Just make sure you have either an HDMI or a component cable that is able to display 1080p/i signal (the old coax does not display 1080p/i).
7. Blue ray player: For people with children, Sony PS3 is an obvious choice for a blue ray/game player combo.
8. This TV has higher contrast ratio than their earlier FTP5884 model, and therefore, whilst both were available, it was a no brainer to go with the newer PN58A550 model.
9. One last comment. If money was not an objective, I would have bought a bigger (65") panel. I had the hunch and it is now confirmed, no matter how large a panel you buy, you may end up feeling that it is not big enough.
Overall, Amazon saved me mucho dinaro, and delivered as promised. No fuss, no muss, no questions asked! Good luck guys/gals.

I've had the PN58A550 FOR about a month now and overall I am very pleased.

Positive:
The value is very good on this TV. The picture quality is great. Setup option are more extenisive than most TV's. You can really dial in everything about the picture using regular menus. The overall finish on the TV is really nice. It has a piano gloss finish on the frame and stand that look really sharp. Samsung TV's used to have some of the worst menus ever but the one on this TV is really very good and intuative.

Negatives:
1) There are no S-Video or Composite connections on the back of the TV. There are 1 of each on the left side of the TV.
2) The picture "zoom" feature is just stupid. Sometimes when movies are letterboxed I like to zoom in and not see so much of the top&bottom bars. On the Samsung zoom doesn't zoom, it stretches the picture vertically so everything looks a little too tall.
3) The screen is pretty reflective. Other plasmas do a better job of cutting the glare.

Overall I'm really pleased with my purchase and would certainly do it again.

After 6 months of looking and comparing I decided on either the Samsung 52" series 550 LCD or this 58" series 550 plasma. I finally decided that size DID matter. Boy am I happy! The pix is fantastic, color and blacks are superb, according to the instructions (and reviews) it takes up to 2 hours of static pixels to have a threat of burn in (which I never foresee) so I couldn't be happier. Some have written about the sound, but my family can't find anything to complain about. When we watch something really important we use the BOSE Lifestyle Dolby 5.1 anyway. I read that plasmas put out heat which is true. When watching an evening of TV we have to use the ceiling fan in the great room when it's unnecessary in the rest of the house. But it's just the nature of the beast and it is 110 degreees outside. It has nothing to do with this unit.

[...]

But what I really wanted to write about was the delivery service. I had read some real horror stories concerning Amazon & CEVA delivery. So when I was told that my [...] investment would be coming via 'Inept Shipping Inc.' (CEVA) I almost backed out. But, I can't tell you how beautifully the transaction went!!!!

Now you've got to understand, I ordered this set about midnite on Friday of Memorial Day weekend so nothing was going to happen until Monday or Tuesday. The set arrived in the nearby 'big city' (we live 90 miles from Oklahoma City in a small town of 36,000) on WEDNESDAY!! I took the initiative and called the local CEVA office to setup a time for delivery. (Most complaints seemed to deal with waiting for them to call you and dealing with the 800 number rather than the local office. The local office is available via their website by simply clicking on a map of the U.S!) They were willing to deliver it the very next day on Thursday but I was unavailable. So we set it up for between noon and 2:30 on Friday. The guy called when he was 20 minutes away, 1pm, unloaded the TV, helped me unbox it, lift it up on the new credenza, set up the channels and gave me some tips on usage, LIKE DON'T EVER USE THE POWER BUTTON ON THE FACE OF THE TV. ALWAYS USE THE REMOTE. THE PRESSURE PAD SYSTEM ON THE SET ITSELF IS SENSITVE TO MOISTURE SO IF YOU HAVE DAMP HANDS YOU CAN BURN OUT THE PAD TO THE TUNE OF AN ALMOST $400 REPAIR. I have since checked this out with Samsung and they say yes, it is possible. That sure isn't in the book! Thanks Mike the delivery guy at CEVA for ALL the great service and help! I got my 58" plasma TV delivered to my home with true service and set up in under a week at a [...]! Can't beat the price or the service!

Though not "cheap", I am amazed that a TV of this quality can be purchased for the price it's being offered at.

I'm lucky: my experience was near flawless with the delivery of this television.

It arrived when they said it would, and it was carefully unboxed, plugged in to make sure that it was working and then away the delivery men went. At first I asked that they take the box with them, but one of them wisely (or lazily... I think the former) suggested that I keep the box for a week in case something went wrong and the TV should have to be removed. In hindsight, though nothing has gone wrong with the TV, I think this sound advice. Storing a box of that size, however, presents problems of its own living in an apartment in an urban environment where space is harder to come by than in the suburbs.

If not mounting the TV right away (as I did - had to put the 3rd party stand together when it was delivered) make sure to completely unbox the TV so that it can stand true.

It's a monster: it's a giant sheet of fragile glass sitting in your room, not unlike the monolith in Arthur C Clark's books. It's not terribly heavy (158lbs with stand, 135lbs without), but it's awkward when lifted and a big slab to navigate should you have to go up stairs or around corners (neither of which I had to do).

Once it's in place, it really is a thing of beauty with stunning picture quality and amazing detail at its native 1080p resolution. SD pictures on it, as many have said, are not great, but I belong to the school of thought that reasons you should be watching HD if you're buying this television, or any 1080p television of this size.

I have a PS3 to accompany this behemoth and games and Blu-ray movies are mind blowing. I use a separate receiver, and speaker set-up for sound so can't honestly assess the aural qualities of the TV's speakers.

The only problem you might have is that your living room will become your friend's new favorite movie theater... "Time to go fellas. Seriously. Fellas?"

This TV is sold through Amazon, but WHO actually sells you the TV can revolve between any number of providers. I (wisely, or so I believe) waited until the TV was for sale by Amazon itself and not a 3rd party vendor. This made me feel more secure about the purchase and my recourses should something go wrong.

Glare could also be an issue for those with a viewing set-up that has natural light behind the viewer, but in my case that hasn't been a problem.

On the downside, and why I didn't give it 5 stars, is that it generates a lot of heat, and uses a LOT of electricity. I recognize that these drawbacks are inherent in the plasma technology, but it doesn't mean I have to like them.

Overall, I am very, very happy with this purchase, and would recommend it to any and all of my friends.

UPDATE: I've had the set for a little over 7 months now and it has performed like a champion. As I mentioned before, the picture quality continues to impress (Dark Knight in Blu-ray will blow... your... mind! The Dark Knight (+ Digital Copy and BD Live) [Blu-ray]). I would still highly recommend the set, and though the price is only $69.78 less than I paid 7 months ago I still think it a great bargain for what you're getting.

I had my eyes set on the Pioneer 6010 or the 6020 but never pulled the trigger because it was over $4200.00. Then came the Samsung PN58A550. Had some good features and was very affordable. So much affordable that I ended up buying it from Amazon with their 12 months no monthly payment/no interest offer and had so much money left over that I bought a PS3 for Blu-Ray, a 5 year extended warranty, and a new sound system.

The carrier was Eagle and two guys unpacked the Samsung and they were in and in and out about 15 minutes. They did stay while I hooked up a HD-A35 player to the TV to check if it works. This TV is huge! I mounted it on a Salamander Triple Mount Stand and have it tilted down 7 degrees. It took 4 guys including me to mount the heavy thing. The TV faces a large window across the room but due to the TV at an angle there is barely any glare/reflection at all. Now if the TV was not tilted I would experience some glare/reflection. A550 doesn't have the best glare filter vs their top end models like the A650 which has Ultra Filter Bright.

Black levels and picture quality looked great to me. Now some people say that plasma TVs produce too much buzz or too much heat. There is some heat coming off the screen but it's not HOT. Just a bit warm. Sitting about 10ft away there is no audible buzz from the TV. When I was behind it though doing the wiring there is some humming but it's nothing to complain about.

Please check out the pictures that I added on the product image.

The TV speakers are nothing special but I have mine hooked up to an Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver with BIC Acoustech Home Theater system. Other devices that I have for entertainment are Toshiba HD-A35, PS3 for Blu-Ray, and a Xbox 360 for games.

I am very happy with the Samsung 58A550 and I highly recommend it for medium to large living rooms. I don't recommend this TV for a small or medium size bed rooms.

PROS:
1080P. Great picture quality. Great black levels. Great value for a 58 inch plasma. No buzzing noise that some plasmas are plagued with. Decent glare filtering. 3 HDMI inputs. Supplied TV stand swivels and is very strong.

CONS:
Screen does give off noticeable heat and will increase room temperature a bit. May not be friendly to your electric bill depending on your Energy Savings setting.