Samsung PN58A550 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
See it at Amazon.com for $3,499.99Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(1 out of 5)To be avoided, BAD CONSUMER SERVICE from SAMSUNG AND ADORAMA
So, at CES 2006, I saw the TV I Really wanted, It was a prototype, scheduled for Q1 2008: 1 000 000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 30 000:1 static contrast ratio plasma.
The Blacks are black, the white are while, and no color echo with high motion ... Yes, it is what I wanted ...
So, I decided to start saving for the day a release. In Q2 2008, finally Samsung release it, 58" of awesome picture quality, went to fry's , look at it ... same awesome TV!!!! so, www.amazon.com, i order the TV, and dance for a week, waiting the beast to show up.
It finally arrives, the 1st of July. Wall mount it, it looks awesome ... buy a PS3, just for the Blueray play back, on the top of the PC I have too. It is all good!!!!!
The 4th a july comes, I have couple of my friends of the perf lab coming over, to enjoy the 4th of July.
During the after noon, we decided to watch one of those very "acide" movies, "the Onion" ... No brain required for this one, while we were enjoying the BBQ , sun was too hard to stay outside. Room temperature was normal, nothing to be affraid off.
After a very funny scene, where a lady has a fairly large space between the teeth, a black bar appeared on the screen, about 150 pixels larges, from the top of the screen, to the middle. I immediatly got it ... and felt one of those heat wave into my body, you know the kind that can drive you mad ... one of the plasma matrix element just died ... Grrrrrrrrrr
Nice way to spoil my 4th of July ... on the top of this, I call Samsung, and surprisingly, a lady pick up the phone ... I explain my problem, explain her that I did try to reset, I did unplug for 10 min, and i let the TV "rest" for 30 min ... and it is still having the black rectangle.
She tells me then that the TV is defective, she propose to send a technician.
I answered that this is a new TV, and I don t want it to be open, I want an exchange ... she answered "Sir, we do not change TVs, even brand new, we only repare, it is Samsung policy, even if the TV is 3 days old"
Then, I explained her that I can use the 30 days return of california, and this will cost Samsung more than just sending a new one and I return the one I have. She just said: "Sorry Sir, I can't help you" kind of polite answer that means to go to hell, even if it is about 2 years of hard saving ...
Looking online, it looks like quiet some people are getting this retangle issue.
Fortunatly, the state of new york, and california has laws to protect me.
I called a consumer association this morning, just to make sure.
7th in morning, as planned, i contacted the retailler, ADORAMA, out of Amazon.com ... ADORAMA is good ranking, but if you look carefully, they in fact sells a lot of cheap items. I got connected to "Monique" , she was nice, up to the point I asked for returning or exchanging the TV. Then, she started telling me that ADORAMA does not allow returns on TV bigger than 20 inches ... That mean the entiere TV line is not exchangable ... When I propose to return to ADORAMA, Monique basically told me that if I do so, they will decline the return package, and leave it in the street. Strong of this dissapointing information, I did recontact SAMSUNG. Samsung is sending a technician the 9th to access the repair or replacement of the TV ...
Bottom line .... DON T BUY SAMSUNG, nothing elegant into their practice, and they choose very badly their retaillers.
ADORAMA is a terrible store, only focussed on selling and not helping their customers in case of problem. To be avoided at any cost. They refuse the return even if you remind them the federal laws on return policy. I will send them a lawyer for damage anyway, I can afford it, and I think it is a good think to prevent this kind of behavior.
FP
(5 out of 5)Awesome!!!
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.
(4 out of 5)Very Nice
This is a gorgeous TV. I would have rated this 5 stars except for one thing. My entertainment wall faces a bank of windows to the west, in a sunny climate. As much research as I did, I would have thought I could purchase the right TV the first time. Not so. If I were to say one thing about plazma (from my experience) buy it only if there is 'not' much light in the room. This would include lamps placed on the wall you view from. I believe that the way these TVs reflect/glare is way understated in reviews. I imagine this TV is not much different than most other plazmas when it comes to reflections. I can not stress the reflection/glare enough. These TVs are mirror like.
As this TV arrived last Monday I was very happy with the cosmetics, connections etc. I hooked it up and everything worked pefectly in HD and SD. My wife walked in and confirmed my opinion. Too much reflection. With low light the TV is magnificent. I saw things I have not seen with my two year old Sony HD.
The TV came in on Monday and I called Tuesday to have it picked up and replaced by a Sony LCD. We have watched the plazma for a week while waiting. It truly does have an excellent picture, 'in low light'.
Update: May 8, 2008
Yesterday we received our Sony KDL-52XBR. We unpacked it, plugged it in and away we went. It is absolutely beautiful, cosmetically and performance wise. And, no glare or reflections from lights or west side bank of windows facing this TV. I'd love to see more people weigh in on the plasma reflections and lcd non-reflective screens. We were not imagining things when we talk about the plama reflections, even though the plamza was wonderful at night in low light. We love this LCD and the difference is immediately noticable. But, that is a story for the Sony review, which I will do. I also want to acknowledge that the Samsung plazma at $2700 was a super deal on a television of it's size and quality. We have paid $500 more for a smaller 52" lcd screen (not real noticable in size). But, we consider the reflection issue a big concern and worth the difference, when there is a lot of light in the room.
Update: May 21, 2008
I absolutely agree that the Samsung picture is better than the Sony. It was simply glare and reflection from the plazma 'glass' that could not be 'set' to accomodate the light (I can't control) in the room! If you have a room with normal light, I feel quite sure the Samsung would be a better choice. If you don't have the possibility of "drapes, blinds" etc the Sony simply has less glare.
Also, not that this matters, if you are 'not' using surround, the Sony has better sound. The Samsung actually 'rattled' when I increased the sound. The sound from the Sony (set flat) was much better. But, here again, sound is not a problem since we have a great surround system.
(5 out of 5)Couldn't be happier!
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.
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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!
(5 out of 5)Superb deal!
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RG9IF23SLBMVE First, buying from Amazon is the BEST! Delivery came a week early and with NO problems or hitches.
On to the TV, I was going to get the Viera 2008 model but realized that its specs were the same as this Samsung [...]. Slightly deeper blacks are not worth that...
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The TV is large, but surprising not as bad as I thought. It is thick on side width. Swivel stand is very functional.
The picture, is superb. You can opt for a High Black setting that really pops the picture. I use an upscaled DVD (OPPIO) and TW HD DVR. Digital Cable (SD) looks great. HD is superb.
I recommend against the DYNAMIC picture setting, sadly this setting is only one that allows DNIE to be used, since it causes severe color bleeding with SD TV.
The audio is good not great. The surround effect is spotty.
The glare issue for me, since our condo is fairly dark, is not an issue.
Remote is MUCH improved from my last Samsung PMDP
Best VFM (value for money) deal!