Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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looked for a 58" 1080p. They had none.

Reluctant to buy online, but with a significant price savings I revisited this options. Amazons price was very competivie and with their return policy and free shipping, we ordered the Samsung 58A550.

TV was here in 4 days. They opened the box to a cracked screen. They boxed it back up, took it away and gave me a number to call. Amazon said they had another in stock and would ship ASAP.

4 days later, the new tv arrived and all went well this time.

Bottom Line: Very happy with this purchase. Picture with cable is great and through the Blu-Ray is awesome!

My Advise: GO BIG. I thought the 58" in the bedroom might be too big. In the store and when the box arrived, it sure seemed very big! But once it's up for a few days, it seems just right. Watching TV and movies is like going to your private theatre. It's been very exciting.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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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

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

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

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

pleased with my purchase and would certainly do it again.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

pleased with my purchase and would certainly do it again.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

pleased with my purchase and would certainly do it again.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

outside of the city, so I couldn't beat the price! A $550 savings!

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 $2600 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 $550 savings! Can't beat the price or the service!

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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outside of the city, so I couldn't beat the price! A $550 savings!



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 $2600 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 $550 savings! Can't beat the price or the service!

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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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. Hardly any buzz. Decent glare filtering. 3 HDMI inputs. Supplied TV stand swivels and is very stong.

CONS:
Screen does give off noticeable heat. Information display keeps on popping up whenever screen resolutions are changed from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources. To some people this is annoying. Doesn't bother me though. May not be friendly to your electric bill depending on your Energy Savings setting.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

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. Hardly any buzz. Decent glare filtering. 3 HDMI inputs. Supplied TV stand swivels and is very stong.



CONS:

Screen does give off noticeable heat. Information display keeps on popping up whenever screen resolutions are changed from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources. To some people this is annoying. Doesn't bother me though. May not be friendly to your electric bill depending on your Energy Savings setting.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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dark, is not an issue.

Remote is MUCH improved from my last Samsung PMDP

Best VFM (value for money) deal!

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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Captions will show even when receiving the TV signal and sound through component or HDMI cables. The TV has also a "speach" setting to help on this a bit.
I may be wrong, but I don't think this TV has Picture in Picture. It's an option in the Menu but I coundn't make it work so far.
Finally, HDMI cables are a must also for a better reception of the image. With HDMI cables the TV will give you 1080i lines even with regular channels, with non High Definition channels, and it may do it by making the image somewhat smaller, not using the whole screen unless the channel is really coming on High Definition.
This is an excellent HDTV, for the price you will not find anything better. Careful: the weight is 138 pounds, you need two or three people to handle it.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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My HD cable box, and upconvert DVD player has HDMI, but through research I found that only Blu-ray benefits from the HDMI cable over component. The 1080i from my cable box, 1080p from my Xbox 360, and 1080p from my upconvert DVD player work just fine over component, and they are all crystal clear.

The HD from my cable box through Time Warner is amazing. After a quick setup on the TV (which is very easy as every setting has a "tooltip" description down at the bottom of the menu), I set the TV to "Just Scan" which auto scans and adjusts the exact resolution being transmitted to the TV, and used the "Movie" setting with a warm2, to give a little color to Bones' cheeks. The show looked really amazing, true HD. I sit about 8-10ft away from the TV and it is the perfect size and resolution. I also have pretty dark paint in my living room, and double blinds with heavy drapes over my windows, so even during the fading daylight last night, I didn't notice any sunlight glare at all. I like a dark environment, and rarely watch TV or play games with any lights on.

I have been taking the precautions to avoid burn in, as most of the channels I watch don't have any static logos or tickers. If there are, I usually won't watch that channel for more than 1 hour, or 42 min at a time. Also I haven't really noticed any significant heat coming from the TV. There is some heat, but not as much as this older Samsung I have in the lobby at my office. The one at my office you can feel from about 2 feet away from it. The new 58 inch at home, starts to feel warm at about 6 inches. That I hope will save on some power consumption.

I am also an avid gamer and played Grand Theft Auto IV till about 3 in the morning. (Coming in to work at 7am this morning totally sucked, but was so worth it). After each hour of game play, I would switch to my cable and watch some Discovery HD Theater for about 15 min to avoid burn in. The game looks absolutely incredible over the component cables! I could read all text on the screen without any problem and everything in the environment looked rich and vivid. Discovery HD Theater is amazing; there was some show on last night that was showing world environments. It honestly felt like I was there, looking through a window.

One final thought, just before going to bed I tried out my Phillips upconvert DVD player with the movie 300. Of course it's not an HD source, but it still looked really amazing. Just slightly clearer than playing 300 on my Xbox 360, and I am sure most people wouldn't notice the clarity difference, and I may be nitpicking, but regardless both played a regular DVD with really good quality.

This is my first HDTV and I couldn't be happier. Anyone looking for their first HDTV or an upgrade from an older HDTV, let me tell you, this one gets it done right. I give 5/5 stars and 2 thumbs up. WAY up!

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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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.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

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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.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

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.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

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.

Samsung PN58A550 58" Widescreen Plasma HDTV with Full HD 1080p

...

Regardless of size, the colors, black levels etc is what i looked for. I am not sure how the experts will rate this TV as, but i am very happy with my purchase. Its money well spent and i'll be happy for years to come. This TV does let you change advanced settings for picture if you so choose. I skipped on the professional calibration. Some folks may want it, and rightly so, but i believe that i can get the picture which suits me, in my house for my needs.
I will probably have to update my review after the break in period. By the break in period i just mean to keep the settings low for the first 200 hrs approximately.
I am enjoying my TV and it seems darn good. I hope and am sure that you'll enjoy the performance of this tv if you choose to buy it. I do belive in Samsung, that they are creating a world class product. I just dont see the need of spending twice the $ for a pioneer plasma. I am sure its a little better but not value for the $ as the Samsung provides.

Update a week later: Yes, the tv is performing more than what i expected. Also check the best buy website for more reviews for this particular tv. I am not the only one blown away by it.