Tagged Products - plasma+black+50in

Samsung 42" Class 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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makes the whole screen show up correctly, whereas with "16:9" - the edges get clipped.

Using that setting, you can output anything you want from the PC to the TV - games (Halo, for instance, ran great), DVDs from the PC, or even HDTV from the PC (using the PC as a "DVR"). Highly recommended!

Samsung 42" Class 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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shipping box and transport it with just the styrofoam (risky, but we were only driving a few miles).

Some have complained about the sound- I find the speakers more than adequate and the sound fills the room. Of course they won't compare to surround sound theatre systems- what would? Some people just like to whine about these supposed shortcomings.

I believe the contrast ratio is better than the similarly outfitted Panasonic model. I have heard worries about Samsung's longevity- but don't know that anyone has anything more than anecodatal evidence of that (knock on wood).

But at $750, there is no buyer's remorse here. A great HDTV at a tremendous price. We did buy it from Circuit City so that it could be picked up the next day and take advantage of no interest/no payments specials.

We have a Comcast HD box and there seems to be no problems whatsoever in the signal; the HD channels look fantastic. We're awaiting an upconverting DVD player and HDMI cables to complete the purchase.

I am sure there are finer points to the $2-3k hdtv's and for some bigger is always better. But I can't imagine expending that kind of money in this economy and I can't imagine that the marginal improvement is at all worth the cost.

Update: After the first 100 hours, we turned up the brightness and contrast (leaving the mode as "movie", which seems to be the best unless there is a glare), and the picture is great.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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also played with "Movie" mode, in which you get about 50% of the controls on the picture that a typical high end TV might have.

Aesthetically, this TV looks perfect. The plain back bezel that is very small for this size of TV is exactly what I was looking for. Some of the Sony's for the past 4 years and most of the LGs and Samsungs have just got too much going on. I want a perfect picture and a minimal "TV". In addition, this TV is very thin for a 50" plasma, it is only 3.7" thick. My 40" LCD was 5.5" and the new sony XBR8 LED backlit LCD is almost 6" I believe.

In a store I compared this TV to the Samsung A950 series (LED backlit LCD) and the Sony XBR6, both 46" models. The Pioneer was cheaper and just looked better hands down. I went back on 3 occasions to confirm this was the case.

Some people will discuss buzzing with this particular unit. From what I have found out, all plasmas buzz. On this unit, if you put your head behind the tv, you can hear some electronic buzz. If you put your head in front of the TV, you can not hear anything, even with the TV muted. If you move your head about 5' back from the TV and have the TV muted, a slight buzzing becomes audible. If you turn on any volume whatsoever, you can not detect the buzzing. Actually, the fans and hard disk in my DirecTV HR21 DVR are louder than the buzzing!

I have been using power save mode 2 (the highest power save mode), which makes it meet the energy star requirements of the future, and it has plenty of brightness! We'll see how this holds up as we move through the break in period.

The big question many of you are probably asking is should I order from amazon and save almost $1000 over best buy or other big box store? My first HDTV I purchased from a locally owned specialty retailer. It gave me the confidence I needed since I knew little about HDTVs at that time. They offered a 15 day no questions asked return policy. For this Pioneer purchase, I went with amazon.com and saved $1000. Shipping was free. Amazon will contract this to CEVA, who will contract the delivery to your home by another local delivery agent. My TV arrived within 3 business days. It went from Ohio to Chicago in the first day I ordered it, and then was in Milwaukee to be delivered the next day and an appointment was set up. However, when the delivery guys showed up, I asked them to remove it from the packaging so I could plug it in and make sure it worked before I accepted delivery. The bezel was cracked and the screen damaged before we even got it out of the box. So I easily refused shipment and the delivery guys took it back. I contacted amazon and once you get beyond the india help desk and to a real agent who specializes in electronics returns I was all set. A new unit was sent 3 days later (with a total of about 1 week delay) for no charge. I think in the future I would order online from amazon.com again for the cost savings they provide. Although it was a hassle to be at home twice to have the TV delivered twice it was worth the savings for me. I believe you can also return to amazon within 30 days as well if you change your mind, but shipping cost is yours to pay.

Samsung 42" Class 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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also played with "Movie" mode, in which you get about 50% of the controls on the picture that a typical high end TV might have.



Aesthetically, this TV looks perfect. The plain back bezel that is very small for this size of TV is exactly what I was looking for. Some of the Sony's for the past 4 years and most of the LGs and Samsungs have just got too much going on. I want a perfect picture and a minimal "TV". In addition, this TV is very thin for a 50" plasma, it is only 3.7" thick. My 40" LCD was 5.5" and the new sony XBR8 LED backlit LCD is almost 6" I believe.



In a store I compared this TV to the Samsung A950 series (LED backlit LCD) and the Sony XBR6, both 46" models. The Pioneer was cheaper and just looked better hands down. I went back on 3 occasions to confirm this was the case.



Some people will discuss buzzing with this particular unit. From what I have found out, all plasmas buzz. On this unit, if you put your head behind the tv, you can hear some electronic buzz. If you put your head in front of the TV, you can not hear anything, even with the TV muted. If you move your head about 5' back from the TV and have the TV muted, a slight buzzing becomes audible. If you turn on any volume whatsoever, you can not detect the buzzing. Actually, the fans and hard disk in my DirecTV HR21 DVR are louder than the buzzing!



I have been using power save mode 2 (the highest power save mode), which makes it meet the energy star requirements of the future, and it has plenty of brightness! We'll see how this holds up as we move through the break in period.



The big question many of you are probably asking is should I order from amazon and save almost $1000 over best buy or other big box store? My first HDTV I purchased from a locally owned specialty retailer. It gave me the confidence I needed since I knew little about HDTVs at that time. They offered a 15 day no questions asked return policy. For this Pioneer purchase, I went with amazon.com and saved $1000. Shipping was free. Amazon will contract this to CEVA, who will contract the delivery to your home by another local delivery agent. My TV arrived within 3 business days. It went from Ohio to Chicago in the first day I ordered it, and then was in Milwaukee to be delivered the next day and an appointment was set up. However, when the delivery guys showed up, I asked them to remove it from the packaging so I could plug it in and make sure it worked before I accepted delivery. The bezel was cracked and the screen damaged before we even got it out of the box. So I easily refused shipment and the delivery guys took it back. I contacted amazon and once you get beyond the india help desk and to a real agent who specializes in electronics returns I was all set. A new unit was sent 3 days later (with a total of about 1 week delay) for no charge. I think in the future I would order online from amazon.com again for the cost savings they provide. Although it was a hassle to be at home twice to have the TV delivered twice it was worth the savings for me. I believe you can also return to amazon within 30 days as well if you change your mind, but shipping cost is yours to pay.

Samsung 42" Class 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

...

also played with "Movie" mode, in which you get about 50% of the controls on the picture that a typical high end TV might have.





Aesthetically, this TV looks perfect. The plain back bezel that is very small for this size of TV is exactly what I was looking for. Some of the Sony's for the past 4 years and most of the LGs and Samsungs have just got too much going on. I want a perfect picture and a minimal "TV". In addition, this TV is very thin for a 50" plasma, it is only 3.7" thick. My 40" LCD was 5.5" and the new sony XBR8 LED backlit LCD is almost 6" I believe.





In a store I compared this TV to the Samsung A950 series (LED backlit LCD) and the Sony XBR6, both 46" models. The Pioneer was cheaper and just looked better hands down. I went back on 3 occasions to confirm this was the case.





Some people will discuss buzzing with this particular unit. From what I have found out, all plasmas buzz. On this unit, if you put your head behind the tv, you can hear some electronic buzz. If you put your head in front of the TV, you can not hear anything, even with the TV muted. If you move your head about 5' back from the TV and have the TV muted, a slight buzzing becomes audible. If you turn on any volume whatsoever, you can not detect the buzzing. Actually, the fans and hard disk in my DirecTV HR21 DVR are louder than the buzzing!





I have been using power save mode 2 (the highest power save mode), which makes it meet the energy star requirements of the future, and it has plenty of brightness! We'll see how this holds up as we move through the break in period.





The big question many of you are probably asking is should I order from amazon and save almost $1000 over best buy or other big box store? My first HDTV I purchased from a locally owned specialty retailer. It gave me the confidence I needed since I knew little about HDTVs at that time. They offered a 15 day no questions asked return policy. For this Pioneer purchase, I went with amazon.com and saved $1000. Shipping was free. Amazon will contract this to CEVA, who will contract the delivery to your home by another local delivery agent. My TV arrived within 3 business days. It went from Ohio to Chicago in the first day I ordered it, and then was in Milwaukee to be delivered the next day and an appointment was set up. However, when the delivery guys showed up, I asked them to remove it from the packaging so I could plug it in and make sure it worked before I accepted delivery. The bezel was cracked and the screen damaged before we even got it out of the box. So I easily refused shipment and the delivery guys took it back. I contacted amazon and once you get beyond the india help desk and to a real agent who specializes in electronics returns I was all set. A new unit was sent 3 days later (with a total of about 1 week delay) for no charge. I think in the future I would order online from amazon.com again for the cost savings they provide. Although it was a hassle to be at home twice to have the TV delivered twice it was worth the savings for me. I believe you can also return to amazon within 30 days as well if you change your mind, but shipping cost is yours to pay.

Panasonic 50" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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just received my TH-50PX80U and the delivery went very smoothly. Picture is incredible and all thoughts of 720p vs 1080p and black levels are gone. Only surprise is the location of the 3rd hdmi port which is in the front. I planned on plugging in my cable, dvd player, and apple tv via hdmi but I don't' want any wires out front. So for now my apple tv is plugged in via component cords which isn't bad actually. If I really want a larger screen in the future, the $2000+ I saved now should be about what the 58in Panasonics will cost next year.

Panasonic 50" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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just received my TH-50PX80U and the delivery went very smoothly. Picture is incredible and all thoughts of 720p vs 1080p and black levels are gone. Only surprise is the location of the 3rd hdmi port which is in the front. I planned on plugging in my cable, dvd player, and apple tv via hdmi but I don't' want any wires out front. So for now my apple tv is plugged in via component cords which isn't bad actually. If I really want a larger screen in the future, the $2000+ I saved now should be about what the 58in Panasonics will cost next year.

Sanus Tilting Wall Mount for 30 " - 50" Flat-Panel TVs - Black

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just received my TH-50PX80U and the delivery went very smoothly. Picture is incredible and all thoughts of 720p vs 1080p and black levels are gone. Only surprise is the location of the 3rd hdmi port which is in the front. I planned on plugging in my cable, dvd player, and apple tv via hdmi but I don't' want any wires out front. So for now my apple tv is plugged in via component cords which isn't bad actually. If I really want a larger screen in the future, the $2000+ I saved now should be about what the 58in Panasonics will cost next year.

Samsung 42" Class 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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My Sony Playstation 3 AKA Blue-Ray Player.

OH MY GOD... I had purchased Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Turismo 5 Prologue. I connected it USING A $20 Radio Shack HDMI Cable (Dont spend $100 on Monster Cable, its not worth it) and the games came alive. I could feel myself driving in the Ferrari F430, I could literally feel my self in the middle of war as I played MGS5. The definition, color depth, sharpness and lack of image noise was incredible. Its a great TV for any PS3 or new generation video game console.

Then I went and purchased Transformers the Movie in Blue Ray... Holly Cow!!!. You haven`t seen this movie until you have seen it through blue-ray and this TV. You can see every minor detail about Optimus Prime, Bumble-Bee and the rest of the characters... plus the size is excellent for a small living room or your bedroom (mines is about 60 square feet and it looks gigantic)

I dont understand how it works but it has and integrated circuitry that takes and ordinary 720P signal and digitally converts it to 1080 resolution, plus ·D filters for gaming. Believe me, I hate Digitally Remastered anything (just try using your digital zoom on a digital camera and you know hoe poor this technology usually is) but in this case IT WORKS... Realistic Colors, no aliasing, no blurs, great whites, great blacks, blues, reds, and little or no image "double-edges".

Both my games and Blue-Ray movies are converted to 1080p resolution and they look amazing.

One complaint: Speakers at 10x2 watts are weak and have no bass power... but we all know that is not the idea behind an HDTV... I have a Sony 6.1 Home Theater... I just plugged it to get outstanding sound and a recreate a real movie theater experience... Any Sony, Denon op Kenwood Receiver with 5.1 or better performance (500 Watts at least) will solve this problem in a snap.

It is definitely a great bang for your buck deal, it is truly designed for HDMI devices and it looks cool too.

I am One Happy Camper!

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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don't, believe me when i say there are worthy alternatives for a much smaller price tag.

Panasonic TH-50PZ800U 50" VIERA 1080p Plasma HDTV

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don't, believe me when i say there are worthy alternatives for a much smaller price tag.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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every little detail about products I'm interested in. I'm a guy that will go into a store and ask employees a bunch of questions that I already know the answer to, just to see if they really know the product and are worth my time and money. I'm a guy that knows the difference between lossy and lossless. I'm a guy that will wait and wait for a new product so I have the newest thing on the block even though it's killing me. I'm a guy that will buy the best piece of gear that I know about and can afford. I'm a guy that will never buy Bose speakers. I'm a guy that will trade in a component XBOX360 to get one with HDMI, then feel stupid because it's only HDMI 1.2 instead 1.3. I'm a guy that researches whether the Farajouda chip or the Reon chip is better or if the Realta is really all that. I'm a guy that will buy 5 different HDMI cables and 3 different indoor antennae to see if the .99 Monoprice is as good as the Monster cable and then return whatever didn't make the cut. I'm a guy that will sit for hours and hours until I'm zombie at 3 am trying to figure out which of my AV components deinterlaces the best. I'm a guy that spent the cash on a Denon 4308CI AVR instead of the 3808CI because I wanted the wireless feature, but never use it because it would force me to run my wireless network at 802.11b/g instead of 802.11n. I'm a guy that believes in my heart that I can see a difference between 1080i and 1080p!

Are YOU the same as ME? If so, then this next line will help should help you choose a Television:

I'm a guy that bought a Pioneer Kuro. And it's awesome.

Samsung 50" 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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to have two different plasmas in your room, side-by-side.

Panasonic:
The 80u and 85u are going to have the best "black levels." This means that these panels are able to produce a couple deeper shades of black than the Samsung 550 or 650. This will be most noticeable in darker scenes or scenes where shadows dominate the screen. Again this is something that you will not notice unless you are a videophile or compare the two side by side (probably in very dark room). I believe that the Panasonic's supposedly have a better filter to avoid reflections in a brightly lit room.

The Decision:
The most crucial deciding factor for you should be your personal taste. Don't let all the marketing numbers or even professionally measured numbers sway your decision. You are going to be watching the TV, not the numbers on the side of the box. The same goes when your friends come over to watch the game or play games. My best advice for you is to go to a brick and mortar store (Bbuy, Ccity, etc) and compare the panels that you are interested in. Play around with the remote and settings if you can. While the store lights offer less than ideal lighting, you should be able to form an opinion and leave here knowing which TV you want. I left the store knowing that I either wanted the 550 or 650 and after checking my finances and wanting to buy a PS3 and home theater system, I decided to go with the 550.

I am willing to bet that if you buy any of these panels, you will be very happy. The money that you save buying through Amazon (in my case anyways) can go towards things like a PS3 or a home theater system (or BOTH).

CEVA Delivery:
After reading so many horrible things about CEVA delivery, I was downright petrified. I decided that despite my fears, the cost difference between Amazon and a b&m store was more than enough to console me. I ordered my PN50A550 on Tuesday, August 19 2008 at approximately 9 PM EST and Amazon shipped it on the 20th with an estimated delivery date of the 19th. Whatever you do, don't trust the CEVA tracking or Amazon's tracking information. By Monday (the 25th), my tracking information still only had one line which read shipment received by carrier. So I called my local CEVA facility (found at cevalogistics.com, world directory bottom of the page) and asked if my package was there and to schedule the delivery. The guy got my phone number and told me that the delivery driver would call me. The next day (26th) the delivery driver called me and scheduled a window of 12-4pm on Wednesday, August 27th. I asked him if he could call me before he got there and he told me he could call 30 minutes before. He called at 3:30 the next day and I left work to meet him. Sure enough at 4:05 pm the TV was sitting in my living room. The CEVA guy had a checklist where I had to initial saying that he unpacked the tv, it appeared to be in good condition, and that it turned on and displayed a good picture. A 5 business-day turnaround, not bad, especially when I saved about $500 not buying it in a b&m store.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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have high standards. They could have done much better, but I guess it wasn't their focus.
2. No way to disable inputs. This TV has a huge number of inputs (which is great) but there's no way to tell it "hey, there's nothing on inputs 1,2, and 6". That means that when you cycle through them you have to go via all the ones you're not using as well as the ones you are. I have a Sony LCD where you can disable certain inputs in the settings; works much better.

All in all, though: very happy indeed with this thing.

Panasonic 50" 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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the box settings are not opimal, check the avsforum for specifics. Once the settings are changed, this set will look better than most twice the price.
2. Sound - Yes, the sound is good. Good as any tube tv, just don't use the bass boost as some distortion can occur. We use the tv speakers for everyday use and a surround system for movies.
3. Reflections - Hardly any that we notice. We upgraded from a tube tv, so this is infinately better. Our room is dark, so that was not an issue.
4. Motion - Zero blur! All (yes even 120Hz) LCDs suffer from this to some extent. This set does not - excellent for sports.
5. Viewing angle - almost 180 degrees - without loss of color (yet another deficit of LCD tvs).
6. Size - Perfect for my seating of 7-13 feet.
7. Asthetics - Nice looking addition to the family room.
8. Gaming - XBOX360 is 100 times better than the tube - blows it away!

Cons:
1. Because of this set, I find myself spending too much time watching shows I would never have watched before - thanks Panasonic...

I am having a hard time finding anything wrong with this set. You cannot find a better set for this price. Those who give this set less than 5 stars have not adjusted their sets properly or are not rating the set, but vendor problems (IMHO).I'm willing to say that this is better than 95% of the sets out there. Calibrated correctly, this set just rocks!

Panasonic TH-50PZ800U 50" VIERA 1080p Plasma HDTV

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thing I wish the TV did was on the picture slideshow it allowed you to play music (mp3 files) during the display like some photo frames. Oh well, my pictures look excellent. Finally, my blu-ray movies and my HD-DVD movies are spectacular on this TV. Look around, but you will come back to see that this TV is a best value hands down.

Panasonic 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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thing I wish the TV did was on the picture slideshow it allowed you to play music (mp3 files) during the display like some photo frames. Oh well, my pictures look excellent. Finally, my blu-ray movies and my HD-DVD movies are spectacular on this TV. Look around, but you will come back to see that this TV is a best value hands down.

Pioneer KURO 50" Class 1080p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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thing I wish the TV did was on the picture slideshow it allowed you to play music (mp3 files) during the display like some photo frames. Oh well, my pictures look excellent. Finally, my blu-ray movies and my HD-DVD movies are spectacular on this TV. Look around, but you will come back to see that this TV is a best value hands down.

Samsung 42" Class 720p Flat-Panel Plasma HDTV

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but when you factor in free shipping and no sales tax, Amazon had the better deal by about $70. I've had the TV for about 6 weeks now, and I love it. Baseball games and movies look great on this TV.

A few words of caution about my experience with the free shipping: you do get what you pay for. In my area at least, the company that Amazon contracted to do the delivery did not seem to have a particular specialization in electronics or TVs. The guy who delivered my tv was courteous and helpful, but did not have a high degree of knowledge about plasma TVs. First of all, it was only this one fellow win an unmarked white panel van full of boxes. He was pulling the TV out and was going to bring it into my house by himself and he was kind of awkwardly carrying it (it really is a two man job to keep it level) so I helped him carry it in. Also this TV comes in a special box that lifts off of the TV so that you don't have to lift the TV out of if. The delivery guy didn't understand this (and neither did I initially). First he was going to lay the box on its side to slide the TV out which from what I understand is not the best thing to do with a plasma TV (laying it on its side can possibly damage the huge piece of glass that makes up the screen). I didn't know much about plasmas but knew enough to stop him from doing that. Finally we cut the box apart to get to the TV, after which point I found out that the box can lift apart by itself. So I ruined the box which I could have saved to safely transport the TV if I ever need to move. Not a huge deal, but it would have been nice to keep the box.

So in summary I am happy with this purchase. The only caution is that I would advise you to be home when the TV comes in order to make sure it is taken into your house and unpacked correctly.

Panasonic TH-50PZ800U 50" VIERA 1080p Plasma HDTV

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too so I couldn't resist. All other televisions started to pale in comparison.
I tried to visit more retail outlets but I just couldn't find anything comparable.

When I got it home and mounted it using my OmniMount UCL-X Cantilever wall mount (another recommended purchase) I couldn't possibly be happier. The HD images are stunning! Comments from friends were things like, "This is better than real life!" and they are right.

The blacks ARE great! The colors are rich and accurate. I love the way it feels when you settle into a movie. What a machine.

I'm not using the sound built into the screen but it's not bad either.

Installing this screen with my OmniMount couldn't have been easier either. It took me a couple hours but it was a one man job (not recommended since the screen is heavy) and it went off without a hitch.

I love this TV and Amazon was great about getting it to my home by professionals in a relatively short time.