Samsung FPT5884 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

This is an awesome 58" display - works great with upscaled DVDs, BluRay, PS3, and HD cable signals. Rich colors, good blacks. Very nice unit, envied by all who see it! Only negatives are endemic to all plasma displays compared to LCDs - the screen is more reflective, it burns more electricity, and it's heavier. Still, I wouldn't trade it. Built-in sound is decent, but with this kind of display you'll want to set up a full home theater system. There are plenty of inputs, which is good - I needed three HDMI inputs instead of the expected one, because neither the cable box nor the PS3 would play properly through my home theater amp (DRM problem and resolution incompatibility, respectively).

This is the first time I have purchased a big ticket item on the internet. I was a little nervous about it at first, but had to try. I found the tv I wanted on Amazon and went to my local Circuit City to check out the tv in person. The price on Amazon was $1500 cheaper than in the store and on Amazon I also saved on sales tax and had free delivery, so that is another couple hundred easy. 6ave did everything as promised and the delivery was within a 4 days. The tv has an awesome picture. We are huge sports fans and this is the ultimate for sports watching and gaming. I was a little concerned about glare and almost went LCD because the opposite wall from my tv is all windows. No glare at all, the anti glare screen works great. I would and will recommend this tv, amazon and 6ave to everyone, I actually have a neighbor that has purchased the same setup.

I did not buy the TV from (or through) Amazon.com. Instead I purchased it from another West Coast retailer, because back in February, 2008 it was cheaper. In 5 months since I bought it the only problem I'd had was a single flickering pixel close to the middle of the screen, and it was visible only in 1080p "Just Scan" mode. After two visits from a Samsung technician, the central logic board was replaced, and that issue does not happen anymore. For settings, I am using slightly modified CNET recommendations. Picture quality is just perfect in HD mode and very good in SD. Even VGA input from my HTPC looks fine at 1920X1080 resolution. I wish the TV had 4 HDMI inputs like this year Samsung models, and that is the only complaint so far. Otherwise, I see no improvement in the picture quality comparing it with 2009 58" models. Pretty sure that the super-high contrast ratio all new plasma models claim is just that - claims :) And, since nowadays the cost of this TV dropped to below $[...] ... Read more

There is still a somewhat limited market for plasmas larger than 50"; basically you have Panasonic, Pioneer, LG, Samsung, then maybe a Vizio or a Hitachi, depending on model year. I compared the 58" 1080p versions from Panasonic and Samsung against the 60" from LG and Pioneer. The color, contrast, moving images, and contouring on this Samsung was obviously better than the LG, about the same as the Panasonic, and maybe a little less color intensity than the Pioneer. THE difference with Samsung comes down to price. A very comparable picture with the Panasonic for $300 - $500 less on Amazon or other sites, and over $1,500 less than the 60" 1080p Pioneer, which was still over $4,000 as of May 2008. If you can see $1,500 of difference from the Pioneer to the Samsung, then God Bless ya' and you should opt for the Pioneer. 98% of us can not see a $1,500 difference from the Pioneer, and that's what the Samsung came down to for me. I couldn't notice a single difference from the Panas... Read more

I bought this TV last month and it is great! My recommendation is to buy the Plasma and not the LCD.

This was sold by vans and came a day early. There was no damage and was in perfect condition. The TV itself is as good as I expected. The black-levels are the best I have seen (this is my 3rd flatpanel) and picture quality is fantastic. When watching hi def content, I do not see any artifacts. The speakers are on the side and face the rear of the TV, causing poor sound quality. They have a very weak sound, but I usually use my home theater speakers anyway. I hung this on the wall with a PeerLess mount myself. I also use it play my Xbox 360 and have not had any problems with burn-in. The picture quality is just stunning and at 58" it just sucks you in. Overall, I am completely satisfied with the purchase and got it at a great price.