Samsung PN50A550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

Love my samsung plasma tv!! I have a 42" LG LCD upstairs and its decent but the picture quality doesnt even compare!! Expensive, but you get what you pay for!

We had been using our new 50" Samsung plasma TV for 5 weeks, all of the sudden while we're watching TV a loud noise comes out of it and a line starts appearing on the screen. It turned out to be a crack on the panel, but in the inside. The TV is not even mounted, we didn't touch it, didn't do anything to it and it's been sitting there for 5 weeks. A Tech sent by Samsung looked at it and specify to Samsung that there was no external damage, not a a scratch... NOTHING, still they refuse cover the TV because they say we damaged the TV.... HOW????? BY WATCHING TV???? I've also seen a few posts on different websites about this, has anybody been successful on getting the TV fixed? this is unacceptable. I received a message from a case manager stating that my TV won't be covered because of physical damage, which is impossible because my wife was WATCHING the TV when it happened; we would not go through this trouble if we had broken the TV, it's a matter of principles. I called today and was... Read more

After looking at various Plasma sets over the past few months, and unable to make a decision, the latest Consumer Reports review of various sets made my mind up. This model was ranked a CR best buy, and is it ever! First, though, I have to give credit to the Amazon "white glove" delivery, which didn't add a cent to the price. The local company called the day before delivery to confirm a three-hour window the next day, noon to 3 pm. The driver called at 12:10 to say he was on our property, so I met him at the door. He extricated the set from the van, and we hauled it on his dolly into our home. Together we unboxed the set, and set it into place where I wanted it. Then, he had me turn on the set to confirm that it worked, test the remote, and inspect the set for any defects/flaws. There were none, and so I initialed the paperwork to that effect, and he hauled out the huge box the set arrived in. This was the very best delivery of any item, big or small, I've ever ordered. To the se... Read more

This TV is my first large HDTV (I have a 24" Samsung 720p LCD), and after reading some reviews I was concerned about the black level and the reflectiveness of the screen, but after getting the set all of my concerns were laid to rest. I was originally in the market for a 46" LCD, but a fantastic deal came on this 50" plasma, and I am really glad I went for this instead. The TV picture is absolutely mesmerizing. I feed in Verizon FIOS HD, and an XBOX 360 (HDMI) and the results are absolutely incredible! The colors are fantastic, and with minimal adjustment the contrast and colors are great. I also had some concerns about the sound on the set, however it is actually much better than I had figured it would be. I know that some of the more expensive sets, like the Panasonic Viera also have woofers built into the set, but the sound on this TV is good. Its obviously not on the same level as a dedicated surround sound system, but it is really as good as any other built-in tv speakers. I... Read more

Fabulous picture - power consumption much higher than I understood it to be at 320 watts in full energy saver mode and over 400 watts with energy saver turned off

I purchased 2 of these. YES 2! I have also owned previous Samsung models FP-T5084 (2007 model)plasma 1080P [I provided a review for this on Amazon as well], HP-5053 (2006 model) plasma 720P. and the LN-S4095 (2006 model) 1080P LCD. So yes I would consider myself a Samsung Fanboy. So I bought this model twice for a reason I will explain later in the review. My first one spontaneously cracked on me and Samsung at the time refused to replace it. Keep in mind I had the unit for 42 days! I SWEAR I did not touch the plasma for this to happen. One second I'm watching WWE RAW in HD the next minute "Pop" & "buzz" noise. Lo and behold the screen cracked on the inside. So I bought another one with the hope I could get the first one replaced (which Samsung finally is "in process" of exchanging as I write this - this is only after dozens of emails, countless calls, and escalation to Executive Customer Relations (ECR) over a 2 month period. But I digress: Positives: Picture quality... Read more

I purchased this TV over 3 weeks ago and have no regret's yet. I really did a lot of research both online and in many different tech stores. I spent hours standing in front of different brands of TV's comparing the image to the Samsung PN50A550. I found the Samsung PN50A550 had among the best video, unless you want to spend several grand more on higher end TV's. I did find that as of now, the plasma's had a far better picture quality than the LCD's. The contrast was more superb and there was no lag time when the picture changed fast as there was with the LCD's. When looking at the clarity of the picture in the specs, one thing you want to look for is the "contrast ratio". I found most TV's had a 10,000:1 listed for their contrast ratio but not the Samsung. The Samsung PN50A550 has a 30,000:1 contrast ratio and trust me you can tell it too because the pictures are really sharp. I ordered this and received the Amazon White Glove Delivery Service for free, and I was IMPRESSED. I... Read more