Give your TV a new home from IKEA
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Best Value in a HDTV"
Pros: Crisp clear picture. Vibrant colors excellent black levels, Classy design, lots of adjustments to dial picture in. 4 HDMI inputs.
Cons: Nit picking. The speakers are about a 6 out of 10 (doesn't matter for me I have surround sound). Remote could be better (again doesn't matter I use a Harmony 1).
Summary: I purchased this television about 2 weeks before CC announced their bankruptcy filing. There were 2 left in the store and I paid 1665 + 6% tax (MI) for 1765 OTD. That is still less than the 2000.00 that this TV sells for in BB right now. It couldn't be beat at that price.
I had purchased a Panasonic 1080p 50 inch from Costco and debuted it at home for about 3 weeks it can not touch the Samsung. My wife thought I was crazy when I boxed the TV up and took it back to go purchase the Sammy which had just went on sale. She thought I was crazy like a fox when we unboxed the Samsung. The Panasonic had a stand which had to be put together and had 3 HDMI inputs. The Samsung showed its mettle right out of the box with nothing to assemble. The TOC really enhances the look of the TV when it is off and doesn't interfere with the picture when its on.
SD channels on this Television are watchable especially from 10 to 15ft away. Where this television really shines is on HD content though. Sports broadcasts in 1080i look unbelievable on this set. I am watching it over Comcast with a Motorola DVR connected through HDMI. I can only imagine what it looks like over a satellite signal (less compression).
The amount of adjustments available on this television is a huge advantage over the Panny. The Panasonic did not give you very many adjustments at all but compensated with a solid picture right out of the box. The Samsung in comparison has settings for Movies (dark room), Games (faster motion vibrant colors) and Sports that IMO are more accurate than similar settings on the Panasonic.
This television really shines when hooked up to a Blu-Ray/HD picture source. The 1080p picture quality is unbelievable. I am using an LG SuperBlu 200 so I have viewed both HD-DVD content and Blu Ray discs. Both look amazing on this television. Beowulf on HD-DVD is just jaw dropping. The up scaling of regular DVD's on this player is also very good and the adjustments on the television make it even better.
There are no drawbacks at all to this television. It has 100,000 hour panel life great black levels, vibrant colors and can be adjusted to your liking. This television is comparable to sets costing much more. I have gamed on this television (X360) watched sports on it and watched movies. Image retention is NOT an issue. If you can get this set for less than 2k go buy it. Unless you are going to step up to a Pioneer plasma you are not going to get a better set. LCD's don't even compare at the price, size & picture quality for the price.
Updated on Dec 1, 2008I forgot to add that this display is also capable of displaying 24fps when using a Blu ray or HD player that is compatible. Did I say the picture is unreal! LOL
Updated on Apr 3, 2009Sorry for the delay I had a Panasonic TH-C50FHD which is the equivalent to the Panasonic th50pz80u. I had the 50" 1080p version from Costco which I took back for the Samsung Series 6 plasma. I paid 1700 + tax for the Panny when I bought it and now the price has fallen to about 1k dollars. I may consider it again for my bedroom. I really wanted to go for a 37" to maybe 40" at most for the bedroom but its hard finding a LCD comparable to the picture quality of the Samsung (plasma).
- 1 reply to this review
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I'm looking at both the Panasonic TH50PZ85U and Samsung PN50A650. Which Panasonic did you have?
Samsung PN50A650:
