Samsung PN50B850 user reviews

4.0 stars

"Stunning PQ, Buzzing needs to be fixed" on January 7, 2010 by hudder23

Pros: Picture quality, colour, motion all OUTSTANDING. Slim panel looks great. 4 HDMI inputs

Cons: It buzzes...loudly. Remote is useless except to adjust picture settings, buy a harmony. Few rca inputs

Summary: I own this TV. It buzzes..more than a plasma should. Late at night when the kids are in bed and the volume is down you can REALLY hear it. Annoyingly so. During the day with all of the ambient noise it is not that noticeable but I know it's still there. The lighter the scene the louder the buzz (ie: watching a hockey game? The buzz is REALLY loud) and commercials/anything with graphics on-screen seem to set it off. A Samsung Tech is coming in to fix this. If you read online threads the problem has been fixed since late summer but I bought mine prior to this.
For that negative I must say that I don't think I've seen such a clear, perfect picture. Colours are vibrant and perfect, the menu is easy to navigate and seems endless on picture adjustments. Watching hockey/sports on this is flawless, no motion blur compared to LCD. SD and HD is outstanding.
Not many inputs other than the 4 HDMI. My Wii uses up all 5 rca inputs but with the panel being SO thin you have to sacrifice something.
I do not regret buying this TV, just pray that the Tech can fix the buzzing so I can really enjoy the experience that much more...

Updated on Jan 28, 2011

see my other review on this same TV. It is an amazing TV and I still love it, do not even hear buzzing anymore...maybe my ears have become accustomed.

5.0 stars

"Great TV - No buzz" on October 14, 2009 by Motomoney

Pros: Beautiful TV - both the picture and the unit itself. I would recommend this to anyone.

Cons: The built in speakers are weak, but I'm not concerned since we will be using an external audio setup for movies and other demanding sources.

Summary: My wife and I went to the store with almost preconceived ideas about what kind of TV we wanted to bring home. We wanted to see them side by side and decide for ourselves which one looked the best to us. After much deliberation in the store, we narrowed the field to two and ultimately selected the Samsung over the other model. They didn't have any in stock, so we had to wait a few days for the next shipment to arrive. We were initially very happy with our selection.

When we got home, we started reading the user reviews of the TV that we had committed to and panic began to set in. A bunch of user reviews claimied that there was a distracting buzz that plagues this model. Some even suggested that the design was defective.

It is sad that others have had this experience, but I'm pleased to report that there is no audible buzz coming from our Samsung PN50B-850. Some of the reviews stated that the buzz began after a month or so of use, but ours has been quiet for at least that long. I'm an experienced audio technician who has worked in live and studio sound environments and a buzz like the one described would probably send me over the edge. Fortunately our TV is stone quiet - even when there is a bright picture being displayed.

1.0 stars

"The new SAMSUNG plasmas are defective. Can you say BUZZ" on August 26, 2009 by zpop

Pros: These plasmas are all show and no go. While the aesthetics, picture and feature set are excellent they are unermined by a loud and annoying buzzing sound emitted constantly even with the sounds turned off.

Cons: These TVs buzz constantly! Totally unacceptable for a $2,000 TV. Check out the thread at avsforum. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1144869
The Yahoo widgets are slow as molasses too!

Summary: I can't believe David Katzmaier neglected to include the buzzing defect in his review. Escpecially since there are multiple threads about the buzz problem on CNET.com including the following:

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-13973_102-0.html?threadID=349119

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-13973_102-0.html?threadID=344409

Buyer beware!!!

3.0 stars

"CAN'T BELIVE CNET OESN'T MENTION THE "BUZZING" PROBLEM" on August 26, 2009 by ashako

Pros: The best picture I have seen on any HDTV. In my opinion even better then the aforementioned Panasonic.

Cons: A progressively loud BUZZING! I returned and bought same TV twice from Best Buy. I confirmed it again w/ the model in the stores. Has plagued Samsung plasma TV's this year apparently. In Europe they have admitted it. You can read

Summary: I loved this TV but unfortunately the loud BUZZING was very annoying. I won't trust CNET again for not mentioning this, because it is all over the internet too. Or go listen for yourself, it starts after a few hours of use.