Samsung PN50C450

Pros: Picture Quality is top notch. Deep blacks and vivid color after you tweak the picture settings. Great picture size for the price. Produces very acceptable Standard Def picture and the High Def picture is amazing. Make the Wii a lot more fun!

Cons: Remote is not very responsive and wish it had lit up keys at times. Screws for mounting the base plate were very hard going in. Trying to keep the picture full screen (16:9 or Wide Fit or Zoom 1) is a pain sometimes. U-verse's fault not the TV.

Summary: I've had this TV for almost 2 weeks now. To maximize the picture quality you need to tweak the picture settings. Samsung gives you total control over adjusting the picture to your liking. I suggest going to avsforum.com and get the custom settings posted by users. Once it's been tweaked this TV will give you deep blacks and rich color (that's what plasma's a known for). The picture is also really crisp (not fake looking) and sharp.

If you've done research on this TV you'll see talk about a "Buzzing" sound. It's been reported that some TV's have this audible plasma "Buzz" and some don't. Mine has never buzzed and the ones that have reported it can't really hear it under normal viewing (sound at a normal level). However some people claim it's an issue (I do not).

Some of the specs I've seen don't list composite or component connections but the TV does have these connections. If you go to Samsung.com and search for PN50C450 you can download the manual for yourself. The 3 HDMI connections are enough for me. It also has a PC connection in the back. I've yet to try that out. It will play music or JPEG image files off of a USB drive as well. I will probably never use these features but some people may think this is useful.

I've read other reviews posting issues on Glare, IR (Image retention), Weak Speakers.....here is my opinion.

SCREEN GLARE: Yes it has a glass panel and yes it has some glare. Just be mindful of that when thinking about where your TV is going. If your current TV has glare then this one will too. If glare isn't a real issue were you TV is now then it won't be an issue with this one. If the lights in your house have an ON/OFF switch and you windows have curtains you can solve 99.9% of the glare problems yourself :>)

IMAGE RETENTION (IR): Yes this is a Plasma TV and their is the "potential" for IR. With that said Samsung has put in many features to negate any IR issues. My take on it is just use common sense. Under normal use conditions IR isn't even worth mentioning as it's not an issue. #1 Bump down the brightness for the first 100 hours of viewing (you'll want to do this anyway as it makes the picture look better). It has pixel shift technology that greatly reduces any chance of IR. If your playing video games don't play for 5 hours straight with the brightness cranked up to 95. Again.....common sense. If for some reason you do see some kind of IR you can just run the "scrolling tool" and it will take care of it for you. I've watched movies, TV and played our Wii and yes I've seen signs of IR. 1 time I ran the scrolling tool and in under 30 seconds it was gone. Just going back and watching TV will also fix it (geez imagine that). So in short it's not an issue.

SPEAKERS: With the way people complain about the sound I thought it was going to be like listening to the TV via a tin can and string. Do the speakers compare to a separate surround sound system running through a receiver and 5 speakers??.NO. Are you going to hear chest thumping bass when you watch a movie through the TV speakers?NO. Relax people, the sound on the TV is just fine. All of my u-verse TV viewing is done exclusively via the TV speakers right now. I watched a concert the other night and I thought it sounded great.

720P VS 1080P: This TV's supports 720P. You can go on and on about how one is greater than the other but the truth is if your viewing this TV from 7+ feet away you can't tell the difference. Plus, the ONLY way your going to see anything in 1080P today is to watch a Blu-ray movie. If your watching TV you can't get anything higher than 720P. If you feel this is a deal breaker then go ahead and spend $600.00 more for a 1080P. I couldn't justify (or visually see) the difference.

I am extremely satisfied with this Samsung TV. The more time our family spends watching it the more we enjoy it. It's also breathed new life into the Wii. Right now it can be had for around $700.00. For a 50" plasma that is unheard of. I have yet to get a Blu-ray player but from what other people have posted about this TV they say it is spectacular. I wouldn't hesitate at all to recommend this to anyone who's looking for a high quality rich/sharp picture for a very reasonable price.