Samsung PN64D7000

Pros: When working, TV's picture quality is OK (not great).

Cons: 1) The biggest con is the reliability and warranty service -- READ BELOW
2) TV does not handle fast-moving images as well as other plasmas.
3) TV does have a brightness problem.

Summary: I bought this TV is August 2011 in preparation for football season. When I got it home, I immediately noticed the problems with the brightness and fast moving images but assumed that was acceptable for this level of TV (which I have found out is not a correct assumption).

I would have remained somewhat satisfied, except when watching the Olympics in July 2012, I noticed a single line of pixels was no longer working across the entire picture. It appeared as a black line horizontally across the entire screen. Apparently this has been a very common problem with the small plasmas and you can google and find many reports of it.

I immediately called Samsung (glad that I was still under warranty by two weeks), and was told that I would getting a "replacement" panel. If you are not familiar with a panel replacement, it is 80% of the electronics of your Samsung plasma to include your screen and all of the main hardware of your TV. The only things that get re-used are peripherary hardware such as power supply, WIFI module, bluetooth module, outside plastic bezel, back cover, stand, etc.

So you can imagine my dismay when:
a) I had to wait two weeks for a replacement panel to show up, and they could only replace it on a Saturday or I had to wait several more days
b) it was a refurbished panel -- not a new one
c) the repair technician had only six months of experience working on TVs
d) the repair technician showed up outside of the promised repair window
e) after the replacement panel was powered up -- THE REPLACEMENT WAS DEFECTIVE AS WELL!! This time it was a white vertical line down the screen.

So I called Samsung the next day (Sunday) and they said they could not do anything that day. I called back the next day (Monday) and made it clear that going through the whole exercise again was not an acceptable solution for reasons a through e above and asked them to come up with a different solution. They refused (this was even elevated to "Executive" service). I asked to speak with a supervisor, and they said the best they could do is have a manager call me back within 24-48 hours. UNACCEPTABLE!!!

I just wanted to post this message to give potential samsung customers the other side of the story from an experienced customer. Hopefully it is helpful to you before your purchase.

Samsung, if you want to contact me and provide REAL service to resolve this issue, look up ticket #: 510 394 4444