Customer Reviews

Samsung HP-R5072 50-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel HD-Ready Plasma TV

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Ok, I feel compelled to share my initial thoughts on my new Samsung HP-R5072 50" plasma TV. After comparing many options in person, and doing a great deal of research online - including reading through every review I could find - I decided on the Samsung over my other top finalists: the Pioneer PDP-5060HD and the Panasonic TH-50PX500U. All, I'm sure, are great TVs. But the Samsung won out mostly b/c it offered the best value (it seemed to be priced around $400-$1000 less than the other two options), with little-to-no perceptible difference in offerings. In fact, I felt the Samsung was the best looking TV between the three (Pioneer a close second); and let's face it, one gets a plasma not just for its picture, but for what it does to a room (and trust me, if you replace a large standard TV like I did, a plasma TV changes the entire look of the room, in a very favorable way). Anyway, the sleek black look was a selling point. As was the price - I paid $3750, before tax, at a local high-end retailer in my city; I could've saved a few hundred by buying online, but I chose to spend a little more and buy the security that comes from buying locally.) Other selling points were, of course, its picture. And what an AMAZING picture this TV has. High-definition images (I have DirecTV) are absolutely amazing. These college bowl games on ESPNHD are phenomenal. DVDs look great (with HD DVDs coming soon). The HD Tivo I have is amazing: I had Shrek 2 recorded (from HBO HD), and its clarity is stunning! Regular TV looks fair, but I'm used to that, and don't watch much regular TV (and when you watch two regular 4:3 images simultaneously using the split screen, they look pretty good). The aforementioned retailer had an entire wall of 50" plasmas to look at, so it was easy to compare the options. And I want to dispel a myth I think is out there in other reviews (some of which I feel are not legit) - that is, as long as you're choosing between any of the "quality" options in plasma (or LCD, as I was considering those an option too) - like the others I've mentioned, plus Fujitsu, Sony, etc., you'll find you do NOT really get a better picture from one over another - you'll simply get (slightly) different picture *characteristics*. By that I mean there is no option that looks noticeably better over another, just slightly different; and it really is only a matter of personal preference which image characteristic looks best to you (that is, if you can even differentiate between the options). For example, I felt the Panasonic may have been a bit sharper than the Samsung, but not really in a good way. It's hard to explain, but the Samsung's slightly softer image appeared more pleasing to me. Also, the Panasonic uses a greater deal of image enhancing, such that the colors appear a little less natural. The green of the football field seemed somewhat synthetic on the Panasonic...a bit more natural on the Samsung. Point is, the picture quality on any of the options (outside of the ED models sold at Wal-mart/Sams/Costco/etc.), will ALL look great, but will ultimately be a matter of personal preference on which one you think looks best to you. That said, other selling points included the PIP options, including the split screen capabilities, and the side connectors for quickly attaching your digital camera or camcorder. Speaking of, your digital photos at 50" are amazing - very clear and sharp.

A review wouldn't be complete w/o listing what I feel are the shortcomings of the Samsung. I'll cover them in order of magnitude - most to least annoying. To me, about the worst thing I can say about the Samsung, is that what are normally the black bars you see when you watch something other than the native 16:9, are GREY, and therefore more noticeable. If you watch a 4:3 broadcast, the grey bars are on the side; if you watch two 4:3 split screen images like I do, the grey bars are top and bottom. It would've been nice had they made these black so that the non-image part would've faded away into the nice black exterior of the TV. Instead, it's more noticeable and takes something away (BTW, this is an option I could change on my DirecTV/Tivo). Another shortcoming I feel, is the remote. It's a bit light-weight and unbecoming a TV of this stature. I think they should've made it feel a bit more quality-like; and you can't engage the PIP function without having to open the slide portion at the bottom. Lastly, it has only one HDMI input (but so does the Panasonic), although it does have sufficient other options via component video inputs.

All in all I think this is a great TV. I do not work for Samsung, or even in the industry for that matter. I'm just a guy that bought a plasma and wanted to give back to the reviews that helped me decide. I hope this helps you.

Decisions decisions.. I'm moving into my new place soon so I was out looking for a brand new plasma TV. I thought about getting DLP but that's another story which I won't discuss here. After I decided to get the plasma I started to do some research. After looking at Panasonic, Sony, LG and Samsung, it was pretty easy to narrow it down to two manufacturers: Panasonic and Samsung. Then the hard part: deciding between two very nice plasma makers. After days of sleepless nights I decided to get the latest offering from Samsung. Here are my reasons...

Design: This is probably my personal taste but I have to say this was the biggest factor. I just love the new design of Samsung plasma models. It's just gorgeous to look at. Samsung has a nice glossy black profile, thinner than Panasonic. Samsung definitely looks better on walls or around modern furniture.

Picture quality: Normal eyes probably can't tell the difference between Panasonic and Samsung. For me, Samsung looked slightly more sharper and deeper blacks but I have to say it's a tie.

Price: again, almost the same.

A/S: I have owned both Panasonic and Samsung products in the past. They both have pretty good customer support but I have to say Samsung has been more active in improving the overall customer service. Samsung is relatively a new comer compared to Panasonic, so Samsung tends to be more eager to help out and acts more quickly.

Samsung and Panasonic both are smart companies but this time Samsung wins by a slim margin.

Initally purchased the Panasonic from Amazon. I received it damaged, so I had to send it back. They didn't have any left in stock, so I decided to purchase a 50" plasma from a local dealer. None of the locals had the Panasonic that I wanted, so I went with the Samsung HP-R5072. I had the Samsung for 20 days before I returned it and purchased the Panasonic TH50PX500.

All-in-all, the picture on the Samsung had a good picture, but it did not have near the picture clarity and color vibrance that the Panasonic has. Additionally, this Samsung model has and "electronic program guide" - not to be confused withe the "TV GUIDE" version. Needless to say, the Samsung version did not work and requires each channel to transit their program information and that just does not happen. The Panasonic TH50PX500 does have the "TV Guide" version and it worked great. Finally, the split screen cabability and integration capability with other Panasonic products put the Panasonic over the top when compared to the Samsung. One last thing, the Samsung remote is very minimal as far as capability goes. Panasonic has this beat hands down.

Note: My Samsung is actually the 42" version of this model.
Like many other reviewers of HD products, I spent many hours researching products and "test driving" them in stores. I found the Panasonic to have a slightly better picture than the Samsung but the Samsung is far more attractive and less expensive. The connections are plentiful and readily accessable. I agree with others that they could have added 1 more HDMI port. The Samsung picture in HD is spectacular and DVDs are excellent. The on screen menu is very easy to access and use. A user manual is included and easy to use with very good explanations of all features. As soon as I registered my product, Samsung replied and thanked me with a 3 month extension on the warranty.

If you are about to buy any HD product you should be aware of a few things. 1) resist the urge to save money with an online purchase. Pay the extra money for the ability to easily return yout TV. Most stores will give you 30 days to use your TV. 2) You absolutely have to use component or HDMI cables. Spend some time examing the benefits of each, but use one or the other. And 3) remember that your picture is only as good as the source. Do not expect a DVD of a 10 year old movie to be as good as a more recent movie. It's only been recently that DVDs are produced with attention given to HD/Large screen viewers. Also, not all networks broadcast in like quality. I noticed during football season that ABC and ESPN had far better quality than CBS for example. The same holds true for movie channels: HBO's movies are better than Encore's. That is not a function of the TV you are watching.

I would certainly reccommend the Samsung HP-R4272/HP-R5072 to anybody shopping for an HD plasma TV.

I have had the TV for two weeks. The picture quality is very inconsistent. It ranges from completely fantastic to unwatchable. For me, the most annoying problem is that the TV over processes images to create lot of artifacts. Human skin can look very unnatural and pixelated.

I don't know if I got a poor sample or it is endemic to Samsung TVs. Some posters on avsforum have reported the same problem.

Buy at a local store so you can return it, there is a good chance that you might not like it.

This order was part of a major scam. I never received it and the "seller" emailed me to send him cash to a particular account so that he could ship the item. I blew up his email and contacted amazon to wipe the order. No money exchanged. Surprised this item showed up (6 years later) as an item I had purchased. Learned to be careful of the too good to be true offers on Amazon.

I had this tv for 4 months before it started acting up. It would turn off on its own at random times, then lines started forming across the screen.

FYI. Note that this description doesn't match the manufacturer's. The Samsung website states that this model has a 10 speaker (2-way) sound system with 15-Watts per channel for a total of 30-Watts. I didn't get clarification with their customer department.

"Samsung was founded in 1938 as a fish and fruit exporter on the Korean peninsula. Today Samsung has grown into a massive, multi-industry company and is a respected manufacturer of consumer electronics around the globe. By delivering lower-cost products that exceeded the quality of no-name manufactures but don't live up to the high-standards of first-tier manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic, Samsung has carved out significant market especially through sales in department stores and consumer electronics mega-stores. The Samsung SP-R4232 42-inch Plasma TV, though well designed and packed with a jaw-dropping array of inputs, comes up short in picture quality, a must have characteristic for a 42-inch plasma television. Darks were very good, as should be expected from a plasma display, and bright scenes displayed well too. Samsung specs this unit's contrast ratio at an unrealistic and not-so-modest 10,000:1. We measured the contrast ratio of this unit at 1675:1 - quite a difference, but then contrast is measured in many different ways and with varying formulas."

I had this tv for a few months now. Like someone said before picture quality is very inconsistant. It seems the longer I watch it the worse picture quality gets. Especially skin tones look very unnatural. No matter whether its HD or standard programming or DVD. I tried adjusting the picture with AVIA DVD, only marginal difference. It seems that DNIe is the reason behind bad pq however there is no way of turning it off. I even contactes samsung about this, no luck. This is a well known problem with samsung plasmas and yet they refuse to fix it. Stay away from this piece of junk.