Customer Reviews

Samsung PN50C450 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV (Black)

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Samsung PN50C450
I picked up my PN50C450 on Friday March 19th from BestBuy after months of research. In general I don't make purchases from BestBuy. I did the "purchase online / pick up in store" option and was very satisfied (I avoid sales people whenever possible :>). Sorry for the long review but it took me 4-5 months of research to pull the trigger on this TV. Here are my impressions.

Setup
Instructions on the box for removing the TV were clear. After a quick look at the assembly instructions (and sending my kids upstairs to play for 20 minutes) I screwed on the mounting bracket to the base. Just as I read on other reviews these screws did NOT go in easy. Samsung needs to address this as it doesn't instill confidence in the product when the first step in assembly has a minor glitch. Had a bit of a time getting the TV to lineup with the bracket (my issue not the TV). Put in the last 4 screws in the back and those went in much easier. Took a step back and looked at it, "dude that thing is huge" (large smile on my face)

Power On
Now the moment of truth......IS IT GOING TO BUZZ? I powered it on and........not a sound to be heard... totally silent! For a second I thought maybe I didn't power it on but the little "musical tone" went off indicating that it was on. This was my #1 concern with all the things I read about buzzing. Maybe I got lucky, maybe I just can't hear a buzz or maybe it's not as much as an issue as everyone keeps saying? Sure, I stuck my head behind the TV over the next few days and really tried to listen for a buzzing sound. I found if I got on a stool and put my ear really close to the top of the TV (careful it gets hot) I could hear the sound of "electricity" same as my old CRT TV. IN SHORT NO BUZZING.

Connecting Stuff
HDMI: After some research about the whole HDMI controversy (Monster vs cheap cable) Cnet put everything in perspective for me, "it's digital, just get the cheapest cable you can find". Believe it or not BigLots had a gold plated 6' HDMI cable for $12.00 (BestBuy's least expensive was $29.99). So I picked up one HDMI cable, 4 cans of diced tomatoes, yellow mustard and a 6 pack of root beer (God Bless America).

I connected the HDMI to my U-verse box and immediately went to the first HD channel I could find. I then switch to the corresponding SD channel and flipped back and forth several times. It's a big difference between SD and HD (although my kids and my wife didn't seem to care, but they have not yet given into HD madness).

I then connected my Wii with the standard cables it came with. The picture was obviously not HD but that was to be expected with the Wii. PQ was fine for gaming. The new Super Mario Brothers is way more fun (4 player mode) when you have so much digital real-estate to play on. I'm going to pick up a set of component cables just as a few people at AVS forum recommended . Overall the PQ was fine for gaming.

I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet so I did a test with my DVD player. Movies looked good after fussing with the screen size settings. I know Blu-ray DVD up scaling will be a significant improvement.
I also need to pick up an antenna so I can get OTA HD channels. From what I've read the OTA signal is not compressed (like my U-verse signal) so I'm excited to see what kind of results I can get.

TV Viewing and Settings
Right out of the box in "Standard Mode" the picture looked kind of dark and the colors were kind of flat. I then scrolled through to "Movie" mode. That was much better but still the colors were not super impressive. Then I switch to "Dynamic".....who the heck came up with this setting? Very bright and colors looked like a carnival. Unfortunately "dynamic" is the mode for choice for my kids when they play the Wii. I guess that would be the only time you would need this setting?

In order to get the best picture I took the advice of many of you and tweaked the movie mode settings. Thank you [...] users for posting the custom settings. They worked great!! I think I still need to bump down the skin tone setting one more notch but I'm very happy with the way it looks.

There is a lot of talk about Black Lines, Screen Doors, Dither etc..... I don't seem to have any of these issues (maybe ignorance is bliss?). I do get a little pixilation on HD channels sometimes but I think that has more to do with my HD signal being compressed (thanks AT&T).

Glare: I have the TV in a corner of our room that has a window flanking the left of the TV and a sliding glass door facing from the other room. Sure you get some glare in the middle of the day but if you just draw the curtains (and I'm not talking about black-out shades, just normal curtains) its fine. At certain angles at night I can see a lamp or kitchen light reflecting on the screen. I've found that most lights have these things called switches which allow you to turn them on/off. That seems to solve the problem :>)

Image Burn/retention: This was another major concern I had prior to purchasing plasma in general. I've come to the conclusion that as long as you don't spend 5 hours straight playing COD4 with the brightness up to 100, image burn is not an issue. I'd say our family is average when it comes to TV use. We've played the Wii and watched movies/TV and over the last week I have never seen any indication of image burn (and trust me I've been looking for it). And NO I didn't run any break in DVD's either.

Sound: 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 from a receiver....NO. Are you going to hear chest thumping bass when you watch a movie...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. The Wii and DVD are currently running through my receiver and 5 speakers and yes it sounds better through that. But that is to be expected.

General PQ: The real test was last Sunday night when Discovery showed their LIFE series. The whole family sat down to watch our new Plasma. It was ideal viewing with a pitch black room (it felt just like a movie theater) I actually heard one of my kids gasp because it looked so real. My youngest wasn't too happy with all the HD close ups of bugs and kept his hands over his eyes because it looked too real. I personally couldn't believe how clear the picture was. I'm finding out that not all HD channels are the same. Some have great HD and some are so/so. That's more of the fault of u-verse and the compression they use on their HD channels. But after watching that I was sold!!!! I know that Blu-ray is going to be even better than this experience. 720P: When I was in BestBuy this TV was right next to a 1080P TV and you could see a little bit more details when you were 2-3' away. But at 8-9' (my TV viewing) I couldn't see the difference. NON ISSUE FOR ME. But how are the Blacks you ask?: wouldn't you know that the blacks look......well.....black (not grey). Very happy.

Gripes: I use my u-verse remote to watch TV. I only use the Samsung remote to switch inputs or change the screen setting. The Samsung remote is about as responsive as molasses in January. I'm not sure where they put the stupid sensor for the TV but it must be under the base. Switching from SD to HD shows and visa/versa and dealing with the different screen formats is a pain. HD looks great in 16:9 but then the SD shows are not full screen so you have to flip "fit to screen" to fix that. All of this screen gymnastics is getting old. I wish there was a setting to say, "hello TV...just fill the screen for me to give me the best possible picture". Swivel would be nice as it takes 2 people to "swivel" the TV manually. Since I don't have the component cables for my Wii I have to swap the DVD and Wii between the 1 in-put that supports them. I wish it had 1 more set of composite connections on the side. For now that's about it.

Conclusion: So far I love this TV. The only issue now is competing for screen time between the Kids/wife. I'm glad I got the 50" as I know I would not have been happy with the 42". For the price I don't think you can go wrong with this TV.

Update 6/10/10: I've had the TV for almost 3 months now and I am still enjoying it very much. For the most part I think it's "broken in" now. I did have to tweak some of my initial setting from when I got it. I did purchase a component cable for my Wii and it looks much better with the new cable. I really didn't have any issues with IR. Once in a while when my kids would go on a Wii binge you could see some IR but running the scrolling feature for a few min took care of that quick. I don't have a blu-ray player yet but the HD quality for AT&T U-verse is pretty good. Still no buzzing (never had an issue with mine). I did hook up a usb flash drive to it to view some pictures I put on it. Wow! it does a great job displaying pictures.

I'll report back when I get a Blu-ray player (maybe fathers day???).

I got this tv on sale the day after it arrived in stores for only $720 and I could not be happier with it. The picture is fantastic right out of the box. As with all plasmas, make sure you take the break in period seriously by turning down the contrast and brightness a bit for the first 100-200 hours. I've also been running the anti-burn in scrolling feature for about an hour a night when I go to bed and have yet to notice any sort of image retention although I haven't played any video games on it yet.

There's a lot of chatter about these Samsung plasmas having an annoying buzzing sound coming from them but I have yet to notice it. Maybe I just got lucky with mine but it runs very quietly.

I purchased this set at Best Buy for $719 + tax about 1 week ago and have been very happy with it thus far. I'm not gonna lie, I was hesitant to go the 720p route; I don't want to be the one paying to be at the front of the tech curve, but I also don't want to be the one purchasing something that is soon to be obsolete. Luckily, our Best Buy had this 50' set at $719, the Samsung 50' 1080 plasma step up at $1300, and a 46' 8000? series edge-lit LED LCD Samsung at $2100 all side by side for easy comparison. The comparison ended up making my decision easier.

Picture - all in store picture settings so probably not apples to apples, but I noticed considerably more sharpness in the LCD than either of the two plasmas. However, colors looked deeper and "popped" more on both of the plasmas vs the LCD. The 1080p plasma unit was a tad sharper than the c450, particularly noticeable when viewing up-close and when it showed black lettering on a white background. You could see a smoother edge on the lettering in the 1080p set at close distances. In my home, broadcast HDTV (I use an antenna for locals, I do not have cable/dish) looks fantastic on the c450. Analog signals even look passable, and better than my 32 in Vizio LCD. I do not yet have a Blu-ray player; a PS3 is in my near future, but I do hook up a PC to the TV occasionally (Hulu,etc is my cheap cable). How the PC and blu-ray would look were my main 720p vs 1080p concerns. The PC looks great; I expect no problems with blu-ray. Regular DVD looks fine. I relied on multiple professional and private reviews noting that the difference between 720 and 1080p is minimal at a 50' size, unless you are close (less than 8 feet)to the set. If you are sitting beyond 8 to 10 feet the extra lines of resolution are virtually imperceptible to the naked eye. You will have some techies swear to the grave that this is not the case, but use your eyes, not the specs to decide. Bottom line: some 1080p sets look great; some 720p sets look great. The bigger in size you go, the more 1080p will distance itself from 720p, all other things being equal. Somewhere between 42 to 50 in, the 1080 difference begins to become noticeable. For me, the extra $600 for a comparable 1080p at this size was not worth it. For some, it is. I'd give the picture a 4/5. I was perfectly happy with the picture on my 32 in Vizio LCD; now it looks below avg to poor in comparison.

Glass - one of the biggest negatives of the c450 is the highly reflective screen; probably a driver of the lower price point and the fact that its plasma. Its glass is highly reflective; more so than the 1080p plasma was in-store and like a mirror compared to the LCD. Turn off the sets when you compare and you'll see the stark difference. Think about where your putting your TV. My den gets below average sunlight. The outside light source comes from behind the TV, but it still casts some reflection on the screen in the day time. I have a lamp across from it and it just should never be turned on while you are watching TV; causes way too much reflection. If you have a lot of windows in your room, you may want to look at another TV option rather than the C450. My sister has an older 50' HP plasma with a wall of windows opposite of it and its almost unwatchable during the day. In a dark room, it is not a concern and the glass gives a crispness to the picture that the LCD matte finishes don't, IMO. Overall, glass is a 3/5 but don't push it in a room with a lot of light.

Styling - I put this TV on a side wall in my den and the side of the TV is seen when you walk in, so styling was a factor for me. I wanted as thin as possible within my budget. The C450 is a 2.7 in deep 50 in HDTV; one of the thinner standard width sets you will find (3.5-4' more common) Between the three sets I directly compared, the 8000 series won this category again with 1.2' thickness, and a sharp looking glass edge trimming the monitor. However, the c450 and the 1080p plasma both have a nice looking, relatively thin, profile as well. I do wish that the c450 was trimmed in a matte, rather than a glossy finish. The glossy finish is reflective. Overall, i'd give styling a 4/5. 5/5 at this price point.

Inputs - The C450 has 3 HDMI's, 2 component, pc input, USB port for media viewing. See the Amazon specs for the complete input listing. It does not have an S-video input, but one of the component inputs doubles as an RCA jack, so if you have multiple older components to hook up, you could use an RCA splitter. IMO, if you're in the market for an HDTV and still have alot of older non HDTV components, save some money, go less expensive on the HDTV and buy some new components. The picture upgrade you'll get from new components is far more beneficial than what you'll get from a higher end HDTV. Enough inputs for me and it gets a bonus for multiple component inputs. Most just have 1.

Value - Price was a big and probably the primary consideration for me; winner hands down; el cheapo C450. Ultimately, you give up some features, but I did not see enough picture quality and feature differences to justify the jump to the 1080p plasma at $600 more. Good value, good picture for your buck. Definitely a 5/5 regarding overall value.

Other items-
No internet apps. Was a consideration for me, but underwhelming reviews ultimately made it a non factor.
Remote - the c450 remote is average at best. Its infared, and not super responsive. Keys are not backlit.
Menus - orderly menu system, decent channel guide, relatively robust picture quality controls, including white balance, and multiple auto and sensor driven brightness options. Buzzing problem - my c450 does not buzz...there is what I would call some very high frequency electronic noise, maybe this is what people have complained about. I have a relatively small room, listen at low volume levels, and it has not been a factor for me.
TV Stand - screws did not want to go in straight no matter what I did; after 30 minutes messing around with a screwdriver, I used my drill and hoped for the best; they worked their way through the hitch in the threads and fastened. Stand does not swivel like some, and TV does not seem overly sturdy. Comes with a cord to fasten to the TV and screw in the wall to help keep it from tipping.

EDIT #1: I am noticing significant picture judder, in certain situations. Several specific commercials during the NCAA tournament, as well as live action. At first I thought it was my signal as I am using an antenna, but it happened consistently at the same time during the same commercials each time they aired as I was watching bball. I have experienced this on both NBC and CBS; both broadcast in 1080i. I have not experienced this on Fox or ABC who broadcast in 720p. I'm guessing it is a scaling/upconverting issue. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Samsung customer service was no help. Best Buy wasn't either, other than they said I could return it. I'm contemplating that option, but I really like the TV otherwise. I'm hesitant to purchase another C450. I'm not sure if it is a defective processor, or just a side effect of a processor that isn't always up to the scaling task.

EDIT #2: Due to the aforementioned judder issues on 1080i signals, I took the C450 back to Best Buy yesterday. I ordered another and will post an update once it gets here later this week. The picture quality for the buck was second to none. It even dropped to $699 and I got $20 back with the order. Hopefully, the judder issues will be gone, and I do not get a "buzzer". My first one did not have a buzzing issue. Samsung has not completely remedied the buzzing problem on their plasmas per several other reviews I have read. It appears to be a hit or miss problem.

EDIT #3: After nearly a month on my second model, the judder issues are still present on CBS which is broadcasting in a 1080i signal. It seems to get worse if I have "Film" mode on, as well as darker and/or fast moving scenes. However, it seems to be primarily limited to that one channel, so I'm once again wondering if its a channel signal issue. I'm perplexed to say the least. But, I've decided to keep the television, as the picture quality for the price is unmatched in my opinion.

We bought this Samsung to replace an aging Panasonic TH-50PX60U 50-Inch Plasma HDTV that weighs 93.7lbs and consumes 515 watts of power and this new one IS an upgrade! The specs for this Samsung say it weighs 56.2lbs and it EXCEEDS the new Energy Star qualifications by consuming only 145.9 watts according to this chart: [...]l. Besides uncomfortably heating our family room, the old Panny was costing us 3.5 TIMES more on our electric bill than this new Sammy! Based on our avg daily TV usage, this could actually save us between $150-200 per year as a direct result of this more energy efficient model and there will be additional indirect savings in the summer because we won't have to run the A/C as hard to cool the most popular room in our home.

Believe it or not, I picked this new model up at Fry's during a 2-day sale for only $499, and this TV is an absolute STEAL at that price! I found a couple of video settings I like posted at avsforum. The user who posted them recommends a Standard setting for normal daytime use and a Movie setting for watching movies at night. That's what I did and I like it. These are the specific settings he got using a calibration disk:

Night - Movie
Cell 8
Contrast 80
Bright 55
Sharp 30
Color 45
G47/R53
Warm 2

Day (sports) Standard
Cell 8
Contrast 82
Brightness 53
Sharp 35
Color 41
G45/R55
Color Tone: Normal
Gamma +1
Edge Enhancement: On

UPDATE: I slightly modified the Standard setting above and I'm pretty happy leaving it like this all the time, even for movies:

Cell 8
Contrast 86
Brightness 65
Sharp 61
Color 52
G45/R55
Black Tone: Dark
Dynamic Contrast: Low (I adjust this from Off to High, depending on content)
Gamma +1
Color Space: Auto
Flesh Tone: +2
Edge Enhancement: On
Color Tone: Cool or Normal, depending on content

Everyone's eyes are different and you're just going to have to play around with it until you find what looks best to you. There are lots of settings posted by various members and they're a good starting place for dialing in the picture that looks perfect to you. The picture quality is really, really good on both SD and HD with a DirecTV signal feed. I have no complaints about the picture other than having to dial it in to suit your eyes. Once you do that, it's done until you do a firmware upgrade with a USB flash drive. So remember to WRITE DOWN your video settings before doing any update to the firmware.

UPDATE: BREAK-IN PERIOD - There is some debate over whether or not "newer" Samsung Plasma TVs require a 100hr (up to 250hr) break-in period. You can read more at samsungplasmatvfaq.com, although some of the info seems a bit dated. I suggest using the tools they give you with the TV under Screen Burn Protection, particularly Pixel Shift and Scrolling. I've also cut down the brightness, contrast and dynamic contrast settings I posted above until I have about 150 hours on the set. Better to be safe than sorry I suppose..

Some Samsung plasma owners have reported a buzzing sound, but there is not one with our new set. This unit was made in Mexico in August 2010 and there is absolutely NO BUZZING sound at all. If I mute the TV sound, I can't even tell if the TV is on or off without looking at it. It simply can't get any quieter than that!

The only downside is the speakers. The old Panny had front-firing speakers that we found to be quite sufficient for our needs. This Sammy has them mounted on the bottom and toward the REAR of the set. This is just ridiculous. I suppose it has something to do with trying to project "3D" sound...But I don't know anyone who sits behind their TV set to watch it. And where we place our plasma in the family room further complicates the sound issue so that it's mainly "trapped" behind the set. The setup menu provides many ways to customize the sound (just like with the video display)...But I haven't found an acceptable one yet because there's only so much you can do when the sound is trapped behind the unit. I might end up getting a soundbar and placing it in front (where the TV's speakers should be in the first place). But I also don't want to spend more on a soundbar than this 50" plasma, if you know what I mean. Besides, nobody else in our home is complaining about the sound so maybe I'll just get used to it too...UPDATE: I played around with the sound settings and found one I think I can learn to like:

Mode: Custom
100Hz -__________*____+
300Hz -_________*_____+
_1Khz -________*______+
_3Khz -_______*_______+
10Khz -_______*_______+
SRS: On
Auto Vol: On

This sound setting seems to work well where we have our set placed. Your ears may like it too, or they may not. That's the nice thing about having controls to adjust the sound to your liking. Keep playing with it and you'll probably find a video and sound setting that's good for you. Then you can sit back and enjoy your new 50" plasma!!

Only one more thing to do and that is get an extended warranty. I bought a MACK warranty on eBay for our Sony HD camcorder that I've had to use twice already and it has more than paid for itself. There's currently a 5-yr MACK warranty listed for only $89.95 that applies to this set (<$750 purchase price). Samsung provides a 1-yr parts AND labor warranty for this set, which is very good. The 5-yr extended warranty kicks in after that first year and provides 6 total years of in-home service for less than $100. Knowing how we've already had to use our ext warranty for our HD camcorder, this kind of ext protection is something you should seriously consider when purchasing something like a new HDTV.

We're lovin' our new Sammy 50" plasma. Now if someone will just take the old 515 watt Panny off our hands at the next garage sale...

i purchased this TV at Fry's Electronics in Houston, Texas the day that it came out. First off, I already own a Westinghouse 42 inch LCD, a 32 inch Sharp Aquos, and another Samsung 32 inch that I have in my daughters room. I thought that I was seeing the very best that I could until I purchased this television. I really and truly didn't go into Frys' to buy anything, yet when I saw the price I thought why not, I wanted a larger screen for the den anyway, and if I don't like it I can always return it. I want to say that I wish I could return the other 3 sets that I have. The colors are absolutely beautiful right out of the box. I could not believe how much that I had been missing when watching movies and Bluray. I am a member of Bluray.com, AVSFORUM, HIDEF, Sound and Vision Etc. I have researched LCD, LED, PLasma, DLP, so on and so forth. My family has an entourage of Samsung products. This 720P set blows them away. I can discern the difference between the 1080 and 720 at about 3 feet. I sit 10 feet away from the screen, and I can tell you the only thing that I have seen with my own eyes better than this, after spending countless hours at MODA and other Home Theatre stores from Houston, Texas to College, Station Texas is the likes of the Pioneer Elite and the line up from Panasonic Plasmas' that best this set. This is an entry level Plasma, without all of the bells and whistles that gives you a beautiful picture every time you turn it on. Now for the cons: the higher the contrast, you hear the buzz, but only when you are not using a surround sound system. Does it have Netflix, etc? No, I can get that over my PS3 and my Xbox 360, Does it have PIP? No, I get that with DirecTv. I am completely satisfied with my purchase. Oh, forgot to mention that it comes with the 3D sync out, so all I have to add is a transmitter,the glasses and wait for the Sony PS3 3d update, and I'll be watching movies in 3D by early summer. Now how do you like that for a budget TV?

So this is my very first HD TV and let me say that now I know what all the fuss is about. The picture is gorgeous, comparing it to a CRT is like comparing Jessica Alba to, well, a rock. This picture is so much better that it cannot be compared to CRT picture quality. The TV itself was easy to install on the stand, and once it was set up and hooked up, I found the menus to be easily navigable. Personally, I tried to use my electronic expertise to go at it without the manual, that didn't work. Thankfully the manual had an easy to find fix for my stupidity. On top of a great picture, the actual hardware is pretty. I say that if you are thinking about this TV or the 1080 model, save the extra dough and get this one. The other 360 lines of resolution won't make that much of a difference until you go higher than 50 inches. I know this because, though I am new to the HD world, I studied and read up more about this tech than I did for the SAT, ASVAB, and Pre-calculus combined.

Just picked up the PN50C450 from sears yesterday to replace a 50" Sony RPTV.

My initial impressions:

1. PQ is very good overall. Warm2 looks better to me than the standard mode
2. Noticed horizontal black lines after every two row of pixels across the entire screen. The lines can be seen clearly from one feet away but are not noticeable at >3ft distances. I won't be concerned with this too much unless someone convinces me otherwise :-)
3. No vertical banding.
4. No IR issues so far
5. The glossy finish is very reflective. Even the faintest sources of light showup on the screen. This may be a problem in brighter rooms.
6. No buzzing, checked at different volume levels/muted sitting right next to the display.
7. The USB input is neat but seems like the processing is too slow. Takes forever to start a slideshow or display a picture fullscreen.

Overall, I'm fairly happy with the TV for the price.

This is a multi product review. Last year we bought a 46" Panasonic plasma TV. I returned it a few days later because we couldn't get the picture bright enough without looking washed out. I'm thinking that we got a lemon because I hear a lot of good things about Panasonic TVs. So our search began again this year. We really wanted a 1080p TV but with newer technology coming out all the time, we didn't want to be stuck with an expensive TV that is outdated three years from now.

About a month ago Amazon put the Samsung PN42C450 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV (Black) on sale for $449 so we jumped on it. Delivery was scheduled for 10am to 2pm and finally came at 9pm. I wasn't impressed with the shippers but the TV arrived undamaged. I attached the TV base myself and put the TV on the entertainment stand. The base attaches with 10 self-tapping screws but it was easy with my powered driver and a 6" #2 phillips bit. Turned the TV on and it looked great. The TV comes with three different picture modes: standard, movie & dynamic. You can adjust them however you like. Each TV input retains its own settings for each picture mode. For example, standard on HDMI1 can be different from standard on HDMI2 or HDMI3. That's nice because you can have different settings for each device connected to the TV. We use the picture modes to adjust for day and night time viewing. There's a dark red stripe at the bottom edge of the TV frame. You hardly notice it unless you're looking for it. The TV controls are on the front right side of the frame. They are built into the plastic frame and are seamless. You don't depress a button but just touch it. We like it because it looks sleek but it can be difficult to see the controls. We normally use the remote but it's nice to have an alternative option if you can't find the remote. Speaking of the remote...it's easy to use but big. We also found it doesn't work very well unless you point it directly at the TV sensor. I bought a Logitech Harmony 650 universal remote and it works ten times better than the Samsung remote. The sound quality is pretty good for a TV. The TV is about 10 pounds lighter than the 2009 model.

The day after we received the PN42C450, Amazon dropped the price of Samsung PN50C450 50-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV (Black) from $699 to $499. For $50 more we could have a 50" TV instead so we bought it and the 42" went back. The 50" is identical to the 42" but bigger. Same remote, same controls, same red stripe, same sound and picture quality. (FYI: All 720p 42" plasmas have a resolution of 1024 x 768. This is a 4:3 ratio. To make it a wide screen, they stretch the pixels out 1/3 wider than they are tall. This makes the TV have a 16:9 ratio picture. You would think that by stretching the pixels out that it would be noticeable while watching the TV. We were impressed because we couldn't tell the difference. The picture looked normal to us. Most 720p 50" plasmas have a resolution of approximately 1365 x 768. This is already a 16:9 ratio so the pixels are square.) They shaved off almost 20 pounds from last year's 50" model.

Everyone talks about the Samsung plasma TVs having a buzz. Both of our TVs had a quiet buzz. I can hear it but it's not enough to bother me. From what I've read, the higher your altitude the louder the buzz can be in a plasma TV. We're at 1200 feet.

Next subject is the glare. Both TVs are like a dark mirror. We have a bright living room. The windows are behind the TV but light reflecting off the back walls make it difficult to see the TV picture during the day until around 4pm when the sun is moving towards the other side of the house. At night with the lights off, the picture quality is awesome. The 50" did better than the 42" with glare issue because it affected a smaller portion of the overall TV picture. We considered an LCD TV but we have little ones that can't keep their hands or objects in their hands off the TV. I've never seen them do it but I can see smudges on the screen. An LCD screen can be scratched easily while a plasma screen is made out of glass (hence the glare) and is more scratch resistant. I also don't like the "soap opera effect" on the LCD TVs (it doesn't bother my wife much).

720p vs 1080p. I can see a difference between the 1080p and 720p TVs in the stores with a high quality input source. But the quality of 720p is still very good. A 720p broadcast on a 1080p TV is not going to look any better than a 720p TV.

Power usage is hard to measure as it is bouncing all over the place as the TV picture changes brightness. Picture settings also affect the power usage. The 42" used roughly 100 watts on a medium setting while the 50" used about 150 watts. On our night time settings the 50" would average about 90-100 watts and could peak to 250 watts on the default dynamic settings.

Burn-in issues? Well we haven't had any in the few weeks we've had either TV. We have had image retention though. I connected my computer to the 50" for about 30 minutes and it took a couple of hours of TV watching for the image retention to fully dissipate. Yes, I have the pixel shifting enabled. We've had some other image retention but it always goes away from just watching TV.

One thing I love about the Samsung TVs is that the on-screen volume display is on the left side. Our old Sony TV had it at the bottom and it would often cover up words or subtitles on the screen.

Overall, we were very happy with both Samsung TVs. If you are on a budget, then I wouldn't let the 720p deter you. If you have a very bright room and you watch a lot of daytime TV, then you might be happier with an LCD TV. Bigger is better. We thought the 42" was perfect till we got the 50". After watching the 50" for a couple of weeks it would be hard to go back to a 42".

I've owned a 40" Sony 1080p LCD for 3 years now. Upon completion of my basement, I decided to put the Sony down there for the kids, which meant "upgrade" for me. With that said, I always felt that the blacks on the LCD showed too much pixelation. So, I decided to look at plasmas. After much research (CNET, Consumer Reports, and a few Best Buy visits) I decided on the Samsung PN50C450. I bought the TV though Amazon Warehouse Deals for $641, and a 4 year Square Trade Warranty for $90, totaling about $732.

The TV was delivered within 5 business days of the order in pristine condition, with just a little scratch on the bezel (mentioned in the description on Amazon for this specific model).

The picture, and sound, are beautiful; No audible audio buzz and easy menu selection. The stand is a piece of cake to assemble (Don't know why people are complaining about assembly)

I've been enjoying it for a week now. Blu-Rays look fantastic, HD channels like the YES network, Nat Geo, etc.. look great. Above all, I'm so glad I didn't fall for the 1080p hype. Believe me, this 720p plasma will blow away a 1080p LCD. Black levels look like film; no banding. Colors Pop. Whether it's "Up" or "Star Trek" or "The Dark Knight," on Blu-Ray or HD Broadcast, you're going to be impressed. You're a fool if you buy a 1080p plasma! Save some money by going with 720p. Read the CNET article on 720p vs. 1080p [...] and then check this TV out for yourself. Well done Samsung and Amazon!

I purchased this TV on Black Friday and held off writing a review until i had some time on the TV. Here is my review

1) The TV price is just unbeatable for what you get. Plasma TV have THE ABSOLUTE BEST picture i have seen on any TV.

2) Picture Quality on this TV even though its 720p is OUTSTANDING. I completely enjoy watching movies now!! I used to have a 42 inch rear projection TV so you can imagine the difference. I dont have 1080p offered on my Verizon FiOS yet so i am not missing out on any extra picture quality since 1080i is the same as 720p.

3) Overall look and feel is great. I like the bezel with the red lip on it and i think the controls are pretty self explanatory.

4) Recommend making sure you "break-in" the TV for at least 100 hours. I know that most people may disagree with this but i found it to be the best thing in order to get very minimal Image Retention. There is also a great calibration post that has been written here that i used and the picture looks amazing. I switch between Standard for sports and Movie for movies.

5) I found the sound to be great. I keep my TV at around 11 and its really load.

6) I hear a faint bussing but its not enough to really even worry about. You have to be right up to the TV to hear it and even then its not that load. This is a total non issue.

7) i have been playing games on the TV and not used the Game mode yet. I keep it in Standard mode and the viewing is pretty good. Some games are pretty dark and in the day tough to see since the TV reflects a lot of light.

Along with all these great points also come the negatives. Here is what i found to be some of the issues.

1) Image Retention is a bitch especially if you have kids. The issue is that you have to be aware of channels that are not full width for the Tv and have those black boxes on the edges. Most cartoon channels are like this. IF your kids watch a lot of TV, you will get this Image Retention on the sides for a while. It goes away but you still see it for a bit and its distracting

2) Be careful of those pesky station identifiers in the lower right hand corner of the screen. These can cause image burn in if you have ones that are not transparent. I need to change the screen to full size to bury the identifiers some times and as a result the screen looks really big.

3) The screen is like a black Mirror. It totally reflects ALL lights and in the Day its very hard to watch TV if you have a large picture window in your living room where the TV is located. Night viewing is spectacular though and i feel like i am at the movies.

Overall a great TV and a bit of a hassle though if you have kids who want to play games on the TV and watch cartoons. You just need to be aware of the types of settings that you will need to swtich to in these conditions.