Customer Reviews

Samsung PN50C6500 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Black)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this TV after many months of research to replace a 7 year old 17" LCD TV for my bedroom. I have an extensive movie collection and I had nowhere else I could watch my blu-rays except for the TV in my Dad's man cave. I got sick of my Dad kicking me out all the time, so I decided to invest in a television that will last at least a few years. I chose this model because I wanted a plasma for the size/price ratio, and the superior picture quality. I also considered the Panasonic G20/25, LG PK950, and the Samsung C7000. Panasonic's response to their rising black levels, plus the floating blacks really crossed that off my list quickly. I was pretty much set on the PK950, but when I researched the price it happened to be on sale. Well, when I was ready to purchase the price jumped up $200 and did not decrease in the few weeks I waited. So, I jumped on a good price on this model. I saw the C7000 in store and was not all that impressed by the black level, but I had read that C6500 was supposed to be a bit better because it is not 3D. Since I plan on purchasing an additional television in a few years, I decided to wait on a 3D model until more content becomes available/affordable.

Delivery: I ordered my TV from Amazon on Saturday, June 26th and scheduled delivery during checkout for Tuesday, July 6th. My TV shipped on the 27th, so I was hoping it might arrive early since it was only coming from about 5 hours away. Since I never received a call, I expected the TV to come during the window I scheduled. My scheduled time came and went, and nothing. Frustrated, I called Pilot, the delivery service. The customer representative told me my package was still at its origin and was not scheduled to arrive in my state until the next day! So, basically I was told Pilot held my package for a week. I was not happy, but I was told I should be called the next day to schedule delivery. Well, the next day I still had not received a call. Finally at 6 o'clock I called Pilot again. This representative was considerably nicer, and connected me to the courier responsible for the delivery. Turns out they lost my paperwork, but the woman I talked to was very nice and apologetic and said my package would arrive the next day and I would be called an hour in advance. The next morning I was getting everything ready hoping my package would actually arrive when I received a call from a local courier, not Pilot, saying they did not read the note to call an hour ahead and were actually outside my house asking if they could deliver the TV then. Two men came in, assembled the TV on its stand, placed it where I wanted it and plugged it in before asking for a signature. A great experience once they arrived, but don't think your scheduled delivery time is absolute. If you haven't heard anything the day before your appointment, make sure you call the carrier before you take any time off of work.

Aesthetically, the c6500 is a beautiful set. Nice and slim, with an all black flat border and a bit of clear plastic that extends over the side. The base is black and matches the television. It is almost as impressive off as it is on.

Buzz: I walked out of my bedroom when the delivery guys left, and when I walked back in I heard a strange buzzing sound. My house was completely silent so it was definitely noticeable, and when I heard it I realized it was the infamous Samsung buzz. The first few days it was a little distracting, but I got over it very quickly. Now I only notice it when I am dead center and the volume is either low or I am at a silent part of a movie. Not a deal breaker for me, but I can see why it would be to some people.

Image Retention: My 7 year old LCD has big image retention issues, oddly enough. With that TV, the whole image would stay on the screen for quite a while before it would go away, colors and all. With the Samsung, it's more of a shadow of the image. Menus and text are the most susceptible if they appear for longer than twenty seconds. I do not think this is a problem as it fades so quickly, and there is a scrolling pattern that can be activated to clear off anything that is particularly persistent.

Reflections: This TV does fairly well with reflections. I have a window opposite the TV with a blind in it that does not fit, so light comes through around the frame. It stills shows up on the screen, but I can easily ignore it and it does not detract from the image. If you've had a CRT or any TV with a glass front, you should know what to expect. If you have large windows opposite the screen, you may want to consider a matte screen LCD.

Picture Quality: I have watched a variety of content on this TV and overall I am very pleased. I admit I am very picky and critical when it comes to a good picture. The color accuracy is very good. When I watch blu-rays I am amazed at just how crisp the picture is. The TV in my Dad's man cave is a rear projection Mitsubishi. Even with blu-rays, I don't feel the picture is as fluid and uniform as my Samsung. The colors definitely pop, although they do not pop as much as my Dad's Mitsubishi and definitely not as much as my Uncle's Pioneer Kuro. I don't think most people would notice, but you might if you are accustomed to LCDs. Don't get me wrong, it still pops, just not as much as what I'm used to. As for the black level, it's not as deep as I had hoped. The Mitsubishi without a doubt has deeper blacks and it's something I notice whenever there are black bars. If the screen is filled however I do not notice it as much. This is just me being extremely critical and most people would not notice. Since this is a bedroom TV, I do not have a cable box. Only the channels that come through my coaxial cable straight to the TV. SD is what it is, though I will say this TV does a decent job at it. Surprise to me, this model picks up OTA HD channels. Quality greatly depends on the content, but I am impressed. I considered it a huge compliment when my sister took over my TV and my room to watch the All Star baseball game on Fox HD. For her to do that, someone who does not care about picture quality at all, the picture HAS to be good. Even though the blacks are not as deep, I still feel the picture is superior to most televisions out there.

Internet: I bought this model because it has the internet apps and connectivity. Ignore the Samsung chart on Amazon's information page, it is inaccurate and this television definitely has the apps. I wanted to be able to stream movies, and upgrade firmware without complications. I have an older Samsung blu-ray player that has no usb or wifi, and can only be updated through a CD or LAN which is on a different floor of the house. It is an absolute pain so I did not want that issue with my television. My router is in my bedroom so I could have easily run an ethernet cable, but in preparation for moving in the future I wanted to be wireless. Instead of spending $60 on the Samsung dongle, I bought a Rosewill adapter that has the same chipset for $27 shipped. Much cheaper and works perfect. I tried Amazon's VOD because of the credit I was given for registering. I watched Kill Bill and the HD was good but not blu-ray quality. And when I paused, the pause menu overlapped with the black bars so it stayed for quite a while since nothing else showed up on that part of the screen. A little annoying, but nothing the scrolling bars couldn't fix. I love having access to so many movies instantly so I am definitely going to invest in a Netflix account since they seem to have the most content. There is also Vudu, which gives you one free rental, Blockbuster, and some Best Buy movie channel. I don't have much use for the Facebook or Twitter apps, so I cannot comment on those. Pandora is missing which I know is a favorite of many.

Other: After just an hour of use, this TV starts to get very hot. My Dad has walked into my room several times when my door has been closed and asked why was it so hot, when I have to respond that it's because of my TV. In a small closed off room, like my bedroom, it can get a little stuffy. Larger open rooms should provide enough circulation to minimize the problem. Fortunately we have central air, but if we didn't I don't know if I could sit in my bedroom with this on. And for those interested, there is a Samsung app for the IPhone/IPod Touch to turn it into a remote for all internet connected 2010 televisions. I found it a bit annoying and unnecessary, but some of you may enjoy it.

Overall I think this is a great television that demands some serious bragging rights. After spending about eight months researching and wondering if I will make the right choice, I am very happy I bought the C6500. HOWEVER, for anyone who is really keen on investing in 3D technology, I suggest either the C7000/8000 series, or the recently released C680 Plasma. It appears to be exactly the same as the C6500 but with 3D and it even has the same MSRP. If 3D is not an issue, buy the 6500 series. You will not regret it, especially at this price!

Update: Pandora has been added as an app for all those who are interested.

I was struggling between this TV and the G25. The Panasonic did have warmer colors and performed better with motion however, I could not stand the grain. Returned it eventually and got this Samsung. I am MUCH happier with it. I would recommend the Panasonic only if you have a very dark room (even during the day) and plan on only watching movies but for overall, everyday use I would go with the Samsung. Even though the Panasonic had better anti-reflective screen

- Great PQ, less grain
- Much more refined user-friendly interface and bezel
- Super thin
- Surprisingly better sound than the Panny
- Colors 'popped' out more like LCD, G25 definitely has more realistic colors (esp. during dark room viewing)
- Great response rate with gaming - Plasma is the way to go if you're a game
- BUZZ - my first C6500 was terrible, it sounded like there was a beehive in the back of my TV, switched it out and got a July 2010 build ^^ and am happy to report that it's SUPER faint; only noticeable when you put your ear up to the screen. So if you're super paranoid about it, try to request the latest build.
- No rising blacks :)
- Does get warm but that's expected with all plasmas
- Does not deal as well as the Panasonic with fast motion/panning
- IR was there with the first one I got, but with the July 2010 build it is virtually nonexistent. And even if you do get one with IR it goes away after a minute
- Better SD performance

If you are looking for a reference plasma in your TV for your home theater, look elsewhere (G25). If you need an all-around plasma TV that has great daytime performance, less grain and great colors go with the Samsung

This TV delivers awesome value to those who are not interested in 3D. I did not have any retailer nearby that carried this model (retail stores prefer the pricier 3D models), so I bought it from Amazon on blind faith. Turned out to be a great decision!

Pros: The picture quality of this TV is amazing. Blacks are black, colors are vibrant and motion is smooth. The biggest thing I noticed compared to my smaller 1080p Samsung LCD is that shiny objects actually look glossy on this tv. Blacks seem to be pretty deep to me, certainly a step up from any LCD or LED I have seen. The picture quality is also a step us from the thicker Samsung PN50C550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Black) I was able to see in stores. That model has a nasty habit of having random background fuzziness that both this TV and the higher end Samsung plasma models don't seem to have. If you are considering between the two like I was, get this one instead.

The Movie setting is very nice, and there are tons of calibration options if you want to really get the picture how you prefer it. Samsung should be proud to put their name on this TV.

One good thing about this TV is that is does not suffer from the "soap opera effect." In fact, turning that effect on is not even an option!

The built in tuner is good. The TV picked up my local channels and HD sports look amazing. SD programming looks pretty good compared to my old LCD, but I personally watch less and less SD stuff nowadays. I hooked up my HTPC and the TV has a perfect 1:1 pixel mapping, which means no overscan.

This TV is super slim (like their LED series) and very ascetically pleasing. I actually prefer the glossy traditional Samsung look over the matte black and brushed metal of the 7000 series plasma I saw in the store locally. There is no buzz, or at least none that I can hear. My wife plays music for a living so she has good ears and she never complains. Mine was made in June, which must be when they got it figured out.

Image retention started off pretty bad but got ok within a week and ever since then IR has barely been a factor. I have my Xbox hooked up to the TV, and gaming is great with no ghosting or blur.

Cons: Unlike what the description above states, the TV does not have the Cinema Smooth feature unless you are willing to hack into its service menu and force it to think it is the 8000 model. I personally don't want to void my warranty, so I left that alone. If you read online you find that Cinema Smooth raises the black level anyway and is probably not a wanted feature. Go outside of Samsung if you want 24p.

The service manual warns about not watching too much 4:3 content (I assume to avoid black vertical bar burn in) and even though I haven't had any problems if your DVD collection is all pre-2000's SD TV then maybe consider something that's not a plasma.

The only picture quality downside is that it is not as sharp as some TVs I have seen; the image doesn't "pop out" as much as the highest end models do. But overall the amazing blacks, colors, and lack of motion blur means it easily bests any LCD near it in price.

If you have a bright room this TV might not be the best because the screen isn't as bright as some LCDs, but that brightness (unless you pay $2000+ for a LED with local dimming) also means washed out colors so consider some curtains and enjoy the show!

The last downside is that the stand is weak, but the TV comes with a way to attach it to a nearby wall for support.


Overall I think this TV provides great value for those who don't care about 3D, and should be considered over the 2009 plasma models that are thicker but barely less in price. Amazon seems to be the only place to get it, and for that I thank them!

Other Comments: The delivery was easy. I called Pilot a day after Amazon confirmed it shipped, and they scheduled a delivery time for me a whole week ahead of the indicated delivery date. The delivery man helped me set it up and hook up my Blu Ray player to make sure it worked. Don't be scared buying online, it was really a nice experience. Time to go watch a movie!

ok, this TV I bought for my girlfriend's bday. She's a research nazi, and researched tv's for 2 months, before deciding on this TV. She's so much of a research nazi, that she actually bought this TV without ever seeing it in a store. She was able to find the 7000 & 8000 series in stores, but not the 6500. She gets seriously motion sickness from 3D stuff, so that wasn't an option for her.

We have had the tv for about 2 months now, and we're absolutely in LOVE with this TV. When we travel, we could not wait to get back to our TV LOL. First my girl has a very stylish home, and she wanted a TV that was just as beautiful on the outside as the inside. And this thing is sexy in the living room. Sleek, and stylish. The clear glass boarder is just a seriously nice touch, it kinda sparkles when room lights hit it. She liked the metal boarders on the 7000 and the 8000 but this black boarder here is not so bad at all. It's the thinnest TV I've ever seen, so Im impressed.

After seeing our first Blu-Ray movie on this thing... one of her childhood favorites, "The Dark Crystal" we agreed never to watch movies in a theater and pay $40 bucks or more. The entire time we watch Blu-Ray movies, we can't get over how much better the movie looks than it did in the movies. We're in this bad habit of watching movies we've seen before because of how different they look from DVDs or from what we saw in a theater.

But here is the test for her... see she bought the tv with a solid thought that she would NOT be getting HD cable. She wanted a tv that would look great with basic tv and internet. And for 2 months, we could not be happier. EVery picture looks amazing. Every show we watch from basic 480 and up looks amazing. Everything we watch free streaming from the internet looks amazing. Old DVDs in the samsung 6500 blu-ray looks amazing.

The sound is also quite well. We were going to buy a sound bar before we got the TV based on the reviews from other people here, but we're not sure what they're talking about. Unless they have some sort of mansion. We have a HUGE apt, and HUGE Livingroom, dining room, kitchen open area. But can't imagine needing the sound louder than 50, cause most of the time, the sound is on 15-25. If we got a sound bar we would definitely be disturbing neighbors. The sounds is great on this tv to us, and she likes things loud. The movie and the music sound options are more than adequate.

It tilts beautifully, the remote works my blu-ray. Our laptop is permanently hooked to the TV and we have a wireless keyboard, it was a little tricky figuring out the right view options but once we figure it out, we're in heaven. Movie theaters have nothing on this home theater experience. We're actually thinking of getting a old fashion popcorn maker.

Pilot delivered her TV and set it up quite quickly, they didn't tweak the picture or anything, but girlfriend calibrated the TV with cnet's options.

All and all it made my girlfriend very happy, for her bday and I'm just as happy if not happier cause she's hard to please, but every one of our guy friends who have also bought recent TVs like the Panasonic etc, and then they come here and they're really impressed.

Also the internet options on the tv are pretty kewl. Netflix and Vudu. definitely rock. We have an entire instant watch library set up on Netflix for movies and tv shows at our finger tips.

Only drawback... Now we might have to figure out how NOT to become couch potatoes.

I'm in love. Researched new TV's like I was studying for an exam. And this model is what I came up with out of reading everything that was out there, and talking to every techy person or high end TV store rep. I didn't want a 3D tv, but I wanted all the bells and whistles. My main concerns was buzzing cause I saw a lot of people talk about buzzing. Well after talking to quite a few high-end stores and specialty home theater stores, all calmed my fear down in saying that TVs only buzz in high altitude locations. I got my TV, I do not live in a high altitude location and NO buzzing what so ever. My tv is on right now, with no volume and no sounds or buzzing what so ever. So if you're worried about buzzing find out if you're in a high altitude location and find TVs suitable for your location.

The other thing I was worried about because of reviews was poor sound. I was fine with getting a soundbar but once I got the TV, I can't imagine needing anything additional sound systems without annoying and disrespecting everyone around me. The sound is great. I have watched lots of shows and movies in the last 2 months and never had a thought that I needed better sound.

Now for the picture... AMAZING!

I wanted a tv that would look amazing at any picture level. 480, 720 or 1080. And this TV does. I do not pay for cable or HD sucker cable. Basically TV looks amazing, and sharp, and every show I watch through my laptop connection (I have a macbook) looks amazing as well. I free stream movies and they look amazing. Old DVDs in my Samsung 6500 blu-ray looks like I'm watching them for the first time. Movies that I have seen in theaters, looks way better than what they can deliver on screen. I'm blown away with the crispness. At times people and myself feels like it looks 3D almost even though it's not.

The black or dark scenes looks amazing as well. The amount of details that this TV shows in the dark scenes is crazy. Our friend bought the Panasonic Viera series and their dark scenes looks like a washed out black spot on the screen. There is no details not contrast what so ever, you just see a black void. This TV, shows you great contrast, and true blacks with details.

It tilts very far in both directions so I can watch from any room, especially as far as my kitchen, and the remotes from my kitchen, which is pretty far and not exactly a straight line of site, but the remote works.

The remotes works my blu-ray, but I wish the remote light button, would keep the remote lights on once you press it. The remote light button, turns the remote light option on. But you still have to press a dark button to get the light to turn on, which seems quite silly. I need the remote light to KNOW and SEE which button I want to press. Grrrr ok that's a little annoying. LOL

The internet options are a kewl feature, cant wait until there are more options available. The the netflix, vudu, and youtube seems to be serving us quite well.

All and all, a bright, true color, true skin tone, great sound, crisp, sharp, virtually 3d picture that I'm more than happy with.

I bought through Amazon, and thought the price was a great value for what I got. Pilot delivered and set it up, though when I bought the TV, It states, if you buy it now, it will be delivered on this date. But Pilot was not able to deliver it on the date Amazon had advertised it to be. But that wasn't a huge deal for me. When it was delivered, Pilot had it set up in less than 10mins, I calibrated it myself with CNET's info.

Beautiful TV inside and out.

Also, I would like to address a few issues, that others seem to be stating.
- TV Temp... my tv doesn't get hot at all in my opinion. I had a very old 25" picture tube tv before this, and that thing gave off more heat in an hour than this TV does running all day. I have to put my hand within a 1/2 of inch of the TV to feel any warmth. My friend has a 40" LCD tv from 4 years ago that you can feel the heat just walking by the tv. Lastly, and more importantly my electricity bill has gone down a few bucks so far.
- The TV stand is sleek, solid and sturdy. Not sure why people say it's flimsy. It's holding up a 60 lb tv and twirls it with no problems, no shaking no wobbling.
- Image Retention, is not bad at all. Especially if you're slowing breaking in the TV for the first 200 hours like you're suppose to. Meaning, I have lowered my cell light between 10-15 depending if I'm watching a tv show or movie. I try not to pause anything for more than a few minutes so it doesn't stick to the screen. And at the end of the day, I use the scroll feature to remove anything left.

I bought this TV after much searching the internet and in store viewings. Originally I was looking at LCDs but when you compare how much you end up paying to get a decent refresh rate versus this one's 600Hz, I couldn't come close for the money. Also I learned that newer plasmas aren't quite as energy hogging as they use to be and the displays tend to last longer than in the past so once those issues had been addressed I chose to go the plasma route.

Upon reading another one of the reviews that explained the difference between the 6500 and the 5500, I chose this one. The TV itself is downright sexy. Very very thin panel so for those wall mount people this is perfect. The base is rather large but provides a solid platform and allows the TV to swivel to the left and right without having to move the whole base. Setup was a cinch, all the inputs are clearly labeled and feel solid. Upon first turn on it ran through some basic setup screens and I was off. I had to manually go in and update the software once connected online but that was easy too.

When I first connected this I had HD cable service and to be honest I was kind of saddened at the quality. Even on the HD channels the quality wasn't that great and I was having to change the aspect ratio or zoom all the time. Then I tried a Bluray and all was 10-fold better. The picture quality is amazing. You can go into the menu to change the picture setting or there is a quick "Tools" button on the remote that brings up a small popup to quickly change between Picture Modes: Dynamic, Relax, Movie, Standard. There is a pretty big difference in the settings but the Dynamic mode provides for a ridiculously vibrant screen. I actually had to tone down the brightness just a touch on this setting because the whites were too bright. After a few tweets all was good. After a couple weeks of disgust with picture quality from my TW cable provider, I switched to Dish and the difference has floored me. The HD channel quality is like watching a Bluray all the time. There are even times when the display looks like watching a LED TV. The other plus is not having to change the aspect and zoom all the time.

Audio quality on this set is also out of this world. There are a good amount of settings you can mess with but honestly I just left those alone because sounds great right out of the box. It can also get very loud. I rarely ever go over 25% and that's if I am listening to Pandora through its internet app and I am in another room. The speakers are on the back so you will want to make sure there is adequate space around it for the sound to reverb out.

The only negative comment I will note but is not worth docking it a star is that there is minor pixel retention for approximately 30 seconds if you stay on a screen for a minute or longer. Say you are cruising the channel guide a little then finally make your selection, you will see the outlines to the guide faintly in the picture but this disappears after about 30 seconds of active screen images. It really is a minor thing compared to all the greatness this TV has to offer at this price.

Lastly I will note the shipping. Amazon promised to deliver within a five day window upon checkout. It arrived on the last day of that window via a third party agent but was still only about a week after I ordered. The driver was somewhat rude over the phone as they were early and I wasn't home yet (threatened to leave if not home in five minutes) but once home the helper was very nice and helped to get the TV inside. The factory box had a small puncture on the face but there is almost 3" of spacing from the box to display so there was no damage to the TV, thankfully.

Overall this is a great TV for a great price. Everyone that I have shown it to has been blown away especially when showing the Dish HD content. My wife loves watching football on it as the colors are so vibrant and there is no lag when panning across stadium seating as you might get on slower refresh rates. I highly recommend this TV, you will not be disappointed.

So far this set is excellent. The blacks are very dark - contrast excellent. See the video for details. There is no cinema smooth. The glass is one panel. The buzzing issue is extremely minimal. There is slight image retention (static image present for over 5 min) that fades very quickly.

Video review in on YouTube here (add [...]

I'm very happy with purchase so far. The tv fits perfectly in my living room and looks great in the space. The picture is very nice and has plenty of white balance settings so that you can tweak it to your desires.

There was a lot of talk about the samsung "buzzing" coming from their tv sets, however my set is perfectly fine. The build is from July and you can only hear an extremely low hum if your room is dead silent and you put your ear up to the center of the screen.

I bought this after viewing the 7000 model (3D version) in Best buy and liked what i saw, but did not care to spend another $500 for 3D support. This TV has the same functions as the 7000 except without 3D, and the bezel is a different finish. I actually think the black levels on the 6500 are a lot nicer than what i saw on the 7000, although that could very well be due to lighting in the show room.

Overall very happy and the white glove shipping service was awesome. Shipping came on time and they setup the TV for me. Free 2 day white glove shipping with amazon prime. YES PLZ.

This TV is amazing, I was in the market for a large plasma, and I compared this side by side with the Panasonic G25. I am amazed at how much better the quality is on this TV than the Panasonic. Samsung did a great job with this TV. The web apps are cool, and work well, even has the Hulu app available. The buzzing is bad at all, and unless you are standing right next to the TV with the sound off you can't hear it. This TV mounts to the wall good, the only issue is you need really short screws; I had to pick some up at Lowes because the ones that came with my mount I purchased were way too long. This TV also has the ability to be controlled using an iPhone app, and that is truly cool.

In summary, I am a very picky person about image quality. I spent 3 weeks shopping for a TV, I looked at everything I could find. In the price range this is a perfect TV.

I loved the TV. It looked fantastic and the price was great. Internet features were so good I rarely went to my home theater PC. The only Issue I had was that I was getting a lot of image retention. I asked some of my other friends with Plasmas and I realized I probably got a bad panel. I did return it and I am most likely going with the Samsung LN55C650. Without the Image Retention on mine it would have easily been a 5 star review, since I cant tell if this is a common issue I had to give it a 3. It didn't bother anyone else in my family, but me.