Customer Reviews

Samsung PN63C550 63-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Black)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Summary:

* Superb deep blacks. Better than any LED LCD TV's.
* Skin colors are very realistic.
* In movie mode, the TV gives off very, very little heat.
* You don't need to have the TV calibrated. I made the adjustments myself and there are tons of user adjustable settings.
* The image is big. We sit about 8' or 9' away from the the TV and the picture is not too big. It's like being in a movie theater.
* The weight has been reduced to 97 pounds. My previous 63" Samsung (which I returned) weighed 75 pounds more.
* The TV can swivel.
* With Blu-Ray and HD content, the picture quality is truly astonishing. I have had the TV for a full year now and I'm still in awe.
* The screen is very shiny. Avoid having any sources of light behind you.

[May, 2011 update: The picture is still awesome. I haven't had to tweak the TV in months. As it turned out, I didn't need the have the TV calibrated and I got my $300 back (it's a long story). The TV image is truly spectacular. I've now had the TV for a full year and I'm still in love. To truly appreciate what this TV can deliver, you have to watch Blu-Ray or HD television.]

[May 20, 2010 update: I've had the TV for several days and the only other change I needed to make to improve the picture quality is to set the darkness level setting to 'darkest'. Unlike my previous LCD TVs, this required just a few tweaks for my own personal preferences. Unless you're going out to the movie theater to see that latest release or want a night out, you'll prefer this TV over what you'll see in a movie theater.]

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My previous brand new Samsung 63" plasma was a dud and I wasn't able to exchange it for the same model since it was out of production. This model came out while I still had time to exchange it from Best Buy within the 45 day window (I know it's normally 30 days) and not have to pay an additional delivery fee. We bought it from a Magnolia store.

By playing around will the cell light (now goes from 1-20 instead of 1-10) and brightness, I'm able to achieve an extremely pleasing color with reasonably good blacks. So much less fussing. The TV has only been on for one day so it's far from being burned in. The default brightness is not maxed out like on previous models.

Having gone from a Samsung 55" LED/LCD TV (very nice TV after days of tweaking but too small for my wife), to a 63" Samsung PN63B550 plasma which was a dud (it couldn't achieve anything close to deep blacks which was confirmed by a tech from the Geek squad), this TV with minimal fussing delivers a nice picture. In a few weeks I'll pay the $300 and get it professionally tuned.

The good news is that the TV is now only 97 pounds versus 145 pounds from the 2009 PN63B550 model. How did they reduce that much weight? The TV still swivels. The PN63B550 had a very slight buzzing sound at the back. I haven't noticed any buzz at all with this TV.

The screen is very shiny and if you have any windows or light sources in the background, you'll find it very annoying. We keep one dim light on off to the far side so we don't have any glare problems.

The heat output seems to be the same as the PN63B550 model and despite everything I've heard and read, this TV gives off far less heat than a 2008 52" LCD TV or the Samsung 55" LED/LCD TV. The screen is relatively cool to the touch and the back of the TV gives off only a moderate amount of heat -- when I put my hand in the back of the TV I can feel slight warmth. However, we run our TV at night with the brightness set fairly low.

Unlike the PN63B550, this model is viewable from extreme angles. The PN63B550 was very fuzzy when viewed on angles. I saw this with the same TV at the showroom so I know it wasn't just my TV.

The bad news is that the remote is positively awful. All the buttons are now dead flat and while I could easily navigate the previous control by touch alone I now find it's a hassle. I'll have to transfer the control to my universal remote. It also seems with each new model that you have to more carefully direct the control to the TV sensor. If this keeps up, I'll have to place a sniper scope on top of the remote control. The good news is that we rarely need the remote.

As with other higher end Samsung models, this TV has all of the user menu settings (advanced settings, cell light control, etc.)

The TV comes in an incredibly huge box. While I normally save all of my boxes, this box is almost as big as a Smart Car and I didn't want to use that much storage space.

The TV with high def output (e.g. Blu-Ray) is astonishing. I can't comment on the sound quality since we use external speakers.

Aside from the crappy remote, I can't think of a single negative aspect of the TV itself. I think you'll love this TV.

[tags: samsung,plasma,63,hdtv,panasonic,1080p,plasma tv, samsung plasma, panasonic plasma]

We had to have four shipped before one finally arrived undamaged. The first two had serious cracks, looked like they were caused by the box being dropped. The 3rd one was delivered by the same people who had delivered the first two. They didn't even unload this one. They had me look at it in the truck. There was a hole in the box that appeared, in size, to be from a fork lift. I was able to stick my hand into the hole and feel the cracked screen. Finally, the 4th arrived in mint condition and it's awesome. I order my first on 8/7. The 4th arrived on 8/27. The Samsung packaging is excellent and it seems to me the box would need to be seriously abused to damage the television? Don't understand how Amazon could be making much of a profit on these systems if they need to ship four to get one undamaged to the customer. I did have some problems with Amazon customer service regarding a delay in crediting my account for one of the TV's but after a total of a couple of hours on the phone everything was straightened out.

We're glad we hung in there, after two it was tough... but my wife said let's just drain their stock till we get a good one... only took 2 more tries.

We had been looking for a TV to replace the '08 Samsung LN52A650 52" LCD which is a great TV that does everything exceptionally well *except* sports where there is noticeable blurring. Since plasmas have a 600 Hz refresh rate compared to 240HZ for the best LED/LCDs, we decided to go back to plasma.

I checked out some reviews and narrowed it down to about 10 TVs in the 60-65" range and went to BB to look at them. They had the PN58C550 on display and it looked fantastic. I asked two different salesman what they thought of it. One said Samsung made the best plasmas and that plasmas offered the most realistic color. A different salesman said he just bought the PN63C550 and loved it. I asked him why and he said he'd been in the business for 17 years and he thought this was the best TV out there for the price.

I checked Consumer Reports and they rate the PN63C550 (along with the LG Infinia 60PK950) as the #1 TV of all plasmas and LED/LCDs with a score of 81. With that, we ordered it on a Fri and it was delivered the following Wed. The CEVA delivery was as promised. The box is huge as another reviewer said.

The picture is stunning right out of the box with no blurring during sports. The picture with a blu-ray player is equally impressive. I tried about 5 different blu-ray movies through it and can't see any difference between this TV and our '08 LCD with blu-ray (which is a good thing). After watching about 8 hours of football on Sunday on this TV, it was barely warm on the front and at the vents in back...I would estimate 90 degrees. There is no buzzing at all on this TV, even with the volume muted and standing inches away from it. Standard def picture seems about the same as other HDTVs, nothing special.

Overall, I highly recommend this TV and would buy it again. I've also included a picture of the TV in the Customer Images section entitled "Picture with DirecTV."

Pros:
Fantastic picture
Light weight for a plasma (98 lbs with stand).
Price
TV swivels on stand


Cons:
TV sound is a little tinny

Yes, I absolutely love this TV! I've had numerous LCD TV's, and evenlast year's Samsung 63" PN63B550. Since I have very few windows nearby to cause glare on the shinny screen I went with another Plasma for my family room. This PN63C550 TV was actually the warranty replacement for my PN63B550, which buzzed so much from day one to day 60 when it left the house that I could hear it will sitting 10' feet away watching the TV and normal volume. I did an on-line service ticket with Samsung, they sent a tech, the tech thought it the buzzing was a just a little loud. He actually called Samsung a day later and without any asking or begging, Samsung sent me a replacement TV, this PN63C550. It is almost silent due to better insulation used and it much lighter. It is a thing of beauty and doesn't blur like all LCD TVs I've either owned or looked at in a showroom. There's no on-screen / on-line features, but my Samgsung Blu-Ray player and Nintendo Wii give me those features. Because the Blu-Ray and TV have "Anynet+", a real plus is that feature's automatic turning on of the Blu-Ray and setting the input to Blu-Ray. No regrets here!

This TV is perfect except for the buzzing sound. It is comparable to say maybe a bug zapper hum. Its not the speakers. Its not the normal operation. Its not a bad power supply. Its just a highly annoying buzzing that comes directly at the viewer. Its weird i cant really hear it if i move off to the side but when i go back and sit to watch its kinda all i can hear(i am about 12 feet away) And since i know its there i focus in on it and it just becomes louder driving me crazy. It is not as noticeable when the volume is increased above say 5, which is fine and dandy for movie time etc. but when the kids are in bed and its time to be quiet its not working out for me at all. For the price this tv should be flawless. I am in the process of returning it.
******update*****1/26/2011 - Received 2nd set got it going and this one also has a static buzzing noise. This noise one is not as directional and doesnt seem to overwhelm me. I guess im going to keep this one just due to the hassle of returning it. I plan on putting in in my game room / man cave whenever its done so this one should work out.
******update 2****2/2/2011 - Its has to be returned! I cant put up with it. Its making me insane. Trying to watch tv 10:30pm volume on 6 (which is kinda loud) and still hearing this hum, had to turn off the show till day time so i can up the volume. What a total disappointment.

The picture on this tv is very nice and I would love to keep it but I am going to return it because there is a noticable static noise coming from the screen. I'm not sure what is causing it but it's enough to bug me. Everything else about the tv seems pretty good though.

WOW! This is one great looking television. I'm using this as a monitor on a system that has a few televisions and this simply displays video via an HDMI connection. It is installed on the wall and, with no accompanying cable box, has a very clean look. This unit does not have the Samsung apps, but since I'm using an HDMI connection, I'll eventually get a Samsung Blue Ray player that offers some of those widgets. I am also using an HDMI switch and allows me to switch several inputs (Xbox 360, Blue Ray, Comcast, Roku) and I'll occasionally watch other sources on it through the switch. I've only had this unit for about a week and have not had much time in front of it, but the picture is really great and the exterior looks great.

Very pleased with the VERY speedy delivery by Amazon (via Pilot Freight) - the delivery company called and scheduled a date and didn't have a problem keeping the item in their warehouse for a few weeks until I was ready for it. The delivery team brought it in the house and took it down to the basement with no problems at all.

I bought a Samsung C7000 3D television at the same time - other than the 3D part, the image quality on both of these sets is very similar for the non-videophile type guy. I can't tell the difference - they both look awesome.

danbrew :)

This is a great TV. It actually took me 4 deliveries before I received one that was not damaged. Amazon was not the most helpful with sending out a new one and one rep tried to talk me out of ordering another one. I was glad I stuck with it. HD Picture is excellent. I was a little worried about reflection since I was putting it in a room with a lot of windows, but no issues. Based on some of the info I was thinking it would go onto the internet, but it does not. It will connect with the internet to update, but not for surfing or going to any outside site. I added a Blue ray player to go with it and it will go on the internet. I also added the Samsung soundbar which is great for the base, but TV actually sounds pretty good without an extra speaker. I sit about 15 feet from the picture and I can honestly say I would not go any smaller. It is nice because you can view from the other side of the room which is about 40 feet away. Happy I chose Plasma and happy it was Samsung. I really like the look of the TV. It is clean and the frame around the TV is pretty limited.

I have to say this TV looks absolutely amazing. I know these flatscreens arent known for their audio and are meant to be hooked into a home theatre but the sound that comes from this set is absolutely terrible. I have a wife and kids who dont like to turn on the receiver and mess with changing inputs and would just like to watch TV. The audiothat comes from this set makes it impossible to listen to!

I upgraded from a 50" Panasonic plasma HDTV to the Samsung PN63C550 63-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV. The Panasonic was great but the 63" Samsung has almost 60% more viewing area and an incredible picture. If you are looking for a great TV and enjoy sports or movies, you will be very happy with this TV. I considered purchasing the 3D version but the lack of available 3D content, and the required wearing of the goofy 3D glasses, sealed the deal on the Samsung PN63C550.
Viewing sports or movies on the Samsung PN63C550 is awesome.