Samsung PN50A550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

Great picture, easy install, and phenomenal price, the PN50A550 is a heckuva set for the price!

Fantastic picture, unmatched for the price. As with many Plasma TV's, screen reflectivity is a problem. If Samsung uses a coating to minimise reflections it sure does not work very well. This can be a real concern if you watch tv with lights on especially if it is a lamp by you because you can surely see it. The set is a real power hog according to some review sites, a concern for some. Incredible picture great menu structure. Also it takes a long time to turn on, I'm talking about 10 seconds here. Another minor annoyance is the delay of a couple of seconds when changing channels, I want fast channel changing.

Purchased this set in July 2008 and already have a problem with this set. Have sound only and lost the picture. Service tech has replaced part he thought was cause of the problem and after he left my home the panel went black again.Now I have to wait for his return to replace another panel he feels MIGHT be the problem. Also this set throws a lot of heat. Enough to heat a room. Take my advice stay away from plasma and for a few dollars more buy LCD

First expereince with Amazon, good service and will use again. Love the TV, first experience with large screen and plasma. Unfortunately our cable is Verizon FIOS which seems to have trouble with either Samsung TVs or HDMI - still trying to work out TV not being able to find signal. When we call Verizon it is a Samsung issue when we call Samsung it is a Verizon issue. I am leaning towards the Verizon issue because it seems to be the DVR box causing the problems. Doing alot of internet/blog research so hopefully I will be able to resolve issue.

Due to the frustration of losing the signal at any time and needing to reset DVR I can only rate the product a 3 star. My recommendation is that if you have Verizon FIOS and cannot get out of the contract, do not plan on using HDMI.

I've had the Samsung PN50A550 for about a month now and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. First of all, I was looking into the Panasonic TH-46PZ80U 46-inch plasma purely based on recommendation from a family member that just got a Panasonic Viera and raved about the price and the picture. I also looked at Consumer Reports and it had good reviews. I was dead set on buying the Panasonic and decided to just go to a showroom and compare the picture myself before I bought it. My wife and I quickly realized that the picture was not as impressive as some of the other TVs, including the Samsung PN50A550. We even played with the Panasonic's picture settings, but could not get it to look as good as other displays. So, discouraged that I now needed to do more research, I checked Consumer Reports again and see how the Samsung PN50A550 ranked...I was dumbfounded when I saw that the PN50A550 was rated the best overall score and picture quality tested by Consumer Reports for plasmas in the 50-inch category. How did I miss this?! So I went back to the showroom, and sure enough, I was sold. The picture was incredible! I even changed the settings to match the 50A650 (the one with the "Touch of Color" feature), and could not tell the difference between the two that were both playing the same football game, side-by-side. The next step was the price...the cheapest I was able to find at the CC's, BB's and other more regional showrooms was in the $1600 - $1700 range, before taxes and shipping. Amazon by far had the best price when I ordered, $1550, no tax and "white glove" shipping was included.

There was another electronics house selling the same TV through Amazon for $50 less, but I had read lots of unsettling reviews about post-ordering-pressure-tactics and poor shipping from some of the other non-Amazon houses. Let me tell you, Amazon went through CEVA for delivery and they were great! It was all worth the extra $50 to avoid the aggravation and have some peace of mind. Amazon estimated 2 weeks for me to receive the TV, which I was ok with since I wasn't in a hurry...CEVA had it at my door in one week, exactly when the CEVA tracking site said it would be there. They even called ahead of time to schedule the exact time of delivery, which was a nice surprise since I didn't know if they were just going to leave a tag on the door if I wasn't there at 2 in the afternoon. The TV was delivered in perfect condition and the delivery guys went right to work getting it out of the box, set up on the stand and hooked up to verify it worked properly.

Overall, I highly recommend this Plasma television. Great in a big room where it's kiddie-cornered for viewing from a large L-shaped couch as the picture is perfect from most any angle. No glare issues either! I also highly recommend going through Amazon directly.

Thanks Amazon!