Thursday, July 3, 2008

Samsung PN50A550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

Samsung PN50A550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
From Samsung

50" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio)
* high-gloss black finish
* built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC)
tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts
(antenna required)
* built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives
unscrambled programs without a set-top box
(cable service required)
* 1920 x 1080 pixels
* 30,000:1 contrast ratio (1,000,000:1 dynamic) * 175°(H) x 175°(V) viewing angle

Product Details

Features

  • 1080P HD Resolution
  • 30,000:1 Contrast Ratio / 1,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
  • 3 HDMI Inputs
  • Filter Bright Anti Reflective Technology
  • 3D Ready for 3D gaming
Customer Reviews

Highly disappointed with CEVA delivery system2
I haven't yet received my TV, so this review doesn't really reflect on its quality. I hope to write on that once I get it. When I made the purchase 11 days ago (June 16th), the promised delivery time was 3-5 days.
I made the purchase hoping to get delivery by Friday with the plan to start watching the important games of Euro cup and start early on Wimbledon.
First Thursday, then Friday, and finally Saturday came and went and there was no sign of my TV on this website's tracking system.

This was all I was seeing twice a day:
Date Time Location Event Details
June 19, 2008 06:04:15 AM San Francisco CA US Arrival Scan
June 17, 2008 04:00:00 PM Reno NV US Shipment received by carrier

The Euro was gone and I was on track to lose the first round of Wimbledon too. I get an email on the 25th to contact CEVA for delivery from some [...] address, and it lands in my Junk folder as expected. I see it by the end of the day and call the number at a bit past 6 PM and it goes strainght to a voicemail.
Work requires me to be in important meetings sometimes pretty much from 9 to 5, so I don't leave a voice mail.
I called the next evening a bit before 6 PM to catch someone on the phone for to schedule delivery for Saturday.
The biggest shocker came when the guy picks up and tells me "the truck comes to your town only from Monday to Friday between 10 AM and 6 PM". Worse still "you be home eaither from 10 to 2 or 2 to 6 to receive the delivery.
We can not call you 15 minutes before as we do not provide our drivers with cell phones".
How convenient? I live in the middle of Silicon Valley in CA, and that's the worst delivery schedule I've ever heard of (apart from the cable and electricity guys of course).
By now I was almost losing myself as there is no way I can skip work for half a day to get my television.
I would never go to a local store to buy a television for half a day on a weekday. But do I really have a choice now? Probably not! I tell him I will call back when I arrange a backup for myself at work. I call him in 30 minutes but it's past 6 and I leave a voicemail to have my TV delivered on 27th between 10 and 2 (that's today BTW).
WHen I call them again in the morning around 8:30 AM they said TOO LATE! The trucks have left for the day, call us one day in advance! Voicemails don't count!! IF YOU BOOK NOW WE CAN DELIVER BETWEEN MONDAY AND FRIDAY NEXT WEEK! PERFECT!! Another weekend up in the smoke.

Now I'm walking around wearning a big L on my face for spending almost two grands on AMAZON. What amazes me more is not the lack of service from a bunch of CEVA guys in my town. I wonder if AMAZON ever realizes that their biggest weekness against the local stores is the amount of time it takes people to get the stuff they buy. If they do, why would they pick such a loser delivery company? Is this the only way they could afford to deliver cheap enough to compete? If yes then I will be very scared the next time I make a purchase here.

Maybe some of you wonder why wouldn't I go pick the damn thing from the CEVA place. If I pick it up myself and it is damaged or it doesn't work, I'm on my own. I'm worried looking at their service standards that i will have bigger problems to deal with in that case.

I hope to add more in the next few days! Until then take care and good luck everybody!

Everything I hoped for!5
OK, so like several other reviewers I was a little hesitant about making such a major purchase on Amazon. But after a few good reviews and Amazon's unbeatable price I decided to give it a shot and am very pleased. The TV was delivered exactly one week after I clicked purchase and was in perfect condition. I understand that CEVA is not required to do anything more than unpack it, but I asked if he could help me install it on the mount and he did. He spent probably 30 minutes helping me unpack, remove the TV stand, and mount the TV. Then he asked me to hook it up, turn it on and verify that the picture, sound, and remote all worked. I was completely satisfied. Also, the price has already dropped and Amazon issued me a credit so I can verify the price match guarantee works!

Yeah, the TV is awesome, too. I upgraded from a standard def tube TV so maybe anything would look awesome to me, but I did plenty of research online and standing in front of the Wall 'O TVs at retailers before I made this purchase and I think the TV looks even better in my house than it did in the stores.

My main concern/paranoia (other than buying it online) was image retention (IR) or burn-in but from everything I've read burn-in is something of the past and IR is temporary. So I decided to turn down the brightness and contrast a little but opted not to use a break-in DVD or anything like that. I'm still careful to watch as much as I can at full screen rather than letterbox but only once was I able to see a dark line on the all-white screen where a scoreboard was. My girlfriend never saw it and thought I was crazy and the next time I checked the all-white screen it was gone. So, I feel much better about this now.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with this purchase and everytime I look at my puny 36" tube I wonder how I even survived . . .

Just simply fantastic5
I'm not a TV expert. I bought this TV because it has many good reviews and I am
very happy with this purchase so far.
I only want to emphasize that my purchase from Amazon has been very pleasant.
My delivery was slightly faster than estimated. It was part of the deal that they
delivered and set up the TV, let you examine the TV, made sure the TV work
before they left.
If you noticed something wrong with the TV, you could refuse the
shipment.
Amazon is also very good with post price match policy.
I noticed that this TV had
a lower price within 30 days of my purchase, so I let the customer service know
and they gave me the refund of the difference with no hassle. I don't know
any other online retailers who do this !.

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