**Have only had the set for 4 days, still tweaking settings**

TheSamsung PN51E550 51-Inch 1080p 600 Hz 3D Slim Plasma HDTV (Black)

I purchased this set after returning an LG LED 47 inch Cinema 3D set, the problem I had with the LG set was the sports and HD in general looked really washed out and messy; after several days of tweaking the settings nothing seemed to help. I then stopped researching LED’s and jumped to researching new model Plasma’s. I’m an owner of an older Panasonic 720P 50 inch plasma that I purchased from Fry’s for less than $600 like 4-5 years ago and I felt it was time to upgrade. After researching the options within my budget the Samsung appealed to me because of the 600hz motion drive (sports in mind) and the Cinema Smooth features for Blu-Ray movies – the 3D and 2 free glasses was a bonus and so I pulled the trigger and went for it.

Shipping:
I had to schedule an appointment with Pilot shipping services and I had to wait about 6-7 days until my set arrived. I was able to get the set 1 day early, called them early morning to see if they had my item and they were able to reschedule to a earlier date. Packaged arrived prefect with no issues whatsoever.

Now for an actual review of some content I have tried on this set so far. My first post was more of a calling out for some help with an issue I noticed when watching Hockey (I will get into it in my review) with the intentions of coming back and updating my review which is what I’m doing now.

HD Sports:
The first thing I tried on this set was the HD Sports – Mainly Basketball and Hockey. I’m currently a TW cable subscriber and using a Motorola cable box that supports 1080i using a “Premium” HDMI cable utilizing the first HDMI slot on the set. The basketball game looked decent but the picture could use tweaking but out of the box it was decent. I noticed some motion blur and some artifacting when the players moved up and down the court. The colors stood out, and they looked very good, not some washed out mess like the previous set I had purchased and returned. The next day, I tested my set with Hockey and here is where I noticed the odd issues with the brightness. The television set has tons of features and options available for the end user to tweak and adjust which I truly love. I made sure that all eco settings, energy saving settings and auto brightness settings were turned off and they were. While watching the hockey game, I noticed that the brightness or the cell lighting of the actual screen would auto brighten and darken when the camera moved up and down the ice following the players. This is something I was not able to fix, I tried everything I could think of and finally contacted Samsung for some help. After talking with Samsung they’re fix was to Factory Reset The Settings….I LOL’d at this and moved on the research and attempt to fix this problem my self (which I have not yet, still researching). One thing I did notice is the preset I’m currently using “Standard” has the energy star logo next it which is leading me to believe that the preset might force energy saving features even though I have set them to off. Overall the Sports look great, the set may require some tweaking depending on your setup but out of the box, the picture quality for HD programming is very nice.

Blu-Ray viewing PS3 using HDMI:
As soon as I got my TV, the setup was a breeze, since all of my components are using HDMI, it was really easy to get everything connected but I ran into some problems with my PS3 picture to actually show up on the screen. At first I was using the third HDMI slot on the set, while my Xbox 360 was using the second. The set would recognize my PS3 and it would show up in the source list but the picture was not coming on. After resetting my PS3 video setting by simply holding down the power button for 5-7 seconds – it still would not come on. I started to get nervous, I went online but did not find many answers, maybe a few posts about it but it all went back to resetting your PS3 video settings which didn’t work for me. I refreshed the source list using the tools button and the UI and still nothing. I shut the television off and the PS3, unplugged the HDMI from the set and replaced it to the second slot and move my Xbox to the third slot, turned the PS3 on and my TV and bang it recognized it. Not sure what the problem was but moving it to the second + resetting the ps3 worked like a charm.

Now came the time to test movies, mainly blu-rays. I tested a range of movies that I have in my collection – Star Wars, Scott Pilgrim and Batman (to name a few). Out of the box, with zero tweaking, I was not really impressed but I knew that I can really get the picture quality and a higher level with all…

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http://www.saveshopping.net/2012/08/01/samsung-pn64e550-64-inch-1080p-600hz-3d-slim-plasma-hdtv-black/#comment-630 KAC Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:48:37 +0000 http://www.saveshopping.net/2012/08/01/samsung-pn64e550-64-inch-1080p-600hz-3d-slim-plasma-hdtv-black/#comment-630 <div style="margin-left:0.5em;"> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> 59 of 60 people found the following review helpful </div> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> <span style="margin-left: -5px;"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-5-0._V192240867_.gif" width="64" alt="5.0 out of 5 stars" title="5.0 out of 5 stars" height="12" border="0"/></span> <b>Very pleased with this TV</b>, <nobr>March 25, 2012</nobr></div> <div style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> <div><div style="float:left;">By </div><div style="float:left;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1Y8YD9QHQSFV/ref=cm_cr_if_pdp/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&tag=saveshoppingnet-20&linkCode=xm2" target="_top"><span style="font-weight: bold;">KAC</span></a> (Media, PA United States) - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1Y8YD9QHQSFV/ref=cm_cr_if_auth_rev/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&tag=saveshoppingnet-20&linkCode=xm2&sort_by=MostRecentReview" target="_top"></a></div></div><div style="clear:both;"/> </div> <div class="tiny" style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> <span class="crVerifiedStripe"><b class="h3color tiny" style="margin-right: 0.5em;">Amazon Verified Purchase</b><span class="tiny verifyWhatsThis">(<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-help/amazon-verified-purchase/186-7432959-5021743" target="AmazonHelp" onclick="amz_js_PopWin('http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-help/amazon-verified-purchase/186-7432959-5021743', 'AmazonHelp', 'width=400,height=500,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,toolbar=0,status=1');return false; ">What's this?</a>)</span></span> </div> <div class="tiny" style="margin-bottom:0.5em;"> <b><span class="h3color tiny">This review is from: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-PN51E550-51-Inch-1080p-Plasma/dp/B007BG47IW/ref=cm_cr_if_orig_subj/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&tag=saveshoppingnet-20&linkCode=xm2" target="_top">Samsung PN51E550 51-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Slim Plasma HDTV (Black) (Electronics)</a></b> </div> I am very pleased so far with this TV. I have bought several large flat panel TVs over the last few years and this one I am really pleased. I have been pleased with Samsung in general and only buy Samsung now for displays/TVs at this point (have 4 large screen TVs and 5 monitors in my house). As others have mentioned, it is a new model for this year and really packs a ton of features in for the price. I love plasma (over LED and LCD) and was really surprised how the weight has come down. The picture is great. One feature I really wanted to make sure I got was the ethernet input because with more and more stuff moving to internet, I felt it would be a good idea to have. I am finishing a basement and have the opportunity to run the ethernet right to where i will put this tv. Don't get me wrong, the built in WIFI works perfectly too, I just wanted to have this option too and many other models don't have this. One thing I was not aware of is that it doesn't have a VGA input. I was planning on using that to hook up a computer. For me its not a big deal as I can use HDMI, but thought I would mention as I didn't notice that before ordering. Overall I think this is a great TV and a great deal - would definitely recommend and I am seriously considering buying another one for another room (yes, I have been told I have a problem with buying too many TVs).<br/><br/>UPDATE (4/15/12) - After several days of usage, I noticed a buzzing sound when sitting in just the right (or wrong depending on how you look at it) place. Sitting directly in front and about 8 feet away I noticed a pretty load buzzing sound. If I moved closer or to the side I did not really notice it. (I couldn't really try moving back based on the way the room is where I had it). I actually wasn't sure what it was at first and I turned everything down and could still here it. I then traced it to the back of the TV and sure enough I could tell it was coming from the TV. I took the TV back because of this - I am not willing to live with that. I really like the TV and its features otherwise, so I ordered another one and am awaiting delivery from Amazon tomorrow. I did some research and it seems this "buzzing" issue has been experienced by other people on a variety of Samsung plasmas, but I'm hoping its just luck of the draw and I get one that doesn't do it this next time. I have two other Samsung plasmas in my house already (older models) and have never had any issues. I'll post an update when I find out if this new one does the same thing.<br/><br/>UPDATE (5/5/12) - So I received the new TV from Amazon and it works perfectly. No buzzing sound with this one. So I'm back to being very pleased. As I mentioned in my initial post, I was seriously considering purchasing another one and in fact I just placed that order tonight. Here's hoping I get one without the buzzing issue again because its really a great TV for the money. <div style="padding-top: 10px; clear: both; width: 100%;"> <div style="float:left; padding-right:15px; border-right:1px solid #CCCCCC"><div style="padding-bottom:5px;"><b class="tiny" style="color:#666666;white-space:nowrap;">Help other customers find the most helpful reviews</b> </div><div style="width:300px;"> <a name="R2LK37EWNULOGD.2115.Helpful.Reviews" style="font-size:1px;"> </a><span><span class="votingPrompt">Was this review helpful to you? </span><a rel="nofollow" class="votingButtonReviews" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/voting/cast/Reviews/2115/R2LK37EWNULOGD/Helpful/1/ref=cm_cr_ifvoteyn/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&token=3AE27B554AE5F2F248551AB55479E4EFAAD37B1C&target=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY29tL3Byb2R1Y3QtcmV2aWV3cy9CMDA3Qkc0RjVDL3JlZj1jbV9jcl9pZnZvdGVyZHIvMTg2LTc0MzI5NTktNTAyMTc0Mz9fZW5jb2Rpbmc9VVRGOCZzdW1tYXJ5PTAmYWxpbmtDb2RlPXhtMiZ0YWc9c2F2ZXNob3BwaW5nbmV0LTIwJnY9MiZsaW5rQ29kZT14bTImYXNpbj1CMDA3Qkc0RjVDJnRydW5jYXRlPTUwMDAmYWtpZD1BS0lBSTZHSlpYUENHQ0oySUFVUSZzaWc9Y0t0NVJRUXBCTlpNbGJ2ZnVEUlNLWkdsM0pWJTJGejZUcHZpTnNKbEo0S0JJJTNEJmV4cD0yMDEyLTA4LTAyVDAyJTNBMDUlM0EzOVomYXRhZz1zYXZlc2hvcHBpbmduZXQtMjA&voteAnchorName=R2LK37EWNULOGD.2115.Helpful.Reviews&voteSessionID=186-7432959-5021743"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/reviews/btn-yes-sec-md._V192249951_.gif" width="35" alt="Yes" style="vertical-align:middle;" height="18" border="0"/></a> <a rel="nofollow" class="votingButtonReviews" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/voting/cast/Reviews/2115/R2LK37EWNULOGD/Helpful/-1/ref=cm_cr_ifvoteyn/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&token=C604DD1DB9808A89E6A56304BBC4A45B39D20076&target=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY29tL3Byb2R1Y3QtcmV2aWV3cy9CMDA3Qkc0RjVDL3JlZj1jbV9jcl9pZnZvdGVyZHIvMTg2LTc0MzI5NTktNTAyMTc0Mz9fZW5jb2Rpbmc9VVRGOCZzdW1tYXJ5PTAmYWxpbmtDb2RlPXhtMiZ0YWc9c2F2ZXNob3BwaW5nbmV0LTIwJnY9MiZsaW5rQ29kZT14bTImYXNpbj1CMDA3Qkc0RjVDJnRydW5jYXRlPTUwMDAmYWtpZD1BS0lBSTZHSlpYUENHQ0oySUFVUSZzaWc9Y0t0NVJRUXBCTlpNbGJ2ZnVEUlNLWkdsM0pWJTJGejZUcHZpTnNKbEo0S0JJJTNEJmV4cD0yMDEyLTA4LTAyVDAyJTNBMDUlM0EzOVomYXRhZz1zYXZlc2hvcHBpbmduZXQtMjA&voteAnchorName=R2LK37EWNULOGD.2115.Helpful.Reviews&voteSessionID=186-7432959-5021743"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/reviews/btn-no-sec-md._V192249949_.gif" width="35" alt="No" style="vertical-align:middle;" height="18" border="0"/></a> <span class="votingMessage"/></span> </div></div><div style="float:left;"><div style="padding-left:15px;"><div style="white-space:nowrap;"><span class="tiny"> <a name="R2LK37EWNULOGD.2115.Inappropriate.Reviews" style="font-size:1px;"> </a><span class="reportingButton"><nobr><a rel="nofollow" class="reportingButton" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/voting/cast/Reviews/2115/R2LK37EWNULOGD/Inappropriate/1/ref=cm_cr_ifvoteyn/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&token=18E6F1F2F112AA98542072ABA7C1D7A65764EB12&target=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY29tL3Byb2R1Y3QtcmV2aWV3cy9CMDA3Qkc0RjVDL3JlZj1jbV9jcl9pZnZvdGVyZHIvMTg2LTc0MzI5NTktNTAyMTc0Mz9fZW5jb2Rpbmc9VVRGOCZzdW1tYXJ5PTAmYWxpbmtDb2RlPXhtMiZ0YWc9c2F2ZXNob3BwaW5nbmV0LTIwJnY9MiZsaW5rQ29kZT14bTImYXNpbj1CMDA3Qkc0RjVDJnRydW5jYXRlPTUwMDAmYWtpZD1BS0lBSTZHSlpYUENHQ0oySUFVUSZzaWc9Y0t0NVJRUXBCTlpNbGJ2ZnVEUlNLWkdsM0pWJTJGejZUcHZpTnNKbEo0S0JJJTNEJmV4cD0yMDEyLTA4LTAyVDAyJTNBMDUlM0EzOVomYXRhZz1zYXZlc2hvcHBpbmduZXQtMjA&voteAnchorName=R2LK37EWNULOGD.2115.Inappropriate.Reviews&voteSessionID=186-7432959-5021743"></a></nobr></span> </span> <span style="color:#CCCCCC;">|</span> <span class="tiny"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2LK37EWNULOGD/ref=cm_cr_if_perm/?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B007BG47IW&nodeID=&tag=saveshoppingnet-20&linkCode=xm2" target="_top"></a></span></div><div style="white-space:nowrap;padding-left:-5px;padding-top:5px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2LK37EWNULOGD/ref=cm_cr_if_cmt/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B007BG47IW&nodeID=&tag=saveshoppingnet-20&linkCode=xm2#wasThisHelpful" target="_top"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/comment-sm._V192250344_.gif" width="16" alt="Comment" hspace="3" align="absmiddle" height="16" border="0"/></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R2LK37EWNULOGD/ref=cm_cr_if_cmt/186-7432959-5021743?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B007BG47IW&nodeID=&tag=saveshoppingnet-20&linkCode=xm2#wasThisHelpful" target="_top">Comments (7)</a></div></div></div><div style="clear:both;"/> </div> <br/></div>

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful

Very pleased with this TV, March 25, 2012

By 

KAC (Media, PA United States) –

Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This review is from: Samsung PN51E550 51-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Slim Plasma HDTV (Black) (Electronics)

I am very pleased so far with this TV. I have bought several large flat panel TVs over the last few years and this one I am really pleased. I have been pleased with Samsung in general and only buy Samsung now for displays/TVs at this point (have 4 large screen TVs and 5 monitors in my house). As others have mentioned, it is a new model for this year and really packs a ton of features in for the price. I love plasma (over LED and LCD) and was really surprised how the weight has come down. The picture is great. One feature I really wanted to make sure I got was the ethernet input because with more and more stuff moving to internet, I felt it would be a good idea to have. I am finishing a basement and have the opportunity to run the ethernet right to where i will put this tv. Don’t get me wrong, the built in WIFI works perfectly too, I just wanted to have this option too and many other models don’t have this. One thing I was not aware of is that it doesn’t have a VGA input. I was planning on using that to hook up a computer. For me its not a big deal as I can use HDMI, but thought I would mention as I didn’t notice that before ordering. Overall I think this is a great TV and a great deal – would definitely recommend and I am seriously considering buying another one for another room (yes, I have been told I have a problem with buying too many TVs).

UPDATE (4/15/12) – After several days of usage, I noticed a buzzing sound when sitting in just the right (or wrong depending on how you look at it) place. Sitting directly in front and about 8 feet away I noticed a pretty load buzzing sound. If I moved closer or to the side I did not really notice it. (I couldn’t really try moving back based on the way the room is where I had it). I actually wasn’t sure what it was at first and I turned everything down and could still here it. I then traced it to the back of the TV and sure enough I could tell it was coming from the TV. I took the TV back because of this – I am not willing to live with that. I really like the TV and its features otherwise, so I ordered another one and am awaiting delivery from Amazon tomorrow. I did some research and it seems this “buzzing” issue has been experienced by other people on a variety of Samsung plasmas, but I’m hoping its just luck of the draw and I get one that doesn’t do it this next time. I have two other Samsung plasmas in my house already (older models) and have never had any issues. I’ll post an update when I find out if this new one does the same thing.

UPDATE (5/5/12) – So I received the new TV from Amazon and it works perfectly. No buzzing sound with this one. So I’m back to being very pleased. As I mentioned in my initial post, I was seriously considering purchasing another one and in fact I just placed that order tonight. Here’s hoping I get one without the buzzing issue again because its really a great TV for the money.

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