I had been looking at reading reviews for some pioneer 58 inch televisions for quite some time before I heard about the Samsung PN58A550 plasma television and after hearing about the specs and the price compared to the pioneer ones which were over $4000 I knew that I could wait a couple of weeks for this one to release and get an awesome quality Plasma HDTV while saving tons of cash to invest in a Blu ray player + awesome sound system just from the money I would save from a television that doesn’t even offer much a different quality.
This television really lived up to my expectations which were so high after spending so much time reading first hand reviews and similar $3000+ televisions previews. The Black levels were something to amazed with, the contrast is insane, the design is perfect and really brings my living room to life with its hot and glossy piano black finish with just the tad of color which really is a brilliant touch from Samsung Engineers.
Hooked up to the Playstation 3 and putting a new video game, Gran Turismo 4 prologue I was stunned at the quality and detail this thing can produce, It was incredibly realistic and being such a large HDTV it made me really immerse myself into this next generation driving game.
The next big eye opener is when I put in a new movie into the Blu-Ray player and was blown away with the visual detail on people’s faces and emotions (you can see those wrinkles on the actresses faces that they probably hate high definition + close ups + big screen for) With the new sound system hooked up the 5.1 effect in the newly setup entertainment center has the whole family wanting to watch movies and play music all the time… When it’s late I sometimes don’t turn on the surround sound system and the normal speakers of the Samsung PN58A550 do a great job, especially with a few tweaks and adjustments you can find recommended on the internet.
Cons: Can get quite hot, although not nearly as hot as an old Sony I had, and a buzzing sound is present still when listening to really quietly can be annoying.
Pros: Everything else… Price, performance, design, (sound is decent) Black levels, detail, contrast… everything really… Highly recommended as you would have to pay $1000+ more for a similar quality television a few months ago, leaving you spare change to pick up some nice home entertainment and HD movie / sound / games type of equipment or pocket it and put it back in the kid’s college fund 
Categories: reviews