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Samsung PN58B560 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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The B560 is an interesting animal in it carries all of the higher-end features that the 8 series carries at a lesser cost (TOC, CinemaSmooth, etc). It is in fact one of Samsung's best plasmas despite being a 5 series. The "B Series" Samsung plasmas are without doubt the best plasmas on the market. In a world consumed by LCDs and their over saturated, unrealistic brightness and color, plasmas just don't look as bright and noticeable on the showroom floor. The irony about this is that once you get any display home, inclduing a plasma, you'll have to turn the brightness down to achieve any realistic color space. It's a known fact that manufacturers create special default profiles that blow colors out of proportion which attracts the "dumb consumer". It's a shame that plasmas haven't done as well as LCDs as of late, but the B series plasmas are pound for pound the best TVs out there, and the B560 is the pinnacle of that value.
Don't get caught up in super-saturated colors and brightness levels. Black levels and realistic natural colors are what really matters, and plasma is still the best technology for that. Additionally, the off-angle viewing of plasmas is in a league of its own.
The motion is so natural, the colors are accurate, the black levels can't be beat. It's absolutely great. The power usage is significantly less than other plasmas including the "A series" Samsung plasmas. However, LCDs are still less power and heat consuming (the only negative of this TV compared to an LCD). That aside, you'd have to spend nearly twice as much for a comparable LED-based LCD display that still may not hold its own when it comes to naturalness and color space accuracy.
I consider myself an AV expert, and I work for a company that produces Blu-ray devices (no I don't work for Samsung, I work for a Japanese company actually) and this was the TV my hard earned money was spent on. I recommend it whole-heartedly, and I truly hope Samsung continues to produce plasmas as they've got a true winner in the "B Series" lineup, the B560 being my favorite of their line card.
The only thing you will be disappointed in is this: once you experience high-def 58" TV, you will really think that the standard def that is still the standard on most TV stations really looks bad. I understand that you can tweak this and make it better, but I haven't had the time or interest, since I don't watch much TV, the little I do watch is usually available in high-def and I bought this rig to watch high def sports and movies (both of which it excells at).
One tip: Samsung makes an amazing line of Blu Ray players that link automatically to the TV and really work great. They do such a great job of upconverting standard DVDs to 1080 high def that it is really hard to tell if you have a blu ray or a DVD in the player. I really like my "all Samsung" system--it really coordinates nicely and you can actually download all the movies you want from NetFlix for $9.95 per month (although the quality is somewhere between standard def TV and DVD--good enough, but not great--I understand that this is a NetFlix issue and they are working on it, and that my Samsung equipment will display the better quality when it becomes available).
I tortured myself for months, researching everything available, reading hours worth of blogs and threads, etc. Finally pulled the trigger on this one and got it from Amazon for an amazing price, including delivery, no sales tax. About $600 less than the big box store, when you take into account delivery charges and sales tax. Delivery was great, picture is great, energy consumption is pretty low (check it out on Crutchfield if you don't believe me) and the heat level is low for a plasma.
A word about "buzzing." If you read all the blogs, and this information is gleaned from about 30 hours of blog and thread following, it becomes apparent that about 5-10% of the sets sold have a very loud, annoying, buzzing problem--this is not due to extra sensitivity on the part of buyers, it is a real problem. This is actually a low percentage, other sets from Samsung and other makers have a higher percentage, it is a plasma issue, and the 58B560 is better than most. It is also apparent that there is absolutely nothing you can do if you get a "buzzer." People report that they call Samsung on the warranty, and Samsung does all kinds of things, including replacing the panel, and nothing ever works. The only real fix is that you should simply keep the box, and if you get a buzzer (you will find out right away--all of the reports indicate that a set either buzzes in the first week, or doesn't buzz at all) call Amazon and be persistant until they agree to exchange the unit. There is no other fix. That is why you want to buy from Amazon. In my case, I waited until Amazon itself had the better price to buy the unit (rather than one of its affiliates) since I was totally paranoid about the buzzing issue and I know that Amazon itself is easier to deal with than anyone else.
People say that the rate of buzzing increases with altitude in plasmas and that you should not even buy one if you live at altitude. It appears that this is not the case with the 58B560, a set may or may not buzz, but it appears that this is strictly related to which set you get and not your altitude. I live at 5,650 feet and mine is absolutely free of buzz.
Therefore, be aware of the situation, but don't let it discourage you from buying this excellent TV, just be sure to buy your set from Amazon or another retailer that guarantees that you can return a "buzzer" and be sure to keep your box and all packing material for at least a few weeks.
Finally, although my TV does not "buzz" it does make a "TV sound," about the same at the six year old 36" Sony Trinitron it replaced. All plasmas make this TV sound, they are not silent. If you want silent, get a LED TV, but it will cost more and the picture won't be as good. I can't even hear my TV sound if I am 5 feet away, and can't hear it at all unless the TV is on mute.
Five stars and two thumbs up on this TV.
The "white glove" Pilot delivery was great. I had a 12-5pm delivery window and they showed up at about 1:30, can't complain about that. They carried it to the basement and set it up in about 5 mins. The set comes with the stand already fully assembled, so all they had to do was take it out of the box and set it on my table. I would definitely order another TV this way, it was very low effort on my part.
So far, the TV has exceeded expectations and the hours I spent fretting over which TV to buy seem to have paid off. If I run into problems down the road I will update the review.
Now the story. I bought this TV to replace a 52" Samsung LCD television I had in the living room. I was very happy with the LCD, but when it was 18 months old it developed a block of dead pixels about dead center of the screen. The LCD was out of warranty, so I moved it to the bedroom and replaced it with this plasma.
I decided to call Samsung customer service just to see if there was anything they could do about the dead pixels. I was transferred to Executive Customer Care and told to send by email a copy of my receipt, the SN, and picture of the screen. About 2 hours later a rep called to make an appointment to come look at the television. A week later a service man came to my house and replaced the LCD panel, no charge for parts or labor. They did it at my house and it took about an hour. That is great customer service.
As it turned out I didn't need to buy this plasma, but I am still glad I did. The extra six inches make a huge difference watching movies. And the picture blows the LCD out of the water. The colors are more realistic and the movement just seems smoother and more natural. I still like the LCD, and 52 inches in the bedroom is nice, but for now I think plasma is the picture to beat. And Samsung has certainly earned my loyalty.
BOTTOM LINE: I love it, but wish I'd gone ahead and gotten the 63" model instead of the 58" - maybe next time!
The picture is flawless. DirecTV has a very detailed picture on many of the cable channels (National Geographic, A&E, etc.), but my local channels on DirecTV are not quite as good as they are directly off the air.
My only complaint is the inherent heat output of the plasma display. If you have marginal air conditioning, you will not like the noticeable heat being put into the room. It will be a plus in the winter time.
Delivery by Pilot was on-time. The TV was ordered on a Friday evening and it was delivered the next Thursday within the window given by Pilot. Although the box was clearly marked with two labels that the TV was to be handled by two people, Pilot showed up with one person. He unloaded the box from the truck and dragged it into my house. He and I had to lift my 76 lb old DLP TV off the component cabinet and then lift the new 100 lb TV onto it. I am 74 years old with back problems and I did not appreciate Pilot showing up with one person.
That bad taste was quickly replaced by the enjoyment of watching the 560. It is a BIG screen and dominates the corner of my room, but is just the right size for me, viewing from about 12 to 14 feet away. It makes for an awesome viewing experience! I don't think one can go wrong buying this TV.
First impressions. TV screen is huge. The TV itself is fairly thin and weights just under 100 lbs. Although it might be obvious, don't buy this TV if you are going to be watching it from few feet away. Too close to the TV and regular cable will look fuzzy since the low resolution is magnified to a 58 inch screen. Amazing picture quality with Blu-ray without any optimization. Regular DVD and HD cable have an excellent picture as well. We are viewing it from about 12-14 feet which i think is optimal. No motion blur with action sequences.
There isn't too much glare appreciable even a sunny room in our house. The viewing angles are excellent which is one of the reasons we choose plasma over LCD.
The audio speakers are okay to good but you are better off with a surround sound system if you have it. The TV does have a faint buzzing sound that you can hear if you turn off the volume. It isn't annoying and I believe it goes away as the TV warms up.
Overall, a great TV for a reasonable price ($2099 is the lowest recently offered.) If you are looking for a large plasma, check it out.
It would be nice if the TV set had a "custom" setting instead of having to change of the standards. To that end , I don't care for the "Movie" setting at all.
Would buy the set again in a heart beat. I agree with all the other reviews, no need to repeat them.
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