- Mega Dynamic Contrast
- Anynet+(HDMI CEC)
- PC Input
- ConnectShare Movie
- 600Hz Subfield Motion
Product Description
Get a true cinematic experience without going to the cinema with a Samsung plasma HDTV. This Samsung PN50C450, with Mega Dynamic Contrast Ratio makes sure every frame is saturated with dense, rich color. Samsung is also ENERGY STAR compliant so you are assured that your 50 -inch plasma HDTV is helping the environment by using less enery while saving you money…. More >>
I too am writing this review more based on my experience than on the TV itself. I initially ordered the Samsung B550 from [...] and after a week received that TV. Upon arrival I learned that there was a huge hole in the back side of the box. I opened the box and inspected the front of the TV, which looked fine so I signed for the package and off went delivery boy. Well, once I completely removed the TV from the box I realized I should have check the back (my bad) as there was a dent in it! It looked as though something sharp went through the box (forklift) and into the television. Although the TV seemed to work fine I’m one that would not be satisfied keeping a newly purchased flat screen with a dent in the back. (you know who you are) I immediately called newegg and got the ball rolling on a refund.
In the mean time I noticed the C versions were now available on Amazon, which they were not before. The C450 was priced at $695 for a few days so I snagged that up quick. Wait another week and I finally receive that TV from Amazon. Package is spotless, looks like it just came out of the box making factory. The delivery boy was heading out the door when I stopped him and told him I better open it up and make sure there’s no dents in it. haha (thinking it’s going to be perfect) So we lift the box off and peel back that cool white foamy stuff and oh my goodness, it looked as though Roger Clemens had thrown a fast ball at the upper left corner! Ok, now I’m starting to get a little miffed…. Two week, two Tv’s, two online retailers, two big problems!
So I refuse delivery on this one, obviously, and call Amazon. Go through the transfers and finally get someone on the line who says they can either refund the money, when they get the Tv back, or send me out a new one…..oh wait, I’m sorry sir this TV is now sold out and we don’t know when it will be back in stock, so you’ll have to wait til they are in stock again, unless you want a refund. I say, can you send me out a different model at the same price, and he say’s the only thing they can do is take 10% off of what I paid, $695, and apply that to a different purchase. Well, I need a Samsung to work with my equipment and really this is the one I want, that’s why I ordered it in the first place! So I guess I’ll wait. GEEZ!
So I wait a few days, and a few days more and it’s still not in stock and then I notice Best Buy is selling it at $719. A little more than I paid plus I’ll have to pay tax, which I hate doing, but for a few more bucks I could have an actual working TV, on my wall, projecting cool HD images and I could get it right NOW! So that’s what I did. And guess what, it wasn’t damaged and it works and it looks good and I have it and best of all I don’t have to deal with anymore online retailers!
TV itself looks awesome! Can not tell a difference between the B550 1080p and the C450 720p. My pocket book, however, can definitely tell a difference of about $300.
Morale of the story is, unbox your TV and look at it before the delivery man leaves. And maybe another morale of the story is, don’t buy a Plasma Flat Screen from an online retailer….You may be waiting longer than you expected for that nice Tv and you don’t know what it’s been through on the way to your house.
Thanks for reading and I hope it helps.
Rating: 2 / 5
My review is limited to Amazon/Samsung customer service as I have not yet got to test my product.
I ordered this TV on March 5 , I received the box within 4 days and was delighted to unpack my new plasma. To my horror , I see a ‘used and scratched’ plasma stand in my box. And worse , it wasn’t even the stand for this TV. It was for a 42 inch plasma wrongly put in this box.
Now, I wonder if there is any quality check done on these products at all. Not sure if Samsung or Amazon is to be blamed here.
I called Amazon service who transferred me to some hotline. The rep at the hotline asked me to contact Samsung and said that they could do nothing about this. Now , why would I have to go through troubles of dealing with Samsung customer service on the 1st day of my brand new tv. After arguing with them for a while ,they agreed to replace this television set. (This was on 8th March)
The new one has been shipped out since 9th March and I have yet not received it. I contacted amazon again and after transferring me from one department to another, they transferred me to Pilot shipping company. They said they could not deliver it to me because they did not have my phone no. (well, that’s funny because they just delivered the same tv from same company via Amazon last week.
So I get transferred internally via their department and then call hangs up abruptly. I lost all my patience and decided to write this review here. The price on this TV has gone down by xxx $ at a local store to what it was when I placed the order.
I am a helpless EX-loyal Amazon customer still waiting for my television. Definitely my last purchase at Amazon.com (Unless they do something really quick about this)
Rating: 1 / 5
Just bought this a couple days ago and have to say WOW!! Was able to get it at BestBuy which had it for the same discount price on here but just had to pay the extra sales tax but the instant gratification to not have to wait for shipping.
Very easy setup!! Great colors and great blacks!! Dont even have the HD box yet and it still looks great…no “buzzing” sound as others have had so feel very lucky I guess!! Sound on it is ok and is adjustable which is very nice…easy setup if I wanted to change the settings but so far just wanted to leave it alone until suggested “break in” period is over…connected a PS3 to this thru HDMI and played Final Fantasy XIII and was blown away!! Don’t see any difference with 720 and 1080…heat on this wasnt as bad as I thought it would be either!! Don’t see any reason to pay 2-3 times as much either for a TV….very very happy with purchase!!
Forgot to add that I had a lot of problems putting the stand together…the screws just did not want to fit…look at the reviews on the 42 inch of this model and several people had the same problem…minor irritation though in my opinion…
Rating: 5 / 5
Just picked up the PN50C450 from sears yesterday to replace a 50″ Sony RPTV.
My initial impressions:
1. PQ is very good overall. Warm2 looks better to me than the standard mode
2. Noticed horizontal black lines after every two row of pixels across the entire screen. The lines can be seen clearly from one feet away but are not noticeable at >3ft distances. I won’t be concerned with this too much unless someone convinces me otherwise
3. No vertical banding.
4. No IR issues so far
5. The glossy finish is very reflective. Even the faintest sources of light showup on the screen. This may be a problem in brighter rooms.
6. No buzzing, checked at different volume levels/muted sitting right next to the display.
7. The USB input is neat but seems like the processing is too slow. Takes forever to start a slideshow or display a picture fullscreen.
Overall, I’m fairly happy with the TV for the price.
Rating: 5 / 5
I purchased this set at Best Buy for $719 + tax about 1 week ago and have been very happy with it thus far. I’m not gonna lie, I was hesitant to go the 720p route; I don’t want to be the one paying to be at the front of the tech curve, but I also don’t want to be the one purchasing something that is soon to be obsolete. Luckily, our Best Buy had this 50′ set at $719, the Samsung 50′ 1080 plasma step up at $1300, and a 46′ 8000? series edge-lit LED LCD Samsung at $2100 all side by side for easy comparison. The comparison ended up making my decision easier.
Picture – all in store picture settings so probably not apples to apples, but I noticed considerably more sharpness in the LCD than either of the two plasmas. However, colors looked deeper and “popped” more on both of the plasmas vs the LCD. The 1080p plasma unit was a tad sharper than the c450, particularly noticeable when viewing up-close and when it showed black lettering on a white background. You could see a smoother edge on the lettering in the 1080p set at close distances. In my home, broadcast HDTV (I use an antenna for locals, I do not have cable/dish) looks fantastic on the c450. Analog signals even look passable, and better than my 32 in Vizio LCD. I do not yet have a Blu-ray player; a PS3 is in my near future, but I do hook up a PC to the TV occasionally (Hulu,etc is my cheap cable). How the PC and blu-ray would look were my main 720p vs 1080p concerns. The PC looks great; I expect no problems with blu-ray. Regular DVD looks fine. I relied on multiple professional and private reviews noting that the difference between 720 and 1080p is minimal at a 50′ size, unless you are close (less than 8 feet)to the set. If you are sitting beyond 8 to 10 feet the extra lines of resolution are virtually imperceptible to the naked eye. You will have some techies swear to the grave that this is not the case, but use your eyes, not the specs to decide. Bottom line: some 1080p sets look great; some 720p sets look great. The bigger in size you go, the more 1080p will distance itself from 720p, all other things being equal. Somewhere between 42 to 50 in, the 1080 difference begins to become noticeable. For me, the extra $600 for a comparable 1080p at this size was not worth it. For some, it is. I’d give the picture a 4/5. I was perfectly happy with the picture on my 32 in Vizio LCD; now it looks below avg to poor in comparison.
Glass – one of the biggest negatives of the c450 is the highly reflective screen; probably a driver of the lower price point and the fact that its plasma. Its glass is highly reflective; more so than the 1080p plasma was in-store and like a mirror compared to the LCD. Turn off the sets when you compare and you’ll see the stark difference. Think about where your putting your TV. My den gets below average sunlight. The outside light source comes from behind the TV, but it still casts some reflection on the screen in the day time. I have a lamp across from it and it just should never be turned on while you are watching TV; causes way too much reflection. If you have a lot of windows in your room, you may want to look at another TV option rather than the C450. My sister has an older 50′ HP plasma with a wall of windows opposite of it and its almost unwatchable during the day. In a dark room, it is not a concern and the glass gives a crispness to the picture that the LCD matte finishes don’t, IMO. Overall, glass is a 3/5 but don’t push it in a room with a lot of light.
Styling – I put this TV on a side wall in my den and the side of the TV is seen when you walk in, so styling was a factor for me. I wanted as thin as possible within my budget. The C450 is a 2.7 in deep 50 in HDTV; one of the thinner standard width sets you will find (3.5-4′ more common) Between the three sets I directly compared, the 8000 series won this category again with 1.2′ thickness, and a sharp looking glass edge trimming the monitor. However, the c450 and the 1080p plasma both have a nice looking, relatively thin, profile as well. I do wish that the c450 was trimmed in a matte, rather than a glossy finish. The glossy finish is reflective. Overall, i’d give styling a 4/5. 5/5 at this price point.
Inputs – The C450 has 3 HDMI’s, 2 component, pc input, USB port for media viewing. See the Amazon specs for the complete input listing. It does not have an S-video input, but one of the component inputs doubles as an RCA jack, so if you have multiple older components to hook up, you could use an RCA splitter. IMO, if you’re in the market for an HDTV and still have alot of older non HDTV components, save some money, go less expensive on the HDTV and buy some new components. The picture upgrade you’ll get from new components is far more beneficial than what you’ll get from a higher end HDTV. Enough inputs for me and it gets a bonus for multiple component inputs. Most just have 1.
Value – Price was a big and probably the primary consideration for me; winner hands down; el cheapo C450. Ultimately, you give up some features, but I did not see enough picture quality and feature differences to justify the jump to the 1080p plasma at $600 more. Good value, good picture for your buck. Definitely a 5/5 regarding overall value.
Other items-
No internet apps. Was a consideration for me, but underwhelming reviews ultimately made it a non factor.
Remote – the c450 remote is average at best. Its infared, and not super responsive. Keys are not backlit.
Menus – orderly menu system, decent channel guide, relatively robust picture quality controls, including white balance, and multiple auto and sensor driven brightness options. Buzzing problem – my c450 does not buzz…there is what I would call some very high frequency electronic noise, maybe this is what people have complained about. I have a relatively small room, listen at low volume levels, and it has not been a factor for me.
TV Stand – screws did not want to go in straight no matter what I did; after 30 minutes messing around with a screwdriver, I used my drill and hoped for the best; they worked their way through the hitch in the threads and fastened. Stand does not swivel like some, and TV does not seem overly sturdy. Comes with a cord to fasten to the TV and screw in the wall to help keep it from tipping.
EDIT UPDATE: I am noticing significant picture judder, in certain specific commercials. I don’t know what is causing it. At first I thought it was my signal as I am using an antenna, but it happened consistently at the same time during certain commercials as I was watching NCAA bball today. (Southwest bags fly free, H&R Block, Lowe’s) I’m guessing it is a processor issue??? Anyone have any thoughts on this? I will be calling Samsung and/or Best Buy to see if I can get some answers.
Rating: 4 / 5