Samsung 50A650 Plasma

[LifeOfAPirate13]

Hey guys I just picked up this 50" Plasma from Best Buy and I am amazed at how amazing it looks when playing a blu ray compared to my 40" xbr2 I had. I was originally looking to get the 46" Samsung ToC 120hz LCD series 950, but based on the price vs what they offered it was about 1800 more to go for the LCD which was in turn smaller. And I know I am not going to get 120hz from my plasma but I honestly am in love with the picture that the TV produces. Is there anything you guys can think of that would be helpful for me to know about owning a plasma compared to LCD and I know it uses more electricity haha I am already aware of that. After a price match and a confusion at the register I ended up paying 1934.99 for the TV compared to my original cost of 2099.99 I originally bought it for the day before. And ontop of which I recieved a free $50 coupon at the time of purchase to do this promotional card this guy gave me at the check out. I couldn't use a 10% off coupon on a sales price and they wouldn't let me use the triple points coupon either because it was under the Samsung 3yr 0% interest financing. But all in all this TV is really a huge step up from what I was watching before the calibration is spot on with Rock Band unlike the XBR2. The color difference is phenomenal as well with its 1,000,000;1 contrast ratio.

[LifeOfAPirate13]

This TV is still amazing in my eyes just a few questions. The first couple of days before I knew all about plasmas I had it on dynamic and watched blu rays on it very little IR that is totally gone now. I have watched a few more blu rays on the movie setting mode not dynamic and I do play rock band and other games here or there on it. How bad is this to do only having this TV for a week?
My other question is there is one stuck pixel I would call it a dark blue in the left upper part of the TV very unnoticeable, is there anything that can unstick it? And I keep hearing more and more Plasma isn't good for gaming what are the worries besides playing madden or a sports game too long just burn in/IR? I have my setting now at 50 brightness, and running in "movie" mode which seems alot dimmer than dynamic or the other modes. Any help would be great! Should I just leave the white screen on for like 2 hrs and play it super safe from here on out until the burn in period is done? Last but not least if anyone owns the TV why wont it let you zoom when you are watching a blu ray to get rid of the black bars? I couldn't figure that out...as always thanks for the help guys!

[dukenukem]

Since your plasma is still fairly newi wouldsay just be cautious with heavy gaming on it,any ir you get should go away quickly or be none existent as time goes by and the phosphors age.Did you get that ir when using the dynamic mode?

[LifeOfAPirate13]

I got it when I watched the strangers cause its pitch black with the strangers logo across the screen it took like 30 seconds to click into the movie and I kept seeing it. It is gone now and my IR if any now go away as soon as I turn to cable or anything else for the matter. It only seems to come up when the background is black and something is white either txt or image, but just alittle moving image and its gone. I dont think anything is wrong with the TV at the moment especially since I have been careful with it lately but I love watching blu ray but I dunno how bad the black bars are in terms to the break in period they dont seem to effect the image I think I am just going to go home put it on the white screen for 90min and then start over and be very careful until the 100+ hour mark. But I just wanna know why everyone is like gaming is soo bad on plasma I dont game for more than an hour I'd say until RE5 comes out then yeaaaaaaaa hahahaha. I am just assuming it is IR/Burn in with like life meters or just whatever else is staying in one place for awhile?

[kpkelley]

Please used to say gaming was bad with plasmas because they were more prone to IR previously. Since measures have been taken by the manufacturers to reduce and prevent IR, IR from gaming has, IMO, become a non-factor except for the most ardent gamers.

[maygit]

I don't want you to feel like you got jipt or anything, hopefully you can go and get the price adjusted, but sears has that same tv on sale right now for $1799.99 plus another 10% off or 24 mo. if you toss it on a sears card. I don't know why it's not on the website but if you have a sears store nearby, just go and get it quoted or have Best Buy call the store and try to have them adjust the price.

The t.v. is really nice so good choice on that. By far the best plasma we have in our store. I thought the panny 80u was really good especially for the price,which it still is, but we plopped the 650 plasma next to it and now the panny looks terribly washed out and i dont really want to sell it anymore. Funny how that works, huh? I have yet to see the 950 in action so it'd be a tough choice spending the extra 1800 like you said on it, for me, based off of reviews only. Overall enjoy your new tv!

[LifeOfAPirate13]

Yeah the higher up models from the 650 are all the same picture just have wireless or more options in the input department thanks for lettimg me know about the price I am going to see if I can get something I already had them match the price once but shit I got 30 days until the price matching is over if I can get another 150 off then hell yea less I have to finance back to them thanks for the heads up.

[Leopold BUTTERS]

I have the 50" 550, it's a sweet tv, i love the looks of plasma. anyways i get a lot of image retention, i wipe the screen clean after every movie i watch. I used to play games on it but now i just play games on my LCD and watch movies on my plasma. So don't be alarmed if you see a lot of IR

[JAS]

man, im glad i found this thread! right now im looking to purchase either the 50A650 plasma, 63A760 plasma, or go ahead and buy the 55A950 lcd. i already have a 42 inch samsung pl, and 65 inch dlp. both 1080p. i have never owned a lcd model before so i dont know much about them. any suggestions? also if i were to buy the 950 model, and watch my blues on my ps3, would i get that looking out the window effect, where it looks like your right there n the action? what tv do yall think is better? any help will do. thanks

[LifeOfAPirate13]

In terms of the best one you can buy the 950 LCD with TOC 1000000:1 contrast ratio and 120hz refresh rate along with all those motion blur counters is an amazing TV. Something to keep in mind though besides the difference between plasma and lcd the jump from the 650 Plasma to the 950LCD is something around 1700-2000 depending on if your going to price match it which different stores. So if your are looking at a great picture and affordable I am very pleased by my 650 plasma. But if you want the best in the business in terms of what a TV can do I would say the 950 as well as a few other models soon to be coming out and I believe that are out the Sony XBR 8 or 9 not exactly sure which one but they are incredible in terms of what a TV can look like in HD. You also have to ask yourself if you like the look of 120hz? I love it but I couldn't justify paying pretty much another one of my TV's just to have 120hz LCD 4 inches lower. When I saw Ice Age running on the 650 I was solf for the price. For the money you could be saving going the plasma route you can use that for a sound system and a few speaker which I tried to do originally but best buys credit right now wont give anyone anything. But the choice is ultimately up to you, your finances, and what you consider "worth" the money.

[JAS]

i narrowed it down between the 950 lcd or the 63A760 plasma. its a pretty tough decision. as for price, it doesnt matter. my wife and kids get everything they want. ( when they r good!!!!). as for me im not a big spender, but when i do spend i want the best out there. my wife and i love playing the ps3 together when we have time. we are also blu ray fans. so i guess my question is, with these 2 hobbies which tv is good for both? that has excellent pq, will i get that window effect on all BR movies if i get the 950 model? gaming on our 42 inch plasma looks really great! also on our 65 inch dlp. man i didnt know it was going to be this tough to make the decision!! please help me out! what r the pros and cons of these tvs anyway? thanks alot!!!

[LifeOfAPirate13]

Well if you dont care about the spending get the 950 lol. The 760 model really has nothing special over the 650 model but if you are cool with spending money like that then def get the LCD. There is no burn in/IR you could possibly get with plasma, you dont have to worry about anything really with the LCD. It would be a much better choice in the long run because if I had the oppurtunity to get either I would've gone with the 950 over my plasma but for the price difference that is where I made my decision to get my plasma, but the 950's are SIIIICK and are among the best in the business for all around purposes.

[JAS]

thanks for all your help crypt keeper!! really helped alot! i really appreciate it bro!! thank you.

[T-boner]

Originally Posted by LifeOfAPirate13

This TV is still amazing in my eyes just a few questions. The first couple of days before I knew all about plasmas I had it on dynamic and watched blu rays on it very little IR that is totally gone now. I have watched a few more blu rays on the movie setting mode not dynamic and I do play rock band and other games here or there on it. How bad is this to do only having this TV for a week?
My other question is there is one stuck pixel I would call it a dark blue in the left upper part of the TV very unnoticeable, is there anything that can unstick it? And I keep hearing more and more Plasma isn't good for gaming what are the worries besides playing madden or a sports game too long just burn in/IR? I have my setting now at 50 brightness, and running in "movie" mode which seems alot dimmer than dynamic or the other modes. Any help would be great! Should I just leave the white screen on for like 2 hrs and play it super safe from here on out until the burn in period is done? Last but not least if anyone owns the TV why wont it let you zoom when you are watching a blu ray to get rid of the black bars? I couldn't figure that out...as always thanks for the help guys!

Pioneer and Panasonic are rated as better tvs

[LifeOfAPirate13]

Everythings subjective I guess I am just giving him my opinion from what I seen with my own eyes. But comparatively it all a matter of opinion.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by LifeOfAPirate13

But if you want the best in the business

...you'll go with a Pioneer Signature Kuro or a Mitsubishi LaserVue.

[JAS]

went and looked at both tvs on sunday at bb. daaaaamn!!!! they dropped me and my wife a demo of the dark knight on the 950 model, BEAUTIFUL!!! at that second of a moment it was more beautiful than WIFE!! lol!!! she slapped me n the back of my head and brought me back to reality!! IT HURT TOO! they also showed me the incredible hulk, VERY NICE!! the plasma is a badass tv too. i loved everything bout the 950 except its size!! wish it was bigger than 55 inches! loved everything on the 760 (especially the 63 inch size) except that of course it doesnt have the auto motion effect!! THAT JUST SUX!!!! NOW IM BACK DOWN TO WHERE I STARTED, I DONT NO WHICH ONE I WANT! I JUST DONT WANT TO BUY ONE AND REGRET IT LATER OR STAY WONDERING HOW THE OTHER TV WOULD HAVE BEEN.
my wife did tell me lets just get both of them since i cant decide. i told her hellllll noooooo!!! "com on" ill spend 5 or maybe 6,000 dollars on a tv but 10,000 dollars worth of tvs??? thas just crazy!! help me out here, what do yall think???

[My_Two_Cents]

Originally Posted by JAS

"com on" ill spend 5 or maybe 6,000 dollars on a tv but 10,000 dollars worth of tvs??? thas just crazy!! help me out here, what do yall think???

If you are seriously willing to drop that kind of $$ on a set, then all you need to know is quoted below.

Originally Posted by dobyblue

...you'll go with a Pioneer Signature Kuro or a Mitsubishi LaserVue.

[LifeOfAPirate13]

Well shit JAS lol you honestly should just get the Kuro 60 Incher. I mean it everything you want without any regrets to be honest. I originally thought you were going for a deal but if you have the $$ get the Kuro.

[JAS]

hey guys!! sorry for responding late. first of all thank you both for the info!!
now tell me, whats so special bout this kuro??? i no pioneer is badass for there audio, but how r there tvs?? what kind of model is the kuro anyway, plasma or lcd? ok, TALK TO ME!!!! TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!! another question, is there any plasma out there with auto motion plus or something close to that effect. u no the thing where it looks like your right there staring out of a window at the action? I HOPE SOOOOO!! LET ME KNOW. THANKS!