Samsung PN50A550 Incredible Picture, Incredible Value, Great Shipping

I've had the Samsung PN50A550 for about a month now and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. First of all, I was looking into the Panasonic TH-46PZ80U 46-inch plasma purely based on recommendation from a family member that just got a Panasonic Viera and raved about the price and the picture. I also looked at Consumer Reports and it had good reviews. I was dead set on buying the Panasonic and decided to just go to a showroom and compare the picture myself before I bought it. My wife and I quickly realized that the picture was not as impressive as some of the other TVs, including the Samsung PN50A550. We even played with the Panasonic's picture settings, but could not get it to look as good as other displays. So, discouraged that I now needed to do more research, I checked Consumer Reports again and see how the Samsung PN50A550 ranked...I was dumbfounded when I saw that the PN50A550 was rated the best overall score and picture quality tested by Consumer Reports for plasmas in the 50-inch category. How did I miss this?! So I went back to the showroom, and sure enough, I was sold. The picture was incredible! I even changed the settings to match the 50A650 (the one with the "Touch of Color" feature), and could not tell the difference between the two that were both playing the same football game, side-by-side. The next step was the price...the cheapest I was able to find at the CC's, BB's and other more regional showrooms was in the $1600 - $1700 range, before taxes and shipping. Amazon by far had the best price when I ordered, $1550, no tax and "white glove" shipping was included.

There was another electronics house selling the same TV through Amazon for $50 less, but I had read lots of unsettling reviews about post-ordering-pressure-tactics and poor shipping from some of the other non-Amazon houses. Let me tell you, Amazon went through CEVA for delivery and they were great! It was all worth the extra $50 to avoid the aggravation and have some peace of mind. Amazon estimated 2 weeks for me to receive the TV, which I was ok with since I wasn't in a hurry...CEVA had it at my door in one week, exactly when the CEVA tracking site said it would be there. They even called ahead of time to schedule the exact time of delivery, which was a nice surprise since I didn't know if they were just going to leave a tag on the door if I wasn't there at 2 in the afternoon. The TV was delivered in perfect condition and the delivery guys went right to work getting it out of the box, set up on the stand and hooked up to verify it worked properly.

Overall, I highly recommend this Plasma television. Great in a big room where it's kiddie-cornered for viewing from a large L-shaped couch as the picture is perfect from most any angle. No glare issues either! I also highly recommend going through Amazon directly.

Thanks Amazon!