Samsung PN42C450 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV (Black)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:

Review 6 to 10 of total 76

It may be the best TV I've ever owned...,
by Robert Anderson, 2010-03-19

So...I was pessimistic at first considering the 1 & 2 star reviews. Now that I have it, have configured it, and have it set up with Dish HD and PS3, I am overwhelmed. Here is my pros and cons:

Pros - Amazing colors, excellent menus w/ lots of useful options, great inputs/outputs (in my opinion), amazing and highly customizable sound, great zooming features for fitting motion pictures to the size of the screen, extremely useful picture burn protection tools, great plug-and-play features, and a cool little melody that plays when turning off and on

Cons - Picture is sometimes blurry during fast, vivid action or quick camera change moments (ex. The Rock San Francisco chase scene or Speed Racer Grand Prix race scene), the need to adjust the picture zoom sometimes to protect from picture burn simply because it's a plasma TV (but it has tools that help you protect against this!)

This is hands-down, bar-none the best TV for the value. I've researched all the plasma and LCD TVs in this price range. This is the biggest TV with the highest refresh rate and most appealing features I could find. Plus, Samsung is praised for the quality of it's plasma TVs. When you see the menu, explore the options, and use them, you will praise them yourself. For example, there is a section on burn protection that allows you to set a pixel shifting function to prevent picture burn and a scrolling function that allows you to get rid of it if it happens.

The "straw that broke the camel's back" though for me was the 3.5mm sound output on the back. First of all, it's hard nowadays to find a good TV w/ a 3.5mm sound jack. This one does! Second, it doesn't cut the TV volume off. I hooked up a microphone headphone volume amplifier to it, and now I can control the headphone and actual TV volume separately! Trust me, this is useful. For example, when a significant other doesn't want to hear your program, you can just pop on your headphones and blast the volume! Imagine explosions and firefights, all the while, your spouse or whoever is reading a book or sleeping a few feet away. Ha!

Anyways, it's a good deal for the cash. I'll update in a few months.

Awesome Tv for the money!,
by Chris Johnston, 2010-03-19

Like a few of the other reviews said i was also a little skeptical about ordering the set but went ahead with it anyway, i couldn't be happier. I don't have an HD cable box or anything like that but the tv found a ton of channels i didn't have before as well as finding a few in HD. Being a plasma i decided to turn the contrast and brightness down to about half to avoid burn in as much as possible, it seems to be working rather well, the set seems to avoid burn in and image retention pretty well on it's own so i am not worried about it. I haven't noticed any image retention or signs of burn in yet so all seems well. The only downside that i can find is that some of the standard def. channels look rather blurry which is expected. I also have an xbox 360 hooked up to the tv and it looks amazing. I'm not a heavy gamer, only about an hour or so per day unless i'm really into the game but i do play quite a few games that have static images on the screen and with the brightness and contrast turned down i haven't noticed any image retention at all. I would recommend this set to anyone that wants a large tv for a great price. Overall a great buy! I'm very happy.

great TV, great price,
by S. Appleton, 2010-04-05

Bought this TV today at Se*rs (online & store pickup)for $539. Great picture with Comcast HD. I find the speakers to be fine for regular TV viewing but I use my surround system for DVD viewing and using our HTPC with the TV.

Picture is crisp and clear, lots of fine tuning available in the menus. Yes only one component input (shares with 1 of the composite inputs)but 3 HDMI, 1 component and 1 composite are plenty for me.

Slight cons are power cord is a bit short and a bit of glare if in a room with a lot of windows. TV does NOT come with any cables other than power cord. Remote does seem to need to be pointed directly at TV, minor annoyance, getting a Harmony remote soon anyway.

I did come back here and got a SquareTrade 3 yr warranty. $47 vrs $200 for Se*rs, no-brainer.

UPDATE 4-08: if you go online to Samsung and register the TV there the warranty doubles to TWO YEARS. I called Samsung afterwards just to verify this and it is correct. Makes a great buy better.

Excellent value for money!,
by JBoz, 2010-04-19

I bought this TV as a gift to my father for his 60th Birthday. Let's just say that he was pleasantly surprised at the gift!

First we hooked it up to his Standard Def. DVR box and he was very happy with the picture. He especially liked the color representation. A few weeks later when he got an HD DVR and connected it via HDMI, he was completely blown away at the clarity and quality of the image. He couldn't keep his eyes from the TV during the Yankees opening game. The speakers are adequate for viewing most TV shows, however they would be a bit lacking for dynamic audio in action type movies. I think the next step is to get my dad a Soundbar speaker system; small and easy to use/connect.

The only negatives I can see is the glass surface which is pretty reflective. Do not position the TV so it faces a window that cannot be fully blocked by blinds or drapes, otherwise you will have some reflections to deal with during dark scenes. Also the Remote is not very responsive and has a limited field of use and distance. However it may be that the included batteries have lost some of their charge. Will have to try with fresh batteries and/or a universal remote. I haven't notciced any "buzzing" sounds from the TV, however I wasn't listening for it the last time I was at my parents.

The TV is especially light for a plasma, heck it's even lighter than my 2008 120hz Samsung LCD and puts out less heat! How's that for improvements in Plasma technology?! There are plenty of legacy connections (composite and component) in addition to the 3 HDMI ports on the TV for hooking up both old and new devices. I will say that to get the best picture, you NEED to have an HD device connected to the TV using HDMI. It's worth it.

This TV provides a FANTASTIC bargain for people looking for an entry level HDTV.

FANTASTIC Entry Plasma TV,
by M. Meyer, 2010-04-13

I am a college student on a limited budget. After saving up for a new TV for my new apartment, I was AMAZED to see this television priced at around $500. Though I was a bit skeptical because it is only 720p, I rationalized that spending an extra $300 or so was not worth it.

The TV has been set up for about 4 days now. I must say that the picture is incredible (this is after seeing it in Best Buy and not being impressed by the picture at all). All of the HD channels on Comcast look amazing, and it is as sharp and as clear as similar 1080p plasmas I have checked out. This was the biggest surprise to me, because I expected the picture to be good, but not THIS good.

There is one issue, and that is a slight buzzing sound that is emitted from the TV. There is one. It is nearly drowned out from the audio of the TV, my fridge, and the city noise, but it is still there and noticeable when the TV is on mute. This is a bit annoying, but the real only issue with this product.

Setting up this TV was so simple. Some people have commented that screwing in the stand is extremely difficult, however I had no such issue. They are a bit tough, but once you get them going it isn't anything impossible. HDMI cords that I bought on amazon for $1 hooked up flawlessly, and I have an HDMI to DVI cord for my MacBook Pro and it looks great (audio hooked up with a 3.5mm male to male cord into the dvi audio out on the TV and the headphone jack on my laptop that you can buy on amazon or monoprice for $3).

All in all, this TV is a heck of a deal. The picture is breathtaking, the craftsmanship is stellar, and the unit looks very elegant. 5 stars, easy. Can't wait to watch the world cup on this guy!