Samsung PN58B560 58-Inch 1080P Plasma HDTV

I'm no techie, but can set up and tweak this sort of equipment fairly well, and was AMAZED by the picture quality of this Samsung!

Dithered around looking at various new sets for a couple months, and finally decided on something of at least 58" in picture size. My brand loyalty has long been with Sony, but they don't seem to make a set of that size anymore. So, watched lots of displays in various local stores:  Samsung, Panasonic, LG, Mitsubishi, Sharp, all the usual suspects. To my eyes, the Samsung LED/LCDs and Plasmas looked best and I decided on a plasma mainly because of all the online chat about "better black values" which has always bothered me a bit on my old 2005 Sony 55" LCD. Amazon.com came up with the best price on the PN58B560 which had all the features I wanted, I ordered it, it arrived on time and in perfect condition, with no "buzz" to be heard. Yea!

The Samsung 58" came with the stand attached and was easily lifted to my in-place Sony floor stand by the deliveryman and I - a LOT easier to handle than the old Sony due to its thinness. I tethered the set to the wall with the included kit as suggested by the manual, we plugged it in, went thru the "initial set-up" routine, set it to "home" and "movie" modes, tweaked the contrast down a bit as my living room is normally darkened with blackout curtains, helped the delivery guy clean up the cardboard mess, bid him a fond farewell, and turned back to the Samsung.

First impressions:  reflections aren't a problem in any kind of semi-to-fully-darkened room; physically the set is beautiful to look at even when off with its shiny black bezel/attached stand and gray Touch of Color highlights. After connecting a nearly new Samsung BD-3600 blu-ray player, a rather new Panasonic dvd recorder/vcr recorder, and an Insight Cable HDDVR/tuner (all 3 using top-of-the-line Monster HDMI cables) I threw caution to the winds, dropped my blu-ray of John Wayne's "The Searchers" into the tray, waited about 15 seconds...and saw THE most beautiful pictures I've ever seen on a tube-type television - right out of the box! The tv's built-in sound system sounded tiny, tinny and hollow, so hooked up a small 2-channel Sony stereo I had which quickly fixed the sound problem (I live in a highrise condo and am not permitted a "huge/subwoofer" sound system due to neighborly concerns). TIP:  set the tv's sound setting to "Standard" and turn off the built-in speakers.

After owning the Samsung for several weeks:  if you set each source to "Movie" mode and do a lot of individual tweakings to each of the HDMI sources, the set does a great job with everything but old VHS videos and my two favorite digital cable channels - Turner Classic and Fox Movie channels. Of course. Duh. You were expecting a miracle? But...by running a high-grade Monster f-pin cable out of the cable box to the tv's antenna-in and doing a lot more tweaking of the "TV" source you'll get a much better picture watching HDDVR recordings and the live feed on the Turner and Fox movie channels than thru the HDMI cable source. Haven't tried feeding the VCR output thru the cable box yet - but don't watch many old videos anymore. As far as other analog/digital channels go - they look mushy to blah. And I don't really care. (When is all of cable going to HD? It can't happen soon enough for me.)

Other thoughts:  I've found that sitting about 10 feet away from the screen is most pleasing to my eyes but you can sit a few feet closer if you want without seeing pixels, however...the picture just gets TOO big; no dead pixels; no buzz; everything in the long features list seems to work - please read the manual before you complain - you'll just show your ignorance to the Samsung tech-help people who were actually quite nice to me when I asked a stupid question; Cinema Smooth doesn't seem to do anything that I can see (what's the big deal?); no strange pink tint in the picture some people complain about; no pops or crackles; beautiful blu-ray & upconverted dvd images thanks to the increased black levels and much wider range of colors possible; excellent HD channels for the most part...(yes, that means you AMC-HD); you'll need a home theater sound system for sure; no image-retention problems that I can see if you use the "scrolling" image eraser daily as the manual suggests; the "Anynet" feature takes some getting used to; the "BD Wise" feature I don't understand at all; love the lighted remote and various on-off tinkly tones the set makes during various operations.

Strange Tongue-in-Cheek Negative Comment:  after the Samsung has been on awhile, the top of the display gets very warm - not really hot-hot - but definitely very warm. AND...if you have a cat, it WILL sooner or later jump to the top of the display...to see what it can see, I suppose, then get a hotfoot on the Samsung's very narrow top edge and jump down rather clumsily/violently. Took my younger cat all of about two hours on Day-1 to try this and I doubt she ever will again. But I'd make sure the set is tethered to the wall before you turn it on the first time. Thought it was going to fall over. But it didn't.  Cats. CATS!  Why do I keep 'em around? (Because I wuv, er, love them, I guess.)

FINAL POSITIVE THOUGHTS:  Looks beautiful in the living room, on or off.  Works perfectly, picture-wise. Makes me wish I'd chosen the 63" - which must be quite an experience. Many compliments from jealous friends, which is:  Priceless.  It's only money - get one!

DISCLAIMER:  I am not now & never have been an employee of Samsung, Inc.