MNBrad
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- First ReviewJanuary 4, 2014
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MNBrad's Reviews
Samsung - 51" Class (50-3/4" Diag.) - Plasma - 1080p - HDTV
Samsung PN51F5300AFXZA Plasma HDTV: This 1080p HDTV is designed for those who want great cinematic performance on a large screen. Wide Color Enhancer Plus helps give older films a boost of color.
So far, so good
Customer Rating
4.0
Picture Quality
5.0
Sound Quality
4.0
What's great about it: Picture Quality
We bought this as a Christmas present to ourselves, so we've only had it for about a month. True of most plasmas, the picture quality is fantastic, with truer color and deeper blacks than LCDs (particularly LEDs). Of course, the trade-off is that it doesn't appear as bright as LCDs, but unless you're viewing them side-by-side in the store, or watching in a particularly bright room, you'll never notice.
I didn't pay much attention to the sound specs on this model, so I was pleasantly surprised by the sound. Most flat panels - especially ultra thin LEDs - have very small, very underpowered speakers. Because it's a plasma, it's a little thicker and can accommodate somewhat better speakers. At 10W each, these speakers are on par with many low-end sound bars. I happen to have such a low-end sound bar, and, except for slight base improvement via the sound bar's sub, there is no discernible difference between running the audio through the sound bar or just using the TV speakers. So, certainly, if you want ultra high quality sound for movies or gaming, you'll want to have a nice surround sound system or something, but for basic television viewing, the speakers on this unit are sufficient.
The biggest gripe I've discovered so far is with the television tuner. We can't get satellite at our location and refuse to support the Evil Empire that is the regional cable monopoly, so we're stuck with over-the-air reception. Like most televisions, with this model, you navigate through the menu to have the tv search for available channels. We have a couple channels that always seem to have weaker signals than most of the rest, and these are sometimes missed on that scan. Unfortunately, this television has no option to either add those channels manually or run a secondary scan to look for additional channels. The upshot is that if the first scan misses a channel, the only option is to run the scan again, and risk missing a different low-strength channel. I ended up having to scan multiple times, adjusting the antenna each time, before I was able to get everything I knew we should be able to receive. This would be a simple software thing to fix, and hopefully Samsung will address it with any future updates. Of course, if you're connecting to a satellite or cable receiver (and therefore not using the tuner capability anyway), it's a moot point. Once the channels are tuned, the picture is outstanding.
The only other gripe - which we knew when we purchased - is only two HDMI inputs. We currently only have two HDMI devices: a Blu-Ray player and a streaming media player; so two is currently sufficient. But should we ever decide to add to the system, a switcher or an expensive receiver will be required. Sadly, this dearth of HDMI inputs seems to be quite common on larger televisions. We have a cheap store-brand 26" that we use as a computer monitor and a name-brand 32" that we use in another room. Each of these were a fraction of the cost of this television, and each has three HDMI inputs, but anything more than two inputs on the larger screens seems to be a dying breed.
About me... Technically savvy viewer
I would recommend this to a friend!
Internet Connectable?No
Verified Purchaser:Yes
My Best Buy number: 0574842488
My Best Buy number: 0574842488
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Samsung - 51" Class (50-3/4" Diag.) - Plasma - 1080p - HDTV
Samsung PN51F5300AFXZA Plasma HDTV: This 1080p HDTV is designed for those who want great cinematic performance on a large screen. Wide Color Enhancer Plus helps give older films a boost of color.
Is Heat a concern with this model?
Some plasma owners have talked about the heat from their units. Is this a major issue still on this model?
I haven't noticed this television getting any hotter than any other flat screen. That said, mine sits atop a television stand; the area around the TV, including the back, is completely open and ventilated. If any TV is inside an enclosed - or partially enclosed - piece of furniture, or mounted flat against the wall, the ventilation will not be as good.
10 years, 4 months ago
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Posted by:
MNBrad
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Minnesota