As some of you may know, I got my fancy new TV yesterday. In the dictionary, under the word "awesome" ... there is a picture of this TV. Go ahead and look it up... I'll wait.
See, told you so.
Moving right along to seriousness. This TV really is quite spectacular. But let's back up a bit... if you remember a week or so ago, I posted about ordering my new TV. I ordered through vanns.com and got a great deal. $1499 even. No tax. Free shipping. Cannot beat that price for this TV (right now). I even ordered a Square Trade extended warranty with it for 3 years. Figured the money saved on tax/shipping would be put to better use with a warranty.
Shipping was via freight - as it is with most large TVs. The shipping company had called me early yesterday morning to set something up. They were able to call me at work when they were just a few minutes out and I took a quick break to head down to get my TV. Met the guy there, he helped me bring it inside and waited while I looked it over and opened it up to make sure everything arrived OK. All was well... I signed the paper and got to work.
Setup was easy. I mean, all there was to do was attach the stand. So a forewarning here that doing this with just one person is kind of awkward with such a large TV. I got it on though and was set to go. Removed the old TV and put the new one on the stand. Fit just right in the space I left for it. Like, literally about a half in clearance on each side. I have to say though, the whole time I was setting it up, I was kind of giggling and laughing uncontrollably about how ridiculously large it really was. It looked smaller in Best Buy.
Later in the day when I was able to actually turn it on, the picture was just gorgeous. I hadn't even touched a bit of calibration yet and already I was pretty impressed. After I had ordered the TV though, I had bookmarked a couple calibration setups to try out. Frankly, I wasn't really very impressed with either one. Of course those settings wouldn't be perfect for everyone... and since I wasn't too happy with either one, I was thankful I had also purchased a calibration BluRay from Amazon. Spears & Munsil is practically the only BluRay/HD specific calibration disc I could find.
Went through most of the options on that disc and got it about where I wanted it - at least as best as my eyes can see. Put in Speed Racer on BluRay and let 'er rip. Wow.
That's all I could say. It was awesome.
The picture is great. I really don't have the vocabulary to describe it. I'm not really a videophile of any kind and far from an authority on the subject, but I'm very happy with it. Definitely worth the $$. Even the aesthetics are perfect for my tastes. I played around in the menus a bit. Customized the couple things I could (turned internal speakers off, turned off the blue light thingy at the bottom, named the inputs, etc). The menu, IMO, is a bit slow. But that's OK b/c how often are you really going to be going through the menus on this thing to change options? Rarely.
The Internet@TV stuff though, that's another story. Once I got it connected to the internet (which was fairly easy), I tested out some of the "widgets" and "snippets" it uses. I was even able to log in and tweet from my TV (you should have seen Jen's face). That all sounds wonderful... but the Internet@TV stuff is PAINFULLY SLOW. Like, "I don't know why it was included" slow. I really can't picture anyone sitting there using this stuff through the TV and its remote. Just awful.
Two things to go along with that though... I didn't buy the TV for it's "widgets." I consider that more of a marketing gimmick. It really was terrible. Secondly, the internet connection is at least helpful with regards to software/firmware updates. It will update via the internet when something is available. That is something I will like.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with it (if you couldn't tell). I realize not everyone is in the market for something like this (or even could afford it?) ... but if you have the means, I would definitely recommend the PN50B860... or any of Samsung's Series 8 plasmas for that matter.
Later on in the evening, Jen and I watched 9 on BluRay. Turned off the lights and just enjoyed. It was seriously like a movie theater. 🙂
2 COMMENTS ON THIS POST To “Samsung PN50B860: First Thoughts / Quick Review”
Tomas
March 16, 2010 at 3:03 pmI’ve looked at the 8 series Samsungs and while they give magnificent pictures I’m still leaning toward a smaller (46″) 6000 or 7000 series for my use. I have the space all measured out…
Glad you are enjoying the new monster set!
Chad Kacyon
March 17, 2010 at 9:45 amThis is the exact set I’m looking to buy. Seems like Sammy Plasmas are getting better reviews than Pannys these days, plus it looks great with the charcoal bezel.