It has been a while since I wrote my last review on Amazon so in light of my recent purchase of this PN58B650 HDTV, I think now is a good time to put another review under my belt.
If you’re reading this review, you’re probably in the same boat I was in several weeks ago when I was shopping for a 55+” LCD/LED/Plasma HDTV. If you’re in the “should I get an LCD/LED or Plasma TV” mindset, read on. If you’re set on getting a Plasma and really care to just know more of what’s so great about this specific model, skip to the next paragraph. Yes, I was in the market for EITHER an LCD/LED or Plasma. During the many days I spent researching differences/advantages/disadvantages of LCD/LED versus Plasma, I came across a lot of pros and cons for both platforms. There are supporters and bashers of both and at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference. I’m not really going to go into the differences between the two platforms as there is a plethora of information on the Internet that goes into great details laying that down (just google ‘plasma vs lcd’). Instead, I’m going to give you my reasoning for going with Plasma. It is a known fact that LCD TVs exhibit a “blurring” of the image during fast motion. This is why all the different manufacturers out there have 120Hz and 240Hz models — and you pay a premium for these over the standard 60Hz LCD TVs. However, if you get the chance, go to your nearby electronics store and take a look at these 120Hz and/or 240Hz LCD TVs with a BluRay movie playing. (And be sure the 120Hz/240Hz is not turned off as there is a way to turn that off — which defeats the purpose of paying a premium for the feature in the first place). Observe how the movie doesn’t have that cinematic motion-picture feel. It looks a lot more like watching a TV show recorded with a camcorder, or commonly described as “the soap-opera” effect. Now watch that same BluRay movie on a Plasma screen… ahhh… doesn’t that look amazing! Okay, for me, that put me into the Plasma camp. Onto the PN58B650.
Knowing that I wanted to get a plasma TV and knowing that I wanted a tv 55″ or larger, my choices were limited to three manufacturers: LG, Panasonic, or Samsung (Pioneer had already exited the Plasma market by the time I was searching for a TV but still could be found in various places). I had previously owned a 42″ Panasonic Plasma TV and have read a lot of good things about the picture quality of the Samung Plasma TVs. Anyhow, to make a long story short, after some researching, I decided on getting one made by Samsung (but if you’re in the market for a Panasonic, the PN58B650 would be comparible to the higher-priced Panasonic TC-P58V10).
If a Samsung Plasma is one of the choices you’re considering, you’re probably comparing the various different Samsung 58″ plasma models: PN58B550, PN58B560, PN58B650, PN58B850 (not available through Amazon), and PN58B860. So many models to choose from in a 58″ from one manufacturer — it gets very confusing. So what the heck is the difference between the different models. As you can see, the last three numbers in the models indicate the major model differences — Samsung distinguishes the models as 5-series, 6-series, and 8-series. There are two each of the 5 and 8 series while there’s only the PN58B650 for the 6-series.
So why the PN58B650 over the others?
Since we’re purchasing a television, picture quality is the number one important feature/factor to consider. The 650, 850, and 860 all produce the same picture quality with the same level of contrast (3,000,000:1) and same color reproduction technology (Wide Color Enhancer 3 — which also gives you much more control in color calibration if you ever decide to professional color-calibrate your TV). All three also have a built-in Media Player (more on that later) and Internet-based widget “apps” (which I don’t really care for since I do all my Internet-related activities on my computer). The difference between the PN58B650 and the 8-series is the physical thickness of the units… 2.9″ vs 1.2″, respectively. The major difference between the 850 and the 860 model is that the 860 has a Crystal Full HD Engine with Cinema Smooth feature that enhances the smoothness of BluRay movies whereas the 850 does not. Here’s the kicker… the PN58B650 ALSO has that feature — so in comparing the PN58B650 to the PN58B860, it all comes down to whether or not you can live with a 2.9″ thick TV and save hundreds of dollars compared to the PN58B860 since feature-for-feature, these two are comparible. If money is no object, go for the thinner of the two!
Now many of you are probably comparing this PN58B650 to the lower-priced PN58B560 and PN58B550. The 5-series does lack quite a bit of features I just mentioned when comparing the PN58B650 to the 8-series. For starters, the overall picture quality won’t be quite as nice on the 5 series over the 6 or 8-series. The range of the contrast ratio on the 5-series is less (2,000,000:1) and the color reproduction is not quite as nice. Don’t get me wrong, though, the 5-series does still yield a stunning picture, nonetheless, and you definitely can’t go wrong. Next, the 5-series models also don’t have a built-in Media Player. Let me tell you why this is such a cool feature to have. I have various movies/video/photos/music stored on an external USB hard drive, which I normally play on my computer. Wouldn’t it be nice to play those directly on your new 58″ Plasma TV? Well, that’s where the built-in Samsung Media Player comes in. Simply plug your USB drive into the USB port of the PN58B650 (or the PN58B850/PN58B860) and the TV itself will read the movie/video, audio, photo you select from your USB drive, and play it directly on the TV (yes, the TV has a built-in hardware decoder). This is a feature the 5-series lacks. And finally, the 5-series units do not have Network connectivity. This may not be a feature needed by many people but again, if you had movies/video, audio, photos stored on your computer, you can simply stream it to the TV and have the TV play the media files directly off your computer’s hard drive!
After owning, using, and playing with all the different features of the PN58B650 for the last two weeks, I have been just amazed at the picture quality and features of this TV. I have watched four Blu-Ray movies on it (sooo sharp and the colors are so vibrant and true to life), played a couple different PS3 games on it, and watched various TV shows. I also plugged in a Western Digital 1TB USB hard drive directly into the TV’s USB port and watched a 1080P HD movie straight from the Hard Drive. It had no problems playing the file (the movie was 1920×1080 x264 encoded (~9000kbps video bitrate) and had a DTS soundtrack in an MKV container in case any of you were curious).
Now I’ve read in various reviews about how various Samsung Plasma TVs emit a buzzing noise (sort of like an electrical buzzing noise coming from the tv, not the speakers) but I’m happy to report that I have not noticed a buzzing noise (even when I mute the speakers) and I’ve used it for quite a number of hours.
I hope this review has helped you make a decision on your next big screen flat panel HDTV. Please click the “Yes” button below if you found my review helpful. 
UPDATE (01/20/2010): In my review, I mentioned that I was able to play 1080P (1920×1080) MKV movies. Apparently, it seems the built-in Samsung Media Player in the Samsung TV will not allow you to fast forward or rewind MKV movies (though it will play them just fine). If you plan to transcode any of your home movies, be sure to transcode it to an MP4 container (instead of MKV) if you want the ability to fast forward or rewind through the movie.
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