1 month review of my new plasma.

Marty0503 · 03-11-2008, 05:05 PM

I purchased the Samsung 58" plasma model # FPT5884 about a month ago. So far I have been VERY happy with it and I have not suffered from any of the issues that some people have had with new plasmas. I'll talk more about the performance & settings later, first I want to tell about the adventure I went through to get this set at the price I wanted.

When I first became interested in this set I seen it at CC priced at $3999 back in Novenber. I knew that was more than I wanted to pay but I also knew I was a couple months away from buying and that the price would come down. I chose the Samsung over the Panny because the the Samsung was a little cheaper and I liked the picture better. The Panny seemed a little darker to me and the Samsung has a better contrast ratio.
So anyway, I checked online and found the set I wanted for a better price from places like NewEgg but I really wanted to buy local rather than pay extra for shipping/insurance and worrying about doa's and such. The sales person at CC told me that they will price match the other local stores if I find it cheaper somewhere. So I checked at BB, HHGregg, Fry's and Sears. They were all the same or higher than CC at the time so that didn't help.
I kept an eye on the price until I had the money to buy something with. About 2 weeks before I was ready to buy I noticed on Fry's website that they had the set for $2999. That was the best price I had seen so far from any of the local stores. So I called CC and asked if they matched prices with Fry's, just to make sure everything was going to work out. They said they would.
So 2 weeks later when I had my money and was ready to buy I went to CC, told them the set I wanted and said that my truck was out front for them to load it into. When it came time to check out and I told them that I wanted to price match with Fry's, they told me that they didn't price match with Fry's anymore. I imediately asked to talk to the manager.
I explained to him the situation and told him that I had just checked here 2 weeks ago and was told that I could indeed price match with Fry's. He informed me that they just had a policy change and that they no longer did that. He said it was because Fry's was apprx 60 miles away and the new policy states that stores have to be located within 50 miles to be price matched. So I told him that I had the cash on me and was ready to buy right now and did he really want to turn me away and lose a sale over Fry's being 10 miles too far away. He said there was nothing he could do about it because the policy change came from the main office and he had no option to make exceptions. The price at CC at the time was $3499 so I wasn't going to give in and buy it there when I could save $500 by driving up to Fry's. He actually suggested to me that I drive up to the CC in Greenwood, about 30 miles away, and that they would price match Fry's. If I couldn't get the price I wanted at my local CC I certainly wasn't going to drive up to another one and give them the sale.

So I went back home, got back on the internet, and got the #'s for BB, Sears and HHGregg. I called BB first, they told me that they did offer price matching but not with Fry's. When I asked him why he told me that it was because Fry's only sold refurbished or used products. I had to laugh when I heard that. Another prime example of some kid talking about things he had no idea about. So I moved on to Sears, they told me that they would match Fry's in-store price but not their website price, I didn't know there was any difference so I called Fry's. Sure enough I found out that the in-store price was $3699 while the website price was $2999. Now I thought I was screwed. I thought I would be stuck going back to CC and paying $3499, which was $500 more than I wanted to pay.

As a last ditch effort I called HHGregg. I'm glad I did. They had one left of the set I wanted in stock for $3499 and they told me that they would match Fry's price of $2999. I told him to stick a hold sign on it and I would be there in 30 mins. While I was driving up there I was wondering why HHGregg was so easy to deal with compared to the others, so when I got there and the guy I had talked to on the phone was having the tv brought out from the back I thought to ask him if they worked on commission or not. They do. Then it occured to me that is probably the reason why they were so much more accomodating than the other stores I tried to deal with that do not pay commission to sales people.
So while I was there and so happy with the service I was getting I decided to buy a few more things. I told him I needed a 3 ft optical audio cable for my sound system, he said they have them for $19.99. He went to get me one and returned with a higher quality 6 ft cable that was priced at $39.99 because they were out of stock on the other...he let me have it for $19.99. I also ended up getting a Toshiba HD A-30 for $149.99 while I was there because they were out of the A3 that I wanted.
So needless to say the lesson I have learned is that I'll get much better service from places like HHGregg that pay commission to their sales people vs. the other places like CC that do not. I have officially become a HHGregg fan & this was my first time buying anything from there.

So anyway the tv is great. I brought it home and hooked everthing up right away. The picture out of the box was set to dynamic, which of course was really bright. I used the settings suggested on Cnet when they did a review of that tv and the pitcure looks awesome. I'll list out the specific settings if anyone is interested.
I did not bother with any break in period. After 4 months of research into flat panel tv's before buying I was convinced that a break-in period is no longer needed on the newer plasmas. I did however notice a slight image retention the first night I had the set. When the screen would go dark if I looked closely I could see an after image of whatever was just on there. We watched a movie that first night that was in letter box format and after the movie was over I noticed that I could still see where the black bars were on the top and bottom of the screen, but after a few minutes of normal full screen tv watching it was gone. Since the first couple days I haven't noticed any more ir at all.
I am very happy with the pq in HD and SD. My previous tv was a 4 year old Magnavox 51" rear projection that could only do 480p or 1080i and I thought when I had it that it looked great. Now that I have this Samsung plasma it makes my old Mag picture look like trash.
I'm also glad that I went with the 58", I thought about the 50" for awhile. I sit about 12 feet back from the tv and the 58" looks perfect. I think if I had gone with the 50" I would have regretted it.
I would reccomend this tv to anyone that is looking for a large plasma. I couldn't be happier with it and at $2999 I believe it was money well spent.
If anyone has any more specific questions they would like answered about this set then ask away. I'd be more than happy to provide any helpful info I can.

GoDJ416 · 03-11-2008, 06:40 PM

Way to be a great consumer.

Thanks for the info on HH.

pappylap · 03-11-2008, 06:51 PM

Very glad it worked out so well for you Marty....hope the set gives you many years of great service......

djbamber · 03-11-2008, 10:52 PM

Congrats on your purchase, and your ability to dig a little deeper to get a "Bestbuy" for yourself. Hopefully you can get a lot of HD programming to enjoy your new set with. Good Luck!

djbamber · 03-11-2008, 10:53 PM

BTW, do you live anywhere near to Tony Stewart?

Marty0503 · 03-12-2008, 11:10 AM

I went to highschool with Tony. We weren't best friends or anything but I knew him and he knew me. I'm sure if I met him now he would have no idea who I was..haha. He bought the old house here in town that he and his parents lived in when he was a kid. He stays there alot when he's here. Of course he also has a mansion out in the country as his main residence.

Marty0503 · 03-12-2008, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djbamber

Congrats on your purchase, and your ability to dig a little deeper to get a "Bestbuy" for yourself. Hopefully you can get a lot of HD programming to enjoy your new set with. Good Luck!

I'm glad I was persistant and kept digging until I got the price I wanted. I knew if I kept at it I would find a great deal somewhere.

As far as HD programming goes, I have a DirecTV system and according to Consumer Reports they have the most HD content currently available. I read in the March issue of CR that DirecTV is currently beating out Dish Network, Comcast, AT&T and Verizon for most HD channels.

03-11-2008, 05:05 PM	#1
Marty0503 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Columbus, Indiana Posts: 161	1 month review of my new plasma. I purchased the Samsung 58" plasma model # FPT5884 about a month ago. So far I have been VERY happy with it and I have not suffered from any of the issues that some people have had with new plasmas. I'll talk more about the performance & settings later, first I want to tell about the adventure I went through to get this set at the price I wanted. When I first became interested in this set I seen it at CC priced at $3999 back in Novenber. I knew that was more than I wanted to pay but I also knew I was a couple months away from buying and that the price would come down. I chose the Samsung over the Panny because the the Samsung was a little cheaper and I liked the picture better. The Panny seemed a little darker to me and the Samsung has a better contrast ratio. So anyway, I checked online and found the set I wanted for a better price from places like NewEgg but I really wanted to buy local rather than pay extra for shipping/insurance and worrying about doa's and such. The sales person at CC told me that they will price match the other local stores if I find it cheaper somewhere. So I checked at BB, HHGregg, Fry's and Sears. They were all the same or higher than CC at the time so that didn't help. I kept an eye on the price until I had the money to buy something with. About 2 weeks before I was ready to buy I noticed on Fry's website that they had the set for $2999. That was the best price I had seen so far from any of the local stores. So I called CC and asked if they matched prices with Fry's, just to make sure everything was going to work out. They said they would. So 2 weeks later when I had my money and was ready to buy I went to CC, told them the set I wanted and said that my truck was out front for them to load it into. When it came time to check out and I told them that I wanted to price match with Fry's, they told me that they didn't price match with Fry's anymore. I imediately asked to talk to the manager. I explained to him the situation and told him that I had just checked here 2 weeks ago and was told that I could indeed price match with Fry's. He informed me that they just had a policy change and that they no longer did that. He said it was because Fry's was apprx 60 miles away and the new policy states that stores have to be located within 50 miles to be price matched. So I told him that I had the cash on me and was ready to buy right now and did he really want to turn me away and lose a sale over Fry's being 10 miles too far away. He said there was nothing he could do about it because the policy change came from the main office and he had no option to make exceptions. The price at CC at the time was $3499 so I wasn't going to give in and buy it there when I could save $500 by driving up to Fry's. He actually suggested to me that I drive up to the CC in Greenwood, about 30 miles away, and that they would price match Fry's. If I couldn't get the price I wanted at my local CC I certainly wasn't going to drive up to another one and give them the sale. So I went back home, got back on the internet, and got the #'s for BB, Sears and HHGregg. I called BB first, they told me that they did offer price matching but not with Fry's. When I asked him why he told me that it was because Fry's only sold refurbished or used products. I had to laugh when I heard that. Another prime example of some kid talking about things he had no idea about. So I moved on to Sears, they told me that they would match Fry's in-store price but not their website price, I didn't know there was any difference so I called Fry's. Sure enough I found out that the in-store price was $3699 while the website price was $2999. Now I thought I was screwed. I thought I would be stuck going back to CC and paying $3499, which was $500 more than I wanted to pay. As a last ditch effort I called HHGregg. I'm glad I did. They had one left of the set I wanted in stock for $3499 and they told me that they would match Fry's price of $2999. I told him to stick a hold sign on it and I would be there in 30 mins. While I was driving up there I was wondering why HHGregg was so easy to deal with compared to the others, so when I got there and the guy I had talked to on the phone was having the tv brought out from the back I thought to ask him if they worked on commission or not. They do. Then it occured to me that is probably the reason why they were so much more accomodating than the other stores I tried to deal with that do not pay commission to sales people. So while I was there and so happy with the service I was getting I decided to buy a few more things. I told him I needed a 3 ft optical audio cable for my sound system, he said they have them for $19.99. He went to get me one and returned with a higher quality 6 ft cable that was priced at $39.99 because they were out of stock on the other...he let me have it for $19.99. I also ended up getting a Toshiba HD A-30 for $149.99 while I was there because they were out of the A3 that I wanted. So needless to say the lesson I have learned is that I'll get much better service from places like HHGregg that pay commission to their sales people vs. the other places like CC that do not. I have officially become a HHGregg fan & this was my first time buying anything from there. So anyway the tv is great. I brought it home and hooked everthing up right away. The picture out of the box was set to dynamic, which of course was really bright. I used the settings suggested on Cnet when they did a review of that tv and the pitcure looks awesome. I'll list out the specific settings if anyone is interested. I did not bother with any break in period. After 4 months of research into flat panel tv's before buying I was convinced that a break-in period is no longer needed on the newer plasmas. I did however notice a slight image retention the first night I had the set. When the screen would go dark if I looked closely I could see an after image of whatever was just on there. We watched a movie that first night that was in letter box format and after the movie was over I noticed that I could still see where the black bars were on the top and bottom of the screen, but after a few minutes of normal full screen tv watching it was gone. Since the first couple days I haven't noticed any more ir at all. I am very happy with the pq in HD and SD. My previous tv was a 4 year old Magnavox 51" rear projection that could only do 480p or 1080i and I thought when I had it that it looked great. Now that I have this Samsung plasma it makes my old Mag picture look like trash. I'm also glad that I went with the 58", I thought about the 50" for awhile. I sit about 12 feet back from the tv and the 58" looks perfect. I think if I had gone with the 50" I would have regretted it. I would reccomend this tv to anyone that is looking for a large plasma. I couldn't be happier with it and at $2999 I believe it was money well spent. If anyone has any more specific questions they would like answered about this set then ask away. I'd be more than happy to provide any helpful info I can. __________________ You've Gotta Love HD!!

03-11-2008, 06:40 PM	#2
GoDJ416 There's hope yet... Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 146	Way to be a great consumer. Thanks for the info on HH. __________________ Vizio 42" 1080P LCD XBox 360 Premium (Gaming Console) PS3 40gb (Blu-Ray Player) Onkyo HT-SR3100

03-11-2008, 06:51 PM	#3
pappylap Poopmaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Way over Yonder Age: 4 Posts: 2,876	Very glad it worked out so well for you Marty....hope the set gives you many years of great service...... __________________ Bar Wench...Where's my Waffle! You can checkout anytime you like but you can never leave.." 50"Pioneer KURO 111FD Pro Elite Pioneer BD320 Blu-ray player Pioneer VSX-919AH A/V Receiver 32" & 37" Olevia LCDs Sony DHG HDD 500 gig DVR Samsung DTBH260 Digital Tuner One Roll of Charmin Quilted Plus in each Bathroom...

03-12-2008, 11:10 AM	#6
Marty0503 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Columbus, Indiana Posts: 161	I went to highschool with Tony. We weren't best friends or anything but I knew him and he knew me. I'm sure if I met him now he would have no idea who I was..haha. He bought the old house here in town that he and his parents lived in when he was a kid. He stays there alot when he's here. Of course he also has a mansion out in the country as his main residence. __________________ You've Gotta Love HD!!

Similar Threads to 1 month review of my new plasma.
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Five reasons to pick plasma over LCD	eHDMI	High Definition News & Informative Articles	13	04-30-2008 11:11 PM
Plasma Connection Question Help	ideal4u57	Flat-Panel TVs	4	02-05-2007 07:27 AM
42" Plasma or LCD?	mickey79	Flat-Panel TVs	23	01-30-2007 08:05 AM
Plasma Bites the Dust...Hitachi Looking To Quit Plasma Market	eHDMI	High Definition News & Informative Articles	88	12-09-2006 02:38 PM
Hitachi Introduces World's First 42-Inch 1080 Line Plasma	Razor05	Flat-Panel TVs	4	06-01-2006 11:31 AM

03-11-2008, 10:52 PM	#4
djbamber older than dirt Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: payson az Posts: 319	Congrats on your purchase, and your ability to dig a little deeper to get a "Bestbuy" for yourself. Hopefully you can get a lot of HD programming to enjoy your new set with. Good Luck!

03-11-2008, 10:53 PM	#5
djbamber older than dirt Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: payson az Posts: 319	BTW, do you live anywhere near to Tony Stewart?