Samsung PN58C550 plasma flat panel HDTV is a refinement of our commitment to design, performance, and cost of ownership. It's 58 inches of 1080p Full HD picture performance is the perfect fit for most rooms. The attractive Touch of Color design adds a subtle clear-to-charcoal gray accent to the set's bezel. Enjoy brilliant, film-like images in Full HD resolution. Samsung's breakthrough mega dynamic contrast ratio offers a more accurate color tonal range, deeper blacks and shadow details. The new E3-Panel technology featuring our innovative Clear Image Panel technology reduces off-angle blur and glare in brighter rooms and delivers a better picture while using less energy. Add 4 advanced HDMI inputs featuring Samsung's Anynet+ (CEC standard) technology makes system control of compatible A/V devices like a Blu-ray player or HTIB system a one-touch operation. Experience Full 1080p HD performance on Samsung's new C550 series plasma HDTVs, it's easy on the wallet and easy on the environment.

et up my unit on 5/21 which I bought from a brick/mortar store (sorry Amazon!), after researching the hell out of it. My equipment includes a WDTV Media Player (HDMI w/optical out), Nintendo Wii (analog), HD HTPC on the make, and Denon AVR-590(two optical audio inputs and three HDMI inputs).

PROS:

• NO BUZZING! YEAH!!

• Great picture out of the box - will be fine-tuning things later, but early indications are very positive. Several units had more features but PQ suffered. With so many blu-ray players and HTPCs that stream Netflix/Pandora, don't get lured in by feature-laden units that fail to deliver great PQ.

• Media Play - plug in any USB or HD into the unit to watch video, listen to music, and view pictures.

• Input panel is easy to access - swivel base is a real plus.

• The manual states that it can connect to a home network and "can access the Internet through your LAN connection" - this one might be interesting if I could get a third party wireless USB stick to work. So far, no success - I'll report back on this one.

CONS

• No memory card access - will attempt access with a card reader.

• Cannot tell unit to show subtitles only when muted - 7 different versions available, but none of them allow you to read subtitles when it's muted.

• Lack of widgets - I really wanted the web widgets, but wouldn't sacrifice PQ. With the new HD HPTC almost finished and running WMC 7, it will interesting to see if WMC will be enough.

• Sound effects and music sound great through Denon, yet dialogue is sometimes difficult to understand - I suspect that is due to my inability to read the language known as Denon and to configure it accordingly. Audio is being passed through the Denon with a single HMDI connection to the back of the Samsung.

Manufacturers like Sony and Samsung make way too many units. Once you choose a manufacturer or a set of features you cannot live without, eliminate as many inferior units as possible. Then, find where your top 3 prospects are sold and get full demos on each including use of the remote. This was the only way I was able to determine that the 550 would work.