Customer Reviews
Excellent As good as I expected 
2004-04-22
I was considering (having narrowed it to) a couple of different well known brands in the six thousand dollar price range. Having started out leaning towards the bigger name brands the service tech did a fine job trying to keep me in the higher priced models. I'm not sure who wore who out. As I read more about the different models I found them to be very similar in their offerings, however, I kept leaning towards not what the descriptions said, but where I felt it mattered most, in the visual presentation of the picture I saw. I also found that visual presentation to be equally as personal. I asked others (in the showroom) their opinion and no surprise, I got as many differences as there were people. For example, I viewed some that looked to be naturally lighter and some darker and some with the hues more sedate than others that were more brilliant. We all saw them differently, yet the specs were all the same. My decision to buy this Samsung plasma screen wasn't scientific, I bought it because I've had great success with Samsung products in the past and I found the picture to be as pleasing as the more expensive models. With the money I saved, I upgraded to the Bose audio system and still had plenty of money left to buy DVDs and the popcorn to go with them. I would strongly recommend this plasma screen and feel confident that you made the right decision. PS, don't let those clerks up-sell you, let your eye decide, after all it's you that will be watching it!
Excellent value, good first plasma 
2006-09-27
We bought this TV via Amazon in 2004 and have been very pleased overall. At the time it was one of the cheapest 42" plasmas available at around $2800, and now it can be had new for closer to $1500 thanks to the rapid developments in plasmas. If, like us, you don't have HDTV service or immediate plans to upgrade, it's a good choice. DVDs look excellent and standard channels (we use DirecTV and Tivo) look as good as they possibly could.
Keep in mind, though, that this isn't a top of the line and will have some trade-offs. Most notably, the resolution is not true HD even though the TV can accept all HDTV formats and will display them at its own maximum resolution. Also, there are no built in speakers or HDTV tuner, but this isn't an issue when most people will use the unit with a surround system and cable box/satellite receiver. We route all our video sources (DirecTV, DVD, VCR, video game) through a $300 Sony surround system that routes the video into a single cable to the TV and the audio to 6 satellite speakers. If you have HDTV service the set does support the DVI connector but not HDMI, so you may need an adapter.
She set emits an audible buzz that's loudest when the unit first turns on, but never goes away fully. It does not have a noisy internal cooling fan, though, as some early plasmas did. The set also radiates a lot of heat and draws a large amount of power -- more than 350 watts according to the specifications.
Many people mistakenly fault plasmas like this one for premature burn-in when what they're noticing is only temporary. If you see the shadow of a previous image on the TV you need only watch something else for a few minutes and it's gone.
Picture quality will be astounding for those upgrading from a standard CRT TV like us, but it's not perfect. Darks lack clarity and night scenes are often hard to make out. Bright scenes look excellent. We watch standard TV in the "Panorama" mode, which gradually stretches the square image to fit the rectangular screen. We prefer this to watching with gray (not black) bars on the sides of the image, but that mode is available too. DVDs will display in full 16x9 widescreen mode and look beautiful.
Poor service 
2005-02-13
This, like other Samsung products, worked great for a few months. All of a sudden it won't recognize my Mac from the DVI port. The Mac works fine with other monitors, and even a Dell LCD TV. But the Samsung no longer recognizes it. Support from both the Tweeter store where I purchased it and from Samsung direct were absolutely NO help. I would stay away from Samsung and Tweeters for this reason.
Amazing set for the money 2005-01-26
I can't complain about this set at all. I originally had a used Daewoo plasma from sams club and it sucked big time, heated up the room like crazy, and constantly had ghosting. I returned it at sams club and bought a samsung spn4235 at circuit city because they had a promotion (2,700 dollars) plus a 300 dollar gift certificate. They were getting rid of the model to get in new ones. The only thing I was let down about was it was EDTV but I found out HDTV models were a heck of a lot more expensive. When I first got the model it had this weird clayface effect and the picture wasn't what I expected however I adjusted the settings with Avia home theatre setup and I was very impressed with dvd picture. I thought this was as good as it was going to get but recently I ordered HDTV through dish network. I thought the standard channels looked like crap but I was able to set my settings at 1080i and 16:9 and hdtv channels were amazing. The picture was very lifelike and colorful and it fit my whole screen without stretching. I watched the discovery channel and the DNIE option is great for hdtv viewing. The unit does decent with blacks but not the best. The set definitely can provide a great picture but every tv can only provide as good a picture as the source it gets from. My suggestion is if you go hdtv use either component or dvi and avoid svideo and rca cables. The price is great and if your looking to save money and have a good picture I recommend the unit. There is a slight buzzing noise but I haven't noticed it. Don't bother with the side speakers go with surround sound it will enhance your experience much more. Overall a very good unit and I am definitely not disapointed.
great price and 2 year warranty 2004-05-22
Great picture and great sound. Especially when you hook up a subwoofer to the set. I also purchased the optional speakers which have good overall quality. I have read some other reviews regarding some buzzing with the set but I have found that when I have hooked up the speakers there are 3 screws on the side of the set. If these are overtightened this could cause some buzzing noise. By loosening the screws you can make the buzzing go completely away. It worked on my set. hope this wil help if you get some buzzing on you sets enjoy
Bright and Bold 2004-05-19
I purchased this Plasma for a friend and have had it in my home for 2 weeks. I too have looked at many plasmas in the stores and compared. I have to say this one has a beautiful picture. Compared to true HDTV plasmas in the store, this EDTV has a great picture. It is hard to spend the extra money for subtle differences that are hard to see even side-by-side. Most of our viewing is cable or DVD movies so I can't rationalize the extra money. Even with a cable input, the picture is great. It is clear and has little "noise" or "graininess" considering it is a cable signal. Friends come over and remark what a great picture.
Internal amp for speakers is fine. The Virtual Dolby does give good impact to the 2 speaker sound. For DVD's I use my separate surround sound system. One thing Samsung forgot on this model are audio output jacks to connect internal tuner sound to your surround sound system. So many other inputs, I don't know why they forgot those outputs.
This is one of the few Plasmas that comes with a 2 year warrenty in home! The appearance of the TV is perfect in our home and looks great on or off. We are likeing it soo much, I will probably buy one for myself now that I have seen and used it my home.
