LG 50PK550R Owner's Discussion Thread

[dotMac]

The defective sets are sold as bulk to some contractors.
The bulk will consist of TV sets ranging from dead pixels issues to broken panel.
Heard this info from an insider..

Any idea what those contractors do with the TV?
Hope they dont sell it back to electronic shops.:annoyed:

Apple has this thing called Refurbished units. These units are once returned by Customer due to a defect or being not satisfied with product(every product have return policy in US). These are refurbished and sold at steep discount.
Govt. should impose these as mandatory rules.

Otherwise who knows that the TV we just got from dealer is not a repackaged used TV?

 

[krinamob]

Any idea what those contractors do with the TV?
Hope they dont sell it back to electronic shops.:annoyed:

I think they cant be sold back as TV with warranty as the serial number will be blocked from the company itself. So more chances of these TVs landing in grey market.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

yashdesai, jagadishareddy, TNAWAYAJ - did you get the PK550?

shreeps, theavdhesh - you guys are very recent owners - how's the experience so far?

I've been using my set to play music as my mini-fi is hijacked by mom (anyways, the set is getting old). It has pretty decent sound for a TV!

Hope I can get get the stereo setup done before Christmas - struggling thoda sa (kittu, iaudio, magma have been helping me with it). Going to audition speakers soon.

 

[illusion_heart]

Guys no need to worry about the defective sets, seems that LG recycles them.... Apart, similar to clothing companies, LG also has a series of Seconds showrooms where the display pieces or outdated models are sold off to and are available at 30 to 40% discount on MRP.

I was returning from visit to a friends house in chandivali, Mumbai where i saw one such shop. He had all LG consumer durables on display, fridges, washing machines, panels,etc. Upon checking with the owner, he told me that almost all of these are showroom display pieces or pieces which were physically damaged during transportation to showrooms. None of them were customer returned goods.

Guess afterall Lg does have some international standards followed in our country as well.

 

[krinamob]

I was returning from visit to a friends house in chandivali, Mumbai where i saw one such shop. He had all LG consumer durables on display, fridges, washing machines, panels,etc. Upon checking with the owner, he told me that almost all of these are showroom display pieces or pieces which were physically damaged during transportation to showrooms. None of them were customer returned goods.
.

Is that shop owned by LG or the so called contractors?.... And could you please let us know the address of the shop?..

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Could buy cheaper stuff if willing to take some risk.

Btw, the PK550 is growing to be a beauty with age. Seriously guys, the sub-contrast at 165 and sub-brightness at 115 made a lot of difference to my eyes (and taste).

All PK550 owners with a trouble-free panel should be proud. :clapping:

 

[illusion_heart]

Is that shop owned by LG or the so called contractors?.... And could you please let us know the address of the shop?..

The shop is not owned by LG. The shop name is "Mamta Electronics". Card says company second sale of LG products.

Add is : Opp Rahat Hotel, Khairani Road, Sakinaka, Andheri (E), Mumbai 72.

Landmark is: Near entry lane of Nahar Amrit Sakti...khairani Road.

 

[TNAWAYAJ]

2 weeks wait, minimum, I've been told. No stock in LG warehouse.
Wondering if I should get myself a 42PJ350 instead. Sigh - decisions, decisions!

yashdesai, jagadishareddy, TNAWAYAJ - did you get the PK550?

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

2 weeks wait, minimum, I've been told. No stock in LG warehouse.
Wondering if I should get myself a 42PJ350 instead. Sigh - decisions, decisions!

Patience is the key to a PK550 I would have waited for 2 weeks.

42PJ350 vs 50PK550 - ???

 

[theavdhesh]

First of all thanks all for your valuable inputs. I really made a great buy based upon your feedback.

Coming to my new PK550, I am watching the TV on Dish SD quality. And till date, I had no issues on image quality. I could not find any dancing pixel. I have kept Orbital on since buying the set, so no major retention issues either.

There is no buzzing sound however harder I try. The picture is great at a distance of even 8 feet. With HD, the distance is going to be shorter. Too bad, the TV does not play MKV; otherwise it can play almost any other format thrown to it. The videos played through USB do not play fit-to-screen, rather they retain their aspect ratio and rest of screen is black. The audio is good enough for normal viewing.

One serious issue where LG needs to work hard is reflection. If you cannot control light in front of your TV set, please do not buy it. If the light source is not in front of TV, then there is not an issue even in daylight.

With time, the colours and blacks are getting better. After 2 more weeks, I will try to calibrate the set with increased contrast and brightness as per recommended settings.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

I have kept Orbital on since buying the set, so no major retention issues either.

With time, the colours and blacks are getting better. After 2 more weeks, I will try to calibrate the set with increased contrast and brightness as per recommended settings.

Even with Orbiter make sure you run Color Wash during the initial period - maybe for 3-5 mins before switching off.

 

[shreeps]

yashdesai, jagadishareddy, TNAWAYAJ - did you get the PK550?

shreeps, theavdhesh - you guys are very recent owners - how's the experience so far?

The experience has been mindblowing. This being my first HDTV I dont have too much of an experience base for comparing but here goes:

The Good:
--------------------

PQ: Awesome for HD material (Nat Geo/Discovery HD via Tata Sky); pretty good even for SD channels (not as bad as many LCD TVs I've seen).
Great color reproduction and lifelike tones even with all the settings turned down below 50.

Intuitive menu: I havent seen the manual yet but am able to operate the TV pretty easily.

USB: Recognizes all sorts of devices ranging from my 4 GB flash drive to 2 TB External HDD. Takes some time on the External HDD but thats understandable since there is a huge amount of data in it.
Have played quite a few Divxs but as theavdesh mentioned, it retains the aspect ratio and doesnt cover the full screen even if you choose the zoom option. There was some issue with no sound on some of the movies but not sure if thats the TV's fault or if it was an issue during the ripping process.

TIR: Surprisingly, I have seen not a single instance of Temp Image Retention so far, despite the fact that the primary viewing is with TataSky. Nevertheless, I try to run the break in slides for 30 mins or so every day and the colour and white wash once every 4-5 days for around 5 minutes.

Gaming: Have connected my Wii and played Resident Evil 4 for 30-40 mins. Even though not HD quality, it sure beat the 21" CRT hyeah:

The Bad:
--------------------
Dead Pixels: I have seen 3-4 dead pixels but since I can see these only while running the white wash and that too at a distance of 1 foot, I am not too bothered.

Reflections: This is one reflective TV. Need to make sure to keep all curtains closed during daytime and minimum lights turned on at night to ensure that the reflections and resulting glare dont prove distracting.

Sound Quality: For many of the channels and movies, sound needs to be cranked to the maximum to get an ok feeling. EVen then, it just gets louder and not "clearer" if you know what I mean.

Wishlist:
--------------------
More advanced controls
Backlit remote control
More connectivity options to the side instead of rear.

Overall:
--------------------
Very happy with the purchase, I think this is the most value for money TV in that size.

Next steps:
--------------------
Wireless headphones (HTiB is a distant dream till the baby grows up a bit)
Region free Blu Ray Player
Extended Warranty

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Sound Quality: For many of the channels and movies, sound needs to be cranked to the maximum to get an ok feeling. EVen then, it just gets louder and not "clearer" if you know what I mean.

Enable Clear Voice II and increase the Level to max. Helps in certain situations.

 

[asni]

So bloody frustrated!

Purchased 50pk550 on nov 3rd at bajaj..couldn't take delivery that week coz of exams and crap..and then they were like no stock in whole city,u gotta wait..

i waited n waited n am still waiting!:sad:

once they said 2 days,n then 6 days n then 1 week..am i ever gonna get my tv?!

n called up lg best shop just now n they were like the company's only out of stock or something and they didn't get the supply this month and there's no way they can get it this month at all!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghh!!

I JUST WANT MY TV!

is that so much to ask for?!:sad::sad:

(i do know that venting my frustration here is not gonna make any difference..but well, got carried away reading all the nice posts and great reviews n made me all the more restless)

 

[asni]

Got a call from bajaj..the latest is that they have no idea when the pk550 might be available..might take over a month:sad::sad:

looks like i have to opt for another tv now..which tv might be compared to pk550 in the same price range??

am so disappointed now..looks like i might go for pj560/650 or sammy c450..i don't think i would get another full hd model in this range..

 

[Kittu]

Got a call from bajaj..the latest is that they have no idea when the pk550 might be available..might take over a month:sad::sad:

looks like i have to opt for another tv now..which tv might be compared to pk550 in the same price range??

am so disappointed now..looks like i might go for pj560/650 or sammy c450..i don't think i would get another full hd model in this range..

See if you can opt for this.

http://www.hifivision.com/television/14225-samsung-plasma-shocker-price.html

Great tv @ killer price.

 

[asni]

but thats from j.d...i have to opt for something at bajaj only:sad:

considering 50x20d or 50c450 or 50c650 now..

 

[shreeps]

but thats from j.d...i have to opt for something at bajaj only:sad:

considering 50x20d or 50c450 or 50c650 now..

If they cant arrange for the TV you want in a reasonable period of time, take your money back and buy it from elsewhere.

 

[asni]

If they cant arrange for the TV you want in a reasonable period of time, take your money back and buy it from elsewhere.

I wish!!!
if they would give my money back, i can totally go for that awesome 50c6500 deal!:licklips:

but they are adamant that they can't do that..i should just opt for another tv as i cant wait for 1 more month:sad::sad:

 

[Kittu]

I wish!!!
if they would give my money back, i can totally go for that awesome 50c6500 deal!:licklips:

but they are adamant that they can't do that..i should just opt for another tv as i cant wait for 1 more month:sad::sad:

My suggestion still would be to take your money back somehow and go for that awesome deal ... :licklips: