I just want to say I am very pleased with my TV after de-AVSing myself (Meaning, not reading the forums for a week or so and just enjoying the unit). Is it perfect? No, but I really enjoy it and I would be that many issue people have can be corrected via firmware upgrade.
Toshiro:

I am with yopu on my set...very much satisfied except for the black issues that seem to be prevelant. have you performed the firmware upgrade and did it work?

I just want to say I am very pleased with my TV after de-AVSing myself (Meaning, not reading the forums for a week or so and just enjoying the unit). Is it perfect? No, but I really enjoy it and I would be that many issue people have can be corrected via firmware upgrade.

Reading these forums have nothing to do with it.

Issues, many issues with this set, is why i got into these forums in the 1st place.
That and the lack of customer service & technical help from dell.

People on these forums have tenfold knowledge over dell, on thier own products.
They are clueless and/or just love to pawn it off on something or someone else.

At least people here try to resolve issues & give you advice.
Dell sure as hell will not.

Also, i have seen nothing on any firmware.

Premium Price/Budget Quality

Today the shippers took back my Dell 50". My consumer heart goes out to folks like CxTurbo who really had faith and wanted - like me - to believe that this was a good set (maybe because we have always relied on the knowledge that Dell is a good company which produces quality product and service). Unfortunately, clinging to that fervent hope 21 days past the ship date marries you to a plasma that falls far short of what it initially seems to promise. I think that sports fans will be especially hard-hit with this TV, for it may take a month or more for them to tune away from the shadowless lighting on the playing fields (interrupted by only the perfectly studio-lit commercials) and suddenly realize that a dark movie scene is completely unacceptable.

The bottom line is that this TV is defective. It does not deliver on it's promise of "intelligent scaling", nor it's general promise of picture quality. It seems a crime that anyone can pass off this set as being acceptable, much less a company with the hard-earned consumer rep as Dell.

Most everyone in this thread is a true consumer pioneer, investing with faith in an otherwise reputable company on an unreviewed product, enduring the incessant rant of those Panny-loving nay-sayers (yeah, "Dell sux", and yes, Panny is better, so you win :mad: ), intelligently discussing the issues, and supporting each other in a technical arena devoid of any meaningful input or competence from Dell. My hat is off to you all, and my sincere wish is that those "stuck" with this TV will find it eventually an excellent product with the help of the right scaler or firmware fix.

In the meantime, this particular consumer pioneer is about to become a Pioneer consumer (an 1130HD Elite is soon to be delivered), but I will check this thread with regular frequency. Thank you all for your help and excellent advice.

Yeah.....I really wanted to try this unit out but after reading some excellent feedback from many in here, I am not going for this unit (50").
Now I think it's going to be the Hitachi 55HDX62 or one of the new Panasonics. The 58 sounds real nice for size but I don't want to wait a year for the thing.
Ah....decisions...decisions....but many thanks for the great info, especially Michael TLV.

Today the shippers took back my Dell 50". My consumer heart goes out to folks like CxTurbo who really had faith and wanted - like me - to believe that this was a good set (maybe because we have always relied on the knowledge that Dell is a good company which produces quality product and service). Unfortunately, clinging to that fervent hope 21 days past the ship date marries you to a plasma that falls far short of what it initially seems to promise. I think that sports fans will be especially hard-hit with this TV, for it may take a month or more for them to tune away from the shadowless lighting on the playing fields (interrupted by only the perfectly studio-lit commercials) and suddenly realize that a dark movie scene is completely unacceptable.

The bottom line is that this TV is defective. It does not deliver on it's promise of "intelligent scaling", nor it's general promise of picture quality. It seems a crime that anyone can pass off this set as being acceptable, much less a company with the hard-earned consumer rep as Dell.

Most everyone in this thread is a true consumer pioneer, investing with faith in an otherwise reputable company on an unreviewed product, enduring the incessant rant of those Panny-loving nay-sayers (yeah, "Dell sux", and yes, Panny is better, so you win :mad: ), intelligently discussing the issues, and supporting each other in a technical arena devoid of any meaningful input or competence from Dell. My hat is off to you all, and my sincere wish is that those "stuck" with this TV will find it eventually an excellent product with the help of the right scaler or firmware fix.

In the meantime, this particular consumer pioneer is about to become a Pioneer consumer (an 1130HD Elite is soon to be delivered), but I will check this thread with regular frequency. Thank you all for your help and excellent advice.

Well stated Kidziti, good luck with the next set.

Yes, i have been on the phone/online too many times with no results at all.
i see now, that i should have waited for others to purchase and give opinions.

Oh well. If it's in the hands of Dell. That's not comforting at all.
From what i've experienced, they don't give a rats tail.
Yes, it is truly a crime.

Premiun Dough/Budget Quality

Today the shippers took back my Dell 50". My consumer heart goes out to folks like CxTurbo who really had faith and wanted - like me - to believe that this was a good set (maybe because we have always relied on the knowledge that Dell is a good company which produces quality product and service). Unfortunately, clinging to that fervent hope 21 days past the ship date marries you to a plasma that falls far short of what it initially seems to promise. I think that sports fans will be especially hard-hit with this TV, for it may take a month or more for them to tune away from the shadowless lighting on the playing fields (interrupted by only the perfectly studio-lit commercials) and suddenly realize that a dark movie scene is completely unacceptable.

The bottom line is that this TV is defective. It does not deliver on it's promise of "intelligent scaling", nor it's general promise of picture quality. It seems a crime that anyone can pass off this set as being acceptable, much less a company with the hard-earned consumer rep as Dell.

Most everyone in this thread is a true consumer pioneer, investing with faith in an otherwise reputable company on an unreviewed product, enduring the incessant rant of those Panny-loving nay-sayers (yeah, "Dell sux", and yes, Panny is better, so you win :mad: ), intelligently discussing the issues, and supporting each other in a technical arena devoid of any meaningful input or competence from Dell. My hat is off to you all, and my sincere wish is that those "stuck" with this TV will find it eventually an excellent product with the help of the right scaler or firmware fix.

In the meantime, this particular consumer pioneer is about to become a Pioneer consumer (an 1130HD Elite is soon to be delivered), but I will check this thread with regular frequency. Thank you all for your help and excellent advice.

Well stated Kidziti, good luck with the next set. Let us know how you like it.

Yes, i have been on the phone/online too many times with no results at all.
i see now, that i should have waited for others to purchase and give opinions.

Oh well. If it's in the hands of Dell. That's not comforting at all.
From what i've experienced, they don't give a rats tail.
Yes, it is truly a crime.

Premiun Dough/Budget Quality

I also regret the purchase of my Dell W5001C. I have tried every combination to try to get the picture settings to an acceptable viewing level on all the inputs. The blacks are terrible, there are blotches of green in with the blacks and blacks have a grey tint. On whites the background is washed out. I have about worn the buttons out on the remote trying to adjust the picture. Within 1 month of use HDMI 1 starts dropping out connected the dish network DVR 921. Replaced the HDMI cable with no luck. Then I replaced the DVR 921 with the DVR 942 to find out that the problem is the TV on HDMI 1. I then switched to HDMI 2 and had the same issue starting over. Now both HDMI 1 and 2 do not work and I have to hook the dvr 942 up with the component cables to watch TV. After complaining and getting the run around Dell is finally replacing the TV this week. I wonder if I could send it back, I would gladly pay the 15 percent to get rid of it. I am going to buy something else to replace it and I will do my research before my next purchase. Has anyone else had issues with the HDMI inputs not working? Anyone else have luck sending this unit back after 21 days?

Well, I thought I had done my due diligence, I read every thread on plasmas here, pestered the hell out of the folks at all the local electronic shops and viewed every friends tv for comparison. After all that I went against all judgement and ordered the Dell 50. After a huge screw up on their part of the delivery (I had to go pick it up at the wrong address they delivered it to) I received and hooked it up. Guess what....crap. Picture was terrible, exactly what is being described by everyone. Did you guys know Bono has purple hair now?
I have never been more disappointed by a purchase. I was so pumped for my family to view this set, after putting in the movie my kids just asked,"why is the picture so bad"?
I had no answer, I just refered my 9 and 11 year old to this forum...
Yesterday morning, (set is now 1 1/2 days old) four bars of blocks are running across the screen with a bright green line through them. Tech support after 1 hour has no answer for this or the poor picture ( I was going to ask for a free Lumagen). They have authorized a new set. I will be calling customer support to explain in no uncertain terms that a refund will be the only accepted recourse. Like everyone else I based my decision on past experience with their products. I really believed that maybe this set was an exception to the "too good to be true" adage...it is not.
Maybe Dell will get this set perfected, but I doubt it will be at the same price. For those that have a good one...buy yourself a lottery ticket, because you have beaten the odds once already.

I am going to downsize screen (go to 42") and upsize quality (Pioneer/Panny). Can you guys give me some starting point of choices? What sort of image clarity difference will I see between ED and HD sets, is it obvious?

Any and all input would be appreciated.

Steve

Greetings

There was a general thread about ED and HD sets recently ... just look for it. All you want to know about the comparison.

Regards

Reading these forums have nothing to do with it.

Really, it does. Ignorance really can be bliss in regards to CE. If it weren't for the AVSers of the world, I wouldn't know what black crush, red push, green push, posterization, edge enhacenment, blacker-than-black, color space, and any number of other things meant and I would probably have a far less critical eye.

People who don't spend their time reading about all this stuff don't know about things like calibration. Heck, on Super Bowl Sunday I was at my cousin's house where all of our friend's congregate for MNF (And finally, the Super Bowl) and I noticed his convergence was way off. I asked him when the last time he had adjusted the convergence on his set, his answer "What is that?"

I spent about 30 minutes doing various calibration to the set (With DVE). The PQ was MUCH MUCH better. How did he and his wife react "It looks the same, but thanks anyway." These are your average consumers for mid-range electronics (Like the Dell) and all those same people who go to watch MNF on a pretty nice HD-RPTV drool over the Dell.

So is the Dell perfect? No, not even close. But the PQ is passable and if a scaler like the lumagen (Which I've been looking at since before I even bought the Dell!) can reduce the purple in the just above black range I will be very satisfied. But again, not looking at AVS for a while and just enjoying watching movies and TV shows with my wife...it's refreshing.

I know some of you will just say I'm trying to rationalize my purchase, but I had plenty of time to get a return on the TV and I ultimately decided at the 11th hour that the unit was worth keeping. I also have little sympathy for people who jumped in on this unit without waiting for any reviews only to be "stuck" with a $3500 "piece of crap." Tough luck.

Still has nothing to do with reading these forums.
Yes, maybe on the terminology end of it.

All anyone has to do is view it. They might not know the terms but they can see
this set lacks a quality picture. I have always stood behind the HD content, looks great too me.

I don't really care at all, about your sympathy.
i'm just looking for dell to provide firmware, to bring the quality of viewing up to the
standards it should have been in the 1st place. Among all the other issues as well, hdmi problems, size modes etc. Should not have to go out and dump more money into a set, that is lacking where others are not.

I wonder if the Visio I see at Sams club is better than that Dell. I bet it is after reading these posts. ;)

Still has nothing to do with reading these forums.
Yes, maybe on the terminology end of it.

All anyone has to do is view it. They might not know the terms but they can see
this set lacks a quality picture. I have always stood behind the HD content, looks great too me.

I don't really care at all, about your sympathy.
i'm just looking for dell to provide firmware, to bring the quality of viewing up to the
standards it should have been in the 1st place. Among all the other issues as well, hdmi problems, size modes etc. Should not have to go out and dump more money into a set, that is lacking where others are not.


No, not just terminology. There are so many things that people simply don't notice if it's not brought to their attention. Things like poor convergence (Which is very distracting to me) have to be pointed out to people very explicitly.

Don't buy the set before the reviews come out and you won't "have to go out and dump more money into a set". Face it, everybody who bought the thing sight-unseen are at fault for the situation they are in.

Well you named one thing most people would not notice.

Issues like terrible dark scenes with green/purple or red push.
Lousy shadow detail, un-natural looking hair, faces, the list goes on.
Not to mention, hdmi & size mode problems.
My dog can see it.

I don't claim to know everything, i'm still learning alot of this stuff.
Yes it is a new and sight unseen, but this set is defective with all it's problems.
So, i don't blame myself or anyone else, that is not happy with it.
It does not Deliver. Should be a flat out recall on it.

Don't forget, The customer is always right.

No, not just terminology. There are so many things that people simply don't notice if it's not brought to their attention. Things like poor convergence (Which is very distracting to me) have to be pointed out to people very explicitly.

As you stated in an earlier post, once you reset the convergence on your friends' set, they still didn't see the difference. It's obviously important to you, but if it's not important to them, then why does it have to be "explicitly pointed out"? Just because another may not have the command of technical concepts does not make their viewing experience more or less pleasurable than your own.


Don't buy the set before the reviews come out and you won't "have to go out and dump more money into a set". Face it, everybody who bought the thing sight-unseen are at fault for the situation they are in.

Sorry, Toshiro, but I have to disagree with you on this point. I believe the fault lies clearly with Dell. When a consumer buys a product advertised to be as good as this TV was purported to be, by a company with an otherwise excellent reputation for quality and customer service, I don't see any fault by the consumer. Dell wouldn't even agree with your contention, for if they did they would not offer a 21-day period within which a dissatisfied customer can return the set.

Sorry, Toshiro, but I have to disagree with you on this point. I believe the fault lies clearly with Dell. When a consumer buys a product advertised to be as good as this TV was purported to be, by a company with an otherwise excellent reputation for quality and customer service, I don't see any fault by the consumer. Dell wouldn't even agree with your contention, for if they did they would not offer a 21-day period within which a dissatisfied customer can return the set.[/QUOTE]

Exactly, except the 21 day period, is mostly void.
Considering by the time you get it, have it installed, and hooked up.
It's all but gone.
Should be from confirmed delivery date, not ship date.

But that would not be a major point for me, if the set would deliver
what they claim. So far, IT Has Not.

74Capri,

Do you think there is anything we as consumers can do to put pressure on DELL? I'm not asking for them to have a fix right away, but I would like to know that they are aware of this problem and working on it. Nothing is more frustrating than silence. I don't care if it takes them 6 months to resolve it, I just want to know they care about fixing it. If they can't fix it, they should allow us to return the TV as long as we're within the 1 year warrentee period. I've always had nothing but stellar service from Dell for their computers, so I'm very surprised by the lack of support for this TV :-(

Rich

74Capri,

Do you think there is anything we as consumers can do to put pressure on DELL? I'm not asking for them to have a fix right away, but I would like to know that they are aware of this problem and working on it. Nothing is more frustrating than silence. I don't care if it takes them 6 months to resolve it, I just want to know they care about fixing it. If they can't fix it, they should allow us to return the TV as long as we're within the 1 year warrentee period. I've always had nothing but stellar service from Dell for their computers, so I'm very surprised by the lack of support for this TV :-(

Rich

From the dell forum, i believe they might be looking into the hdmi>dvi problem.
I've heard nothing else on any other issues.

If i new a way to put pressure on them, i would not hesitate.
It sure wouldn't be over the phone, i bet you know where that process gets you.

Maybe file complaints through consumer affairs.
I just might do that.

As you stated in an earlier post, once you reset the convergence on your friends' set, they still didn't see the difference. It's obviously important to you, but if it's not important to them, then why does it have to be "explicitly pointed out"? Just because another may not have the command of technical concepts does not make their viewing experience more or less pleasurable than your own.


Actually, it does. Because they are unaware of what consititues a good or bad picture, they are left to just enjoy the material they are watching. The AVS crowd (And I include myself in it, despite not posting very heavily, I'm always reading this forum) can't do this, we are always evaluating the systems we own and the systems of those whom we visit.

Dell replaced my W5001C today and sent a tech out. TV revision went from A00 to A03 according to sticker on back. HMDI 1 and 2 still will not work with DVR-942 HDMI output. PQ on replacement is terrible. Replacement TV was referb and the screen was burned. Tech sent out by Dell was unfamilliar with firmware upgrade for tv. Bottom line tv is defective and can not deliver to specs as advertised. :mad:

I have two other plasma displays. A Hyundai 42-incher in the babies room, and Panasonic 42-incher that is currently in the living room but is on its way to the master bedroom. I'm looking at getting the W5001C.

I just finished reading this entire thread (took several hours). Very informative. Thanks. From what I understand, there is a crushed-black problem. However, from the explanation, I have the same problem with my two other sets. I've gotten used to it. It's really not a big deal - but then again I'm not a TV freak (I haven't watched a DVD in 2 years). I have plasmas because they save space.

What I'm wondering is if the W5001C has a problem that is worse than other plasmas in it's price range. If someone still has this set - would it be too much trouble to post a picture or two of some high-definition content in a dark scene? I've looked at the other pictures posted here, but they are of HTPC at 480p. If someone has this TV showing 720p or 1080i, please take a close-up snapshot. Thanks.

Dell replaced my W5001C today and sent a tech out. TV revision went from A00 to A03 according to sticker on back. HMDI 1 and 2 still will not work with DVR-942 HDMI output. PQ on replacement is terrible. Replacement TV was referb and the screen was burned. Tech sent out by Dell was unfamilliar with firmware upgrade for tv. Bottom line tv is defective and can not deliver to specs as advertised. :mad:

I read your whole saga with Dell support over the Dell forum, and I am just amazed that Dell as a company can let their support become that bad. I have an offer from someone to buy me a new Dell W5001C TV as a gift but after everything I read, I am not even sure I want to waste their money on something that sounds that bad.

Good luck getting it resolved.

success!!!!

Today finally after a long hard fought battle and threats of spiking two televisions off their loading dock (I don't live far from them) I received authorization for a full refund!!!!

Now I'm Happy, The support that I received from Shawn in the Returns department was great. He babysat the whole process and got me what I wanted. Thanks!!!!!!!

Now onto getting my Panasonic. Hope it performs! Apparently I'm pickier than most and nobody ever told me!!! I suppose I have crossed the line to "Videophile"! No turning back now.

CxTurbo

CX - I'm genuinely thrilled to hear of your success. Take names and numbers, just in case...

A Panny, eh? Sweet! My Elite 1130 is coming this weekend. After having dealt with the Dell TVs, we'll be very appreciative of the new sets I'm sure.

success!!!!

Today finally after a long hard fought battle and threats of spiking two televisions off their loading dock (I don't live far from them) I received authorization for a full refund!!!!

Now I'm Happy, The support that I received from Shawn in the Returns department was great. He babysat the whole process and got me what I wanted. Thanks!!!!!!!

Now onto getting my Panasonic. Hope it performs! Apparently I'm pickier than most and nobody ever told me!!! I suppose I have crossed the line to "Videophile"! No turning back now.

CxTurbo

success here too!!!

Dell sent me an authorization for a full refund also. Last nigh I talked to a supervisor and I told him that the only option that I would accept would be to return the tv for a full refund. Today he called me back to get all my info and to start the return process.

We will see how it goes from here considering they told me today that UPS would be out to get the tv within two weeks. I thought this item was too large for UPS.

Anyway, I am going to hold them to the return with documentation and I will be eagerly awaiting my full refund. Hopefully this nightmare is over.

I will probably replace this unit with a new Panny, thanks to this forum and lots of reading.

Good for you.

Any replacement you decide on, will most definitely be a flight of steps, on the up side.

Pretty sad though, to actually enjoy the experience of owning this set & dealing
with this company. That put out inferior goods for a not so inferior price tag.

You have to get it out the door.

Best of luck to everyone else that is trying to return the 50" Dell. Don't give up. Hopefully, Dell will send them all to the scrap yard.

I went to order the new panny TH-50PX500U or TH-50PX50U from my dealer today and he told me that these units are out of stock. He told me to wait until April to get the new 2006 replacement model. My dealer was told that the 2006 replacements will be even better.

Dell now has my TV, I'm just waiting for the credit to hit our account. The return process is somewhat chaotic, they haven't finalized the whole process, but in talking to the guy who picked up the TV to return, he said that he's amazed at the number of the Dell TV's that are going back.

We're very happy we made the switch to the 1130HD. The initial shock of the cost difference quickly subsided when we watched the first show with dark and deep blacks. The picture quality is truly unbelievable!

I wish no bad luck to Dell, I still love my computer equipment, but won't steer anyone towards their TV's.

Well I am getting close to three months now of very heavy use and concluded that I am pretty happy with the Dell. I have not had most of the problems some of the other posts have mentioned. I agree the SD scaler sucks but I happen to have an upscaling DVD player and upscaling sat reciever hd tivo connected to the HDMI ports so it's pretty much a none issue for me, plus I watch mostly HD anyway. I would probably be returning it too if I was dependant on the sets scaler and watched mostly SD. I occasionally see the black problem but nobody else in the house seems to have ever noticed it. The set definately does not have the purple problem.

My only real regret is that I didn't wait and take advantage of the inevitable price drop if they start getting a lot of returns.

After reading this thread, I'm almost embarrassed to say I own this TV and like it. I too have an upscaling DVD player and sa8300hd stb both hooked up to their own hdmi ports. Be aware that this TV does not work properly with a HDMI=DVI cable. It's picture even seems to look better now with about 10 weeks of heavy use under it's belt. I also like the speakers that came with it for watching standard TV. I wish the TV had a good stretch mode for watching 4:3. I've spent a lot of time looking at a number of other TVs since i found this thread and It would be hard for me to justify an additional $1500-$2000 for a panny over my setup. But for some reason my setup does not have the black crush or purple problem others have.

I've spent a lot of time looking at a number of other TVs since i found this thread and It would be hard for me to justify an additional $1500-$2000 for a panny over my setup. But for some reason my setup does not have the black crush or purple problem others have.


Well, I bought mine on sale before Christmas with warranty and the added cost of over a grand for my DVDO iScan I'm close to if not over $7,000.00 Can. I can get a 8uk Panny for under $4,000.00 Can and an NEC for around $4,500. You mean to tell me that you would accept the Dell over either of those at a lower cost! you just spent the extra cash that you thought you couldn't justify. Now if you paid $1,000.00 for the Dell I would agree with you but this is a poor excuse for a plasma at even the $3,600. I paid for the set.

If you use DVE or Avia to attempt to set the proper contrast and brightness you might see the inability of this set to display proper grey levels, even on upscaled DVD.If mine is set by "EYE" I can get it to look ok but the the picture is washed out and there is a definite loss in PQ not to mention detail and possibly shortening the life of the set while at it. Maybe I am picky and have an unrealistic view of what is good, but I doubt that very much. I find no part except the outer appearance of this display worth it. The Crappy thing will display darker shadows,blacks and greys as static or Blocky/blotchy blobs depending on the shade of Black/grey it's trying to reproduce. Also it has a tendency to produce a haloing effect around light colour tansition to darker colours and around Higher contrast logos/lettering. I can't say that I experienced the purple black issue or the reddish banding in the blacks as described but I was using the iScan to feed native to the display with 1:1 mapping I might have eliminated that problem because of that. The DVI-HDMI cable thing may not be a real problem either as I see it because the problem is present on all inputs with all content, Granted some worse then others.

Possibly you got one of the now two known good Dells! I have that many in my living room waiting to go to the scrap pile/Dell. I just hope that yourself and those who like or are stuck with this set have no further problems with them and continue to enjoy them for a long time. I suppose ultimately it wasn't my cup of tea and just need something more, for less mind you :D All that matters is you like and enjoy your purchase.

Cx

All that matters is you like and enjoy your purchase.

Cx

Absolutely! Manorhill and Davivers, if you like this set, then you've done much better than a lot of folks in this thread. It means you've saved some cash, won't sweat the long back-order waits of the Panny customers, and are at peace with the purchase and enjoying some great HDTV! Perhaps some viewers like CX and me are just too finicky. I think I can speak for both of us (Cx and me) when I say that we almost desperately wanted to love this set - so much so that we gave it a lot of opportunity to prove itself that we might not have done had it been anything other than a Dell. Your appreciation of the Dell is something I wish I had, and frankly had I liked the picture, the criticism here would not have enticed me to return it.

That said, if you end up getting discouraged with the picture later on, you've got a great resource here on the AVS forum to work through any issues. I hope this Dell thread stays active for those who still have the w5001c, and us former Dell owners continue to visit every now and then to contribute our ideas and experiences.

Good luck!

Lee

To be honest, i would not have bought this plasma had i read this thread before my purchase nor will i advise anyone to purchase this TV because of all the problems that knowledgeable people on this board have had with this set. But I am watching "The Lord of the Rings" as type this note and i see very little back crush. Now my ole eyes are not what they once were and if i had a pioneer or panny to compare side by side I might be disappointed.

And I am not a dell apologist as I have bought at least 2 computers a year form dell for my business for the last 5+ years however I type this on my new IBM laptop due to problems I have been having with the inspirons inferior build.
I guess i'm fortunate to have recived a decent w5001c. I have to stop now so i can go count my lucky stars. :o

I have had my Dell for 2 months now and I have really enjoyed the picture. I have a Sony Upconvert w/ HDMI and Direct TV w/ new reciever HDMI. Both produce a great picture. I use my personal picture settings on both. I do adjust my picture between channels. I am watching UHD Channel(Universal High Def) Olympic Hockey w/ seetings of Bright 41 Contrast 46 Sharp 7 Color Blue tint 52 sat 40. I only screw around with the Bright and Contrast. It all depends on what I am watching. Sound is great. Pic Pic is great for video games. Halo and Sports LOL.

Purchased through Costco. Shipping company sucks. 3 days late.

Sorry to hear about all of the problems. I have enjoyed mine. I went into this expecting a good picture not the best one in the industry. It is a computer company. I am happy with the great one I recieved.

Well, I'm getting DirecTV hooked up on Thursday and the HR10-250 (HD Tivo) box is already here. I have to say the PQ of the OTA tuner is superior to the PQ of the built in OTA tuner. It's also gets a bit better singnal strength as a couple of new channels actually come in with the DirecTV box.

Well, I thought I had done my due diligence, I read every thread on plasmas here, pestered the hell out of the folks at all the local electronic shops and viewed every friends tv for comparison. After all that I went against all judgement and ordered the Dell 50. After a huge screw up on their part of the delivery (I had to go pick it up at the wrong address they delivered it to) I received and hooked it up. Guess what....crap. Picture was terrible, exactly what is being described by everyone. Did you guys know Bono has purple hair now?
I have never been more disappointed by a purchase. I was so pumped for my family to view this set, after putting in the movie my kids just asked,"why is the picture so bad"?
I had no answer, I just refered my 9 and 11 year old to this forum...
Yesterday morning, (set is now 1 1/2 days old) four bars of blocks are running across the screen with a bright green line through them. Tech support after 1 hour has no answer for this or the poor picture ( I was going to ask for a free Lumagen). They have authorized a new set. I will be calling customer support to explain in no uncertain terms that a refund will be the only accepted recourse. Like everyone else I based my decision on past experience with their products. I really believed that maybe this set was an exception to the "too good to be true" adage...it is not.
Maybe Dell will get this set perfected, but I doubt it will be at the same price. For those that have a good one...buy yourself a lottery ticket, because you have beaten the odds once already.

I am going to downsize screen (go to 42") and upsize quality (Pioneer/Panny). Can you guys give me some starting point of choices? What sort of image clarity difference will I see between ED and HD sets, is it obvious?

Any and all input would be appreciated.

Steve

We did exactly as you are planning to do. I arranged a product return well within my 30 day window (Canada). My second attempt to get them to drop the nonsense of a $550 "restock fee" was successful. That was nearly a month ago, and we are still waiting for someone to pick the damn thing up. Repeated attempts to tell them that it doesn't need a "de-install", as it is repacked exactly as it came, were unheard. Then they relented and said the same company that delivered it could take it back, and that I could make those arrangements. I did that, and then while trying to resolve if sufficient insurance would be in force, that company's head office in Toronto said NO to the pickup. Back to square one. Called Dell for the 4th time and they assured me it would be made a priority by the third party tasked with the pickup. A week went by with no call from that company. A 5th call to Dell. This time I got results. They dropped the shipping charges that I had agreed to pay in exchange for dropping the restock (which was much more costly) and now, wonders of wonders, I was given the number to the company that would pick up the TV. Why that couldn't all have happened at the beginning is anyone's guess. The arrangements were made in minutes and they will pick it up tomorrow morning. I hope.

I wish everyone stuck with the TV success in resolving their problems with returns, exchanges, firmware upgrades, upconverting DVD players, and external scalers. We bought a Pioneer 4360HD and couldn't be happier. It is light years better than the Dell. Slightly more money in Canada than what I paid for the Dell, and smaller - but at the end of the day you have to be pleased when you plunk out several thousand dollars for a television. And probably be pleased for many years, unless money is no object. And if money was no object we all would have bought the highest-end plasma to start with.

For those who returned the 50" Dell, what were you ultimately left to pay for the third-party shipping? I was refunded all but about $147 (US).

Not sure if it made the difference, but we used the Dell Financing deal and were fully refunded (no out-of-pocket expenses).

Not sure if it made the difference, but we used the Dell Financing deal and were fully refunded (no out-of-pocket expenses).

Hmmm - the whole thing went on my Dell Preferred card, so I don't think that was the difference.

You all may be interested that I just got an authorized return on my Dell Plasma. I am a Dell reseller and typically the 21 day satisfaction guarantee doesn't apply. I wrote an email to my sales rep (from whom I purchase $100k + of equipment annually for resale) with the following issues with the television.

I must say that the thing that REALLY bugged me was the "green push". I never really noticed the "purple blacks". The main reason I am posting this message is so it can serve as a sort of 'repository' for the list of issues with the TV. Feel free to add to them if you like.

Honestly, I am not sure I described the issues to him totally accurately, but the tone of the email was such that "I REALLY want my money back". Mainly I am just spooked about issues down the road. Although I mentioned it to him below, I didn't have MAJOR problems with the HDMI HDCP connection (only a small issue where a large L-shape portion of the picture was blocked out upon initially turning on the TV but went away when changing channels), but I read enough about others' issues that I wanted to get out of this transaction while I still could.

Another note, after a couple of weeks of use, the 'green push' seems to be a tad better than it once was - 'highway hypnosis' perhaps?

1. Annoying late at night when the TV makes a buzzing sound under normal operation both when watching normal programming but especially when changing channels.
2. DVD on component video is unwatchable. Diagonal scan lines constantly moving across the screen (I have a PIONEER Elite DVD player). S-Video works great.
3. BIGGEST ISSUE: After reading a little more on the web, there seems to be a common thread among W5001C owners with regard to something that is described as
a. Black Crush
b. Posterization
c. False Contouring
It's all over the Dell forums...people having the same issues and no amount of tweaking can get rid of it. In a nutshell, any kind of dark scene on HD, DVD, etc etc, is blotchy and completely inaccurate.
4. With white text on black backround (like rolling movie credits), there is terrible halo effect around the letters.
5. Threre is a general green tinge to nearly everything that is not circus-bright with other colors.
6. I absolutely CANNOT get the monitor properly calibrated with AVIA home theater or Digital Video Essentials.
7. Color temperature settings revert to blue no matter how i set them in my PERSONAL menu.
8. The different stretch modes seem non-operational - apparently, after the fact I found out that there are compatibility issues with certain set-top boxes (including my VERY common SA8300HD) and the implementation of HDMI/HDCP on the W5001c. We watch lots of SD television too, and the linear stretch functionality is one of the reasons I bought this TV.

-----------------------------------------------

Yep, nothing good to say about this set or the company
that put this joke out on the market.

How do they get away with it.

Only good point, is when it's off.

Yep, nothing good to say about this set or the company
that put this joke out on the market.

How do they get away with it.

Only good point, is when it's off.

I have no complaints about mine. I also have an upscaling DVD player and an SA8300HD connected via HDMI

This is my first post here but I've read all of the messages in this thread and wanted to thank everyone for confirming what I found with my W5001C - the same posterization and green tinge that others have noted. After getting a replacement set from Dell with the same issues, I'm happy to report that they are giving me a full refund, even though I'm well past the magic 21-day mark. I can't help but think that Dell realizes there are some serious problems with this model, although they haven't admitted to this (to my knowledge).

I'm now in the market for a new set, and I'm seriously thinking about going with an LCD or DLP projection unit, rather than plasma. If anyone has any recommendations, I'm all ears.

Thanks again to everyone!

Paul

LCD or DLP? Those are very different choices and makes me think Dell has turned you off to plasmas altogether. Why did you go with plasma to begin with? There are some outstanding plasma sets out there - and the general consensus is that you can't go wrong with Pioneer or Panasonic. I'm a recovering Dell w5001c owner but I'm sticking with plasma - in the form of an Elite 1130.

You're right, I guess this experience has turned me off plasma altogether. I've checked out a few other 50" models, but some of the reviews seem to indicate that the "black crush" problem exists on models other than Dell. Plus, the price point for plasma at this size compared to projection sets is significant.

Having said that, I will be looking at the Philips 50PF7320A/37 at my local Best Buy this weekend - it's currently on sale there for CA$3999.99, which is not bad. But at the same time I'll also be comparing it to the Sony KDFE55A20 LCD projection model at CA$3199.99. :)

LCD or DLP? Those are very different choices and makes me think Dell has turned you off to plasmas altogether. Why did you go with plasma to begin with? There are some outstanding plasma sets out there - and the general consensus is that you can't go wrong with Pioneer or Panasonic. I'm a recovering Dell w5001c owner but I'm sticking with plasma - in the form of an Elite 1130.
I am sending back my second Dell fitty...this is my last. Watched "Two for the Money " last...barely watchable. with upconerting dvd, HDMI and all settings tweaked as per the previous posts I still cannot get past the "paint by numbers" look of darker scenes. Dell is giving me a full refund, their customer service has been very good. I have decided to go with a pioneer plasma, just deciding between 43 and 50. Good luck to all the others with the Dell. IF I owned a $2000 scaler I might have kept it....

I returned my Dell 50 for "full refund" within the 21 days. I was refunded all but $100 for return shipping and an extra 47 bucks for something else. Dell looked into that "something else" and replied that the original shipping fee of $39 was also non-refundable, but they can't account for the $8 (which I'm sure they'll credit). My question is what any of you have had to "eat" with this disaster set? Is losing the original $39 plus an extra $100 return shipping typical?

I returned my Dell 50 for "full refund" within the 21 days. I was refunded all but $100 for return shipping and an extra 47 bucks for something else. Dell looked into that "something else" and replied that the original shipping fee of $39 was also non-refundable, but they can't account for the $8 (which I'm sure they'll credit). My question is what any of you have had to "eat" with this disaster set? Is losing the original $39 plus an extra $100 return shipping typical?
I was assured I would be credited all money, free shipping was part of my original deal. They have a third party coming to pack and return. I dealt with Amanda Ross, "plasma customer care specialist" 1-800-387-5757 ext. 445-4317
She was the only good part of the whole Dell experience.

Good luck

Steve

Same deal here - I was told I will get a full refund. I also had free shipping with my set, and a third party is coming on Friday to pick-up and package both of my W5001C's (the original and the replacement Dell sent me).

I still have not had any contact from Dell or a shipper on the pickup of my 50. I have sent two more emails this past week and have two calls into Kristi "plasma care specialist" with no response. The last call I had with Kristi was very unpleasant and irritating. I guess I am going to have to call Amanda to see if I get results. If this yields no results the next step is I am going to hire a lawyer. No customer should ever have to endure the BS that I have had to go through with this defective product.

Where are all the people; all of the sudden it is quiet.
Did all of you returned your sets and have nothing to say anymore? or you have got updates from Dell and you are watching amazing TV?

I am watching amazing TV -- on my new Sony 50" system. My two W5001C's (the original and the replacement) were picked up on Friday. Just awaiting my refund now.

After more irate phone calls to Dell, my 50 is finally being picked up tomorrow. I will see how the refund process goes next. I am eagerly waiting for a new 50" Panny.

Where are all the people; all of the sudden it is quiet.
Did all of you returned your sets and have nothing to say anymore? or you have got updates from Dell and you are watching amazing TV?

Updates from Dell, not likely at all in the near future, if ever.
Don't hold your breath on those.

Can't do anything with this junk, except dump more $$ into it.
As in an external scaler etc..

If i could have returned, it most certainly would be gone.

Nothing more to say about this inferior, defective, 4K, 100lb. box with
way too many problems. Looks like the topic on this will fade away.
Hope thier sales do as well.

Dell picked up my 50" today. I am glad that defective, poor excuse of a plasma is out of my house. I will see how the credit/refund process goes now. My advice to all of you that want to return this set is to keep trying and don't give up. Eventually, they will take it back.

It has taken me almost 6 weeks but I am returning my Dell. Got my original authorization to return about 6 weeks ago. I did not have the original box so Dell was to arrange pick-up and packaging. They never arrived and after 4 phone calls and 6 weeks, they e-mailed me my return slip. I will be dropping by UPS and getting them to repackage and deliver this piece of crap. I noticed that Dell has dropped the price on this unit....don't be fooled.

I worked at Dell for 6 years. 2.5 of those years were in sales so I know how poor the service can be. Dell does make a good product usually but when they mess up, they do what they can do make it up to you without you actually returning the computer/TV. Return rates are actually a metric there so that explains a lot about your experiences. Although I don't plan on putting a Dell TV in my house due to personal reasons of hating that place, the TV looks great!

I know this is over a month later, but I'm about to return my 50" Dell after 3 weeks. I read everything here, but couldn't believe a new plasma could be that bad. I'm almost sure I didn't see the problems the first week, but they are showing up now. Even with HD through Comcast, the dark scenes look horrible. I'm almost positive the problems showed up after I connected a cheap progressive scan DVD player. At first I was very happy with the PQ, then a couple of days later, it was horrible. I put in the latest Harry Potter which I know has lousy PQ the first 10 minutes and it was unwatchable. It looked like 256 colors (or less) on the dark scenes. Playing around with the contrast, I could get somewhat acceptable PQ, but still not very good. Too bad because I love all the features and connections that I planned to use.

Hi Karl -

Join the club. I have a theory about why the PQ issue is not noticed right away, because I, too, didn't notice anything but knock-out quality at first. Well-lit scenes - especially sports events, and almost all commercial advertising will not show dark, shadowy areas. I can see why especially the sports fan would not discover the issue until popping in a dvd perhaps a month after having the set.

I returned my Dell and ended up getting a Pioneer 50" Elite for only a thousand more - certainly worth the extra few credit card payments for hopefully several years of commitment to the set. The other thing I like about the Pio - aside from the design, quality, etc, is the two year factory warranty (honored by authorized dealers only - so be careful), extended to 3 years by using a platinum VISA. But the dark scenes on the Pio absolutely blow away anything the Dell did, and standard def is not only watchable but pretty darned sharp as well!

Good luck on the next step. BTW, what did you end up having to pay Dell when all was done and refunded?

Good luck on the next step. BTW, what did you end up having to pay Dell when all was done and refunded?
Well, that is the main reason I went to Costco. I can just bring it back with no questions asked. I don't even need the box, but I did keep it in my garage.

I have a problem with 50" plasma selections...I need one without speakers and a small frame. Max height of 28.5" due to the cabinet I bought. The plasma will go up/down at the touch of a button, but there is a size restriction. Most 42" with speakers fit and only the Dell or commercial Panasonic that I know of. Definitely the only 2 models on C...co that I can use. I almost ordered the Panasonic, but I didn't want to have to order all the blades I would need.

Well, sorry people with Dells. This is my 2nd plasma (had one for 3 years) so I know a decent picture and the Dell was horrible in dark scenes.

Greetings

Oddly enough, after all this time, I'm still watching the Dell 50" and more often now that I added the Lumagen scaler to it as a permanent attachment.

Just not very watchable at all by itself, but with the scaler in front of the signal, most of the weaknesses of the unit have been addressed. The image has become very watchable and I don't obsess over it anymore.

OF course the scaler costs $1500 ... and that is quite a price to pay to get it from "poor" performance to "very good." It's just not going to get higher than this.

Of course ending up with two units for the price of one was an odd bonus. They may never pick up the second unit.

Regards

My dad is having the 50 inch installed Friday. I'm rather nervous after reading this thread. For a while it was looking good and now it's sounding horrific. (crossing my fingers nothing goes wrong)

Can anyone recommend a DVD player that will work really well this set? My dad is currently using a 4 year old Sony - 5 Disc Changer. It rather limited.

Thanks

Well, I too am still watching and enjoying mine.

It could be that I am running 95% of my watching through an HTPC that is upscaling the video to the native res of the PDP. Maybe my computer is accomplishing something similar to Michael's Lumagen?

When I'm not watching shows from the HTPC I stick to the HD channels and for the most part notice very few problems (just wish the Golf Channel was HD ;) )

me again. Too busy to pack up the 50" and I thought to give Dell a chance and ask them to replace the plasma. However, I just bought a cheap upconverting Samsung DVD player that was refurbished to see how the Dell looks with HDMI. I had been using only component with the Comcast HD box, a progressive scan dvd player, and a HTPC.

Well, so far the upconverting DVD player looks pretty good. Even the poor PQ Harry Potter dark scenes looks very acceptable. There is no strange hair color or other oddities with the dark scenes that was obvious earlier. I'll give this a shot for a few days and if it stays this way, I'll keep it. I'll have to see if my Comcast box will work with a DVI-HDMI cable and then I would be set.

Could it be that the major problems are when you input analog, that is where the problems come from with this Dell?

Put in a DVI-HDMI cable last night (monoprice is incredible) and I was shocked by the difference in PQ. Unless my eyes deceive me, it looked much sharper and best of all....no funny dark scenes AT ALL!!! Hard to be sure, but it seems this Dell looks better at 1080i but it takes so long to switch the Comcast or Samsung DVD from 1080i to 720p that I can't be sure. In any case, I'm now keeping this baby as it looks incredible. I was watching CSI in HD, Jay Leno, and David Letterman and was blown away by the sharpness. I'm positive it looks much better through the HDMI vs component and all the dark scenes of CSI looked crystal clear.

My HTPC still looks horrible through VGA so I'm of the opinion that anything analog gets converted poorly. I may have to do some experiments with resolution and put in a different HTPC before I give up on the HTPC. I don't have any spare digital inputs so I have to use VGA.

There are some bugs with this TV. Some times I can't switch between the different settings (personal, sports, multimedia, etc) using the one button on the remote. For the first time last night when I tried the difference color schemes like normal, blue, etc. I got a mostly pink screne. I had to go to the 'reset color' option to get it back.

Anyway, my 2 main issues are solved: Comcast HDTV and DVD's using an upconverting player - both through the HDMI input.

That surprises me because I've been using HDMI (monoprice cable) since day one and I still see the horrible dark scenes. It's defnitely a little better than Component, but it's still very apparent and annoying.

Rich

Well, this forum is certainly discouraging.

My dad just bought one of these from somebody for $2000. Hopefully it's a good enough price-performance ratio to be acceptable to him. (Granted, he's not a real "videophile")
We hooked it up last night and yes, SD signals sucked out of his Time Warner cable box. We finally found the HD channels, though, and were completely mesmerized with "The Triplets of Bellville" and "Team America". I guess we'll just see how it goes.

I'm having him order the HDMI-DVI cable from Monoprice and maybe that will help.

me again. Too busy to pack up the 50" and I thought to give Dell a chance and ask them to replace the plasma. However, I just bought a cheap upconverting Samsung DVD player that was refurbished to see how the Dell looks with HDMI. I had been using only component with the Comcast HD box, a progressive scan dvd player, and a HTPC.

Well, so far the upconverting DVD player looks pretty good. Even the poor PQ Harry Potter dark scenes looks very acceptable. There is no strange hair color or other oddities with the dark scenes that was obvious earlier. I'll give this a shot for a few days and if it stays this way, I'll keep it. I'll have to see if my Comcast box will work with a DVI-HDMI cable and then I would be set.

Could it be that the major problems are when you input analog, that is where the problems come from with this Dell?


Karlw2000,
I noticed something I think is worth noting with my Dell and Insight Motorola 6412 series III. If I turn off the 4:3 override on the Moto, the picture quality is superb. The "features" like wide and stretch have no effect, only zoom. The biggest problem with that setup is if something like on Discovery plays a program in widescreen, you will still get a 4:3 display. True HD content is not affected by that setting.
I am using HDMI to HDMI too by the way.

Let me also tell you what my personal settings are:
brightness 44
contrast 41
sharpness 2
color temp natural (i do like normal too)
tint 48
saturation 48
Joe

This saga will probably never end. I think I have the Motorola 5100 set to 4:3 override because I don't worry about burnin like a lot of people. My 3 yr old 42" plasma never had burnin despite watching lots of 4:3 material.

I began to get the horrible dark color problem again. I then switched from my personal settings to 'movie' setting and everything looks great again. Strange because way back, I didn't like the 'movie' setting. No matter what settings I used in 'Personal', I couldn't get a decent picture...especially on dark scenes.

Now I notice that on SOME dark scenes, it still doesn't look very good. Not all dark scenes however. Whenever I'm watching INHD or INHD2, the picture always looks great even on dark scenes. Since I would think the Motorola cable box is pumping out uncompressed video through the HDMI, I don't understand why this happens.

Sometimes like on black background with white letter credits (end of movies), I can see the image of the 'old' words. If that's ghosting, it's horrible. However, not all the time. Why would that happen on some channels and not others is beyond me. It's as if the Dell doesn't bother to erase the previous picture on dark backgrounds.

I did finally put in another HTPC with 1360x768 resolution and now the picture looks great. When set to 1:1 mode, it looks awesome and DVD's look better than my upconverting DVD player going through HDMI.

Has anyone had problems with the black bezel chipping?

No real problems with mine either. I'm on my 8th month of ownership now. Using the SA8300HD box and an upscaling Samsung via HDMI everything looks good. Even most SD channels. ;)

I was planning on getting this plasma but was concerned about the VGA input. Does anyone know if VGA will support 1024 x 768 on the plasma? So technically VGA to VGA is HD content if coming from my computer/multimedia center. Any help would be helpful. Thanks!

I was planning on getting this plasma but was concerned about the VGA input. Does anyone know if VGA will support 1024 x 768 on the plasma? So technically VGA to VGA is HD content if coming from my computer/multimedia center. Any help would be helpful. Thanks!
Even better is 1360x768!!! You can set up the TV for 1 to 1 pixel mode and it looks beautiful. I recently hooked up a cheap WindowsXP MCE machine and I definitely like to watch DVDs from the PC instead of my upconveting Samsung DVD player that uses HDMI. I bought a long VGA/Audio cable from monoprice.com (cheap) so I don't even have to worry about the audio cable anymore.

Even better is 1360x768!!! You can set up the TV for 1 to 1 pixel mode and it looks beautiful. I recently hooked up a cheap WindowsXP MCE machine and I definitely like to watch DVDs from the PC instead of my upconveting Samsung DVD player that uses HDMI. I bought a long VGA/Audio cable from monoprice.com (cheap) so I don't even have to worry about the audio cable anymore.


Thanks for the reply. So, all I need now is a computer to send the signal...So all I need to do is set up my resolution on my computer to 1360 x 768 and 1 to 1 pixel mode on the Dell? Sounds so easy. So this is a true upconverting DVD player then...fullest resolution possible. Why spend money on an expensive upconverting DVD player when your computer can do it already...LOL.

General maintenance question: for those of you who've lifted the W5001C off of it's stand to hang it on the wall, there are dust covers included with the tv to cover the holes left from where the stand was attached. The manual says to make sure to put those caps on.

The other day I was looking for something behind a console that we have under the tv (which is hanging on the wall) and noticed that BOTH dust covers were on the ground under the TV. They must have fallen at some point, but I don't know when. It could have been a couple of months.

What could have happened? Any damage? What should I do now? Just put the caps back on or should i go buy a can of compressed air and blow the hell out of those holes? etc...

Thanks guys!

An owner of of the Dell 5001 wrote a news story about one of the many problem this and other Dell TV's have at digg newsDell HDTV digg news (http://digg.com/hardware/Dell_HDTVs_not_compatible_with_many_game_consoles)

Check it out and "digg" it so it gets more exposure.

Hello all, I recently got my w5001c and didn't notice this until after the burn in period when I turned the contrast and brightness up to 40: in the lower half of the screen, about 2 inches from the bottom, 4 inches wide vertically runs this reddish haze across the screen. It only appears when there is a bright background. Unfortunately, I watch plenty of Anime with light backgrounds.

I thought it might be the interference from the power so I re-organized the cables. I also ran the conditioner for 1 hour and that didn't fix it. Checked the different connections and still no go. Any other possible ideas?

Next step: I did order a power conditioner so hoping it might a power issue but considering I live in a brand new high tech condo, I can't imagine that.

Thanks for all your help!

Don't know who is still around, but after around 11 months, I returned my Dell to Costco. As had happened to someone else, the bezel paint was peeling off. For the price I paid, I wasn't about to keep this TV as an eyesore.

I still have mine but it is going to bedroom duty soon. I thought I would move up to a 1080P and just hooked up my new Samsung LNT5271. I've never had any problems with the Dell. It's actually been a good TV but it doesn't compare to the picture quality of the 5271.

I know this thread is very very old and no one is probably even monitoring it anymore. But Im going to give it a go. Im noticing some overscan on my W5001C. I dont particularly like it. Is there anything i can do to correct it? I am conntecting to a Directv HD DVR with an HDMI table.

Hey,
Try these settings for the display,

Contrast 45
Brightness 45
Sharpness 6
Color Temperature Natural
Color Tint 50
Color Saturation 50

I set the display to these and am a bit happier with it's output now.

Joe