The PN51D6500 is a real energy hog, gobbling an average of 199 watts per hour in PCWorld Labs tests when the set was on. (Recent high-scoring alternative plasma sets include the and the .) Fortunately, like most modern HDTVs, it burns so little when "off" that it the level of consumption didn't register on our instruments. The set has Energy Star certification.

If there's nothing else worth watching, you can enjoy your own photos, music, or video through the PN51D6500--by plugging in a USB storage device such as a flash drive, or by connecting to your home network via a computer or phone running DLNA server software such as Windows Media Player. The built-in media-playing software can't play .wma audio files, however.

Overall, Samsung did a very good job putting together the PN51D6500. I just wish that the company had spent a little more time smoothing out its rough edges.