A few months back I scored a new Samsung H6400 (the last 65 inch that they made). I tried for the 8500, but in the end gave up and now I love this one. It's not as nice with ambient light as the 8500, but I'm stoked that I snagged it when I could.
Don't feel too bad about not getting a 60" 8500. I had one for a short while. Got "lucky" over the holidays. Long story short, the 60" 8500 buzzed like a bees nest. It was pretty bad. I could even hear it over program material from my viewing position. Did a search online and low and behold, the 60" 8500 was somewhat prone to this problem. People had various solutions, one being tightening and loosening the screws on the back of the TV. I couldn't live with it. A TOTL TV should not have a defect like that, even if I only payed a fraction of MSRP. Lucky for me, this all happened while the 51" could be pretty easily found online and the 51" doesn't suffer the 60" buzzing issue. I've had the 51" for the last 6 months or so and have been VERY pleased with it. While I miss the cinematic experience of the 60", the constant buzzing was intolerable.
