Samsung LN46A650 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color
Price: Click to see price
12 used & new Click to see price
Customer Reviews
]]> Samsung LN46A650 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color
Price: Click to see price
12 used & new Click to see price
Customer Reviews
Great experience w/Amazon, great TV! Irecently purchased this TV and when it arrived I turned it on all excited and…it was broken, big line through the middle of the screen and half of the screen was dead. I called Amazon and they sent another out ASAP and even discounted me the difference of what I paid and the the price it was listed at that day (refunded me $108). When the delivery guy dropped off the second TV he took the defective one without any hassle and even helped me set up the new one and make sure it was working before he left. On the the product…Samsung has the market on LCD TVs at the moment, simply amazing picture quality. I have played games (PS3), watched movies (DVD/Blu-Ray), HDTV channels, you name it and I am constantly impressed with the picture quality. I prefer to view it with the auto-motion turned off but that aside everything is great. Comes with good baseline factory settings for color and has the darkest blacks out of any of the TVs comparable in price. After viewing the Sony and Samsung side by side there is no contest. You will not be disappointed with this purchase, great product and great customer service from Amazon.
Great TV ! We researched this TV, looked at it in person at Best Buy and Sears — read every review here and decided to buy it from Amazon. They had the best price, free delivery and no tax! The delivery was quick (3 days) and the driver set up the TV. It arrived undamaged and in good working condition. We have not been disappointed in the TV — but Time Warner cable had to come out several times due to problems; ended up running a new cable line from the box on the house to the TV. It’s working great, and we love it. Might mention that the price went down $100.00 in the 30 days after the purchase and Amazon credited our account.
Lives Up To The Hype My wife and I purchased a Samsung LN46A650 last week based upon the Amazon customer reviews and Consumer Reports. The product was shipped via CEVA then via “UP Special Delivery”. One tip about UP Special Delivery, make sure you ask the driver to stay until your TV is unpacked (no cracked screen), turned on, and confirmed working. The delivery guy was hinting he wanted to leave as soon as he got it in the house. The drivers are not experienced in setting up electronic equipment. I downloaded the PDF manual prior to delivery and did my homework to speed up the “In home setup” that was included with delivery per CEVA. This is our fist HD TV and the picture is simply gorgeous. Unbelievable clarity and true dark blacks. I’m a computer graphics freak so I’m extremely critical when it comes to clarity of LCDs and the Samsung LN46A650 has done nothing but impress me. This TV is as good or better than most plasmas I’ve seen. Our HD channels are so clear that is takes some getting use to. It almost makes me nauseous during busy motion scenes. The movie “Live Free Or Die Hard” is insanely clear. Bruce Willis looks like he’s standing outside a window (our TV). The TV even upgrades\converts our standard DVD movies so they look like HD, super clear! In fact, my standard DVD movies look so great I’m considering not purchasing a PS3 (for Blu-ray player). I compared playing our standard DVD movies along side my neighbor’s PS3 (Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray) and it was very hard to tell the difference. The touch of red border is beautiful but subtle. It looks like a deep cherry that fades into black as it gets closer to the LCD panel. Our TV has never sporadically shutdown because it shipped with the firmware update already applied, which means no USB key was included. Plus, Samsung customer support is simply awesome, so far. I’ve called support three times, twice pre-purchase and once post-purchase and I promptly received polite and knowledgeable answers to my questions. The TV does take about 5 seconds to boot up and detect connected media but who cares! This is expected from such a complex electronic unit. Have we really become that impatient\jaded with technology? Conclusion: This product is well worth the money and with 36 months ZERO interest how can you go wrong? Get it, you won’t be disappointed at all.
Absolutely Amazing! I have been nothing but impressed with the TV so far. I was a little nervous buying the TV online from Amazon, but so far I havent had any issues. Mind you it has only been 3 weeks since I received the TV, but so far so good. The picture is amazing and the sound is pretty good. I’m not a very picky person though. Great value, beautiful picture!!! Beautiful picture ! Great value. I read some bad reviews about Amazon’s ‘White Glove’ delivery but I had no problems at all… they called the day before to confirm that I’d be available and they came … well… as fast as delivery guys will… BUT between the promised time!
Sansung 46″ model 650 LCD TV At this point I have owned this TV for just about a month. I am not real technical so I relied on the reviews of others (I read everything I could find) and a visit to Circuit City to see this model TV in action and question the salesman. It’s the most I have ever paid for a TV but it was cheaper than anywhere else and I got a credit of a $152 from Amazon because they advertised this set later for less then what I paid them within a 30 day period. At last check this set is still selling for more than I paid. With no shipping charge and no taxes to boot this was a great purchase. I am real happy about that! As for the quality of the picture, I am real happy about that as well. I ordered Direct TV and the HD picture is super. We bought our last set 13 years ago (A SONY VEGA 32″ Flat Screen - if it fell on you, it could kill ya ;^). Anyway, the only thing I ever done to this Sony was to clean the screen. I am hoping that this Samsung will give me the same kind of service.
Product Description
Samsung adds a Touch of Color to a blazing-fast 4ms response time and rich connectivity features to redefine the role HDTVs play in the home with its forward-looking Series 6 (A650) and Series 7 (A750) LCD HDTVs. Utilizing the award-winning technologies found in all Samsung HDTVs, Series 6 and 7 HDTVs deliver unparalleled picture quality and enhanced connectivity and networking capabilities that create a true entertainment hub for any home. Series 7 takes networking and multimedia management to a whole new level. Consumers can easily enjoy MPEG and JPEG files stored on external devices by connecting through a side-mounted USB 2.0, turning their LCD into a full-scale home viewing gallery, or connect their MP3 players for a dynamic audio experience.
Key Features
- New — 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio: up from 25,000:1 on 2007 models
- New — Blazing 4ms response time: down from 8ms on 2007 models thanks to a new high-speed liquid crystal
- New — Transparent and Opaque Color (TOC) bezel with infused color creates an ultra-sleek shape and appearance
- New — InfoLink: Get free RSS feeds of news, weather and sports right to your HDTV with a built-in Ethernet port
- New — 4 HDMI 1.3 ports: Simplay compliant, and up from 3 on 2007 models
- New — Sports and Game modes boost on-screen performance and interaction with the latest gaming systems
- New — Side-mounted USB 2.0 port: connect USB devices directly to your HDTV to view JPEG photos or MPEG movies or easily listen to your MP3 player through your HDTV’s audio system or your home theater system.
- New — Compatible with Samsung’s Home Digital Media Adapter (sold separately) for playback and navigation of Internet and stored PC multimedia
- Full 1080p HD
- Automotion Plus 120Hz image interpolation technology provides smoother motion
- 178-degree viewing angle from all four axes with Super Patterned Vertical Alignment
- Better clear panel technology for deeper blacks and more vibrant colors
- Hidden speakers with SRS TruSurround XT audio
- Cold Cathode Flourescent Lamp (CCFL) and Wide Color Enhancer technology offer a wider color range
- Picture-in-Picture (PIP) enables convenient simultaneous viewing of TV programs and video or PC sources
- V-Chip system1 allows blocking of rated TV and movie programs determined by the parent to contain objectionable content.
- Trilingual on-screen displays in English, Spanish or French.
- Variable sleep timer to turn the TV off in varying time intervals.
- Auto wall mount compatible: 3-dimensional operation via TV’s remote control; no external IR receiver required.
- Swivel stand included
- 1 year parts and 1 year labor warranty (90 days parts and labor for commercial use), with in-home service, backed by Samsung toll-free support.
Step-Up Features
Series 7: Internal flash memory (1GB) with pre-loaded interactive content such as cooking recipes, children’s entertainment, HD artwork and more, Integrated woofer for an enhanced audio experience, DLNA-Compatibility for better interopability with electronics, computers and mobile devices from many different manufacturers
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Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
products by Garmin
(921 customer reviews) | More about this product
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46 used & new Click to see price]]>
Garmin nüvi 360 3.5-Inch Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator
products by Garmin
(921 customer reviews) | More about this product
Click to see price (FREE with Super Saver Shipping)
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
46 used & new Click to see price
Customer Reviews
Happy With Garmin Nuvi 360
like the size and ease of the gps. the battery life could be a bit longer and the maps could be a bit more up to date. gps sometimes sends me TO a location one way and returning FROM same location another … still learning the ins and outs of it. :)) the blue tooth is nice on the phone on my end but the other person says not so good, but then it’s all about me!! LOL
Awsome!!
Does evryhing like it,s supposed to do and very well. I would buy another one
Excellent acquisition
This GPS is the best. I had a JVC and it loses the signal very often, specially in big cities like Chicago. This Garmin is great. The bluetooth connection to use with my bluetooth-enable phone makes things easier, because I can answer to the calls without touch the phone and looking away from the road. My only really minor complaint is about the sound volume that it is somehow low. Driving with the windows open, you can hear the turn-by-turn directions as a wisper, but nothing that will make me change my mind. It is a great product ! And specially because I found an excellent deal at Amazon.com.
Lives up to its promise
Previous to this, I had the Nuvi 350, which is also an excellent device. Since the function is identical in nearly every regard to the 350, there is little point in covering the basics in much depth, but it’s worth re-stating some of them. I will go into great detail on the Bluetooth functionality below.
This is such a handy device, and is so well executed, that you would be hard-pressed not to love it. The first thing I noticed about the Nuvi was its incredibly small size and weight. I could not believe how light it was. I literally expected it to have at least twice the heft when I went to pick it up the first time - it was like picking up a deck of cards, but lighter.
The antenna is a flap that is raised from the back, maybe about the size of a matchbook. When raised the Nuvi immediately starts locking in on satellites, when lowered, the unit knows you are through navigating for a while. Intuitive and effective.
Navigation on the Nuvi is very good, fast, and intuitive. It’s no different from many of Garmin’s other offerings in that regard. Some buildings and businesses that you would expect to be shown as POIs are not there, but most are. One thing I would suggest: when a route is less than ideal, Garmin should allow you to correct it permanently so that it does not re-suggest the non-preferred route each time.
I had a problem with my old Nuvi 350 that I have not observed on the new 360. Sometimes the 350 would not lock onto the satellite signal. Once it went into this mode of searching for, but not locking in, for over a minute it just never found anything. The only way I found to correct this was to push the small reset button under the antenna. I notice that another reviewer found that his new 360 had the same problem. This must be a bug in some Nuvi units that would be worth following up with Garmin on. I can tell you that my 360 NEVER has required a reboot, and I’ve been using it continuously.
I did not test the MP3 functionality beyond verifying that it plays back the songs that are pre-loaded for demo purposes. I didn’t care about this feature; I’m very happy with my iPod for song management and playback. I can verify that you would not want to use the Nuvi’s internal speaker for song playback, though. It’s good enough to use as a speakerphone and for voice prompts, but it’s not a hi-fi.
Now, for the fun part: Bluetooth functionality. I have been using it with my BlackBerry 8700c with excellent results so far. I had no problems with the initial discovery and mating process. The interface is robust. What happens is that once your phone has made the connection with the 360, a phone icon appears on the Nuvi. You can now use the 360 to call ANY POI directly from the screen! This is truly amazing; you are now walking around with the yellow pages in the palm of your hand, sortable by your current location, or any other location you choose. I just find the Point of Interest, and touch the phone number of that POI, and the phone starts dialing it. The sound comes out through the speaker of the Nuvi, and conversations have been natural so far. It’s working like an absolute charm, and this single feature moves the device beyond anything else available right now.
When you select the phone icon from the main screen, several phone-related icons appear. From the phone screen, you can make a call manually, access your address book, call a POI, etceteras. The manual dial function works fine from the touchscreen. The really cool news: Nuvi automatically downloads your phone’s address book to its database when it makes the initial Bluetooth link. So, if your phone supports this functionality, you can use it for all dialing functions, since the display is so much nicer than most phones, and the touchscreen works really well. You can always break the BT connection once you get the number dialed if you want a private, non-speakerphoned conversation. I have done that many times already. Once your call ends, the connection to the Nuvi is reestablished automatically. One word of warning: BlackBerry does not support sending its addresses to the Nuvi, so I was unable to test the download feature, but this does not surprise me given BlackBerry’s security obsession. I am confident that it would work fine with other supported phones.
Overall, the device is a joy to operate. The battery life is good, although I would not call it excellent. The menus are very intuitive. The accuracy is very high. Even the windshield mount earns my praise. I did a lot of research on the Nuvi, comparing it in excruciating detail to the latest Tom Tom 910, the Magellan Roadmate 800, etceteras. The 350 was a great unit, the 360’s Bluetooth functionality makes it even better, and worth the extra money for me.
UPDATE (7/28/06): I just returned from a 4 day trip to Banff, Canada during which I logged another 20 hours of driving. The unit continues to perform perfectly, including comprehensive POIs in the Banff/Lake Louise area. I also discovered an amazing feature I had not noticed before. I was unfamiliar with the Lake Louise area and had three hungry kids in the car. I pressed Where To, then Restaurants, and the list appeared, in order of proximity to my moving vehicle. Each listing showed the distance to that restaurant, with a little arrow next to it showing the exact direction to that restaurant. I just left it on this page and drove around, following the arrows, which moved as I did, until I found a restaurant that looked good. What an amazing device. I also have nothing but praise for the window mount. Seems like a small thing, but it’s so solid and well-designed I had to make special mention of it. It has a lever to easily create a large suction force, the ball joints are very solid, and the method of attachment to the Nuvi is just extremely well designed.
Update (9/2/06): I have now owned the Nuvi 360 for about two months. It continues to exceed my expectations in terms of reliability and accuracy. So many nice touches that you don’t notice right away but that are executed so well. The auto brightness level, for example, is perfect. The night mode changes the color scheme and the background goes black, highlighting the roads well and keeping the light emissions at a pleasant level, where the day mode would have been too bright. Everyone I demo it for wants one. My next step: buy stock in Garmin?
Update (9/14/07): The unit continues to operate flawlessly. I have now bought this machine for several employees of my company, each of whom love it. I also followed through on my impulse to buy Garmin stock, which has more than doubled since then! I now also own a Nuvi 660; it’s fantastic. However, with the wider screen it’s a bit bulkier to carry around, so my wife and I trade them back and forth depending on what we are doing. I still say that the 360 is the best bang for the buck if you want the Bluetooth functionality, and the 350, which is now selling for only $370, is every ounce as good if you don’t care about the Bluetooth.
One other point - I now drive a BMW 545i with integrated GPS. I bought the car used but I know that the option costs a bundle. I never use it because the Nuvi is so much more user friendly and fast. So for anyone out there who is trying to decide if they should spring for a very expensive integrated GPS system in their new car, here’s one vote to save yourself the money and get the Nuvi. It’s easier to use and you get to carry it around with you to boot!
Garmin Nuvi 360 Pocket GPS Navigator
I love it and don’t know how I got along with out before. It is easy to use and so far there has only been one street I couldn’t get it to find. In Charleston, SC it did give me a number of restaurants that were out of business, so I have learned to call them first. As far as directions it is awesome. I want to do some up grading such as traffic control to re-route for accidents and rush hour. This was a great investment. I highly recommend this product.
Product Description
The Garmin nüvi 360 GPS Navigator and Personal Travel Assistant is a GPS navigator, personal translator, multi-media entertainer and tour guide all wrapped into one. In addition to all the advanced features of the Garmin nüvi 350 — including automatic routing, turn-by-turn voice directions, an MP3 player and audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, and much more — this pocket-sized personal travel assistant comes with hands-free Bluetooth wireless technology, making it the hands-down go-anywhere travel companion.
Which nüvi is Best for You?: Click here to see a quick, simple comparison of features for all Garmin nuvi GPS navigators
The nüvi 360 comes with hands-free bluetooth wireles technology. |
Browse your stored pictures with an easy-to-use JPEG viewer. |
The device sports a handy MP3 player, letting you play songs stored on SD memory cards. |
Make Hands-Free Calls
The nüvi 360 integrates wireless technology with a microphone and speaker that lets you make hands-free mobile phone calls using your compatible Bluetooth-enabled phone. Simply dial numbers with the nüvi’s touch screen keypad to place a call, and to answer calls, just tap the screen and speak directly into its built-in microphone.
In addition, you can easily look-up and dial numbers from your personalized phone book or from your phone’s call history log. Don’t know the phone number for your destination? Simply find and dial it from nüvi’s database of more than six million points of interest — including hotels, restaurants, stores, and attractions.
Navigation and Entertainment with Ease
For starters, the nüvi 360 includes a high-sensitivity integrated GPS receiver that offers exceptional performance and reception. The unit’s flip-up antenna includes an MCX-type connector for optional external GPS antenna connection. Preloaded software features maps of Europe or North America, and it includes automatic routing, 2D or 3D map perspective, turn-by-turn voice directions that speak street names, and a fingertip touch screen interface — making navigation as easy as it gets.
But navigation is just the beginning. Like the nüvi 350, the nüvi 360 also includes many entertainment and travel tools including an MP3 player, audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, travel alarm, and currency converters.
The nüvi 360 features a bright, 2.8 x 2.1-inch TFT display with white backlight for easy readability. At 3.87 x 2.91 x 0.87-inches (WxHxD) and just 5.1 ounces, the unit is small enough to be placed on the dashboard with the included suction mount, or into your pocket for easy transportability. The unit also features Garmin Lock — an advanced anti-theft feature that disables the unit from performing any functions until you type in a specific four-digit PIN or take the unit to a predetermined location. A built-in lithium ion battery will give you up to eight hours of power, and an included 12/24 volt adapter cable will let you run the navigator off your vehicle’s power. An AC battery charger is also included.
A built-in Travel Kit that includes sample MP3s and audio books will get you started with entertainment, and with the unit’s SD memory card expansion slot you can add optional software, such as language and travel guides. A USB port is also included for loading and updating data.
What’s in the Box
Gamin nüvi 360, Preloaded City Navigator NT North America or Europe (full coverage), vehicle suction cup mount, AC charger, 12/24 volt adapter cable, dashboard disk, USB interface cable, carrying case, owner’s manual, and quick reference guide.
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Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color
Other products by Samsung (47 customer reviews) | More about this product
Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color
Other products by Samsung
(47 customer reviews) | More about this product
Customer Reviews
A perfect purchase
Amazon tracking indicated it would take 2 weeks to arrive. CEVA tracking listed it at two days earlier. I received the call for delivery in less than a week - and this included the holiday period!
CEVA showed up with it yesterday. The heavy cardboard box had an 18″ gash/tear in it and my heart sank. They removed the box and I noticed the screen was supported about 8″ from the cardboard and there were no signs that whatever caused the gash had touched anything. We quickly plugged it into the wall and ran it thru some of the built-in menus. Relief - everything worked fine. With the 30-day return guarantee there was nothing more to worry about.
The previous day Amzon had delivered a new Onkyo receiver to replace my older Yamaha. I had already disconnected the Yamaha and wired all the components and speakers to this new receiver (to take advantage of its HDMI capabilities). It now only took a couple hours to make the final connections with the receiver, cable sysem, over-the-air antenna, HTPC and network.
Every single system worked perfectly, even though it sometimes took a few minutes to discover the correct input settings on each device to get everything communicating. The biggest surprise was the quality of the picture. After reading everything I could find on various forums I expected to have some tweaking to do before obtaining the best images. While critically inspecting the imagery for each type of input I could not see a need to adjust anything! Just for experimentation I did make a few selections of alternate settings, but always wound up returning to the original. I’ll likely use an Avia program to verify adjustments later, but can’t imagine any improvement.
The “halo effect” on the upper and lower bezel was obvious to see, but it was not distracting. In fact, if there were a switch available to turn it on and off, I’d still leave it on - it’s neat! The red bezel highlighting (the TOC) is so subtle that it is nearly invisible. If I didn’t know it was there I’d likely not have even noticed it. Perhaps it would be more visible in a room with bright daylighting?
Another neat feature is the touch sensitive controls on the lower right bezel. They are invisible until you touch the area, causing them to temporarily sequentially illuminate. I haven’t fully explored this feature yet.
Another nice feature was discovering that I could hook up the computer to HDMI connection #2 and play computer games without any special adjustments. There was no lag or any problem except that I’ll need to upgrade the computer’s video card in order to take the display all the way up to its full resolution. Nevertheless, the Samsung must have been upscaling the image since it was extremely sharp. (Same thing with the 480i DVDs we played on it - very sharp). When not in use we intend to leave the computer hooked up so the Samsung will continuously display it’s screensaver which cross-fades family photos like a huge digital picture frame.
The Samsung has a TOSLINK out connection which I connected to the receiver. This vastly simplifies audio connections since all audio sent to the TV can be amplified from a single connection compatible with the 7.1 sound system. If you can connect everything via HDMI there will be significantly fewer wires and a much more simplified operation.
The only thing I would have preferred is if the base would swivel. I understand the 650 models swivel, can’t imagine why Samsung wouldn’t include that feature here.
We’re very happy with this purchase.
EDIT- 6-18-08
After nearly 3 weeks of use we are even more impressed with this TV.
I have upgraded the video card on the attached computer so that it can now attain full 1080p resolution, only to find the text too small to be readable at a normal viewing distance of about 12 feet with my 60-yr-old eyes. Backing off the resolution makes the text large enough to read while retaining its razor-sharpness.
The attached computer is connected with a wireless hub to my home network, allowing it to stream pictures, music, or movies from any of the computers. The TV must be upconverting the movies to 1080p because they are displayed more clearly than when sent to a regular computer monitor.
The hub also provides a patch cable to the TVs’ network port, which allows it to run all the InfoLink connection functions (weather, news, stocks) without the need to even configure that connection.
We added a PS3 a week ago to view blu-ray movies. What an incredible picture! Even though we are using inexpensive $3 HDMI cables, there was no flickering or other problem as reported on another Amazon review. My son tested out his new Metal Gear PS3 game and was impressed with the image and game play. We used the default settings and did not even switch to “game” mode.
We’ve now had time to run THX and TVBlink video calibration tests and were not surprised to find that all the default settings were already set to the optimum values.
The set is now mounted on one of those entertainment center “stalks” which allows it to be easily rotated (for easier access to the rear connections). This mounting has taken care of the only complaint we had about this set - its’ lack of a swivel base.
Please Forgive Me, Sony
In 1986, I was fortunate to have Sony’s first HDTV cameras, recorders and projection system in the studio where I worked. Yes, that was 22 years ago and the technology was analog. But it looked great and we projected it on a screen 6 or 7 feet tall. Still, I wondered, why would anyone buy this new technology for “just twice” as sharp a picture?
Jump to 2008. During the last 6 months, I watched as specialists installed my new all HD studio where I work now. This time, of course, it is digital. It’s also Sony all the way and the recording media is Blu-ray, so I’m getting pretty familiar with the new generation of Sony HD, but was still watching the “old 525 line NTSC” stuff at home because I hadn’t seen anything on display at any stores that was that magic combination of “high end; low price”.
Then, a couple months ago, we bought a 50″ Sony Bravia for our conference room at work and I hooked up a brand new Sony PS3 to it. The picture was beautiful and I decided to see if it was time to buy one for home use.
Online reviews were very good for the Sony and I had already decided that an LCD would be better for home than a plasma after seeing how both held up at work. So, a little over a week ago, I checked everything they had at the local Best Buy. The salesman there agreed with me that the Sony was about as good as it gets. Then, surprising me, he said he’d buy the Samsung 7 series over the Sony. I asked him about price; $3,050 he quoted. The there would be a 9.25% sales tax, too.
I went home and read the specs on the Sony and the Samsung only to discover that the Series 7 seemed better than the Bravia. And a side-by-side in-store comparison made the Samsung look very impressive. I checked more online sources and found that the new Samsungs, like the Sonys, were highly regarded.
Research done, I checked Amazon’s price. At $2,724, I would save almost $600, so I ordered one. I’ve spent the last 3 days installing it and all the associated audio stuff, PS3 and DVD burner in a custom cabinet. It looks great turned off, but when you turn it on and fire up the Blu-Ray (”Planet Earth-The Complete Series”) which got here the same day, I was just blown away!
I have learned several things: the Hi Def stuff is great, but the SD stuff from Dish and local analog broadcasts isn’t as satifying on the new Samsung as on the old CRT. You can sit a lot closer to a 52″ screen than I thought - about 12′ is our viewing distance. New TVs, and this one in particular, do a lot more than just display video - and do it well. Like a computer, this TV can crash. It’s happened just once and it had to be “rebooted” by disconnecting the power.
Also, I am really pleased with how Amazon handled the whole purchase. Everything, including delivery went smoothly. But here’s the most surprising thing: A couple days after ordering the unit, Amazon dropped the price (temporarily, it seems). So, I emailed customer service and requested that they credit my account with the difference. That was on a Sunday nite. The next morning I had two emails from them. The first said they would review the situation and the second said they had already credited my account with $190. Service doesn’t get any better!!!
Update 6-21-08
We have subscribed to Comcast cable since my initial review. We also got the HD-DVR and the HD channels. Cable, to my surprise, renders SD pictures slightly better than the Dish, however, I am now connected through HDMI instead of Y/C. That means a digital input instead of an analog hookup. I am still disappointed with 4:3 analog stuff compared to our older CRTs. Even digital 4:3 (480i) content looks unacceptable. However, all true HD stuff (including 720i)is good to fabulous.
It is so good, in fact, that something you start to notice when watching HD content (especially network news) is just how all the different recording formats display on your new TV relative to one another. Footage shot in the field, for example, often looks really awful when on-screen with the studio cameras (as when the anchor is on one side of the picture - split screen - and a field reporter is on the other). Likewise, all older analog 4:3 stuff which has been upconverted for HD looks pretty grim, as do over-the-air broadcasts whether shot on film or tape originally.
On the other hand, this LCD makes a wonderful (huge) computer screen and I don’t see how you could expect more for games and/or Blu-ray movies. You will probably be disappointed with upconverted DVDs, however, (played, in this case, on a PS3).
Most users will probably be confused with the unending list of menu items, and frankly, adjustments like “gamma” will simply confuse most people, especially when you have multiple levels of “dynamic” adjustments, “black”, “contrast” and other controls which tend to be interactive and produce similar results. You can, quite literally, drive yourself nuts trying to get everything tweaked. On the other hand, if you’re really picky (like, say, you color adjust photo prints for a living), you should be able to dial in nearly what you want on a good 1080 source.
The built in speakers just don’t sound very good and are slightly “out-of-sync” with the analog (RCA) outs, so if you have both the TV and an external receiver turned up, you will hear a distinct delay echo. It’s my understanding that this is better with the digital outs, but I do not yet have the gear to test it.
The most surprising thing I’m learning by using this latest LCD technology is just how uneven is this transition from analog to digital. It looks like it will be literally years before most of the legacy content is converted to HD digital (and how do you improve the quality of stuff shot on 16mm film in 1944, or TV series shot live in the studio in the sixties so that it will look great in HD?). Well, the answer is, of course; “You don’t.”
A few folks have commented on the very reflective screen surface and surround. I do, in fact, find the reflections(we have this TV in a room with windows on both walls perpendicular to the screen) slightly objectional when compared to the Sony with a more matte finish. Room lamps can, likewise, be problematic. We find the best solution (in the evening, at least) to be indirect lighting from a not-very-bright source that adds some illumination to the room but no direct reflections on the screen.
Is now the time to buy HD? Frankly, I was holding out for OLEDs, but this current level of technology is just mature enough and affordable enough to jump in now. Prices on LCDs are coming down fast and the next generation of technology won’t be cheap for some time to come. If you have been waiting for the right time to ditch your CRT, now is a great time - especially with the switch to all digital transmission in Feb ‘09.
This Is A Very Nice LCD TV
I’ve been using this TV for a little over two weeks now, so I feel confident that I know enough to post a review of this product. First off, the IQ of this TV is absolutely beautiful. The color is rich and deep. It has more picture adjustment features than you could ever think of. I don’t mess around with the picture setting because the picture quality is perfect to me. This TV also has a wireless feature that you can use to access files (movie, music, etc) from your PC, when you buy a separate wireless adapter from SAMSUNG that plugs into the USB port located on the side. You can access files from a USB memory stick if you like. I have my Sony Play Station 3 hooked up to this TV. I use the PS3 to view movies (blue ray movies look awesome), pictures (huge 52″ picture frame on the wall), music (all my music collection on disk), and browsing the internet (I can buy games online if I want). The PS3 and this TV make an awesome match. Oh and the sound is very good, I must admit. It won’t match my $4000 audiophile music system in term of sound quality, but I don’t have much space inside my bedroom. The red thing around the TV is….I just don’t care since it is just a marketing gimmick.
Now the things that I don’t like. First, the remote could of been better. The rotating ring is an absolute joke. I cannot browse through the TV menus without problems when using this rotating ring. Sometimes, things that look innovative (like this rotating ring) turn out to be just a worthless gimmick. Samsung needs to get rid of this or make it better. There should be a sleep button on the remote. You can access the sleep timer, but you have to go through several steps. This is stupid on Samsung’s part. Where’s the picture mode (stretch, zoom, 16:9. etc) button? Again, you have to go through several steps to access this feature. The “source” button should be redesigned. All you should do when changing the input source is pressing the “source” button to cycle through all the input source. No need to press the “source” button to get to the input source that you want, then have to press the exit to get out of the display. Little things like this that Samsung completely failed to realize. Samsung should of chosen a better material for the bezel around the TV. It is too soft and easy to scratch (you will scratch it I guarantee). It also attract dust like crazy. The panel somehow is much better at not atracting dust.
Other than those silly little things (OK they are annoying), I like this TV a lot. The picture IQ is simply marvelous. This TV deserves 4.5 stars.
Update Jun 27:
-I found another thing about the remote that I don’t like. The Samsung engineer apparenty screwed up on programming the “exit” and “return” button. Certain menu item on the screen tell me to press the “exit” button to get out of that particular menu, but it turns out that I have to press the “return” button to get out. The “exit” button should let you get out of the menu, and the “return” button to let you get out of the submenu. Anyway, I am more than happy to use my Onkyo universal remote instead of this one and just forget about that “exit” button.
-I know that this is a Samsung TV review, but the more I use my Sony Playstation 3, the more I am amazed about this TV set. You know that you can view the media files from your PC (set upi as the media file server) when you buy a separate wireless adapter that plugs into the USB port located on the side of the TV? This feature is called DLNA. Well, why should you if you have a Playstation 3 or a XBox 360 connected to the TV? The sight of that wireless thing sticking out on the side of your TV would be an eye sore. Instead, you can set up a media server on your PC and have the PS3 or Xbox receive all those files and display them on your beautiful TV. My PS3 only has 40 GB of disk space; my PC has over 2 TB of disk space. I don’t have to store everything on my PS3. I can use the PS3 to retrieve all those files wirelessly from my PC and display them on my Samsung TV. If you have several DLNA-supported TVs in your house, then you can set up one PC media file server to feed your TVs anywhere inside your house. This DLNA is truely a great feature. I just wish that Sony and Samsung advertise this feature more.
Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description–March 24, 2008
Samsung adds a Touch of Color to a blazing-fast 4ms response time and rich connectivity features to redefine the role HDTVs play in the home with its forward-looking Series 7 LCD HDTVs. Utilizing the award-winning technologies found in all Samsung HDTVs, Series 7 HDTVs deliver unparalleled picture quality and enhanced connectivity and networking capabilities that create a true entertainment hub for any home, and take networking and multimedia management to a whole new level. Easily enjoy MPEG and JPEG files stored on external devices by connecting through a side-mounted USB 2.0, turning their LCD into a full-scale home viewing gallery, or connect MP3 players for a dynamic audio experience.
Key Features
- New – Internal flash memory (1GB) with pre-loaded interactive content such as cooking recipes, children’s entertainment, HD artwork and more
- New – Integrated woofer for an enhanced audio experience
- New – DLNA-Compatible: for better interopability with electronics, computers and mobile devices from many different manufacturers
- New – 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio: up from 25,000:1 on 2007 models
- New – Blazing 4ms response time: down from 8ms on 2007 models thanks to a new high-speed liquid crystal
- New – Transparent and Opaque Color (TOC) bezel with infused color creates an ultra-sleek shape and appearance
- New – InfoLink: Get free RSS feeds of news, weather and sports right to your HDTV with a built-in Ethernet port
- New – 4 HDMI 1.3 ports: Simplay compliant, and up from 3 on 2007 models
- Full 1080p HD
- Automotion Plus 120 Hz image interpolation technology provides smoother motion
- 178-degree viewing angle from all four axes with Super Patterned Vertical Alignment
- Ultra Clear Panel technology for deeper blacks and more vibrant colors
- Side-mounted USB 2.0 port: connect USB devices directly to your HDTV to view JPEG photos or MPEG movies or easily listen to your MP3 player through your HDTV’s audio system or your home theater system.
- Sports and Game modes boost on-screen performance and interaction with the latest gaming systems
- Compatible with Samsung’s Home Digital Media Adapter (sold separately) for playback and navigation of Internet and stored PC multimedia
- Hidden, downward-firing speakers with SRS TruSurround XT audio
- Cold Cathode Flourescent Lamp and Wide Color Enhancer technology offer a wider color range
- Picture-in-Picture enables convenient simultaneous viewing of TV programs and video or PC sources
- V-Chip system allows blocking of rated TV and movie programs determined by the parent to contain objectionable content.
- Trilingual on-screen displays in English, Spanish or French.
- Variable sleep timer to turn the TV off in varying time intervals.
- Auto wall mount compatible: 3-dimensional operation via TV’s remote control; no external IR receiver required.
- 1 year parts and 1 year labor warranty (90 days parts and labor for commercial use), with in-home service, backed by Samsung toll-free support.