Pros and Cons, but overall a GREAT TV! For the past two years i have used a samsung 46" lcd (720p) with the bdp-1500 blu-ray player and it was great. Though due to a problem, i had to switch it under warranty and got this 55" in its place. First off, whoever said you cant tell the difference between a 720p and a 1080p, is dead wrong. there is a world of difference. i was using the same blu-ray player on both tv's, and watching it is a world of change! So anyone thinking of a 720p thinking its "close enough" its really not.... there is a HUGE visual difference.
Now, getting to the TV itself. I had a little problem getting the tv to recognize the bluray player. So much for plug and play with the hdmi cable, took about 40 minutes on samsung phone support to resolve, so incase you also get a "mode not recognized" go into the tv settings and change "anynet" to "off" , hookup the bluray using the red/yellow/white cable to the tv and go into the bluray menu, and do the same. then turn them both off, connect with the HDMI, and your in business.
Pros:
Absolutely no question this tv has clarity! It is amazing, we watched dark knight on bluray and were totally blown away, watching a movie we saw before, but in a whole new way! it looks just like the store set ups with all the bells and whistles lol, cant stress how GREAT the picture is. Watching HDTV Cable, same story, just great! Ive read some reviews that some people dont like the "touch of red" but to be totally honest, i cant even see it unless i open all the windows and have direct light, then you can see it. otherwise, in a normal lit room, you can see a little red on the bottom and thats about it. connections with hdmi make this tv super easy for anyone to set up bluray, surround sound, and any accessories with ease, but again if you have my problem you can still call 1-800-samsung, and get free support.
Cons: there arent a whole lot of big complaints i have with this purchase. when moving it to another angle and turning the screen, it wobbles a bit but thats expected with a heavier tv. the one thing i would complain about, is the screen is more glossy than my 5 series 46" lcd. one of the reasons i bought lcd vs. plasma a few years ago, was the glare factor. though this glare is not as bad as plasma, there is still a glare. anyone with windows directly behind you while watching tv.... will definatly see it. light anywhere else in the room, once the tv is ON, you cant really see it unless you try. but if there are windows behind you, or lamps on, you can directly see glare. i watch tv in a darker room so it wont be too much of a factor for me. i opened up my curtains , and have a window 8 ft wide directly to the right of my tv, and with broad daylight coming in from the side, no problems. if i turn on my lamp ... i can see, so think about your room, and how the tv will be placed.
besides these notes, i would buy this tv again. i can hook up my hd camera with ease, view pics, set up my Wii or game cube without issues, and plenty of options to change as far as brightness, color, etc. i havent hooked up the internet cable yet but i look foward to playing with those options and seeing everything this tv can do!
On a side note, really consider buying the extended warranty from where ever you get the tv from, it saved my life. i paid an extra $200 2 years ago when i got my 46 inch, and as luck would have it, it broke, and i got this tv to replace it, and only paid the difference in cost which was only a couple hundred bucks. not bad for a tv worth three grand!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Samsung LN55B650 A Masterpiece!
Like everyone else on Amazon, I spent a year researching and reading up on LCDs. I made my choice in February 2009 and bought a LN52A650. WOW! Even better than I read and thought...
Well, we got burglared and guess what, I was in the market again. I wanted to order the same model but it had gone up to $2299 (I had paid $1815 in February). Obviously very popular and the new model had come out. So I looked at the LED series (the UN7000 and UN8000) and the LN55B650. I went to a Best Buy, compared them side by side, and guess what, there was no difference in picture quality.
I've had the LN55B650 for a month now and let me just say this: I'm in consumer heaven! Read all the 5 star reviews of the LN52A650 - it applies to this model and expect to be blown away!
Well, we got burglared and guess what, I was in the market again. I wanted to order the same model but it had gone up to $2299 (I had paid $1815 in February). Obviously very popular and the new model had come out. So I looked at the LED series (the UN7000 and UN8000) and the LN55B650. I went to a Best Buy, compared them side by side, and guess what, there was no difference in picture quality.
I've had the LN55B650 for a month now and let me just say this: I'm in consumer heaven! Read all the 5 star reviews of the LN52A650 - it applies to this model and expect to be blown away!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Samsung LN55B650 I'm surprised..
I'm surprised that more people aren't buying this set, or at least reviewing it (which typically is indicative of sales). Really with this set there are only two things that may bother your run-of-the-mill average TV watcher, and that is 1. Glare, 2. Flashlighting/clouding (backlight shining through).
On 1 I can honestly say the glare doesn't bother me at all. Some people may not be able to deal with it because they are picky and/or have a really bright room this TV is going into, but that is not an issue to me. Just personal opinion. I would never let that be a factor to me unless it truly bothered me, and it truly does not with this set.
On 2 I can say that I did have some initial problems with clouding and it being visible. I used settings posted on Cnet for this TV. They are kind of dark, but you get used to it. This prevents clouding from being as noticeable, but some backlight will bleed through, and it's especially apparent on large TVs. How apparent is it? I am very picky and although I can notice it on a completely pitch black screen, it really doesn't bother me that much during normal TV watching. I have my backlight set at 3 (out of 10), standard mode leaves it at 8. This is way too bright and you will most definitely see some bleed through.
There are a few recommended fixes if you have clouding that is poor around the edges. Wiping the entire TV side to side and up and down with a microfiber cloth has worked in limited cases, as well as loosening a few bezel screws along the TVs edge to loosen the pressure and keep the backlight from shining through as brightly. Also limited success stories on this method and I even tried it with no such luck. Changing my settings was the action that gave me the best result. Photographs have proven even TVs that appear as if they have no apparent clouding to the naked eye actually do have clouding, so don't stare at your TV for hours looking for this imperfection, simply find a setting that seems to remove it upon a glance at the TV and move on.
Some other cons to point out that you may or may not know about and/or normally wouldn't think they will bother you but might actually. The off angle viewing of this TV is not good. You will see the TVs contrast change dramatically even moving your head 2 feet from the center of the TV sitting 10' away. How big of a deal is that to you? Depends. Some experts have said that this TV is best for one-person and adding multiple people with different viewing angles renders this set to not be preferred. Do I believe that? Not really. I think for most families sitting an appropriate distance from this set probably won't be too irritated at the slight off angle viewing issues. However, it is noticeable and the best angle by far is directly in front of the set. Keep this in mind--maybe check it out in action at the store first if you are buying this set for a family.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the TV has an included rope you screw into the back of the TV and tie off on a screw in the wall. Very silly design and completely retarded to put on and even easy to look over when you purchase the set. But guess what? Use it. This TV is top heavy like mad and easily could tip over. I've also heard some complaints on the PIP and remote and audio as well on this TV, but I don't use any of them so I won't comment. I also don't play games so I won't comment there, although I hook my computer up and it looks just fine.
People like to hear potential negatives in reviews more than positives I think, so there is my list. I consider myself pretty picky but overall I think this TV is an excellent buy at a sub-$2,000 price point. If you can afford a $5,000 LED LCD with the latest technology, why are you even considering this set? While the PQ might be comparable to more expensive TVs (truly this TV looks that good), lesser auxiliary issues like tying a rope to a wall to keep the TV from falling shouldn't even be something you should care about. PQ is great from cable to blu-ray to PC on this set and I really don't think you're going to be disappointed if you purchase and this is your price range (or a little above).
Another big debate is whether or not to go with the 52B750 with a higher refresh rate. The truth is that your eyes will never tell a difference between the two refresh rates. I have read that there are lesser cases of backlight bleeding with the 52", but that's probably partly due to the fact that the 52" is 3" less in size. I'm still in the return period and I could get the 52" if I wanted, but I simply think that's not the best buy. This TV is.
Lastly I will point out that the LCD panel used in this particular set is a CMO Panel and not a Samsung panel. Approximately 60% of Samsung's don't use Samsung panels, so don't worry that you aren't getting an authentic Samsung; it is pretty common. The CMO panel a lot of experts complain about, but they also complain about the S-PVA panel used in the 46" version of the B650 or the 52" version in the B750. The difference between the two is negligible to the everyday user, not to mention side-by-side the two panels are almost identical in specs. If you've heard about this before and it's concerned you, or if you are hearing it now for the first time, consider it extra information and nothing else that should sway your opinion on purchasing this set. Lastly I will say that if you are someone who thinks 42" or 46" is fine, just buy this TV. The price difference is insignificant and very rarely have I ever heard of someone buying a bigger TV than what they wanted and complained about it later. My dad likes to complain it's too big, but that's because his TV is best for viewing under a microscope and he's not used to watching things bigger. Bigger is better. Overall I give this TV a solid A.
On 1 I can honestly say the glare doesn't bother me at all. Some people may not be able to deal with it because they are picky and/or have a really bright room this TV is going into, but that is not an issue to me. Just personal opinion. I would never let that be a factor to me unless it truly bothered me, and it truly does not with this set.
On 2 I can say that I did have some initial problems with clouding and it being visible. I used settings posted on Cnet for this TV. They are kind of dark, but you get used to it. This prevents clouding from being as noticeable, but some backlight will bleed through, and it's especially apparent on large TVs. How apparent is it? I am very picky and although I can notice it on a completely pitch black screen, it really doesn't bother me that much during normal TV watching. I have my backlight set at 3 (out of 10), standard mode leaves it at 8. This is way too bright and you will most definitely see some bleed through.
There are a few recommended fixes if you have clouding that is poor around the edges. Wiping the entire TV side to side and up and down with a microfiber cloth has worked in limited cases, as well as loosening a few bezel screws along the TVs edge to loosen the pressure and keep the backlight from shining through as brightly. Also limited success stories on this method and I even tried it with no such luck. Changing my settings was the action that gave me the best result. Photographs have proven even TVs that appear as if they have no apparent clouding to the naked eye actually do have clouding, so don't stare at your TV for hours looking for this imperfection, simply find a setting that seems to remove it upon a glance at the TV and move on.
Some other cons to point out that you may or may not know about and/or normally wouldn't think they will bother you but might actually. The off angle viewing of this TV is not good. You will see the TVs contrast change dramatically even moving your head 2 feet from the center of the TV sitting 10' away. How big of a deal is that to you? Depends. Some experts have said that this TV is best for one-person and adding multiple people with different viewing angles renders this set to not be preferred. Do I believe that? Not really. I think for most families sitting an appropriate distance from this set probably won't be too irritated at the slight off angle viewing issues. However, it is noticeable and the best angle by far is directly in front of the set. Keep this in mind--maybe check it out in action at the store first if you are buying this set for a family.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the TV has an included rope you screw into the back of the TV and tie off on a screw in the wall. Very silly design and completely retarded to put on and even easy to look over when you purchase the set. But guess what? Use it. This TV is top heavy like mad and easily could tip over. I've also heard some complaints on the PIP and remote and audio as well on this TV, but I don't use any of them so I won't comment. I also don't play games so I won't comment there, although I hook my computer up and it looks just fine.
People like to hear potential negatives in reviews more than positives I think, so there is my list. I consider myself pretty picky but overall I think this TV is an excellent buy at a sub-$2,000 price point. If you can afford a $5,000 LED LCD with the latest technology, why are you even considering this set? While the PQ might be comparable to more expensive TVs (truly this TV looks that good), lesser auxiliary issues like tying a rope to a wall to keep the TV from falling shouldn't even be something you should care about. PQ is great from cable to blu-ray to PC on this set and I really don't think you're going to be disappointed if you purchase and this is your price range (or a little above).
Another big debate is whether or not to go with the 52B750 with a higher refresh rate. The truth is that your eyes will never tell a difference between the two refresh rates. I have read that there are lesser cases of backlight bleeding with the 52", but that's probably partly due to the fact that the 52" is 3" less in size. I'm still in the return period and I could get the 52" if I wanted, but I simply think that's not the best buy. This TV is.
Lastly I will point out that the LCD panel used in this particular set is a CMO Panel and not a Samsung panel. Approximately 60% of Samsung's don't use Samsung panels, so don't worry that you aren't getting an authentic Samsung; it is pretty common. The CMO panel a lot of experts complain about, but they also complain about the S-PVA panel used in the 46" version of the B650 or the 52" version in the B750. The difference between the two is negligible to the everyday user, not to mention side-by-side the two panels are almost identical in specs. If you've heard about this before and it's concerned you, or if you are hearing it now for the first time, consider it extra information and nothing else that should sway your opinion on purchasing this set. Lastly I will say that if you are someone who thinks 42" or 46" is fine, just buy this TV. The price difference is insignificant and very rarely have I ever heard of someone buying a bigger TV than what they wanted and complained about it later. My dad likes to complain it's too big, but that's because his TV is best for viewing under a microscope and he's not used to watching things bigger. Bigger is better. Overall I give this TV a solid A.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Samsung LN55B650 Best Father's Day Ever!!
I have never seen a better picture than the one on this Sammy. HD content on it is simply jaw dropping to my eyes. Way too bright out the box, but a few adjustments to contrast and backlighting brought it to an awe inspiring level. This replaced a 62inch Mit$u DLP (broke after just 3 years) and I couldn't be happier. No more fan noise, no more green push, no more suckiness of the Mit$u. I dusted off the xbox 360 HD-DVD player and watched Transformers again. This TV actually made me like the movie. Much much better than my theater experience. Black levels were excellent and the colors, Oh my!!! This thing is almost 3 dimensional at times.
The Auto Motion Plus feature works as advertised, but I changed the judder reduction to 3 and the blur reduction to 10. No soap opera video with these settings. I haven't had the set calibrated yet, but I can't imagine it getting much better anyway. Maybe a year or two down the road, I'll look into it, but I'm just scared to touch anything now.
The negatives are small, but must be noted. The internet connectivity is very gimmicky as the Yahoo widgets are limited. I checked out Yahoo News, and it has a bunch of headlines, but no full stories. It is also painstakenly slow to navigate. The menu system in general is pretty slow also. There is a touch control panel on the front bezel that can control volume/power/channel/source, but there are no visible labels. I thought there might be some way to illuminate the panel, but could not find anything in the manual. This makes the front panel touch buttons fairly useless.
I for one love the design of the front bezel and it compliments the TV perfectly. Who wants a dull black box when you can have the glass over red carbon fiber look! Ok, I went too far there, but I like it.
Overall, this is a fantastic product and I hope to enjoy it for years to come. When the economy gets better, I will be getting me a blu-ray player to feed this beast. It's so hungry for HD...
The Auto Motion Plus feature works as advertised, but I changed the judder reduction to 3 and the blur reduction to 10. No soap opera video with these settings. I haven't had the set calibrated yet, but I can't imagine it getting much better anyway. Maybe a year or two down the road, I'll look into it, but I'm just scared to touch anything now.
The negatives are small, but must be noted. The internet connectivity is very gimmicky as the Yahoo widgets are limited. I checked out Yahoo News, and it has a bunch of headlines, but no full stories. It is also painstakenly slow to navigate. The menu system in general is pretty slow also. There is a touch control panel on the front bezel that can control volume/power/channel/source, but there are no visible labels. I thought there might be some way to illuminate the panel, but could not find anything in the manual. This makes the front panel touch buttons fairly useless.
I for one love the design of the front bezel and it compliments the TV perfectly. Who wants a dull black box when you can have the glass over red carbon fiber look! Ok, I went too far there, but I like it.
Overall, this is a fantastic product and I hope to enjoy it for years to come. When the economy gets better, I will be getting me a blu-ray player to feed this beast. It's so hungry for HD...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Samsung LN55B650 Initial thoughts.
Ordered TV from amazon.com delivered by Pilot. It was delivered a day sooner than the earliest date promised. Overall experience w/ Pilot was way better than CEVA.
As for TV, I bought Sony KDL 52v5100 but I was so disappointed with Sony's picture quality and features of that tv that i decided to break my loyalty with sony after so many years. I will need to post an update as it has only been 24hrs since i got this tv, but my initial reaction is that it seems to be great. looks are good and it is full of features. beats a comparable price-range sony anytime. picture quality is also very good. one thing i noticed though, is that there is a gap b/w the glass surface and the actual LCD (less than 1/8inch). keeping my fingers crossed, as i have heard bad things about samsung customer service.
Update #1: Ok here is an update. For some reason the tv keeps forgetting fav channels!! This may not be relevant for many ppl but I have hooked up CATV cable directly into the tv. So when I add a fav channel, a bit later the channel goes missing from the fav list. The same thing happened to different channels at different times. Flipping channels though is much better - actually its pretty awesome. I was used to Sony, which takes annoyingly long time to change channels. But like I said, this may be a non-issue if you are using a cable box.
Also, hooked up LAN cable and it would not pick up automatically so had to input all IP/DNS addresses. Internet activity is a bit slow (probably due to slower processing). Yet to check out how DLNA works. USB functionality is great - plays almost all video files, displays pictures in crisp quality, plays music etc.
As for TV, I bought Sony KDL 52v5100 but I was so disappointed with Sony's picture quality and features of that tv that i decided to break my loyalty with sony after so many years. I will need to post an update as it has only been 24hrs since i got this tv, but my initial reaction is that it seems to be great. looks are good and it is full of features. beats a comparable price-range sony anytime. picture quality is also very good. one thing i noticed though, is that there is a gap b/w the glass surface and the actual LCD (less than 1/8inch). keeping my fingers crossed, as i have heard bad things about samsung customer service.
Update #1: Ok here is an update. For some reason the tv keeps forgetting fav channels!! This may not be relevant for many ppl but I have hooked up CATV cable directly into the tv. So when I add a fav channel, a bit later the channel goes missing from the fav list. The same thing happened to different channels at different times. Flipping channels though is much better - actually its pretty awesome. I was used to Sony, which takes annoyingly long time to change channels. But like I said, this may be a non-issue if you are using a cable box.
Also, hooked up LAN cable and it would not pick up automatically so had to input all IP/DNS addresses. Internet activity is a bit slow (probably due to slower processing). Yet to check out how DLNA works. USB functionality is great - plays almost all video files, displays pictures in crisp quality, plays music etc.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Samsung LN55B650 Now THIS is HDTV..
I'm not a videophile and don't want to try and provide a technical review...but can say that the picture quality of this Samsung LCD is [by far] the best that I have reviewed to date (compared to Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, and LG).
Sound quality is the same as most other flat screen TVs.
The only thing that I'm trying to get used to is watching movies on Blu-ray. It is so real that you feel like you're sitting in the studio. Hopefully this 'soap-opera' effect will be temporary.
Sound quality is the same as most other flat screen TVs.
The only thing that I'm trying to get used to is watching movies on Blu-ray. It is so real that you feel like you're sitting in the studio. Hopefully this 'soap-opera' effect will be temporary.
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