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Rating: Summary: Pretty good TV! Review: Bought this TV after finding ALL reasonable priced HDTVs lacking features or functionality (like no HDMI/HDCP or DVI/HDCP inputs restricting future digital signal inputs) and so I needed a cheap and reasonable sized TV now. I'm not willing to pay thousands for a TV that's not somewhat future proof. Cheap HD TV's didn't look much better than their analog versions (overscan, blooming etc), probably because digital TV using analog signal inputs (component) always loose data in the conversion.I spent a month looking at various TV's waiting for new HD one's. Since most stores have a terrible signal to use as somekind of picture reference, I just bought this TV because it looked to be the best picture in Best Buy and Target. The set itself is very good looking, and isn't "boxy". It's actually cool looking, and the inputs are recessed to hide wires. The flat screen does make the picture nice to watch, though I think this is somewhat overrated. It appeared to me, just from observation, that flat screen TV's in general take picture quality up a notch just from better circuitry. Out of the box this TV has one of the worst color casts possible, with the Dynamic mode just unwatchable, Movie too dark and Normal being anything but. Reds and green practically take over the screen, but thankfully they can be tamed down through the custom setting. Why so many consumers accept the "normal" TV color settings as OK leaves me wondering if 95% of consumers would be remotely interested in HDTV at all! I think the TV manufacturers have only themselves to blame for the current lack of interest in HDTV (vs DVD) because of intentionally oversaturating pictures on TV's for so long. It's about time manufacturers started releasing TV's calibrated to an average HOUSE lighing and not a SHOWROOM. Calibrated, this TV shines. The picture can be vastly improved. Not to mention that there's a 16:9 screen mode hidden in the service menu, just waiting to be turned on. To find out more on calibration please check out hometheaterspot.com. The screen resolution is an impressive 500 lines, though lacking Progressive scan capabilities. The 3D comb filter seems to work well and digital noise reduction does do it's job, particularly in high contrast scenes. The composite/audio inputs on the side and back are somewhat confusing to figure out, since theres three inputs and only two modes to view them. The manual doesn't explain what goes where that well either. The basic remote seems to have a strange delay with functions that repeat (channel up-down, volume), which is odd since I've tried other universal remotes that do a better job. The fact that theres no mode button on the front of the TV to switch from various AV inputs is also annoying (you can do it navigating through the menu however). The melody which Samsung seems so persistent about, can thankfully be switched off. Sound output is rather good, and the volume leveling does work well. All together if you're looking for a decent 27" TV today especially for watching DVD's, with the intention of upgrading sometime in the not too distant future, it's a very good buy. Likewise, a good TV for a second room. Would rate higher if the default color wasn't so rich.
Rating: Summary: Very good monitor/TV Review: I bought this flat screen monitor/TV for my in-laws to replace their old bedroom TV. The picture is very good and the setup menu is very intuitive. Also, the side component jacks are very convenient to use. Overall, a pretty good TV for the price.
Rating: Summary: Very good monitor/TV Review: I bought this flat screen monitor/TV for my in-laws to replace their old bedroom TV. The picture is very good and the setup menu is very intuitive. Also, the side component jacks are very convenient to use. Overall, a pretty good TV for the price.
Rating: Summary: Overall a great TV Review: I've owned this TV for a few months and I really like it. The picture quality is very good (after some adjustment from factory settings) and the set itself looks really nice. Its build quality appears to be better than that of other televisions in its price range and it has a fair number of video/audio inputs (3) to allow for moderate expandability. I can think of three minor things I do not like about this set. First, the DVD component input and the S-video input share their audio input, so that you can not conveniently connect devices to both inputs simultaneously. Second, it seems that when a device is connected to the side A/V terminals, the DVD sound will not play in component input mode (I'm not sure if the problem exists in S-video mode). This is a minor annoyance as I have to disconnect my nintendo in order to watch DVDs. Finally, the remote control seems cheaply made -- more appropriate for a TV half the price of this one. Overall, I am very happy with the TV. Samsung could have done a little more debugging and spent a few more dollars on a second set of audio inputs and one of their better remotes, so I will give it only 4 stars.
Rating: Summary: Overall a great TV Review: I've owned this TV for a few months and I really like it. The picture quality is very good (after some adjustment from factory settings) and the set itself looks really nice. Its build quality appears to be better than that of other televisions in its price range and it has a fair number of video/audio inputs (3) to allow for moderate expandability. I can think of three minor things I do not like about this set. First, the DVD component input and the S-video input share their audio input, so that you can not conveniently connect devices to both inputs simultaneously. Second, it seems that when a device is connected to the side A/V terminals, the DVD sound will not play in component input mode (I'm not sure if the problem exists in S-video mode). This is a minor annoyance as I have to disconnect my nintendo in order to watch DVDs. Finally, the remote control seems cheaply made -- more appropriate for a TV half the price of this one. Overall, I am very happy with the TV. Samsung could have done a little more debugging and spent a few more dollars on a second set of audio inputs and one of their better remotes, so I will give it only 4 stars.
Rating: Summary: Great Picture, Worst sound Review: The picture is as clear as they come, but had I known that the sound was as bad as it is I would have bought a different tv. Other than the sound the tv is a decent buy.
Rating: Summary: No Buyers Remorse Review: This is a product that has given me no buyers remorse. I have buyers remorse for any large purchase I make.(I know you may be laughing at the fact that this is a large purchase for me.) I have had this TV for 2 years and have had no problems with it. My only minor complaint is that I wish the a/v jacks on the side of the TV were in the back, but a lot of people may find it more convienient this way, for all I know. Either way, I would whole-heartedly recommend this product to anyone.
Rating: Summary: Not a TV for audiophiles (or semi-audiophiles) Review: This TV looks great, both off and on. I really like it and would like to keep it, especially since I've had great experience with Samsung products previously (including years of flawless service on their TVs).
Unfortunately, the internal speakers cannot be turned off in either the "normal" or service menus, and the audio outputs are fixed-level only. What this means is, if you are planning to use the TV as a standalone cable tuner and you want to route the audio signal from cable through your stereo, you had better have a receiver with remote (which I do not have and probably will never have-- ever try to find a modern receiver with a decent phono stage for under a grand?). Otherwise you'll be getting up and down a lot to adjust for volume differences between channels and/or to mute during commercials.
You would probably want to run the TV through a stereo anyway if you had the option, because as is alluded to below and elsewhere, the internal speakers really don't sound all that great. I don't expect greatness from TV speakers but these are especially anemic.
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