Samsung TSL2793WFX 27" 4:3 HDTV-Ready TV

Rating:
Summary: HDTV HIGHLY OVERRATED
Review: HDTV IS A RIP AND FOR 800 PLUS MY CAR HAS A BETTER TV IN IT AND FOR THE MONEY ID RATHER GO ON A CRUISE AND TELL ALL HDTV COUCH POTATOES TO GET UP AND SPEND WISELY OR BUY A DELL....

Rating:
Summary: Totally happy
Review: I was ready for a new TV for my rec room and didn't want to by an analog set that would be outdated in a few years. The Samsung was by far the best deal for the money. The picture is fabuous, particuarly with DVD's. I can't wait till the price of the digital tuners comes down a bit. I'm really looking forward to using this for HDTV broadcasts!

Rating:
Summary: A Good, Reliable Place to Start -- If You Want to Start!!!
Review: Let's start by saying that I come from a family that likes to try new, likely durable changes in electronics early on. TVs are an example: first B/W 1948; color 1958; stereo 1st year available; etc. So, when this relatively inexpensive flat-screen HDTV came along, it seemed to offer a good way to sample the current state of an evolving technology without having to lay out a lot of cash for something that would rapidly become obsolete. For the sake of fairness, I'll compare it to the conventional stereo 27" RCA that it supplanted. First off, the colors are much more crisp and the outlines and perspective much better defined. This is most apparent for DVD and VCR viewing --less so with cable. You can take this as either a plus or a minus: Yes, you get better clarity, but you also have to suspend your disbelief more. The fact that backgrounds have been overdubbed and the limitations of computer-generated imagry (especially when living beings are in the same frame) become much more apparent than on good old, fuzzier, conventional TV. It is a trade-off, but something that we all can (and, likely will have to) get used to. The stereo (without adding external speakers) is clearly superior to the conventional stereo TV. The HDTV unit is a bit more bulky (wider & deeper at the back). 27" is as small as you can (& should) get with the current technology before distortion at the edges and picture size become an issue: The latter is especially apparent because the HDTV screen is more rectangular -- making everything letter-boxed (and things that have been letter-boxed are even more so). This unit has performed well for the 3 weeks that we've had it. Its operation is simple; the enclosed remote is user-friendly; the TV is compatable with current DVD & VHS players and with cable and existing universal remotes. We'll see about durability; but there's no reason to suspect that it would be predisposed to any more problems than any other TV. So the real issue is whether it's worth paying 2 to 3-fold more for HDTV than for a conventional stereo TV of equivalent size. My advice: If you use TV primarily for cable, antenna, or dish viewing, wait until the price comes down. If you're like me, and use TV primarily for VHS and DVD viewing, the increased quality of the picture makes it worth considering -- but remember, you're more likely to notice that the chase sceens etc. are trumped up!
Addendum: I's been 3 mos. now; things are working fine, and my opinion is unchanged!