Samsung UN55B7000 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

I have been comparing HDTVs for some time now. I would say that the way to go is LED. I bought the 7100 (silver edge @ Best Buy) and I just love it. Setup was quick and easy. The colors and clarity are out of this world. Great for watching sports! Many reviewers have commented on the speakers, but in a pinch it will do. The sound is as good as my Mitsubishi - 55" that I'm replacing. If you can get a home theater system you wont regret it. I also bought a Samsung - Blu-Ray Disc Player and a Whalen - 3-in-1 TV Stand.
I was a committed DLP fan before undergoing a conversion experience on Friday April 17th. I had planned to replace my Samsung DLP with a Mitbushi DLP or LaserVue. In the final hours, I just couldn't go through with it.

A major Los Angeles vendor set up a display with the UN55B7000 sandwiched between a LaserVue and a Kuro 151. The results were pretty plain to my eyes. The Luxia pretty well crushed both of them. The cult of Kuro will denounce me for heresy and blaspheme, but this is what I saw. About 1 hour of fiddling with the settings on LaserVue did not change the situation much. The Kuro was locked in at calibrated settings which the employees would not allow me to change. Evidently, it was fully tuned up. Once again, this left me with the impression that a fully calibrated Kuro is an over-rated beast indeed. No wonder Pioneer quit the market.

The bottom line: I bought this unit the next day. It took about 2 hours to tune up after I took it out of the box. [Use the natural color setting. Customize motion smoothing to 7 for jitter control and 7 for blur control, or shut it off entirely] Since then it has been pretty astounding. Unbelievable color. Unbelievable reds. Unbelievable contrast ratios. Unbelievable black levels. Very bright. Generates no perceivable heat. Does not get hot. The detail and sharpness and depth of image is truly astounding. I have never seen anything that can compare, and I have been shopping for several months now.

Cons

I am still questioning the merit of the 120Hz motion smoothing technology. It does weird things to slow motion instant replays. It does stranger things to 24fps movies. Seems to work best with live actions sports and HDTV programs shot on digital. You can always turn it off. Blu-rays seem more natural with the technology switched off. Ultimately, Blu-Ray looks magnificent either way.

Advice

A word of advice for the first reviewer and everybody else. You should never, never, never use the speakers on your HDTV. All HDTVs are equipped with pathetic 10 watt reference speakers that stink. All HDTV owners should invest in some sort of home theater surround sound system. It doesn't have to be that expensive. Even a $300 Home Theater in a Box will make a world of difference.
Samsung UN40C6500 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV (Black)

This TV is great. No complaints with the product. I upgraded from a 1080i to this one and I can notice a big difference from the 1080i to the 1080p in the clarity and depth of color on the screen. I had a 1080i-32 inch Sharp and it was a nice flat screen TV but after doing research and reading reviews on the Samsung I chose to upgrade to this model. I am really glad I did because the picture, when watching high def shows, is much better than my old TV. I haven't hooked my blu-ray player up yet and watched a blu-ray movie but I purchased an HDMI cable for it so I know it is going to be fantastic. My only problem was with the shippers Amazon used to deliver. (I chose the free shipping option). I won't go into details since I have since returned to this product on their web page and they are no longer offering it until further notice (one of the reasons is their shipping method). Mine was delivered by CEVA (total nightmare). They don't pinpoint the issue but my money is on the shippers and I feel good that they will take the effort to try and resolve the issue. Overall I really like my new TV and enjoy shopping at Amazon.

The clarity of this TV is astounding. With this TV, I can honestly say that I feel like I'm just peering through a window when watching HD content. There are times, three weeks into our purchase, that my wife and I exclaim "it's so clear!" while watching shows on 1080i. This is a big deal to me because we have a 65" Pioneer Kuro PRO-151FD in the living room, but now I prefer watching on this unit.

Blu-ray at 1080p is just beautiful and jaw-dropping. I played Ratatouille using a PS3, and the hairs on the mice and blades of grass are so detailed. I also noticed that the SD commercials seems clearer, and on some of them, someone with an untrained eye might mistake for HD if the pillars were not present.

I haven't hooked it up with a receiver yet, but the sound of the unit is more than adequate for our bedroom. We only go to "8" on the sound, which is animated as a blue circle on the lower left as opposed to a bar at the bottom of the screen. The "8" setting corresponds to about 1 o'clock, so you can go really loud if you wish.

I connected a PC to the unit and it can go up to 1920x1080 pixels at 60Hz, which is the max for my graphics card on that particular computer. Although it can display all those pixels, you can notice shadowing on the images and text. Not enough to give you a headache, but just enough to be noticed. If you do not plan on hooking a computer to this TV, then this is not a big deal. Actually, it's really minor considering you can watch Netflix and it does DLNA (accessing media files you share on your network).

I have this connected to my router via Ethernet, and even Netflix came out clear. I saw Dead LiKe Me and it still had that peering through a window effect. We watched Food, Inc. and was pleasantly surprised that Netflix serves that up in HD.

CON:
All HDMI inputs are located on the side. Although it's a good idea for game consoles and on the fly connectivity, I believe it would have been better to have one in the back and three on the side. This would give the users the option to use the rear connection for wall-mounting.
Samsung UN46B6000 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

I want to start off by warning everyone that this is my first HDTV ever, so I have nothing to compare it to other than regular old school 4:3 CRT televisions.

I bought this TV Friday, May 8th, 2009.

The main thing about this Samsung TV is that the picture is unbelievably rich and vibrant! (So much so that it takes a little getting use to.) The clarity is so good that it is actually distracting to me. (Though I'm sure I'll get use to it.) But as an example, I was re-watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and I couldn't stop noticing the lines on the actors' faces, individual blades of grass, creases in fabric, and all sorts of other subtle details long enough to pay attention to the actual movie! OK - so maybe that is more of a general HDTV thing and has less to do with the Samsung TV? I don't know. Again - this is my first HDTV ever.

The Samsung TV is incredibly thin. This was one of the things that really drew my attention to this TV when I was doing my comparative shopping. Flat panel TV's are an order of magnitude thinner than their larger CRT cousins, but this Samsung TV takes the thinness to a whole new level.

I've read that this particular TV uses less power than standard flat panel TV's. While I'm not a tree-hugging hippie, I do prefer to be a good steward of the planet whenever possible. But more practical is the fact that less power consumption = less heat generated. I live in Florida so I prefer electronics that don't radiate lots of heat.

The integrated speakers are functional, but I can't imagine anyone would spend this much money on a TV and be satisfied with the integrated speakers. I'm not taking points off the review for the relatively lousy speakers because I believe lousy speakers are par for the course with flat panel TV's. (Or TV's in general really. Even CRT TV's have pretty lousy built-in speakers.) If you really want a high quality audio experience, you know you're going to have to use external speakers.

I can't say much about the input options. I bought a Samsung Blu-ray player at the same time I got the TV and I got an HDMI cable to hook up between the two devices. It "just worked." The Samsung TV / Blu-ray player seem to be a good match. When I put in a DVD or Blu-ray disc, the TV turns on automatically and switches to the correct HDMI input. But otherwise I don't have any devices plugged into this TV yet. I don't have cable or satellite or a video game system.

I would suggest that anyone who buys this TV should try to put the TV in a room without any windows or bright lights facing it. I bought this TV for my bedroom and it sits about 12 feet directly in front of my bedroom window. Fortunately the window is on the backside of the house and has a thick blind over it, otherwise I think the reflection from the window would be overwhelming during the day.

The TV is certainly bright and vibrant enough to watch in daylight conditions, that's not the issue. The issue is the amount of reflection on the TV screen. During the day, I can see the reflection from the edge of my window. It's fairly subtle and I can easily address this by buying a decorative curtain to place over my window, but it is something that I think is worth pointing out. If you know you're going to have your TV in front of a big window, it could be a major distraction if you can't cover the window properly.
Samsung UN40B6000 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

I am the type of person who likes to buy good quality and keep it for a long time. But my many years old Sony was turning everyone and everything blue. Definitely a great TV for a Smurf or Blueman fanatic but not the best for general viewing. So out to look for a new TV.

I am not an electronics buff so exact specs etc. is not something I really wanted to study. Instead I opted to look for the TV that had the best visual picture.
And the Samsung TV has an outstanding picture. The color is vivid and rich and the depth perception is amazing. At some points you feel the characters are in the room with you. In addition the TV looks great from a straight on or side view. The quality of the anti blur makes watching fast paced sports very enjoyable.

Many of the TV's we looked at boasted a high quality picture, but we saw a huge difference when we stepped back from the screen. The color on this one just stood out.

In addition the TV offers a sleek design. It has a lustrous black finish that sets off the wide screen beautifully. The screen has just the right amount of reflectivity so you can easily view the picture without glare. At 40 inches this flat screen is large enough to give a movie type feel but not so large as to overwhelm an average size family room. Another big plus is the TV is more eco friendly then others.

After viewing the TV's in the store I was lucky to find it on Amazon where it was for a window of time around $1200 with free shipping and no tax. $300 less than if I had purchased it in the store. Since I know I will have this for many years it is an excellent value.

Set up was easy, it looks great in the room and we are really enjoying our new Samsung.

Pros:
You should make sure you can afford this TV before you go see side comparison between it and other LCD TV's in an a store. Because you'll either be walking away with the Samsung LED, or walking away with a product you are certain looks inferior.
I do not see the image degradation viewing it from an angle like others have.

Cons:
Yes, the sound is poor like the other reviews said. The speaker will even reverberate (if that is a word) while the volume if even turned down low. Mounting the TV on a wall does produce better sound than when it is free standing.

It's been said before, but I'll say it again. It is absolutely ANNOYING having to hit the "exit" button after selecting an input source. I have never seen this on a TV before. This prevents me from using replacing the Samsung remote completely. You can use a universal remote to change input source, but then you have to go back to the Samsung remote to hit "Exit" to get the selection display off the screen. If anyone knows a workaround, please let me know.
Samsung UN46B8000 46-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED HDTV

I love the set. it's extremely thin, and I the color is brilliant. I haven't noticed much flashlighting, triple ball effect, or other problems which effect most standard LCD sets. If you're relying on factory settings for picture quality, you should seriously go to [...]
Do not use the slim wall mount if you have one. It's magnetic and causes some problems w/ the set.

I was able to take advantage get a steal of a price on a sale, and had to jump on it. If you have money to burn, it's a great set. there are some 9 series standard LCD sets from Samsung which are great.

Be aware that there are no true LED sets out there. This is an edge lit set. That means that there are some LED's along the edges of the screen providing backlight to the lcd screen. The next series, 9000, will feature local dimming LED which are spread in zones throughout the set. Not a true LED, but closer, however .. more than likely.. you'll pay the price.

If you're in the market for an edge lit LED-LCD set, and you're happy w/ 46in, jump in. If not, wait it out a bit until there's new tech you want badly, or until the prices drop.

Consumer Reports has not rated this set yet. Their current top rated set is the samsung ln650, which although good, has minor flaws, such as "3-ball effect" (tennis and football), varying shade of green on football fields when comparing line of scrimmage versus either side, and some smudginess.

I see none of that with UN46B8000 that I bought last week. Fast motion is excellent. White is white, black is black, and reds and blues are beautiful. Clarity is excellent. Once in a while I've seen intense yellows and greens where I've wondered if it was an accurate depiction, but I've not made any adjustments yet. But, it's hard to get all these qualities, especially whites, in plasma. I'm not a professional, just my observations based on a few months of shopping.

My opinion is that plasma has lost it's advantage, especially if you consider power consumption. Plasmas only advantage now is price, but that should change over time.

The only problem with the un46b800 I've had is that occasionally the backlight setting jumps up. I think c/net mentioned this. Still, I'm very satisfied with this set.
Samsung UN55C6500 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV (Black) - In Stock One Day FREE Shipping

First off, I have had an 40" Samsung for 3 years and have been very pleased with it. It has a matte screen so that is what I was looking for. I really didn't want any glare so I actually was looking at LG's since they are one of few companies that make 50"+ lcds with matte screens. CNET reviewed the LG's with high marks as well so I was pretty much dead set on an LG.

So I went to Fry's, Bestbuy, HHgregg, and local TV shop just checking out the products. I definitely liked the pictures of the LG's. The colors are on par with the Samsungs and the washout from off angles is also better. But I couldn't get over the simple fact that the Samsungs just looked better. Every store I went to I was like yeah there's glare, but when the screen is fully lit you don't really see it, plus you know we all were used to CRT glass screens for years. The LG technically had deeper blacks, but in reality the matte refraction light made the screen seem more grayish and the glossy screens appeared to have deeper blacks due to clarity. Also, the clarity of the images in the Samsungs was noticeably better. Just one of those things you just see and say yeah that's better. For a final look, I brought my wife for her opinion and she point right to the Samsung as the better picture.


So as a matte finish fan and all the technical abilities of the LG's I had to go with the Samsung. Beyond the amazing picture the style is so much better. So thin, lighter, and the UN55c6500 has a great thin border, actually charcoal matte, with a nice clear trim. Looks so clean.


I've read where some people have said that the picture is so good that it almost looks 3d. I have to agree, playing some video games and bluray, the picture is so good it does almost look 3d.


I also got the wireless dongle (free with purchase) and it works quite easily. No issue thus far.


There definitely are reflections, but glare isn't really too bad. I also did see the rainbow effect from my ceiling lights, but only if in direct view. The motion plus still makes everything look soap opera, but being able to turn it down helps a lot. Samsung has more settings for this than LG's.


I am very pleased with this buy.
Samsung UN55C6300 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV (Black) - In Stock One Day FREE Shipping

In considering what TV to buy my parents, I had the apparent choice between buying an led LCD or a plasma. I opted to get the led, but you wouldn't really be wrong to go the other route. My parents just wanted any TV that was bigger than 50 inches while I, being somewhat of a techy, needed to find the best TV over 50 inches. Well, here you have what I would call the third best TV over 50 inches (the 8500 and 8000 models being better) at the time of this review. This is the first of Samsung's new line of lcds to come out this year, and it narrowly beats out last years 6 and 7 series TVs by offering a better contrast ratio (4,000,000-1 vs. 3,000,000-1) for virtually the same price point. Otherwise, it's pretty much identical after reviewing the specs. Newer is better though in this case also because of the firmware upgrades and other fine improvements in engineering and technology.

The TV was delivered about 5 days after I purchased it through Amazon, and it took about 15 minutes to set up. Out of the box the thing looks incredible. It's as thin as a blackberry! Some assembly was required with a phillips head and about 10 screws to attach the tv to the stand, but it was only 4 steps total and added to the suspense. After plugging in literally two cords (the hd component cables and the power cord) you are up and running. When the picture came on it was CRYSTAL clear. It puts every other TV I've seen to shame. You can go to Best Buy and do a side by side comparison and you won't find anything better. Forget about the plasma, this is the way to go. I could describe in more detail how great the picture is, but suffice to say it's flawless from movies to news to sports. Even if this is not your first HDTV, you will notice a big difference. I bought a 32" 240 mhz set in Decemeber and this tv is in another league. The LED side panel illumination works well, and there is very little adjustment of the settings necessary to achieve true to life picture quality.


"True to life" will be understood in a new way when you buy this TV. The longer it has been since your last TV purchase, the more breathtaking this advancement in technology will be. Regardless, this will be a TV that will have a useful life for years (longer than a plasma) and will always look amazing. That being said, I would get the warranty (2 years) for an extra 170 or so.


Note: I chose lcd over plasma because lcds are noiseless and don't have the risk of picture burn-in. The 58' plasma I was looking at is the same price. This TV is better than plasmas priced less at the time of the review. If price is the main concern, I might do an in store side by side comparison with cheaper plasmas to see if the difference to you is worth the money.
Samsung UN40C6300 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV (Black) - In Stock One Day FREE Shipping

This TV blew me away when I first set it up (no tweaking). I turned on some random nature show (high def of course) and it nearly looked 3D. The color, clarity, and contrast were outstanding. And with my PS3/blue ray player movies have that theater like quality. Watching Avatar was actually better than the theater!! The only issue is the sound. However, if you are getting a TV like this you should be hooking it to surround sound! 

The most incredible picture I have ever seen, with high definition fios cable and blu ray dvd as the sources. What is most remarkable about the picture on this TV is the night shots. Blacks are perfect. This TV is also very versatle, being able to connect with a computer via hdmi-dvi or by a wireless network along with 3 other hdmi connections, optical sound and components. My only complaint is with the speakers, which are necessarily small due the the 1" thickness of this TV and its small border. However, that is the trade off for such a thin tv. 

This TV has the clearest most detailed picture of any TV I have ever seen. The HD is amazing. The speakers are average as everyone says. Mine is about 1 month old and the picture dims unexplainably some time...probably some power saving mode I dont know about yet..Anyway - great TV - highly recommend it!!! 

This is a great LED TV for the price. I was thinking about buying a LED TV as a replacement to my old LN630 and my budget was around 1000. So I didn't go for any high-end Samsung models. I am glad that I found this TV and bought this. The picture is crystal clear. It is working really well with my PS3 and Wii, and so far I don't have any issues.
If you are not looking for 3D capabilities, I would highly recommend this TV.
Samsung UN46C6300 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV (Black) - In Stock One Day FREE Shipping

The Good:
*Vibrant colors--of which ancient, grunting, CRT-watching man could only dream.
*HD content is displayed so realistically I'll quit my job and live under a bridge to watch TV all day.
*Even standard-def shows look quite good on this set, like super models only five or ten years past their prime.
*Black levels are significantly deeper than I would have expected based on all the online whinging about edge-lit LED screens (e.g., "Give me local dimming, or give me death!").
*Supa-thin profile makes the compact fluorescent "flat" panels look McDonald's chubby.

The Tolerable:

*Crowded buttons on the remote, which I hardly use in favor of the cable company's universal (or maybe no more than planetary) remote. I'll only pick up the Samsung remote on occasion to adjust advanced settings, but when I do, I often push an unintended button.
*Very slight edge-lit brightness on black borders. Much of what's on TV will fill the screen, so you won't even have the opportunity to notice the effect. Really, it's not that bad--I've seen far worse light leakage while watching movies on my 2007 alum iMac.

The Tolerated:

*There's only one thing that bugs me a bit, and it's not a deal breaker. (Besides, I already bought the TV, so the deal has been, well. . . concluded, if you must.) When the screen is mostly black and only a small graphic is displayed somewhere, the LEDs go a bit dim--you can actually see, over a fraction of a second, the light levels drop. I'm assuming that the TV was set up this way so that the LEDs wouldn't be leaking ghostly light on a largely black screen. I've fussed with the settings, but I can't make this effect go away. I haven't yet fully explored all the setting menus, so I just might hit pay dirt soon, or maybe Samsung will nix that effect with a firmware update. At any rate, whatever text is dimmed is still very legible, and when the next screen-filling scene pops up, the LEDs power up without any detectable delay so that thereafter the screen's as bright as it should be. No biggie--it's not enough of a problem for me to scratch a star off the rating.

The Tweakable:

*Turning off motion smoothing is not difficult under most circumstances; indeed, some content begs to be smooved, e.g., sports and competitive cooking shows. But when I first plugged in a movie via the USB drive, I got motion smooving by default and wanted none of it. Whenever I pushed the remote's "Menu" button, I ended on a screen far, far away from the USB drive's content, and ended up adjusting the picture settings for the cable feed and not the target movie on the USB drive. I was bedeviled awhile, but a bit of snooping around the owner's manual led to this minor discovery: by pressing the "Tools" button on the Samsung remote, I could enter a submenu that let me turn off the smooving effect without leaving the movie. Cheap soap opera video effect, begone!

Conclusion:

The picture is what matters most, and this TV's output makes my jaw drop to the floor. Which is rather fortuitous, because I need something down there to catch my eyeballs.
Samsung UN55B8000 55-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LED HDTV - In Stock One Day FREE Shipping

I bought the 55" 8000 series samsung for a new familyroom / den I built in the basement. I generally agonize over electronic purchases, doing hours of research. This one was no exception. After reading hundreds of reviews, consumer publications and store visits, i narrowed the search as follows:

LCD v. Plasma:
I chose LCD technology due to the eye-poping picture, reduced energy consumption, and no picture burn-in. Early LCDs had jitter problems, but those days are gone. Please note that this TV *is* an LCD TV! They call it "LED" because most LCD TVs are back-lit using floresencent bulbs around the edges, but this one is back-lit using a grid of little LED lights across the back. This grid allows the backligting to be turned off in areas of the screen where a black picture is shown. This supposedly makes the black darker than florescent lit LCDs, but i only noticed it when viewing from an angle.

Brand:
I narrowed the brand selection to Sony or Samsung. based upon reviews, including consumer mags, and store visits. I must say the Sony offering has fastastic picture crispness, color, etc, too. On the final purchase day, i took my wife with me ($3K is a joint decision). We compared a Sony BR9 52" with the Sansung 8000 55". after more than an hour of back and forth viewing we went with the Samsung. The decision was based on a slightly brigher picture (probably due to the LED vs Floresent back lighting), the extreme thinness (This TV is built to wall-mount, the Sony with a standard mount will protrude 5" into the room, this one with the 'picture hanger' mount from Samsung will protrude 2"), and the extra 3" of screen size.

Outcome:
I am so impressed with the Samsung after 2 weeks of use. Even standard non-HD cable looks good. It looks better in my house than the store feed. The embeded content (scenery, art, games, recipies, relaxing image&sounds) is cool for a demo, but not expected to be used too much. I haven't hooked it to the internet yet as i need either a 50' lan cable or the $79 wireless adapter. I will order the cable today. No bluray yet, but i watched HD-on-demand last night and it was sooo impresive. No buyer remorse here. Go get yours.