New Samsung LCD HDTV Review

Samsung LCD Picture in Picture doesn't work for composite video source
My parents bought the Samsung LN40A550, which has good reviews in consumer reports. This TV has only 1 tuner, so picture in picture requires another source. In the manual it does states: You can view Analog TV broadcasts on the PIP screen (sub-picture) when the main picture is from an external device connected to HDMI 1,HDMI/DVI 2, HDMI 3, Component1, 2 or PC.
So if you only have an external device which is composite video (yellow RCA jack) you will not be able to do PIP.
When I got my Samsung 50" DLP years ago it had dual tuners and PIP was a simple PIP button on the remote. However the current Samsung LCD and DLPs along many other new tvs appear to have this limiting ability to perform PIP. Even if you do have the required source (componet/HDMI/PC) the process to active the PIP is not just a PIP button click on the remote. Other than the PIP issues the Samsung LN40A550 is a fine tv.

terrible television
I've owned a 1080p samsung television (LNS4041) for approximately 2 years now. After fifteen months of operation the thing went on the fritz (turn it on and purple and green vertical lines appear with a black background - no pic.). Samsung claims I'm a few days outside my warranty and won't back up the product. I've called to have it repaired and it will cost 0 just to have somebody look at it. I'm thinking about smashing it into tiny bits an posting the video on YouTube. Overall, I'm very disappointed in samsung and regret the purchase. If you must have this television, buy the extended warranty. As for me, I'm getting my next lcd at Wal-Mart - perhaps a sanyo.

I LOVE THIS TV!!!!
awsome tv. i have owned for about a month awsome picture, i love it all!!!!

shipping was fast, it was awsome, i love this tv.


the only thing is if its in a small room it will make the room hot quick...

very pleased
I did a lot of research before settling on the Samsung LN40A550. Samsung is one of the top brands, and the only thing that worried me about this TV was the possibility that not being a 120hz machine would leave sports and action movies unwatchable.

I found a website called tweaktv that offers picture calibration settings, and these made a huge difference on the picture quality out of the box. Changing the sharpness down to 2 and setting the mode to "Movie" make for a huge improvement in picture quality. Jaggy text went away, and the picture got a lot cleaner. I used the tv for a week without HD, because I didn't have time to go get the box. Picture quality was OK with regular cable and component cables. Better than the old regular tv it replaced, and dvds played with S-Video from a standard DVD player looked crisp and good.

Today I finally got the HD box from my cable company, hooked up with HD cables. HD broadcasts are just stunning on this tv (keep in mind that when time you change input sources, the first time using that new source all the settings are back to the defaults. Each new input source will need the picture settings messed with the first time. HD looked pretty bad on the default settings until that sharpness got turned down)... Non HDTV channels look ok, but no better with the HDMI connection, and maybe slightly worse in a few cases.

ANYHOW, heres the skinny. Loving this TV. The menu's all make sense and are easy to navigate. The remote is also intuitive and easy to use( it is NOT a universal remote, btw). Sound is pretty good. Connecting to it is easy, and all the connections are well labeled and easy to use. It looks good, and seems much bigger in my living room than in the showrooms. We see a lot less glare on the screen when the sun comes in the window as well.

And, the thing that worried me- almost no problem with motion blurring. Sports and action movies are all very watchable on HD (somewhat less so on the regular cable). There is a slight amount of blurring during extremely fast action, but its not distracting at all.I was scared that this would be the dealbreaker, but like everything else on this tv, it exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend this tv! If you find a good price on it, buy it without fear.

It's a winner, except for the sound
Purchased this from Warehouse Deals by Amazon as re-boxed unit for a deeply discounted price and it arrived on time in like new condition. As we're new to High Def. we found the picture in HD stunningly great. Blades of grass on an ESPN HD college football game were plainly visible. Even though the refresh rate is only 60hz and we have no HDMI cable there is very little of the "smearing" that supposedly is a problem with LCD TV's. The non-glare screen on this model is also appreciated in our many-windowed living room. Although there is a website ([...] with tips to calibrate the picture we found it acceptably pleasing right out of the box on the brighter setting. Standard Def is mediocre, but after reading online and talking to the Comcast installers it's really not the TV's fault. The TV just accurately reproduces the faults in a low resolution broadcast. What is the TV's fault, and hence only 4 stars, is the subpar sound. Even after equalization the only two options seem to be boomy boxiness or grainy harshness. Still, since the picture is so good, better speakers can be hooked up, and the unit is fairly user friendly, it is enthusiastically recommended in the +/- [...] price range. Look for a deal in the Warehouse.

samsung ln37a450 37-inch
Did a lot of research and figured this tv would bring the best bang for the buck.--This lcd worked perfectly right out of the box and only took about 15 minutes to set up.---the picture quality is amazing just with the digatal signel but the hd picture is breath taking.---good pruduct at a good price.---would recomend this tv to anybody.

Great picture
I researched TV's on Consumer Reports and they rated this as a good TV. I think they under rated it, it's an excellent TV

Samsung LN37A450 and Customer Service
I've had this TV for less then 2 months and I'm already having issues. When you turn it on the picture will show up then a few seconds later will go away. I've tried new HDMI cables and when they are unplugged it says no signal so thats not the problem. Sometimes when you turn the power on it doesn't have a picture at all. Once you've unplugged the power or wiggled the cables the red light will show back up and you can turn the TV on and maybe get a picture. The problem is not constant but it is very annoying. I've already had to contact Samsung and I'm waiting on a repair person to show up.

What a joke. I was given a service center to work with and they refuse to do any work for Samsung because they have an issue with parts or getting paid.

I called Samsung again this time they gave me another service center. this service center only repairs TV's purchased from them.

I called again and was told they would call me in 2 to 3 days and try to find me a service center.

10/10/08 : Well I still have no TV. Samsung has never called back. I called them and was told to call back Monday morning and they would start working on a exchange for a new TV. When I called back and was put on hold for almost 30 minuts with Executive Customer Relations I was told an exchange is not an option. They have to fix the TV but they don't have a service center where I live that will work on it.

I will never in my life purchase anything Samsung again. I had heard such wonderful things about this company and they have failed me badly.

Healthy Set....
....happy with the set, good value, good picture with plenty of control. Sound is good not great, can be customized pretty well, best with externals of course....not a gamer, no blu-ray content, so 720p is fine. Refresh rate is good at 8 ft. viewing distance. Was delivered DHL, no problems, fast......excellent for the money. Wil probably upgrade in 3 to 5 years.....

It's just GREAT
I'm not the biggest TV fan, but this Samsung, as well as its little brother, the 32" version, just mesmerizes me. I can't speak to the technical specs of this TV. All I can say is that the colors just explode on the screen and I can watch it without glasses!

White Gloves CEVA is not good
Delivery service was less than adequate.One man came to deliver tv. He was unable to transport it to second floor and hook it up to see if it worked. My wife had to help carry it up and hook it up.

This TV is Freakin' Sweet!
I ordered this Friday morning (11/14/2008), took advantage of the free shipping, white glove delivery and 0 off the Samsung 1500 Blu-ray player. The 1500 shipped out later that same evening, while the TV itself shipped out on Monday.

I was a little hesitant about CEVA shipping it, as I haven't heard of them prior to purchasing this TV. The reviews I have read on here have been mixed, and I was a little dismayed to see that Amazon's estimated arrival date wasn't until 11/26/08. I kept tracking the package online and saw it was actually in my area on Wednesday. A quick call to CEVA and they set up delivery the next day at 9:00 am. Got an immediate confirmation email, and a call at 8:30 this morning verifying delivery. They showed up right on time (a little early even), brought the TV to my room, unpacked it and placed it on my TV stand. They had offered to hook up all of the connections for me but I declined, part of the fun of getting a new HDTV is setting it up yourself ;-) They made sure the sound worked great, no dead pixels or lines before they had me sign. A+++ with CEVA, could not have asked for anything better.

Now onto the TV itself. The TOC is nice, though not too noticeable to me. The sound is great, granted I have a small room and don't have it cranked up, but I'm still very pleased. Hooked it up to my Samsung Blu-ray, Popped in "The Mist Blu-ray" and was immediately blown away. A quick search on Google gave me some suggestions on specific color settings and I was able to sit back and be amazed for the next two hours. Some scenes looked as if I was really there, it's that amazing!

Since I have a Blu-ray dvd player that is also a Samsung, I can controll both items with just one remote. If I pop in a dvd, it will automatically turn the tv on, which is nice. The downside is, is that if I am watching a dvd and puse it to switch over to something else, then it will stop my dvd and I'll have to find where I left off manually, which can be a little annoying. One broght side of this set-up, is taht when I pop in a dvd to watch while I fall asleep, the sleep timer will turn my tv AND dvd player off, which is great.

Still trying to figure out how to set up the RSS feeds with my wireless adapter plugged into the usb port, but I'll look again after work.

As many have said, the preloaded features are cool the first few moments, but I seriously doubt I'll look at them ever again. The wheel on the remote can be a little tricky, but overall not too bad. If you get too frustrated, you can still click in the direction you want, instead of using the wheel to scroll.

I'll be updating this review every so often to keep everyone informed on how the set holds up after time, as well as any issues or whatnot that hopefully will not occur.

Love that TV. AMAZING HD picture
I really like that TV. I went with the 750 and really happy about that. The design is superb. The remote is a bit clunky. The HD picture is AMAZING. Blu ray (from PS3) is amazing on that TV. PS3 gaming are fantastic. Sound is good. Wii looks very good as well. Lots of HDMI connectors which is a plus.
120Hz looks great. No ghosting images. Sports events look amazing. Things are so sharp, you can see anything in the image. I feel like I put a better glasses when I watch that TV.
What can I say. It was a great buy. Samsung has a very good product line.

Shipping was awesome as well. (Ceva)

Go 4 it!

This tv is AMAZING! Highly recommended and affordable.
I cannot say enough good things about this tv, I highly recommend it if you are shopping for a new 40" tv. First off let me say to date the picture is superb out of the box. A little tweaking the picture using the menus and it looks even better as you watch Blu-Ray movies like Iron Man or Batman Begins. The PS3 is the perfect way to demonstrate how amazing web browsing can be on this screen and the Xbox 360 also outline the amazing picture quality of this tv. I spent 95 when I ordered this from Amazon, got free shipping and a guy from CEVA wheeled the tv into my house, took the box off and even offered to set it up. I told him I could handle it and once I started watching cable, playing games and watch Blu-Ray movies, I was confident I had arrived to the high definition land of milk and honey. I cannot get over how amazing this tv is. Run out and buy this! Oh and I received this tv within 4 days of my order and I live in California. The 120 HZ frame mode looks weird, almost like quick or fast movements are put on fast forward. Its unatural when you watch tv or movies. I highly recommend you turn it off. In games, i havent tried it, maybe its awesome since games are fictional recreations that never quite look photo realistic to begin with. Anyways thats the only bad thing I can think of off the top of my head and even then, its not a bad feature. Just an added feature you might get used to the more you use it.

Wow!
Since everyone's got their own issues and configuration, I'll talk about our configuration, not just the TV itself.

Bottom line: this TV is fantastic.

We just got it along with the Samsung BD-P1500 1080p Blu-ray Player and a cheap HDMI cable. Amazon threw in two free Blu-ray disks. For a couple of bucks a month we've upgraded our Netflix subscription to Blu-ray.

Delivery of the TV was simple--we inspected for physical damage, checked the TV to make sure it worked, and sent the deliveryman on his way.

We get over-the-air TV, not cable or satellite. I just plugged in the antenna cable, powered up the TV. In a minute it found all the channels (regular and DT and HD), set itself up, and was good to go. The only mistake it made was on Daylight Savings Time--it thinks it has already ended, so I had to manually reset the time.

Stunning picture, elegant design, right-out-of-box set-up. The Samsung Blu-ray remote works perfectly with this TV. It's a little cleaner layout than the nice but many-buttoned Samsung TV remote. (Our second Blu-ray disk displayed an irksome "Bonus View' box, but a quick Google search led me to a button sequence--Popup Menu/Info/Popup Menu--to make it go away.)

The TV speakers are great. Perhaps down the road we'll add a speaker system , but in our not-so-big living room the TV sound seems plenty good enough.

We've got lots of windows and sunlight, but the screen of this Samsung is fine even in full daylight. The touch-of-red is subtle, and the overall look is sleek and elegant.

We waited a long time to replace our 1991 Panasonic Prism 19" TV, and did a lot of reading of reviews. You won't want to wait as long as we did to get this great TV.