Thursday, November 12, 2009

Samsung LED TV : Samsung UN55B8000 55-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LED HDTV



Not perfect, but it's the closest thing I've seen so far. Really deserves 4 1/2 stars instead of 5 due to the lack of a couple convenience features missing from the remote, and the limited number of non HDMI inputs. The picture quality, light weight, reduced power use, and thin cabinet are just terrific. The remote takes a couple hours to really bond
with though you can start watching TV and movies pretty quickly without knowing how to make adjustements other than selecting your input source.

Pros:

* Increadible Dynamic Contrast. I feel like other people are in the room with me. Even up close to a few inches away the images is crisp, clear, and lifelike.

* Light weight at only about 65 lbs or so, about 1/3 that of an old 32" TV.

* VGA computer input, 4 HDMI, Audio out, and a couple other type inputs.

*240Hz demo feature lets you display 240Hz on one side and 60Hz regular on the other. There's also multiple modes of 240Hz you can select. Great feature to play with while watching the latest Bond movies.

*2ms response time (sounds good to me)


Cons:

*Only one regular RCA input that is shared with a Component input (you can use either the 3 component inputs jacks~ or just one of them for your video, then use the Left and Right audio). Bottom line is you only have one non-HDMI video Input (not counting the computer VGA input).

*PIP only accessed from tools menu instead of a single button on remote. Swapping PIP image to main image required selecting that source input instead of a single swap button. Can only display TV or Cable image in PIP and not other HDMI input devices.

*Touch of Color is only one blue light at the bottom instead of all around the edges as I expected.


That's the quick review. I'm sure someone will go into more detail soon and I look forward to hearing other takes on this new LED series. I'm very happy with the purchase, especially at 10% or more below the list price.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Samsung LCD TV : Samsung LN40B630 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV with




My old RCA 27" tube finally died, so it was time to enter into the world of HDTV's. After a ton of research and price hunting, I settled in on this 40" model for the full 1080, 120hZ experience (plus a smokin' deal from Amazon helped seal the deal).

First one arrived shattered, so that was a bit of a buzz kill. Fortunately the delivery includes set up & power up, so we immediately saw that the thing was destroyed. The delivery crew took it back with them and Amazon got another one out. The 2nd one arrived in perfect condition, and after getting DirecTV out to install the HD dish, I've been on HD for about a week now. I know this is not part of the product review, but Amazon's customer service was excellent in this matter.

All I can say is that the picture is more than I anticipated, having never owned an HDTV before. The clarity is unreal, the colors and images just pop off the screen.

Sports and movies are incredible to watch. I do see how some folks are a bit taken aback by how crisp movies appear (as if in 3d), and they have to get used to the look of cinema based stuff. It doesn't really bother me that much, as I know that's the byproduct of HD. It's crisp. It's clear. But I set the 120Hz option to standard, and I find that works well enough for my eyes. There are certain scenes in some movies that just look surreal, but not in a bad way (at least to me).

My Blog List