List Price: $3,479.99
Sale Price: $1,749.95
Today's Bonus: 50% Off
This TV looks fantastic (both the picture and the actual product)!! After some manipulation of the settings, you can really dial it in to look even better than it looks out of the box (i.e. auto motion plus off, brightness adjustment, ambient light dimming off, etc). The black levels are stealthy and near-plasma levels. The color is vibrant and rich. During motion, the picture is one of the best of LCD/LED televisions. Motion isn't quite as good as Plasma, but it isn't too far off. If you are coming to this from a Plasma, give your eyes some time (a week maybe) to adjust to the motion and it will become less noticeable. It's not that your eyes adjust to a worse picture as much as your eyes adjusting to a different technology. Watching my plasma now, I almost feel like it blends/dithers motion which makes it appear smoother when really it is just less "clear" but your eyes tend to accept the blending/dithering that Plasma TVs naturally produce as being more realistic but your eyes will adjust to the nicer LED TVs' motion fairly easily. But, as for this product, it really is a great TV with a great picture. The Smart TV features are ok but should really be viewed as a bonus feature unless that is driving your purchasing decision. My experience is that no apps or Smart TV-like features on any TVs are perfectly executed. They all have their quirks.
The picture quality is really fantastic. I am on DirecTV and also use my XBox 360 and a BluRay player. There are a couple channels that seem a little grainy and aren't as good with motion, but I haven't seen those kind of things on BluRay or while playing video games. Just a couple channels that occasionally have grainier content. Watching football, basketball, and other programming has been great and the only channel remotely important to me that had grainy content a couple times was the Golf channel. Everything else is super clear and has great motion. As an FYI, the Auto Motion Plus feature will give some shows or movies the "Soap Opera" effect which is why I turn it off completely or have it set to Custom and turn the settings way down. The best way to describe the "soap opera effect" that I know if is that the depth of the picture seems to be off. It looks like it was filmed with an HD home video camera. It is especially visible when the camera pans side to side and Auto Motion is on. I think things look better with that off, but, like with TV picture preferences in general, it is all personal preference. These settings just seem to be more natural for my viewing and are more similar to Plasma and CRT televisions.
To speak to the negative reviews that I read I'll just say a few things. First, this is not the cheapest LED or LCD out there. It isn't a "bargain" but it really will outperform lower-priced TVs as far as picture is concerned. After house sitting for some friends and watching their $1500 LCD, let's just say I was annoyed watching their TV even after tuning it. So, if you are willing to pay for a nicer picture, this TV will deliver. That is all, of course, based on personal preference. As far as quality out of the box, this TV was packaged well and seems to be built very well. I haven't had any issues with hardware or software. The TV is fairly fragile as its thickness prevents major reinforcements to rigidity. Once it is out of the box, be careful with the bottom (Samsung logo bump may hold all the weight if you set it down). Also be careful to keep it perpendicular to the ground. If you are holding one end and the other end is not being held, the weight of the TV and lack of rigidity causes the unsupported end to bend toward the ground if it's not kept straight up and down. I was able to unbox the TV and mount it on my wall by myself which I do not recommend at all but that should speak to the light weight and build quality. Just remember that it is a very thin piece of glass, silicon and metal and is fragile until you have it mounted or on its stand. Be careful and have a friend help and you will be fine.
To sum up, compared to other LCD/LED TVs, this is a great option. The picture is bright, rich and clear and the TV looks awesome from a design standpoint. There are probably some plasma TVs that will provide a better picture at around the same price but they don't have the same thin footprint, will consume more power, and (in my opinion) offer only marginal black level advantages. This TV is great with the lights off at night or for watching during the day in a bright room. Make sure to adjust the settings. Construction quality is good though, it is still a thin and relatively fragile piece of equipment (so be careful while unboxing!). After a side-by-side in my living room with a similarly priced Panasonic plasma, it was close as far as picture but the thin bezel and thin profile won me over. I've had it for 3 months and I absolutely love it.
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