Far surpassed my expectations!
This TV is definitely at the top of its class.
I own an older model Samsung (LN4041), which is a 720p unit, and it was time to upgrade to a 1080. I have been looking at this LN52A650 for quite some time, comparing it to other manufacturers and models, and checking prices. The 50,000:1 contrast ratio, 120HZ, and 4ms response put it at the top of my list. When I finally bought it, I couldn't wait for it to arrive!
On the scheduled delivery day, I was told to expect delivery between 11am and 3pm, with a call 30 minutes prior to arrival. That call came at 10am - earlier than I expected, but fine with me! At 10:30, they arrived. The delivery men brought it into my living room, unpacked it, put it on the stand, plugged it in, opened the remote, put the batteries in, and handed it to me. After verifying that the TV works, I signed their paperwork and they were on their way - about 10 - 15 minutes, and back to work for me.
When I got home that night, I couldn't wait to finish the installation. I have a wall mount for this, and all I had to do was take the old one down and put the new one up. Well the old TV is pretty light (about 50 pounds), so it came down easily. Well this new one is much bigger and heavier! It took about 6 tries before I got it hung on the wall mount, and I was pretty tired afterwards. It was recommended that I have help doing this, but I didn't think I needed it. Looking back, I now recommend a second person. The last thin you would want to do is drop your new $2000 TV while installing it.
Once installed and connected, I turned on my new TV!! The last channel I was watching was Spike HD, so that's the first thing that came on. Star Wars III was playing when my new TV booted up, and let me tell you, the picture and sound were simply AMAZING!! It looks 100 times better than my other TV. I'm not sure if it's the 720 vs 1080 or the size difference (or both), but I couldn't be happier with it. Every channel, whether HD or not, looks incredible.
The controls are pretty straight-forward. I didn't need to read through the manual to figure out the basics, although the manual is well-written. I also have a Samsung blu-ray player, and it still auto-detects it even though it is plugged into my Sony receiver. I have the TV hard-wired to my internet router, and it easily set itself up.
So far, after 2 weeks, I can't find anything negative to say about the LN52A650. I looked at the A750 also, but the only difference between them was the additional storage capacity, which I don't need. Also, the A750 does not included picture-in-picture, and while I don't use that feature much, I want to have the option.
If you're thinking about buying this TV, I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed.
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No Regrets!
I purchased this HDTV a couple of weeks ago to replace my good but aging 6 year old 55" Mitsubishi rear projection HDTV. I researched for about a month before deciding on this model.
I debated between plasma and LCD. Even though plasma technology has come a long way recently, I was still worried about the slight risk of image burn-in. With LCD's, I was worried about lack of deep black levels that plasmas are best at. I had also looked at plenty of both types in the stores and had the opinion that none of them matched the overall image quality of my CRT based rear projection TV. Everything I looked at in the stores just seem to amplify any digital noise in the image. Knowing that stores are probably the worst place to evaluate a set, I decide to trust the many good reviews I've read about this model and ordered it.
After it arrived, I set it up next to my rear projection HDTV. Wow! What a difference between the two. The LCD was much brighter and vivid then I had expected. The other big difference was the LCD was viewable from every spot in the room. The brightness and color stayed consistent at extreme angles. The colors didn't shift or reverse like some cheaper LCD's when viewing from the side.
I did notice that any noise and compression artifacts in the image were amplified more by the LCD, however, the set was still at it's default factory settings. I then went into the menu and put all the settings to values I found on a forum that someone with the same model had fully calibrated. I didn't know how their settings would look on my set but decided to give it a shot. I was very pleased with the outcome. Noise wise, the picture now looked a lot smoother and comparable to my old TV.
Black levels are absolutely beautiful. Best I have ever seen on an LCD. Even in a dark room, the blacks are black. With a completely black screen the backlight is just slightly noticeable. In a lit room it's non-existent. Also, the backlight was completely even. I saw no light bleeding or hotspots from anywhere with this panel.
I love the features and beautiful menus. The glossy screen posed no problems what so ever. When the TV is on, the image just seems to burn right though any reflections that were there before.
No complaints with the quantity or type of inputs on this set. My HD satellite DVR through HDMI looked great and my Xbox 360 with a VGA cable was also stunning in full 1080p! Even SD content was much more tolerable to watch on this TV.
Overall, I have no regrets with this purchase and would do it again! Highly recommended!
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