YellowCoffee

Hey guys, I was hoping I could get some thoughts on the new Samsung line of LCDs that came out this year. I was considering the 52" 5 series (entry-level 1080p); LN52A550.

How does this compare w/ comparable models of other brand names like sony or panasonic?

I appreciate any advice. Thanks.

gwilks98

Um...all I can say is that if they're using the same glass to cover the LCD, the glare is terrible. I can't comment on anything else though, so I'll be fair to samsung.

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ramazank2

I have been looking at the LN52A650. It is a beautiful TV.

seksiexboy

the 52a650 is older, it's discontinued already.
i work at bestbuy in irvine, and the 52a750 has been out for quite a while..
if you want to come down to my store we can talk about it all
-vince

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YellowCoffee

Are you sure the 52a650 is discontinued? I'm still seeing it everywhere and it just came out in March of this year? I thought all of the new Samsung lines (Series 4,5,6 & 7) came out in March of this year.

ArkiStan

I don't believe the 750 really "replaces" the 550 and 650 series. They are simply different higher/lower-end models. The 550 and 650 models, which are both still being sold at retail stores and all over the internet, are probably the two most popular Samsung TVs right now. But who am i to say. Seksiexboy is the one working at the best buy, so take my words with a grain of salt.

Discontinued or not, if you're in the market for a 2008 Samsung LCD TV model anytime soon, it is safe to say that it will most likely be a choice between the 550 or 650 series. There are many differences between the two series. Some, such as higher contrast ratios are pretty much negligible to the average eye. The main "benefit" you get from choosing the 650 over the 550 is the 120hz refresh rate.

There is a lot of confusion and misconception about what 120hz actually does. While some see it as a gimmick which is not worth the price difference, some see it as the next big thing in home entertainment. I'm no expert, but I could break down what 120hz is in layman terms if anybody is interested. I've been doing a lot of research on the technology since it will be the deciding factor on whether I get the 550 or 650 model. (Yes, I'm going to choose one of the two )

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kame

So if you were to get a LCD TV today, you will pick SAMSUNG? I am just waiting on the fence for my sony CRT XBR 36 to break. Hoping some one throw the wii remote into it. I removed all the wrist strapes too.....

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YellowCoffee

Yeah, initially I was deciding between the ln52a550 or the ln52a650, but I didn't see the justification in a $500 premium. I heard that other manufacturers are working on implementing the 120Hz Refresh rate capability like Samsung & Sony so it definitely may be a specification that is here to stay. However, I'd rather spend $500 less right now and go w/ the 5 series model. I think the 5 series came out priced very competitively for what it has. Even being the entry level 1080P line, it comes w/ a 4ms response time & 30,000:1 contrast ratio that is a pretty big improvement from last year's models.

Thanks for the extra input Arki

ArkiStan

my pleasure. you really can't go wrong with the 550. as you said, it's an awesome set priced extremely well. let me know how you like it.

ArkiStan

definitely. samsung will always be my first choice in TVs. they simply make amazing products at very good prices. you just can't go wrong. just make sure you do your research at avsforum.com and get the right model which has the features you want. good luck with the wiimotes.

YellowCoffee

Ugh, Fry's had the LN52A550 for $1599.99 plus tax and free shipping. It sold out pretty quickly though. Amazon has also cut its deal on the free HD Tivo on this unit. I guess I'll have to wait a bit more.

YellowCoffee

Well, I ended up getting the LN46A550 rather than the 52" model. Even $1460 seems like a lot for a TV, so I definitely couldn't justify ~ $1700. I just bought a ps3 as well; hopefully everything looks great.

One question I had was regarding the HDMI cables. I bought some generic cables at amazon for roughly $5 bucks each after shipping. Is there a huge difference between these and the premium cables? I heard one thing is that the premium cables reduce the amount of interference, but is it that noticable?

ArkiStan

Wow. Congrats! You pretty much have the exact setup i want. All that's left now is for all the G|A folks to go to your place, order some pizza, crack open some beers and have a blu-ray marathon of Sex and the City.


everything i've learned til now in home theater, especially in audio related equipment, compells me to say that there is no distinguishable difference between $10 and $100 cables, but I'm not too familiar with newer HDMI hardware, so maybe someone can chime in on that. I'm pretty sure there is no reason to get the ridiculously priced Monster Cables. Cable selection will be more about finding the ones that are built well and durable among the affordable options.

kame

kame

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-ente...mes-282621.php


HDMI Cable Battlemodo Resumes

I just wanted to give you a heads- up that I will finally be posting the finale of our HDMI Cable Battlemodo today at 2 p.m. EST. Before you see the results, though, I wanted to take you through the testing process, so the results will make total sense. You with me?

As you will recall, our previous test took place at Monster Headquarters. We brought Monoprice cables ranging from 6 feet to 50 feet, and pitted them against Monster cables using Monster's in-house testing system. A pulse pattern generator simulating real-world and futuristic TV signals sent bits through the cables to a digital serial analyzer. If the lines of 1s and 0s were clearly defined, the cable was good; if the lines grew too fuzzy, the cable's quality was deemed poor.

It was a good way to evaluate the physical differences of cable. Fortunately for cable shoppers, nearly all of the cables we tested—both pricey as hell and totally on the cheap—passed all of the tests, guaranteeing that they'd be great for use in our home-theater setup, even if we sprung for the 1080p set.

But some of the longest cables from Monoprice failed our so-called "real-world" 1080p test. We assumed that any cable that failed the digital serial analyzer's criteria would also fail a real-world test, but we knew, one day, this would have to be tested. And so we tested.

Here's how it goes down:
• Since the disputed cables were the 35 footer and 50 footer from Monoprice, I entered them in the final stage of the Battlemodo against a 10M cable from Monster. I could have gone with many cables that people sent me, but that would have drawn out the results process, and confused the issue. We found issues with cables in the lab, and we want to see if those issues come to bear in the living room.

• "Real world" in this final round means real sources playing on real TVs while I sit on a real couch. I used both a PS3 and Samsung's BD-P1200 Blu-ray player, playing into a Samsung LN-T5265F 52-inch 1080p LCD. (I also did some preliminary testing with a Sony Bravia LCD rear-projection set, with 1080p inputs but 720p display.) The movies I chose were Hellboy and Happy Feet. Go ahead and bitch all you want about my choice of gear (and my taste in cinema). This is not an endorsement of Blu-ray, though as you might imagine, given this setup, the BDs looked pretty durn good.

• The trick here is to give the cables time to reveal their flaws, if there are any. People told me what to watch for, and indeed in Monster's original New York summit, I could see with my own eyes the signs of a crappy HDMI cable: bits of digital snow, particularly at the top and bottom of the screen, frame jitters and other aberrant behavior.

Will my test results be scientifically proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? No. Will they confirm or deny the findings of our lab testing? You tell me. Seriously, go ahead and guess the results. I'll meet you back here at 2 p.m. EST with the final data.

YellowCoffee

Just an update on the LN46A550. I love this TV. The PS3 looks amazing on it and it was such a decent price compared to the other comparables. I purchased this set for $1470 from Amazon in mid-June. It has dropped down to $1412 now and I received the difference refunded through Amazon's price protection program.

I had to change the audio and visual configs a bit, especially because I won't have a receiver/speaker set for a while. The audio does not sound very good on it's default settings but seem to be OK after you adjust according to some of the recommended settings on avsforum.

The TV looks so good that now I want to purchase a nice audio system, but I've been spending wayyyy too much money.

So in summary, I am more than satisfied w/ this TV. Blacks are pretty deep and SD & HD look great. I would highly recommend this set.

ArkiStan

damn. you're getting me all antsy. i'm still saving up money for this and want it soooon!