Samsung LE40R8

Samsung LE40R8 LCD TV

So few months ago the hubby and I enjoying a quite night in, nice meal and a couple of bottles of wine, TV adverts come on during the film your watching…. And the hubby says 'that's a nice big one'…..(at the adverts that is) and I get that sinking feeling of oh no how much is this going to cost! The item in question is a Samsung LCD TV.

So we go for a drive, no I should rephrase that I chauffer ...
...biggest boot with a 40" Samsung LCD LE40R8 TV.

When we got home and started unpacking the TV, I was quite surprised at how well it was packaged for protection. Fitting snug in the box surrounding in polystyrene the TV was wrapped in a fine texture plastic covering and bubble wrap to prevent the screen and surround from being damaged. The remote control, cables, stand, cleaning cloth, and batteries also came covered in protected ... more

Samsung LE40R8 LCD TV

So few months ago the hubby and I enjoying a quite night in, nice meal and a couple of bottles of wine, TV adverts come on during the film your watching…. And the hubby says 'that's a nice big one'…..(at the adverts that is) and I get that sinking feeling of oh no how much is this going to cost! The item in question is a Samsung LCD TV.

So we go for a drive, no I should rephrase that I chauffer the hubby, and for some reason we end up in Yeovil, which is 30 miles from where we live near Bath…. Yes I know bit far to go to look at a TV and hour later I am driving back in my Ford Ka, which has not got the biggest boot with a 40" Samsung LCD LE40R8 TV.

When we got home and started unpacking the TV, I was quite surprised at how well it was packaged for protection. Fitting snug in the box surrounding in polystyrene the TV was wrapped in a fine texture plastic covering and bubble wrap to prevent the screen and surround from being damaged. The remote control, cables, stand, cleaning cloth, and batteries also came covered in protected covering. Wall mounting kits are also available for this version at additional expense however, we decided not to go for this option.

Setting up the TV

There a little bit of work involved in setting up this TV, I am not the most technically minded however, I managed to do this with no problems. I think the hardest part was fitting the stand, which involved pacing the TV face down, and screwing the stands screws into the correct position

The cable connections are quite straightforward as well, as well as the standard TV ariel there are connections for

DVD
Video
Sky
Video gaming machines
Computers
Home theatre connections
Camcorders

A lock is also provided through the dealer if the TV is going to be used in public areas.

Control Panel and Remote Control

The control panel on the right hand side is touch sensitive and enables the operator to, toggle between the input source e.g. DVD & Video, menu to access all the televisions functions, volume and channel control. The power indicator is also located with these controls. I have found these controls easy to use but when dusting I have found them easy to knock and change channel due to their sensitivity.

The remote control is a bit daunting when you first look at it. But don't worry it turns out it also operators other Samsung products e.g. DVD, Video as well as cable and STB. I have found this useful as it has reduced the amount of remote controls in the house. Again, like most other remote controls it comes with the following functions

TV standby
Channel selection/list
Volume
Mute
Electronic Programme Guide
Picture size selection
Sound effect selection
Button light - yes you can light up some of the buttons
Source selection e.g. DVD/Sky etc
DTV menu display
Anynet
On Screen displays
Contrast/Colour control
Picture in Picture
Digital subtitles
Picture effect selection
Picture freeze
Teletext functions

The remote control also comes with Braille points on some of the main features such as power, channel, stop, play and volume buttons.

Plug and Plan

The sales lady in the shop, said its ok there is not much to do with this TV to set it up all you do is when it is all plugged in it more or less sorts itself out. Oh Right I thought expecting to spend the rest of the day programming the thing.

But surprisingly, that is what happened. I turned it on the TV went through some initial settings and then came up with a plug and play message I pressed the OK button on the remote control and followed the onscreen instructions, which were basically pressing up and down for the language choice and occasionally pressing OK when it asked a question or had finished a setting e.g. checking the Ariel. With the TV automatically searching and storing the channels again all I had to do was press the OK remote control button.

Picture and Sound Quality

If you do not have the TV wall mounted the left/right swivel stand you can easily position the screen in the most suitable position. The picture is a good quality and is quite sharp and clear.

The first time I watched Curse of the Golden Flower on this TV I was amazed how the rich, vibrant colours jumped out whilst the black remained truly dark. The use of colours helped bring the picture to life and I found increased my viewing pleasure.

Again, the colour, contrast and sharpness can be adjusted to suit you viewing pleasure.

Sitting to close to the screen is when you tend to see ghosting and your eyes noticed the pixels a bit more, but then again you should really sit very close to the TV anyway!

There are a number of sound settings (e.g. movie, music, speech, custom) which you can preset the sound suitable to your needs. As we watch many movies, ours is set to movies.

The one problem with the speakers we have found is that if turned up quite loud (say about 50) on a music channel then the speakers tend to produce a rattling sound which irritating. One way we have found to resolve this is having the sound diverted through the stereo speakers and having the TV speakers turned down low.

Another problems with this TV is prizing the hubby away from it when the footy is on

Further information

Price: Varies slightly new starting from around £799.00, but I have seen secondhand models in the paper and on line.

Technician information:

Screen Size: 40"
PC Re: 1360 x 768 @ 60Hz
Sound: 10 W X 2
Dimension: 992W x 87D x 665H without stand,
992W x 300D x 698H without stand. Measurements in mm.

Further information on the Samsung LE40R8 LCD can be found at the Samsung Website. http://www.samsung.com/uk/index.html

And finally

Overall, I do love this TV but it is that speaker rattles that is so maddening at times.

This review can be seen on both Dooyoo at dooyoo .co.uk (Trish70) and Ciao at ciao.co.uk (Yocal) 

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