University of Oxford English B.A. / M.A. graduate. Living in Ireland.
University of Oxford English B.A. / M.A. graduate. Living in Ireland.
Member since:22.02.2007
Reviews:4
I bought this Samsung t.v. in December 2007 from Argos for £249.99, a special offer of £50 below the R.R.P. at that time.
Initial impressions were positive - high connectivity (PC, Scart, Component, HDMI, standard analogue), and it's fairly slim, fairly light, and very pretty to look at out of the box. The remote is solid, like the t.v., and covers all functions well, being a good job given that the t.v. is seemingly not supported by Sky yet (I would be interested to know if someone has got this working). The possible drawback is that some functions have smaller buttons than others (the teletext buttons most prominently afflicted); a slight sponginess elsewhere is to be noted.
There have been a number of problems though, and quite a high proportion may be due to the model as a whole, not just my individual t.v. The most basic structural problem has been
the bevel at the bottom of the t.v. not turning (the t.v. is fixed, and the whole unit must be moved, which is sometimes an issue given the heavy build of the power cable - you must give a bit more leeway to the cable than you may think initially).
In terms of connectivity, the one HDMI connector feels, in retrospect, slightly stingy and short-sighted (this is quickly becoming the choice connection for High Definition devices, such as the newer models of the Xbox 360), so if you are preparing your home for a HD revolution, do bear it in mind, because you will have to pay a bit more for two HDMI inputs, and in time I think if you want everything connected simultaneously, this t.v. will only provide a stop-gap. If you have Sky HD, a Playstation 3, and the Xbox 360 Elite/Newer Premium, then you may already have a problem.
Functional problems are more considerable though: these include a high-pitched noise intermittently from the television, both on and when off. It is not covered up by the t.v. itself when on given the poor speakers (volume has to be put in the upper levels to give a fuller sound). In addition, the PC connection to my new laptop can be somewhat tempestuous: sometimes the screen has randomly flipped sideways / turned black, then turned on again (but continued to do this until the t.v. is turned off and back on at the mains). This blacking-off has, once or twice, shown itself up in the display of Sky from the Scart, and, believe it or not, this morning the touch button to turn off the t.v. would not work, so I had to turn it off at the mains. I'm not too bothered by the above (given the positives listed below), but it would be good to both hear the opinion of others (and of course to forewarn people). It does not, however, reflect well on connectivity consistency.
The picture is generally fantastic, although grainy with standard definition up close (my Playstation 2 looks especially strained and stretched, something, to be fair, expected by myself). The Xbox 360 looks stunning on it though (and I use it through component), although the brightness generally may be too much for some eyes (picture adjustment is somewhat lacking on the t.v., being mostly preset-based, with limited options for adjustment elsewhere). It seemingly supports 1080p and 1080i (from experimentation with the Xbox), with the native resolution of 1050 requiring a slight, if unnoticeable for the non-purist, stretch.
Balancing this strong picture is the black-light bleed (where the display of black on the television is not as dark as it is in real life), as well as slight issues with response time. Black is generally displayed well in normal situations, but noticeable, albeit not chronic, bleed is common in dark films (mostly from the top and bottom of the screen, and not evenly). It does not bother me, but again, purists will not be impressed. The response time of 5ms may seem like a fair figure, even for the purist, but I am not convinced by the t.v. with motion on a standard scart input (component seems fine). Do try and get a look before you buy for this aspect alone, as the effects can bad for those with a penchant for motion sickness. Even for myself, it took a little getting used to.
All in all, however, this is an excellent television for the price, more so if you can get it for the crucial sub-£250 price point. Most of the problems are completely forgivable, and the widescreen dimensions of the television are particularly impressive (compared alongside the similarly-priced LG equivalents). Purists, as stated above, probably will have to look elsewhere (and at a higher price tag), but I have been impressed regardless of the faults.
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Dec 16th, 2007
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