I have had my eye on HDTV’s for about 2 months now. first fell in love with the sharp, crisp, crystal clear image quality that these gnarly TV’s give off at my local Best Buy store.
The hardest part was actually choosing the perfect HDTV for my needs. In Best Buy there are so many gorgeous TV’s on display that it actually can be somewhat intimidating. The moment I thought had found the perfect TV, I would see another one in the corner of my eye that looked a few tweaks of an inch better.
The TV I settled on?
The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550. Not only was the price right in my ballpark, but the visual display this 40 Inch dream machine gave off was gorgeous enough to nearly bring a tear to my eye, raise goosebumps, and make me go gaga.
The sales rep knew what he was doing. He started off by showing me lower quality models, and then brought me over to a more exclusive section of TV’s. Right next to their ‘ring up counter’ sat the most gorgeous HDTV I had ever seen. I didn’t even think twice.
Before I could say, “Yep, that’s the one Mr. Salesman! Ring me up,” he told me that if I choose the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550, he would knock 15% off of the ticket price!
“Well I’m sold!”
With or without the discount, I was not leaving the store without this orgasm in a box. It got better though, I was also offered discounts on a PS3, and Blueray Discs. I mean come on! Have I won some lottery!?
So walking out nearly $2,000 poorer, I felt good! It was probably the best $2,000 I had ever spent.
Set Up:
I thought that removing the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550, was going to be difficult. It came in a huge box, and I figured lifting this thing out of the box was a make or break process.
Fear not fellow HDTV buyers! The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550, comes in a box with latches that you turn and pull out. The latches are located on both sides of the box. After you unhinge them, the box simply lifts right from the bottom. So basically you got your TV and box bottom. Next you simply lift the TV from the base, and set her up wherever you’d like.
What’s cool about the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550, is that it comes on a swivel black mirror finish stand. I especially loved the swivel feature for when I was hooking up cables to the back of it.
Setting up the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 came with ease. All I had to do was (of course throw out my old clunker) hook the TV up to cables I already had attached to my old TV. You can buy HDTV type cables later on if you’d like. It will improve picture quality. (I recommend Monster Cables).
After plugging everything in, and pressing the power button on the remote the TV made a cutie pahtootie chime noise to let me know she was up and running.
After I had her on, in her full glory I then began to tinker with the adjustments to allow it to give off the best look for my rooms lighting. I toyed with color settings, picture settings, and so on.
So I won’t get into a bunch of confusing specs about the TV. If your interested in specs, go check out the model at the Best Buy website. I’m not techy, so I couldn’t even help you in that department. What I can tell you though is how the TV displays regular cable channels, and HD channels.
How The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 Looks On Regular Cable Channels:
It’s not a huge sigh, but it is indeed a sigh. Many people do not realize that when they walk out of Best Buy $2,000 poorer that the TV is not going to display cable channels at HD quality. So remember that before just dropping the dough.
Cable only displays their channels in much lesser quality that 1080p. So you get lesser quality picture on cable channels due to their lack of ‘bandwidth’.
That is not a disgusting thing though. The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 displayed regular ol’ channels 100 times better than my old tube television set. Colors are crisp, clear, and gorgeous. However they are not that supreme picture quality that the TV displayed in the store. Not by a long shot.
For best use of the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 you are going to WANT to buy a Blueray player. Seriously you are not enjoying crisp quality HDTV till you plug in a blueray, pop in a disc, and hit play.
Before getting into how sweet the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 looks when using Blueray, first I will discuss….
How The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 Looks On HD Cable Channels:
Once again, I cannot say that picture quality is stunning on the eyes, because in fact it is not. It is however a lot more clearer than it would be on regular stations. The problem with HD channels though is that their is a huge lack of them! On cable your HD channels are somewhere thrown in the 700+ channels. Most flicks on these HD channels though suck, and are a waste of bandwidth.
I find it ashame that people go out, spend big dollars on a high tech HDTV, and due to cables lack your quality of picture is effected. Until Cable gets their crap together, for now HD lovers will just have to wait for cable to ‘catch up with the times’. Sad right?
Anyhow, HD Channels look perhaps 10% better than regular cable channels on the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550. I was impressed, but I was sort of expecting a bit more when it came to clarity.
How The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550, looks running regular DVD’s:
Oh glorious TV, how you haunt my dreams with your picture quality when it comes to standard DVD’s.
Honestly I was not expecting the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 to deliver such gorgeous quality when it came to standard DVD’s. I assumed it would look a little blurry, and play like they normally do. On the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 though standard DVD’s seriously look nearly as wonderful as a Blueray DVD. The difference is noticeable compared to a Blueray, but seriously folks, not my much at all.
Playing my old Labyrinth DVD looked awesome, and I was seeing details in the movie that I had never seen before. Watching this old movie, I had seen time and time again, looked like a whole new flick when shooting through the screen of my Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550.
How The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 Looks Running Blueray:
Simply stunning! When a Blueray player or PS3 running Blueray DVD’s is playing the picture quality is crisp, clear, with razor sharp cuts. Truly you will not experience TV watching this amazing unless you are watching a Blueray Disc. The Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 is as if it were meant to view TV this way!
You will be seeing detail so sharp and clear when running Blueray! Screens on screen doors will not have that pixel grain, no weird fuzz on striped clothing. Instead you see every hole in the screen door, every bit of fuzz on a shirt, every strand of hair. Pores on actors that you have never seen before. Beads of sweat on their faces, or hairline with clarity so clear you feel as if you are there, looking through a window. You will not be able to view things you could never view before, such as crystal clear background photos that hang on walls in environments. Trees seem to come alive with every gust of wind, as if you are looking at them from your own backyard.
Front row seats to reality! It truly is an experience you won’t want to pass on.
Now if only regular TV produced quality this good!
The Remote:
The remote that comes with the Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550, is equally as cool. It has one touch menus for you to quickly and easily adjust back-light settings, and picture settings for particular devices. You can set lighting to look perfect on gaming with the touch of a button. Lighting and picture tweaks for regular TV, and DVD watching experiences. The number of tweaks you can make for picture perfect TV watching is awesome.
The remote also features a source button. This allows you to switch to HDMI channels (PS3), and other channels that contain devices with the touch of a button.
My favorite feature on the remote though is the small backlight that you can press. Pressing this lights up the remote, so finding buttons in the dark has never been easier.
Sound:
I have no complaints. Everything sounds clear with no distortion at all. Action movies pack a more powerful punch when it comes to sound. I however recommend you pick up a BOSE surround sound system for the ultimate TV viewing experience. That’s not saying the sound coming directly from the TV is bad, because it is not, not by a long shot. But seriously, if you’re dropping this much money into an HDTV, you may as well hook that baby up with the latest technology.
Overall:
At $1,424.99, plus tax, the HDTV is a deal and a half. If you plan on buying it, make sure you are getting some sort of discount on a Blueray player, or PS3. For a few hundred dollars more (PS3, HDMI Cables, Surround Sound) your Samsung – 40″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV, Model #LN40A550 will easily become the ultimate dream machine in home entertainment.
