 Still debating what model to buy, THIS IS IT! |
| Review Date: June 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: William N. Harris III, Providence, RI |
After spending way too much time researching and viewing these TVs at big box stores, I eventually bought this set from Amazon, and could not be happier.
I was in the plasma vs LCD debate for a while and decided that I needed/wanted the brightness of an LCD, didn't want to worry about any burn in issues (I know they are almost non-existent today anyway). I wanted 1080p and most plasma sets with 1080p are close to this price point as well. I debated for about a month between last years ln52a630 and the ln52a750, and which one to buy. The matte screen on the 630 was its highlight for me, but there was a sacrifice in the contrast ratio and other miscellaneous little "bells and whistles". The A750 being the more expensive model, the price point dropped so much, it was now pretty much an even swap. Hearing about the problems associated with the 750 including glare, halo and TOC flaking issues, I decided the 630 with its matte screen was the TV for me.
So, I price shopped the A630 for a few weeks until I stumbled across the new version of the set, the ln52b630. A little more money is WELL spent when upgrading to this TV. The contrast ratio is double 40,000:1 vs 80,000:1, and even dominates last years 50,000:1 A750's contrast ratio. Again, this TV also has the MATTE SCREEN! Almost no glare issues in my very bright viewing room, that has multiple windows and a sliding glass door.
The TV's picture quality is the best my friends and I have seen so far from an LCD. Deepest blacks and brightest brights are the comments I have been hearing when people see this TV in operation. The clarity in blu-ray 1080p with 120hz is breathtaking, you almost don't want to take your eyes off the screen. I have it connected to Dish Network's HD service and the PQ in 1080i is also superb, a slight loss in clarity and blur in fast moving sequences that is non-existent in 1080p. Standard def programing also looks great as well.
As far as audio, I have it setup through surround sound, so I cannot comment.
I have yet to connect an ethernet cable to use those features as well.
**UPDATE** I have attached the ethernet cable and the "infolink" features do work as advertised. It is a nice feature, news stories, temperature/weather, stocks all positioned in the corners of the screen. Will i ever use it, probably not. But, it works as advertised. I wish it was a way to update firmware for the TV rather than for these features.
The USB media port is another excellent feature. It allows you to play movies, music and pictures directly from the side of the TV with a USB flash drive or external hard drive. It will play almost any codec you throw at it, supposedly even x264(HD), have not been able to test this.
The remote is nicely designed and easy to use. Samsung eliminated the dreaded "click-wheel' on this years new models.
Delivery: Pilot was my shipping service, and I cannot say anything bad about the service. The delivered early and made the necessary phone calls to arrange delivery. The box was in great shape, as well as the TV inside.
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Samsung LN52B630 is Awesome - We love it!
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| Review Date: July 22, 2009 |
| Reviewer: D. McIntosh, Jersey City, NJ, USA |
Background:
I have been researching and holding out for a new TV upgrade over the past 2 years. Samsung was one of the very few manufacturers that offered the matte non-glare screens, which is necessary in our sunlight-filled living room. But I was always waiting for the right price. So when I was about to get the LN52A630, I heard about the new B series being released in 2009. So I had to wait for it with 120Hz of refresh and an upgrade from a dynamic contrast ratio of 40,000:1 to 80,000:1. Plus the look and shape of the B series seemed so much nicer to me than the A series. So Amazon had offered a free Sony blu-ray player with the purchase of certain Samsung models (including the LN52B630), and that was my cue to finally place my order on 7/4/09.
Delivery:
When I placed our order I originally set the delivery date for 7/15/09. Once I got the CEVA tracking number from Amazon's shipping notification email, I started to track our TV. It turns out one of their warehouses is located in PA and very close to NJ. Our TV was right in our vicinity on 7/7/09. So I gave CEVA a call about delivering early and they were more than happy to deliver the TV on 7/10/09. The delivery went well, and the communication I had with CEVA was great. The guys brought the TV up three flights of stairs, set up the TV on the stand, gently placed the TV on our console, plugged it in and then turned it on...
Product:
Picture - We started to switch channels to see how it looked. The picture is truly amazing. The default settings really do make movies look like a soap opera, which is really weird and fascinating at the same time. It does take some time to find the right settings for your environment and input type. It's great that once the settings are adjusted for a certain input it keeps the settings. There are so many different settings as well, which allow for a lot of flexibility to adjust for a certain device input. For cable we have the TV set on natural and AMP on clear. HD cable is great and standard cable is pretty good on a huge LCD screen. XBOX is on game mode and looks wonderful. My husband was dying to try Call of Duty on it and was totally blown away by the colors and picture on the screen. When it was time to check out the blu-ray, we played Baraka (which I totally recommend to appreciate the 1080p experience). It was unreal! The picture was stunning and the detail was unbelievable. It was like we were there in person.
Sound - Even though we have our B630 hooked to our surround sound receiver, I tested the sound from the TV. It's not bad and the volume is pretty decent, actually pretty loud even at half way.
Other - The B630 is a really attractive TV. Everyone has commented on the touch of red and thinks it's really cool. The available inputs are quite sufficient. Swivel stand is terrific for when I'm in the kitchen cooking or to just swivel around dependent on my whereabouts. The swivel stand is also a plus when getting to the back of the TV to easily work on the cables and inputs. Viewing angles are pretty good. Matte non-glare screen is wonderful too; there is no need to shut the shades during the day any more. Tested out the USB input with an external hard drive on media play and found the response time pretty fast for a television. The media play mode is quite intuitive and easy to use. Photos look amazing as well. I did notice the auto dimming during credits of movies and black screens. This happens when the Energy Saving option is used. We set the option to off and now the dimming is non-existent. InfoLink via ethernet is a nice feature, but limiting. I hope that Samsung makes an update to allow more widgets and online viewing. BTW, the ethernet is great for getting available firmware updates from Samsung. Firmware v1009 was available for download and the update was quick and seamless. Since I didn't have the TV long enough, I don't know what the firmware update improved, but the TV is working just fine.
We love our Samsung LN52B630. I have to shamefully admit that I have fallen asleep in front of TV almost every night for the past 12 days. My husband would normally be jealous, but he also shares the same feelings I have for our new TV. We highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. The TV has surpassed all of our expectations. Amazon has allowed us to have it at a terrific price and offered free great white glove delivery service as well. It's a winning combination and we couldn't be happier. |
Awesome TV
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| Review Date: June 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: P. Butler, |
We were looking for a 55" matte screen lcd tv, but there doesn't seem to be any. I came across this 52" & took a chance, I couldn't find it in our local stores. I am very pleased with it, the picture is great. I am not an expert, so I can't give a detailed review. I can say that my husband said it has a heck of a picture (the HD is great).
I also wanted to comment on the delivery. I have read reviews on other tvs that gave bad reviews to pilot service. When I first got the email saying it would be delivered by pilot, I expected the worst. There service was great, they set it up in the room I requested, attached the stand & checked for a blue screen & I verified no damage before I signed. They also took away the packaging.
Also, Kudos to Amazon. I ordered the TV on Wednesday & it was delivered Friday. I couldn't ask for more. I am happy with the tv & Amazon's service. |
Great TV!
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| Review Date: August 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Michigan J. Frog, Manassas, VA USA |
Solid LCD HDTV with a great set of features. Sound is decent, picture is amazing, and the menus are intuitive and accessible. Remote is well-designed and lights up in the dark. Got it 5 weeks ago, and with very few tweaks have enjoyed DVDs, HD programming, and Blu-ray. I plugged my cable feed directly into the TV, and with no cable box I get about 10 HD channels in addition to my normal channel lineup.
The swivel stand is sturdy and adjustable, and the 120Hz refresh rate is all you need for watching sports without blurring. Screen does not reflect much and picture is vivid even in bright sunlit rooms.
The Infolink feature is useless--if I want to check the weather or stock prices, I'll change the channel or jump on the web.
Pilot delivery service was extremely fast, coming the day after I placed my order, and the two guys were in and out in ten minutes.
I got this when Amazon was offering a free Blu-ray player with it. All told, a fantastic TV and flawless purchase experience from order to delivery. Buy this baby, you won't regret it! |
Paid a little extra for Samsung... well worth it
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| Review Date: October 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Duke of Hazards, |
Got a $[...] windfall of cash in Oct. 2009 and my wife had green-lighted a bigger TV purchase so w/ money in hand, I began my quest for the ideal TV.... I am an admitted research freak so of course I created my multi-columned spreadsheet and began scouring the internet for information. We had been using a 2005 Samsung 32" LCD as our main family room TV (due to financial constraints when we bought our new house)... of course, I had done my research on that TV and it had proven to be a good purchase, so Samsung was already on the top of my short list.
I could have gone w/ a cheaper Sharp or the 55-inch LG, but ultimately decided to spend a couple-few hundred more for the LN52B630 and not second guess myself later. BTW, my wife had seen her friend's LN52A650 and loved the red touch of color bezel, so the extra cost was easy to sell.
Anyway, in case you haven't fallen asleep, the LN52B630 is awesome. Blacks and contrast blow away our old TV (after setting adjustments..more later). At first, I was a little thrown off with the 120hz (I'm not a big fan of the 'hyper-real soap-opera' effect that some 120hz TV's display)... However, on this TV, you can manually adjust the 2 sub-settings on the 120Hz 'AMP' (Auto Motion Plus) feature... I read a review from some canadian guy and he suggested setting the AMP to 'CUSTOM' and then separately turning the 'blur reduction' up to a fairly high setting (7 thru 10) and turning the 'anti-judder' effect down to '0'.... bingo! Smooth 120hz refreshed picture without the weirdness.
You will also need to tinker with the settings (TV is on Showroom bright out of the box).. you'll want to turn the brightness and backlight down by a lot and consider turning off some of the other misc. processing modes.... I'd recommend getting a calibration DVD or having a tech tune it to get optimal picture.
One thing I've found is that the bigger and better the TV, the more you can tell the quality of the source material.
HiDef content looks fantastic (the higher the better) as do video games. SD looks eh... well... kinda like crap. Can't wait till it goes away. I can now see the diff. between 1080i and 720p. Anything 1080i looks brilliant and Blu-Ray... wow! To be honest, when I first got my PS3, I really couldn't tell the difference between Blu-Ray and upconverted DVD on my old 32" Sammy. Both looked great... but on this 52"... you can really see the difference. Blu-Ray - wow! it's mind-blowing. and it handles it at the orig. 24p.
I could go on and on... it's a great set. The only minor gripe I have is the inability to save your picture tuning preferences as a 'CUSTOM' saved setting and naming it something, which means that if I want to change the settings to watch football vs. watch a Blu-Ray movie, I have to manually calibrate everything (I used a cheatsheet).
So happy I bought another Sammy (BTW - got mine on 10/24/09 at Fry's Electronics for $1399+tax) |
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