Archive for February, 2010

Samsung UN55B7000 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Saturday, February 13th, 2010 in Samsung TV.
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Samsung UN55B7000

Many folks still wonder about the newer LED/LCD vs. Plasma.
I was one of them. After months of research, I picked the 58″ B650 Plasma.
It is always tough to audition in a store, but we felt it beat out the big LCD’s.
Well – read on.
Had it 3 weeks, waiting for it to ‘break in’, which it did (the phosphors have to age and become uniform – took about 50 hours of viewing to achieve.)
Was able over time to get a great pic (in dynamic mode), but it never quite
looked as great as our Samsung 40″ B630 upstairs.
Then I measured the power consumption after we noticed the heat coming off the screen. Uh – 550W average, with peaks up to 700W in certain brght movie scenes!
My wife and I play the set quite a bit, and some quick math told us the heat and cost was just too much a price to pay for something that will hang on the wall for years to come. Back to the stores for more auditioning.

After another few weeks of looking we bought the 55″ UN55B7000 LED/LCD.
Almost the same size – but 1/4 the power after reading up on it.
Out of the box, this set looked as good or better than the plasma.
Black levels as good – color balance even better – My test BluRay that has a number of tough to get right grey/black scenes is Terminator Salvation. Looked better on the 7000.I use that, and UP, which really tests the color saturation.
And this is in the default movie mode, which comes up when I use my Samsung BluRay player.
With minimal tweaking in Standard Mode, I got it looking even better.
No heat. Long term cost way down over the plasma.

SUMMARY – I was able to own both in my own home and do my own tweaking and comparing, and all things considered – The LED/LCD 7000 beat out the 58B650 plasma.
Hope this provides some input for others that are trying to decide.
Consider all the factors – the heat and power as well as the picture.

Reviewed by : PhillyBill “PhillyBill”,   Jan 27, 2010

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Samsung LN26B360 26-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Friday, February 12th, 2010 in Samsung TV.
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Samsung LN26B360

I originally bought the LN22B350, the latest unit in this series, but had to return it. You can read my review on it, but in short, it was because despite the literature stating that it has one composite AND one component input, it actually should read one composite OR one component. You could only use one or the other because they share the video input jack. So, after viewing an actual image of the input panel on this unit, I took a baby step back and ordered the B360.

Wait a minute! Amazon gave me a backhanded “upgrade” by erroneously shipping the LN22A450. The 4 series is better than the 3 series, but the A series is older than the B series. They were willing to let me keep it, but after doing a little bit of research I found that the technology has leapt forward since it was made. Among other things, it had only a 3000:1 contrast ratio whereas this one has 15,000:1. These days there’s little difference between the massive numbers spun out by manufacturers unless you’re in a high tech calibration setting, but when you talking one that low, it’s not a good thing. So, one more swap and I got the LN22B360.

I really like this set. Unless you’re an audiophile, there’s not a single thing wrong with the sound. There are different settings and a bit of an equalizer to customize, and at the level of 44, the volume is excellent. People just need to understand that no manufacturer is going to put high end audio in a unit at this price point. The 22-inch set is not the one you want to pay $500 for, or should need that kind of audio. You’re not going to get a lot of the bells and whistles you get with the bigger sets because that’s not what people are using their small TVs for.

So after one that was too new for my old equipment, and one that was too old for the new technology, this one is just right. I chose Samsung for the on/off timer, of which this unit has three, and the options there are better than expected–select all days, weekdays, weekends, etc. The set-up was easy, the remote balanced (though no back light), buttons are a good size and arranged fairly intelligently. The smaller screen makes the 720p and 60hz non-issues. Since I don’t pay for premium services, it was nice to see several channels airing in HD without a converter box. And on the down-low, I’m getting intermittent On Demand broadcasts, though I do wish whoever ordered them would take fewer potty breaks. Too much pausing and rewind. LOL!

I’m very satisfied with this purchase and hope to buy its big brother (46″) in the future after I’m sure Samsung is the way to go (and I think it is).

UPDATE 12/22/09 — Just wanted to add that I’m still liking this TV. It completely meets my needs and expectations, although the On Demand feed stopped, darn it!

Reviewed by : MollyDawg,   Aug 11, 2009

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Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-L32S1 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 in Panasonic TV.
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Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-L32S1

Pros
-good quality IPS panel, a superior LCD technology generally used in just a few premium computer monitors. Panasonic, NEC, and Apple are among the only manufacturers who guarantee IPS panels. Few other TV makers use them and even when they do, companies such as Samsung, Dell, LG have been known to swap them for inferior cheaper panels after initial positive reviews are published.
-less than a single frame of input lag with progressive sources, and a good quality de-interlacer which adds merely a single frame of lag, making this one of the best gaming TVs for ANY price.
-horizontal and vertical viewing angles are nearly as good as CRT and plasma, no color shifting
-saturated and accurate color (when calibrated), crisp and bright, no banding of gradients, no loss of detail in shadows or highlights, extremely rare for an affordable television
-S-Video, Component, Composite, and 3 HDMI inputs, both digital and analog audio outputs
-1920×1080 signal can be displayed 1:1 with no cutting off of the edges, such as from a PC with a DVI-HDMI cable
-a wide variety of VGA input timings are supported

Cons
-VGA input resolution limited to 1280×1024
-diagonal viewing turns blacks gray (just make sure the TV is placed at eye level to get the ideal wide viewing angles)
-the speakers are somewhat weaker than other similar TVs
-only Cinema mode (with brightness at 50 and Contrast at 100) has reasonably accurate color, the other modes make color changes that are not user accessible.
-fluorescent backlight gives slightly bluish “Normal” color temp, “Warm” looks best
-the black levels are good enough, but not remarkable
-colored text is slightly fuzzy even at 1:1 pixel resolution due to subpixel font rendering techniques of OSX and Windows (still readable and better than turning subpixel smoothing off, but this TV is not ideal for use as a full time web/productivity computer monitor, it is perfect for a media PC however)

Reviewed by : Miles Jacob,   Jan 29, 2010

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VIZIO VA220E 22-Inch ECO 720p LCD HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 in Vizio TV.
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VIZIO VA220E

I have been looking for a small TV to put in my bedroom and to double as a computer monitor. I put this in my Amazon cart when it was only $200, but it went up to $250, so I kept looking. Then I missed the Gold Box Deal of a Panasonic Viera 26″ for only $250. (VERY disappointed) Later at Wal-Mart I stumbled upon this one again for $248 and decided to buy it and finally end my hunt. I’m a pretty generous rater on Amazon, but if I wasn’t I’d probably give it a 3-star.

What I like:
- Works great as a computer monitor and automatically adjusts to the differing aspect ratio of my computer games
- Two HDMI ports is nice for a small TV (I don’t use them yet but I’m sure I will in the future)
- Buttons are located on the side of the front panel within easy reach–you don’t have to wrap your hand around.
- Inputs and outputs located in the side are pretty deep–enough that the cords are easily concealed

What I dislike:
- The VIZIO logo glows white when on and can’t be turned off (though it’s pretty dim, not distracting), worse yet it glows orange when the TV’s off. IT’S A TV, NOT A MICROWAVE. That can’t be turned off either.
- There is no letterbox zoom. So if you’re wantching a widescreen program on a standard definition connection, the picture is stretched horizontally AND has horizontal bars.
- Speakers are horrible. I don’t care much because I have been plugging speakers in to the headphone jack.
- No RCA audio out. You have to use the headphone and get a 3.5mm to RCA if you have a stereo or something similar. There is however an optical out for a home theater.
- Remote is kind of cheap looking and is not universal (but this isn’t expected on a small set).
- Only one composite video–I know it’s outdated, but it’s still pretty common.
- The only reason it’s called an ECO TV is because it exceeds Energy Star guidelines by 15%. Woohoo. Big deal. For all I know, all LCD TVs do. I thought maybe it was made from recycled material or maybe NOT IN CHINA. (But that won’t happen until pigs fly).

List of inputs and outputs for those who are curious (It’s so impossible to find online)
HDMI in X2
HDMI RCA audio in
VGA in (RGB PC)
PC audio in (3.5mm)
Component + audio in
Coaxial in
Composite video/S-Video + RCA audio (all on side)

Optical/SPDIF out
Headphone out (on side)

There is also a 3-prong (looks like DC power kinda) connection that says SERVICE as well as one that is USB.

Reviewed by : Brian C “Bobazonski”,   Jan 12, 2010

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Sharp AQUOS LC32LE700UN 32-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 in Sharp TV.
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Sharp AQUOS LC32LE700UN

I’ll start out by saying that I’ve only had this TV a few days. I will also say that I could be wrong about the possible options for changing what I dislike about this TV, or in my description of what causes it- but in my research so far I haven’t found any reason to believe so. I’m always interested in hearing more information if I don’t have the full picture though.

All that said- I personally just don’t like this set so much. I bought this to replace a broken Sony XBR6 (also 32″), and this has been my experience so far, the good and bad.

Good:
- Picture quality: The picture quality on this thing really is amazing. Very deep blacks, crystal clear image. I had to tweak the settings a bit (I’ll get to my thoughts on that shortly), and never quite found a setting that I thought was perfect, but even with that being the case the picture was stunning and I can tell that with proper calibration it’s probably one of the best 32″ sets you can buy as far as PQ goes right now.

-Picture settings. I’m actually kind of split on this. The picture definitely needs to be tweaked from store settings, and the good thing is that this set provides probably the most extensive set of options for calibration than any other set I’ve seen- so chances are you CAN get it where you like it. It’s kind of a double edged sword though because there’s so many settings that unless you really know your stuff it’s difficult to figure out how to get the perfect balance.

Bad:

- Sound: Sound on 32″ flat panels has never been known to be that great, but I almost immediately felt that the sound was very hollow and tinny compared to the xbr6. I messed with the audio settings- turned on the surround simulator and upped the bass a little bit. That helped, but I still found it lacking.

-Build quality/Styling: This is something that may just come down to opinion (styling is for sure), but I was rather unhappy with both of these things compared to my xbr. The build quality feels cheap and not very sturdy by comparison, and the styling in general I just felt was bland. The same feeling extended to the system menus for me- I like the design and look of the Sony’s much more, whereas the Sharps feel more like a 90′s computer menu or something.

-Remote: Weird choices for how they laid the remote out… the button to switch ‘av modes’ (basically profiles for picture settings etc) is enclosed in a little drawer so you have to open that whenever you want to switch between your movie/game/custom modes etc. In general I also feel the remote is just kind of ugly…

-Motion processing: This was the big one for me. Everyhing else being as is (although the styling still bugs me), I would have been willing to keep this set just for it’s image quality. But this was a deal breaker. I’ve read on other sites that the Sharp ranks low in this area, especially compared to Sony, and I completely agree. Now this is where I believe it’s possible i’m missing some information but I haven’t found it yet. With TV based content it looks fine, but what seems to be the case is that you cannot turn off the ‘film mode’ image processing for any progressive signal based content (480p/720p/1080p). You can see the setting in the menu, but it is disabled (along with one other setting for the black levels I think)- and YES I am in ‘dot by dot’ mode.

What this effectively means (at least as far as my eyes can tell), is that there is no way to turn off the ‘soap opera effect’ on blu-ray content (and probably progresive-scan dvd as well I haven’t tried that yet). I looked this up on forums and messed with every setting possible and I just could not get rid of it. Some people don’t mind that effect, some like it, some say it’s not even noticeable, but to me it sticks out like a sore thumb and I just hate it. So for me, I think this set will be going back in favor of the xbr9 or un32b6000 (hoping that doesn’t have any similar issues).

So I’m giving this set a 3 stars- if I could I’d probably give it 3.5. I’m not that concerned with the fact that it’s led or not, or that it doesn’t have local dimming- all I care about as far as that stuff goes is picture quality, and this set is extremely high up when it comes to that. Unfortunately I just found almost every other aspect of the set, most notably the inability to turn film mode off on blu-ray content, to be unsatisfactory. It’s a great value for the price, but at the same time, I can see why the price is much lower than the competitors in it’s class.

Reviewed by : teamMC,   Jan 22, 2010

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VIZIO VF551XVT 55-Inch XVT-Series TruLED 240 Hz SPS HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 in Vizio TV.
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VIZIO VF551XVT

VIZIO’s VF551XVT is proof that VIZIO can produce not just high value TVs but high performance ones as well. Currently the lowest priced LED-backlit LCD TV with local dimming capability, the VF551XVT offers similar performance to TVs from the name brands which may sell for up to twice the price.

The set’s “240 SPS” processing is not “true” 240 Hz, but is really 120 Hz processing with a scanning backlight to effectively get 240 “scenes” per second. The feature does reduce motion blur on things like sports and live TV broadcasts, but we found that it added an unnatural video-like look to movies, not unlike other brands’ motion smoothing/motion interpolation technology. Also, off-axis viewing is fairly typical for LCD TVs, turning blacks to bluish gray and generally losing color saturation outside a 90 degree viewing angle (45 degrees in either direction).

But viewed on axis (straight ahead), or slightly off axis, the TV produces exceptional black levels for an LCD TV. Dark films on Blu-ray such as “Blade Runner” and “The Dark Knight” produced inky black images with very good shadow detail and crisp image delineation with no noticeable haloing. Colors also appear accurate, with good flesh tones once the set is properly calibrated.

The VF551XVT lacks any kind of internet streaming or IPTV features – this will be coming early next year in the VF552XVT. It’s also significantly thicker than the latest LED-backlit TVs from Samsung and LG, but if you’re looking for a big flat panel LCD TV with excellent contrast, it’s hard to go wrong with the VIZIO.

A complete review of the VF551XVT is available on Big Picture Big Sound (dot com).

Reviewed by : Chris Boylan “MrBoylan”,   Nov 21, 2009

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Samsung UN46B8500 46-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LED HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Monday, February 8th, 2010 in Samsung TV.
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Samsung UN46B8500

PICTURE

In terms of video quality, this TV is awesome. I can’t imagine how the picture could be much better.

There are some minor picture quality issues with off-angle viewing (as the CNET review states), but I think CNET exaggerates the severity — it’s only noticeable to me if I’m far off center.

I haven’t yet noticed any blooming effects.

Setting the “judder reduction” to 10 introduces some distortion at times, but a setting of 6 smoothes out motion well without noticeable distortion. However, this varies a bit with different source material. When viewing video files via DLNA that have a lower frame rate, the judder reduction setting can sometimes make things worse. But this is easy to turn off/on by source.

The color level seemed slightly off initially, even with CNET’s recommended settings. For example, sometimes a blue sky would look slightly purple (i.e., too much red). But this was easily adjusted in the picture settings.

AUDIO

Unfortunately, digital audio output from the TV does not pass through multi-channel audio from HDMI inputs. You need to run extra digital audio cables from your DVD player and other components to your AV receiver if you’d like Dolby Digital or DTS sound.

ENERGY

I measured the electricity usage at 110-115 watts (energy saving mode at “auto”, volume off, picture adjusted per CNET recommendation). Setting energy saving mode to auto doesn’t seem to hurt the picture quality at all.

This is very energy efficient — it uses less power than my old 32″ CRT TV. I’m amazed at how little heat I can feel coming from the back of the set.

REMOTE

If you have a universal learning remote, it will not be able to learn from the RF remote that comes with this TV (i.e., since standard remotes are IR rather than RF). However, I called Samsung and they sent me a compatible IR remote, free of charge. With that remote, I was able to program my universal learning remote. Ask for remote BN59-00851A.

BUILD QUALITY

One small build quality issue that I encountered: the plastic at the base of my TV extended a bit too far, making it impossible to fit it into the stand. I had to carve away some of the plastic in the slots of the stand just to get it to fit, which made me a bit uneasy. But other than that, the build quality is fine.

MEDIA FEATURES

Viewing video files via DLNA works well, for the file types that are supported. Although I’ve encountered many files that the TV doesn’t play for one reason or another (see below), the ones that it does play work well. I regularly stream 1080p video files from my PC, and the picture looks perfect (with wired Ethernet).

The TV has a variety of Internet and media features. But unfortunately there are lots of quality issues such as:

1. When playing video files through USB, DLNA, or Internet features, most TV controls are disabled. While you can adjust basic picture settings, you can’t choose 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios. In playing NTSC video (i.e., any video that came from standard def TV, DVD, home movies) from USB or DLNA, the aspect ratio is *always wrong*: 16:9 video is always squeezed too thin and 4:3 video is always stretched too fat.

2. The TV does not decode DTS audio for video files played through USB or DLNA. While I wouldn’t necessarily expect this of a TV, I would have hoped that it would just pass through the audio stream to the digital audio output for an AV receiver to decode. It does pass through Dolby Digital from video files (but not from HDMI) to the digital audio output, but it does not pass DTS. Many HD video files have DTS, but unfortunately I can’t play any of these on this TV.

3. There is no fast forward, rewind, or chapter advance when playing video clips or movies. This is true of playing YouTube videos as well. Although there is a “skip” feature where you can jump in increments (e.g., 10 seconds), this is only available for some video files (most don’t support this, in my experience).

4. As the CNET review stated, the Yahoo widgets are extremely slow to start. Note that this has nothing to do with your Internet speed, since I have a 25 Mbit Internet service with wired Ethernet to the TV and it’s still painfully slow. I have an HD TiVo with a lot of the same features as the Yahoo widgets, and that is far more enjoyable to use. But the one area where the Yahoo widgets outperformed TiVo was YouTube — the Yahoo YouTube widget can play HD video clips as HD but TiVo plays them as SD.

5. For some reason, the DLNA file management user interface is a bit different from the USB file management UI. You can work with hierarchical folders with the USB capability, but not DLNA. All video files from your PC are presented as a flat (large) horizontal list, and it’s awkward to navigate if you have more than a few files. Both the USB and DLNA UIs are kind of clunky, but DLNA is worse than the USB.

I assume that these problems exist with all Samsung TVs with the Media 2.0 feature. Perhaps these problems will be fixed in a future software update (I have the 11/09 version). If so, I’ll post an update. But I would have preferred a (cheaper) TV that didn’t have any of these features to a (more expensive) TV that provided these features poorly. I’ll probably end up getting a Popcorn Hour or similar device for these features, rather than using the features built into the TV.

Reveiwed by : Terrance McCartney,   Nov 19, 2009

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LG 42LH30 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Gloss Black

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Monday, February 8th, 2010 in LG TV.
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LG 42LH30

The TV is good at the price point I paid – $629+tax (Sears). LG is a respected brand in Asia and a 42″ LCD 1080p at that price is a good deal. The picture when viewing true HD signals, just comes to life and is breath-taking. Fairly basic connectivity with 1 composite, 2 AV, 1PC and 3 HDMI ports. Would have been nice to have one more composite and HDMI ports and looks like the newer models have them. The speakers are well hidden and makes for a smooth clean finish on the outside. There are also numerous (more than you ever want) amount of controls to fine-tune the picture. Fairly easy hack available to turn on USB port to view pictures or play movies – great bonus.

That said, the sound quality seems a bit sub-par compared to other TVs in the market. I also noticed some light leakage on the far corners of the TV – other than for Sony or Samsung this seems a problem for all other big TVs. Also, for those of you watching TV with over the air signals, please note that this TV does not pick up the OTA Electronic Program Guide (EPG), which was a big surprise to me, since those dirt cheap TVs you buy at Walmart or during BF sales too have them. Big goof-up at LG design, I should say. Lastly do not expect a Samsung or Sony style processing of low-fidelity signals (SD, ED). Standard-Def signals look rather grainy and poor – I guess the processing chip is where LG cheaped out. Invest in a good quality up-converting player for your DVDs and change the channel if you run-into non-HD programming as a work-around.

Lastly the customer service is no-worser than that of Samsung or Sony. A bunch of air-heads, quite a bit of wait-time and frustrating responses. But do not discount the TV for that – like I said – this is how all TV manufacturers support their TVs (I have a Sony and Samsung), so no big deal. Wish the industry was overall better, thatz all.

Overall, a reasonable purchase if you dont pay too much. I am sure you will learn to like your purchase – if you are considering it, go on pull the trigger.

Reviewed by : Decent bang for th buck,   Sep 21, 2010

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Samsung LN40B500 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 in Samsung TV.
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Samsung LN40B500

Picked this up in a “pre”-black friday sale. I returned a Samsung Plasma and exchanged it for this LCD LN40B500. I originally bought a Samsung plasma because the salesman sold me on the “better contrast, blacks, and refresh rates of plasmas.” Yeah whatever, got it home and absolutely hated the picture quality compared to my previous 720P Samsung LCD. When I saw this TV in a pre-black friday ad for $597 decided to give it a try. Boy am I glad I did. The picture is absolutely amazing. I have watched many types of programs on it so far; movies, cartoons, sports, standard def, high def 1080i, upconverting DVD. All have been more than satisfying and select 1080i channels on FIOS have been absolutely breathtaking visually. Even though this is a 60 HZ model, I’m noticing no motion blur even in sporting events (this can be quite annoying in some “budget” LCD models) No worries, this set can easily handle quick pans and motion without even a hiccup, at least to my untrained eyes. (120 HZ models definitely look different, but to my eyes, different in a bad kind of artificial appearing way). The audio is more than adequate for a reasonably sized room, with a little tweaking of the audio settings I have been watching TV without even firing up the Home Theater Receiver quite often. The picture quality is absolutely stellar, I do recommend getting into the Picture Adjustment Menu though and adjusting the “cell lighting” to setting 5 or 6, as this is more than enough to light the screen, and substantially improves the image and contrast. At this price point, they have cut back on the inputs (2 HDMI) and no inputs on the side, but that wasn’t a deal breaker for me, I ran my FIOS through HDMI 1, DVD HDMI 2, and Wii through Component. Hopefully Christmas will bring a BluRay player to see what the 1080P will do on this set. I can’t imagine the picture looking any better than it already does. The cost to value ratio on this set is out of the ballpark. (Paid twice this much for a 32 inch 720P Samsung 3 years ago). As long as your cool with the limitted number of inputs and a 40 inch screen size, I wouldn’t pass up this deal!

Reviewed by : Snaby,   Nov 22, 2009

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LG 42SL90 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV, Glossy Black

Written by Best Buy HDTVs on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 in LG TV.
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LG 42SL90

After extensive research and visits to video stores, we chose the 42SL90 for several reasons – stunning HD quality, LED technology, small form factor, bluetooth, and excellent price/value. We were limited in size by our entertainment center – most other 42 inch sets were too wide, but the form factor of the 42SL90 is so svelte that it fits perfectly. After comparing 40 inch sets with 42 inch sets, the extra 2 inches of real estate was quite a noticeable improvement.

The HD picture on this set is absolutely stunning, much better than our Sony LCD XBR that sits in another room. We watch the SL90 from a distance of 10 to 12 feet and the size is perfect. All the bells and whistles have so far worked flawlessly. Blu Ray, DVDs, HD Roku, and HD cable look fantastic. Standard Def is actually watchable, again better than the Sony XBR.

The set comes with two remotes – a beautiful backlit model and a simpler model with just the basic functions. The menu system is easily the best I have ever used. Very intuitive and simple to use. The picture adjustments are extremely extensive. A picture wizard is included to calibrate to your own tastes. If you can’t find an optimum setting with this set, you should not be watching TV. The color accuracy appears to be spot on out of the box.

Given its thin 1.2 inch depth, the sound is better than I expected. I have yet to turn it up past the 50% volume level. Adjustments for bass, treble, and surround sound. And the Clear Voice II function works great. Hook the set up to a sound system and it really shines. The only cons so far (and we knew about these going in) – no analog audio out (optical only) and no PIP. I purchased a Gefen Dolby optical converter that allows the SL90 to work flawlessly with our legacy sound system.

Highly recommend the 42SL90. It is a stunning set to watch and easily the best looking set when turned off too.

Reviewed by : S. Blatner,   Jan 25, 2010

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