Best Buy HDTV Reviews

Samsung PN50A650

I teach film and wanted something that would enhance my viewing experience without overwhelming my medium sized, 14 wide by 20 living area. This TV is perfect and the sound, unlike some of the smaller Samsungs, is very good. While not the theatrical surround sound experience, the down facing speakers work well and produce realistic tones whether you are listening to voice or music. They also allow for a clean appearance which is further enhanced by the touch of red screen. If you are not the techie type and cringe at hooking up one more wire or don’t want to lay out another $500 on sound, you should be quite happy with this set just the way it is.

My couch is about 12 feet from the screen, while the arm chairs go as close as 6. I find this distance just about perfect for watching the 50 inch screen. I’ve even had a few friends comment that they almost felt dizzy watching large, fast moving, objects on the screen. If you are wondering how big to go, I personally don’t think paying $$$ for an inch or two more will make a difference unless you have a very large room and want to bump up to 60 or 65″. The kids should be adequately wowed by their video games on this one. I also like the set of video connectors on the side of the TV which allow you to connect cameras and other devices without having to get to the back of the set.

My TV arrived fully assembled in the box. No struggling to get the base on. Amazon offered free white glove delivery and the gentleman placed the TV on my stand without so much as leaving a finger print on the frame or screen. Since the TV is quite heavy this was good to have. He also told me about adding a “line filter” to remove sine waves from the AC as he said some clients encountered small squiggly lines on their screen. Luckily the power center I bought already had digital filters on all the lines.

BTW that power center is the Belkin PureAV F9A1033fc10 from Amazon. I also purchased a SONY HDMI cable which you need to connect your DVD player and sometimes the Cable TV to your TV. HDMI is a much higher standard of connector and DOES make a huge difference in quality over traditional RCA connectors. Most local dealers carry MONSTER brand cables. I have found them to be no better or worse than the high quality devices provided by the above vendors. The only thing MONSTER about them is the price!!

I should add that CEVA was the company that delivered the TV and sent a very polite and knowledgable man to do it. He even disposed of the box and all of the packing for me. I’d never heard of the company before but I was able to communicate with them about the details of delivery by speaking directly to a rep at their local New Orleans area warehouse. Hurricane Gustav was in the Gulf at that time so a timely delivery was important to me. I would recommend this company to others.

I’ve had the set for two months and use it with a new Sony s350 Blu-ray player. The only problem I’ve had so far is not wanting to leave home!! Great product.

Reviewed By : Bunnyrabbit4           : Sep 19, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Samsung PN50A650

Sony KDL-52XBR6

Nevertheless I did a lot of research before springing for this one. Got it to watch DVDs; we don’t have cable or dish, just an indoor antenna. We were really surprised at all the new (digital) channels we got, even without upgrading our antenna –so don’t be hasty in assuming you need to have an outdoor antenna, cable, etc., especially if you are in a metropolitan area.

The old analog stations (say, channel 9) come in pathetically, but usually there are other stations associated with each number. For example, we now get digital 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 –three different programs where we used to get one. This was all a pleasant surprise. We got digital versions of all the old channels and 7-8 new ones. We even get a San Jose station that we haven’t seen in years.

Everything on the digital channels is gorgeous. When I was shopping I saw big HDTVs where the non-HD picture was stretched and distorted, but you don’t have to set it that way. You can set it so that each program comes in at its optimal picture quality. Some day, hopefully, it will all be HD, but the SD stuff looks pretty good on this set! As for the Bravia XBR6 specifically, great black-blacks, but your detail within shadows is not sacrificed. It came set to “vivid” color setting, but I find the standard setting more natural. REally stunning picture! Haven’t watched any blu-ray disks yet (no player) but the standard DVDs look fabulous!

This was a big purchase but I am very happy with it. And–at least in the SF Bay area– delivery was faster than projected and the CEVA white glove service was fine. They do not connect your components for you but they do put it on a stand and power it up so you can be sure all your pixels, sound, etc, function.

Reviewed By : Terry94705       : Oct 31, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Sony XBR-52XBR6

Samsung LN52A630

I have had the LN52A630 for a week now and I have to tell you that it is clearly the best overall choice for an LCD TV with 120hz. I recently wrote a similar review for the LN46A630. I chose to replace it with the 52″ only because our livingroom is too large for the 46″.

I’m not sure why more people are not going for the 630’s over the 650’s just for the glare issue alone. My friend has an A650 and in my opinion the reflections are just as bad in his living room as they were in the showroom of the big box stores with the 650. I have two windows directly opposite the TV and a large bow window to the right. My concern was how little control I would have with that much natural light hitting the TV. So far, my 630 has past the evening lighting test with flying colors. With all of the possible lights on in this large room, there is absolutely no reflecting light visible on the TV. During the day with the Sunlight filtering directly into the back windows hitting the TV, there is no reflections to speak of. Awesome, consistent picture on the “matte” screen.

Thanks to the reviews of the 650’s about the reflections, I took a chance with the 630 with the “matte” screen and am I ever glad that I did. The difference is significant and because of this reason, I truly believe that the 630 has a better overall picture. It’s all about personal preference. Sure it’s got one less HDMI and slightly less contrast ratio because of the screen but there are more than enough settings to compensate for this.

I am still making adjustments and learning just what this TV is capable of, but I got to tell you that the Celtics/Hawks game in HD was nothing less than orgasmic. I was in awe switching between that and the Hockey game in HD. Unbelievable!

This TV is the way to go if you want all of the features of the 6 series but not all of the reflections. Get this TV, you will be happy that you did!

Reviewed By : Thomas E. Rhodes “rhodesis”          : Nov 13, 2008

Click to see Produc Details & Price of Samsung LN52A630

Samsung T260HD

The Samsung T260HD is the best monitor I’ve ever owned. I was using dual 19 inchers (Samsung 940BX and Samsung 971P) and this blows both of them away. I’m an amateur photographer and my photos look amazing on this monitor — big screen, high resolution, clear bright colors. The images are very sharp and detailed. There is so much detail in the images, it’s almost like being there. Photos have more detail in both the highlights and shadows than any other monitor I have used. I love this monitor.

With the default settings, the monitor was a little too bright, so I turned the brightness down to 50 and then profiled the monitor with my Monico Optix XR color puck. Now the monitor produces less bright and more natural colors. The photos show more detail in both highlight and shadow areas than any previous monitor. The built-in 1080P HDTV works great too. It automatically found all of my DTV stations without a cable box — in fact it found even more than my cable box shows. Standard DVDs look very good on it too. The monitor was easy to setup and use both as a monitor and as a TV. The remote is just the right size, with all the essential buttons and enough space between them for even my large fingers. The remote lets you switch between TV mode and monitor mode with a single button push.

Initially I couldn’t play Blu-ray movies on this monitor and the Cyberlink Blu-ray advisor reported a digital connection that didn’t support HDCP. The problem turned out to be lack on HDCP support in the GeForce 7600GT video card. I upgraded the video card to a GeForce 9800GT and now Blu-ray movies play just fine. Blu-ray movies have a little more detail, but standard DVDs look great too.

The screen seems to have an anti-glare feature — light coming in my window that used to cause glare on my other monitors, is not a problem on this monitor. I haven’t verified this in the specs, but it just seems to have less of a glare problem than other monitors.

Now that I have this large widescreen monitor, I’ve started watching DVDs and instant Netflix movies on it. Both look great. With a high speed connection, the instant view movies look almost as good as DVDs.

I still have a 19inch monitor to the side of this one for games that don’t display well at this resolution. It also adds as an overflow monitor when I get lots of stuff running.

This monitor is a little slow to wake up after being asleep (Windows power management). I discovered that it wakes up better when detecting a mouse click than just moving the mouse.

I tried using the monitor from both the HDMI and DVI connectors and found no noticeable difference in display quality.

The sound quality from the built-in speakers is okay for watching standard TV, but I normally use my Logitech THX-certified Z-2300 speakers which are much better. When using the T260HD as a TV I let the sound come out of its own speakers, but when using it as a monitor, the sound routes through the Logitech Z-2300 speakers. They have excellent sound for both movies and gaming and are only $83 on Amazon.

If you are thinking of getting one of these monitors, just do it. You will love it.

Reviewed By : Doug Oriard “dougo”           : July 22, 2008

Click to see Product Ddetails & Price of Samsung T260HD

Samsung HL67A750

First and foremost, size isn’t everything. But it’s certainly nice to have! When I began researching TVs to replace my 9 year-old Toshiba 36″ CRT, I was only looking in the 46-52″ range. I’m in the military and move every couple years, so I needed something that I could move safely and that would work in any reasonable environment. This eliminated plasmas, which reputedly do not perform well at higher altitudes. Next I looked at LEDs. The black levels are getting better, although it seems B&W stores continue to carry models 2-3 generations back for the same price you can order the newest models online. But then you run in to the dead pixel issue and the insecurity that comes along with an LED, and the hassle if you have a dead pixel out of the box and you purchased online. Nevertheless, I continued to look at LEDs until going out to a B&M store to actually look at TVs. I knew ahead of time that stores don’t calibrate TVs on display and you can’t judge picture quality based on what you see in the store, but I did want to get a better sense of the layout, saturation, issues with any uneven lighting of the screen, and so forth. On my way to the back wall with LEDs I walked through an aisle of DLP sets - a couple Sammies and a Mitsubishi. They looked nice, and they were larger than life. Black levels were solid, even when uncalibrated. So I went home and started researching DLPs to compare to the Sony and Samsung LEDs I had previously narrowed my search to. Lo and behold, the Samsung 6xA750 TVs were getting the most favorable reviews by videophiles. They didn’t like the sound from the TV’s speakers (and for good reason - it sounds like a tin can) but as a monitor everyone seemed to love the LED-based 750 series. I also read briefly about last year’s 650 series, but didn’t want to bother with bulb-based technology, so I was left with the 61″ or 67″ version of the A750 series. It seemed more people had QC issues with the 61″ than the 67″ for some reason, so I decided to bite the bullet and buy the 67″, which is so much larger than I originally contemplated that I can only imagine what my wife is thinking about me right now. However, the 67A750 is cheaper than any of the newer-model 52″ LED flatscreens I was considering, still weighs less than my old 36″ CRT, and the picture is incredible. On blu-ray discs the picture is breathtaking. I haven’t seen HD cable or satellite on it (I’m with DirecTV and they provide absolutely NO incentive to upgrade, wanting an arm and a leg to do so) but others with similar observations to mine on other aspects of this TV claim it’s the best picture they’ve ever seen. Those are certainly my sentiments with blu-ray. When I set up my 5.1 home theater it felt like I was *in* the movie, not just watching it. I’m afraid to watch a horror movie on this thing - I might poop myself. Have I mentioned the picture is incredible?

Even on SD sources, the TV looks great. It upscales to 1080p, and does a better job of it, in fact, than my Denon receiver, through which all sources run. You will still see some fuzziness around edges if you look closely, for nothing I’ve found can upscale a SD source perfectly, and you’ll see some splotches on a completely black screen, but the picture on this TV even with SD sources is more than acceptable. Perhaps the fuzziness would be even more difficult to see on a smaller TV of equal capability (the 61A750) but what you gain with the extra size when using HD sources outweighs the advantage the 61″ might have with SD sources by virtue of its size.

I did hundreds of hours of homework over 4 months before buying a TV. I was confident I had made the right choice when I ordered this from Amazon, and am certain of it now that the TV has arrived.

One final note, which is about shipping: my experience was as follows. Ordered TV at 1pm central time friday. Amazon package tracker originally said TV would not ship until Tuesday. This is because CEVA tries to get a full truck before pulling out of amazon warehouse. TV actually shipped same day, and arrived in Kansas City at 9am Sunday morning. Monday was Columbus Day. TV was delivered to my house in perfect condition at 9am Tuesday. Five stars for Amazon and CEVA as well as the TV!

Make sure you read the reviews on the optional extended warranty here on amazon before you buy it.

Summary: The only drawback of this TV is the quality of the sound it outputs. The picture is flawless. Amazon and CEVA did a great job getting the TV to me, which along with outstanding price makes Amazon one of the best sources for this TV.

Reviewed By : HCC3      : Oct 16, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Samsung HL67A750

Sharp LC37D64U

OK I’ve been holding out longer than most to acquire my first flat screen LCD television. I’m glad I waited until now as prices seem to keep dropping like a rock and quality improving far beyond the early models I’ve seen. After doing a lot of online research and seeing recent models I finally decided to take the plunge and picked up the newly released Sharp LC-37D64U. As I unwrapped the set from its packaging I realized that it was major leap forward aesthetically. Most noticeable is the thin black frame surrounding the screen that maximizes the amount of screen space and the slender width and depth dimensions making it perfect for wall hanging. I wasn’t disappointed when I finally fired up the set for the first time and tuned into the HDTV National Geographic Channel. The images were just a stunning thing of beauty. I’m still putting the set through its initial paces but can’t wait to get my new Blu-Ray player hooked up. I’ve also seen complaints on other forums about the sound quality with some of the Sharp LCD’s but found this one to be more than adequate although not audiophile quality for those home theater enthusiasts out there. I would highly recommend this product to someone wanting a top notch but smaller footprint LCD.

3/15/08 Update - Well I finally hooked up my Sharp BPD-HP20U Blu-Ray player via an HDMI cable and much to my dismay I cannot seem to get the output set to 1080p. Right now all discs playback in 1080i. When I attempt to set the player to 1080p I get the error message “the attached equipment does not correspond to this format”. I’ve got a call in to Sharp customer service to see if they can clarify the setup procedure for me. I’d be curious to know if other users have had the same issue or not. Funny thing is that when I hooked up the Blu-Ray player to my 19″ Magnavox it outputs in 1080p just fine.

3/21/08 - Well still no response from Sharp with regards to my 1080p issue. Also, I have noticed at least 3 “stuck” pixels (not too bad with over 2 miliion) one of which is bright green and a bit irritating but only up to a viewing distance of about 3 ft. I don’t know how common these are since this is my first large LCD but I only hope that more do not start to appear. I’m taking my rating down to a 4-stars. I’d still recommend this set but can longer say it’s perfect. Is anybody else buying these?

3/25/08 - Bought a PS3 player. It plays 1080p just fine.

Reviewed By : Theobrien 7        : March 6, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Sharp LC37D64U

Samsung LN52A950

I’ve had this for a month now. I also bought the Samsung BD-P1500 with it. I love both units. I connected them to my Sony HT-CT100 soundbar and I am perfectly happy with the sound. Yes, I know the soundbar does not do HD sound,etc,.. but I don’t care because the soundbar is quite slick with the TV. Plus, it does what I want it to do so no complaint.

As for the TV. The picture is so crisp and clear and the black level really black that it took a while to get used to watching it. I have a DirecTV HD DVR attached to it too via HDMI and it is an entirely different level of watching TV. The images look so “real” as my daughter said.

I know the TV can do a lot of other things if you attach it to the internet. But, I bought it really for just watching HD TV and movies. So, I was/am not that concern about its other functions.

Right now, DirecTV just upgraded my DVR to 1080p, so I can’t wait to see any program or shows in 1080p. But the 1080i resolution is great as it is. So, no complaint in there either.

BTW, the upconversion from the BD-P1500 looks great too. Also, make sure you use HDMI 1.3b cables. I got mine here from BargainCell for < $10 each.

Reviewed By : A. Guinto “Chaosmarter51″     : Oct 26, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Samsung LN55A950

Samsung LN46A950

This TV replaces a rear-projection 55 inch Mitsubishi. That TV was bleeding edge at the time, but now its firewire, separate HD input, and lack of 1080p have already made it near obsolete. This new TV operates with its features all streamlined. All channels are on the same input (if you didn’t have an older HDTV then this won’t mean much).

The picture — well what’s there to say. It looks great. If you’re super super nit-picky then you may notice some blooming in dark scenes with white lettering or high contrast. But the deep black level makes up for it. And at this point in time, LEDs are not as small as a pixel - will they ever be? The screen is quite shiny, which causes some reflections during the day.

I don’t notice the off-center difference that much as my viewing area is fairly narrow. And by default it comes with auto motion turned on which I personally detest. It makes film look like video. I turned it off for all inputs. I DO like the cinema look and I believe it comes pretty darn close to the settings you’d achieve using a calibration tool like Avia. I have not done this yet, so this is just a guess, but it looks good for a preset!

I hooked up the ethernet cable and the instant weather and news is nice, but the picture slideshow coming from my desktop (this needs software that runs a ’server’) doesn’t display my 12 megapixel images large enough. They look like tiny thumbnails. The TV is supposed to be capable of much larger images. What gives?

However, those are little annoyances at features. The picture quality is amazing with HDTV and with a bluray player viewing 1080p material. The input selection is huge and works great with my older non-upscaling dvd player and my older 5.1 receiver.

great tv.

Reviewed By : rocketscience        : Nov 1, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Samsung LN46A950

Sony KDL-46Z4100

I have had a Westinghouse 1080p 42inch monitor for a few years and have really been pleased with it. However, with the new features on the market (120hz, 24p, etc) I was ready to upgrade. I initially ordered a Samsung LN46A550 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV. The picture was actually really good on this set, but the glare on the case was VERY annoying. It also lacked the features I was looking for in a new set, but I tried it out because the price was so good. The glare was too much to put up with, so I sent it back and started to research Sony’s since they are one of the few sets on the market that you can still get without a glossy case.

I sure am glad that I found Bravia Z series! WIthout going up to an XBR, the Z series is the way to go. If you look at the specs - most of the high end features offered by the XBR are already in the Z series, so it is a really good value when viewed that way. It makes sense why the Z is not offered in a 52 inch size - it would probably really impact sales of the XBR. What a great looking TV (both the picture and the case). I have been extremely impressed with both the blacks on this LCD as well as the vivid colors it produces. The amount of picture calibration offered on this setup is remarkable - especially compared to my old Westinghouse. I find the 24p mode on Blue Ray disk to be quite impressive - it really adds a whole new level of enjoyment to watching Blue Ray movies. The 120hz mode is also wonderful when watching football. I really cannot say enough good things about this TV - spend the extra money that the Sony brand demands, and you get what you pay for.

Although I did not have the issue with this TV, there is a lot of discussion around the Internet about a sparkle issue that this TV has. Be advised that this was an issue, but Sony has released a firmware update that resolves the problem. I have done the update and everything is running great.

If you are on the fence between this and the Samsung LN46A650 (which is in the same feature class as the Sony), be aware that the Samsung has a very glossy screen - not to mention a sure to be dated red outline on the case. This really kills one of the great features of LCD’s! The only Samsung I would even consider against this Sony is the Samsung LN46A550 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, but it lacks 120hz, 24p, and has that hideous glossy case. It seems to me that there is no viable competitor to the Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-46Z4100!

Another side note… When my TV was delivered they also picked up the Samsung for return. The delivery guys were telling me that they have to pickup Samsungs EVERY day because people are returning them. He said they have never had to pickup a Sony. This is proved if you look at the used/new link under the Samsung and Sony’s - you will see tons of open box Amazon Warehouse Deals on the Samsungs - but none on the Sony’s!

Reviewed By : HookEmHorns      : Oct 12, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Sony KDL-46Z4100

Samsung LN19A650

I had been reading many good reviews, for a long time,on Samsung’s LNT1953H & LN19A330. The latter being a discontinued item. This set was going to be used in a kitchen and ocassionally on a deck. My last 15″ LCD (non HD) had a fair picture but I wanted something better. The reviews led me to the Samsung since it had a built in HD tuner and most people felt the SD quality was “good”.
I purchased the A650 model and so far am MORE than pleased. Don’t let the “Touch of Color” deter you. This set has only a slight red color. In fact the box calls it Rose/Black. I have to look hard to see it, and i think it adds a nice touch to the normal black border. The one negative aspect of the high gloss border is that it does reflect light from the room which can sometimes be distracting…not a deal breaker however.
It has a lot of features that I am not interested in such as being able to hook up to a PC, but the HD tuner is what caught my eye.
I am able to get 12 HD channels (no box)and the picture quality is outstanding. I remember reading a couple of years ago when I was buying my 61″ HD set that someone wrote ‘HD picture on anything smaller than 32″ is not worth it since you do not see much of a picture quality change’. That statement is sooooo un-true. There is an amazing differance, even with this 19″ set. The HD chanells are absolutely amazing and i am not new to HD. I have had a JVC 61″ HD for two years.
The SD channels are very good also. Probably the best I have seen in any small set.
The set allows you to make all adjustments throught it’s menu (obviously) but also allows you to do many things with macro buttons on the remote. i.e picture size, favorite channels, sound, etc… The manual is clear and concise as is the on screen menu. The only con I have is that the TV picked up all my cable channels (86) and most are duplicated in digital (another 86) and 12 HD channels. The problem is that you cannot name the channels in the channel listing menu. You can only name them if the channels are being received “over the Air”. Through cable you cannot name them, so when you bring up the channel listings you only get their digital number; such as 201-122. I’m sure this is the same with all sets, not just Samsung. So you’ll have to make your own program guide to know what staion that actually is.
It also comes with a wall mount fixed bracket. They say it is for concrete walls but I am sure you can use it anywhere. It won’t allow you to move it right/left, but it’s not bad for a fixed bracket. You attach it to the bottom of the stand, after you flip it up; and you can easily lift the TV off the bracket to move it to another location.
Other than that, it is a great set with great picture quality and I would highly recommend it.
If I could change my “rate stars”, i would change it to 5!

Reviewed By : Buddyjay         : May 25, 2008

Click to see Product Details & Price of Samsung LN19A650