Samsung LNA550 46 in. HDTV LCD TV - sweet!

Samsung LN46A550 46 in. HDTV LCD TV

I got this TV back in May and haven't really thought about writing a review til I got a little note from the kind folks at epinions about my account. I logged on and saw only 2 reviews for this excellent TV and thought - I need to give my feedback as this TV rocks.

A little background - this TV replaced a 27" Samsung tube. Let's just say, anything would've been an improvement but this was the equivalent of learning to walk, run and then FLY for me. I was flat out slack-jawed once the picture came on. Set up was easy. I ordered from Amazon and they had it there pretty quick and unpacked it, set it on the tv stand and hooked it up. BINGO.

The picture adjustments are easy to make and with the very very expert help of my friends at avsforum dot com (see links below) I was able to get the optimum picture quality settings. There are three adjustable settings you can set up: Dynamic, Cinema and Standard. I swear the picture jumps off the screen. There are also standard picture settings you can just click through if you are not inclined to make the adjustments yourself.

The sound quality has been raised on numerous occasion. I simply hooked the output directly to my 15 yr old sony receiver and the sound is superb through there.

I don't like the whole multiple remote concept and use a universal remote from Harmony. I have the 676 which costs about $50. I recommend that highly as it will turn on the tv, the stereo and control the cable box from one remote.

I paid about $1450 for the TV. Amazon rocks in that they have a 30 day price guarantee and I initially paid $1650 and got over $200 in price adjustments after I paid for it.

My wife is a luddite about electronics but even she was very very pleased with this purchase. Ugly Betty and ER never looked better. Me? - I love sports and anything in HD is ridiculously clear. You know how you sometimes see the people behind the hitter in baseball - and they're talking on the phone waving to the camera and generally being annoying? Well - you can now spot your friends even if they're in the cheap seats.

The USB feature is darn cool. After we return from trips, I hook up the SD card via a usb reader and we can look at vacation pictures or even videos. It's an awesome feature especially when you have 4 MB pictures - they blow up incredibly well. For some reason, it won't correct the pictures to be in portrait mode if you shot them landscape but that's a small bug. Maybe I'll go back to the guys at avs forum and see if they solved that one yet. Yes, you can download software updates to the tv. This is the golden age, my friends!

Calibration settings link
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1020612

Owners Thread
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1005722&page=27

Harmony Remote
http://www.bevhoward.com/Misc/IR/HarmonyAdvFaq.html