Samsung LA40B650 LCD TV Review

After months of waiting for a new television, I got a new Full HD LCD TV - The Samsung Series 6: LA40B650T1M.

Pictures

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Product Features and Technical Details

Product Features

• 40-inch LCD HDTV with full HD 1080p resolution for the sharpest picture possible and red Touch of Color design
  
• Auto Motion Plus 100Hz for amazingly fluid motion, 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 4ms response time, Wide Color Enhancer 3 for more vivid colors
  
• Flickr, YouTube via your broadband connection; side-mounted USB port for displaying JPEG/MPEG files and listening to MP3 audio
  
• Inputs: 4 HDMI-CEC, 2 component, 2 composite, 1 PC, 2 USB, 1 Ethernet, 1 optical digital audio output
  
• Includes removable stand; measures 39.2 x 27.8 x 10 inches with stand; 15-watt x 2 bottom mounted speakers with subwoofer

Technical Details

• 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
  
• Fast 4ms response time
  
• Picture-in-Picture
  
• Game Mode
  
• Crystal neck Swivel Stand
  
• 4 HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) version 1.3: (3 rear/1 side)
  
• PC input
  
• USB: 2 (side)
  
• DIMENSIONS (WXHXD): TV with stand: 995.1 x 707.0 x 255.0mm, TV without stand: 995.1 x 650.4 x 78.6mm
  
• WEIGHT: TV with stand weight: 19.1 Kg.

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My Review

The Good
After months of searching I have found that Samsung TVs have one of the best designs on the television market. The sleek and modern design matches any type of furniture. The touch of red on the perimeter TV frame looks awesome to me. Everything comes in place with what Samsung call their Crystal Design. The base of the stand is totally made of glass!

The picture quality is stunning right out of the box. I also found out that the picture quality is a lot more sharper on analogue channels compared to other LCD TVs, all this is enhanced by what Samsung call the Ultra Clear Panel. What's best is that videos which are not sharp, become sharp! The contrast is really stunning when it comes to movies with dark scenes. The colour is vibrant and vivid, you can even change the settings to make it look better than the real thing.

The speakers are mediocre, if you are not an audiophile, there shouldn't be a problem. Good thing about this speakers is that, it's placed below the TV so it can't be seen.

One very good feature which comes bundled with this TV is that it is the only TV on the market which allows you to play movies, songs and photos through a flash drive or HDD on the USB ports. It is one of the only TVs on the market which allows you to play a wide range videos formats, e.g. mkv, avi, mp4.

This TV also has a feature which allows you to play Youtube videos. Not really useful for me, but good for the "youtube people".


The Bad
Movie played through flash devices do not support the DTS audio format. A little too expensive. Speakers could be of higher quality.

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The bottom line
Overall, a very good LCD TV with sharp and vibrant picture quality and advanced features. I compared this TV side to side with a Sony TV of the same price and found that colours to be much more vibrant and crisp. I'd say it's worth the buy.

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Rating
9/10 - Could be a little cheaper though.


EDIT 26 may 2010

After using this TV for about a year, it's still running fine and has not given me any problems.

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Cheers!

very well written and nice addition to the forum

Thank you Sir $wat.

HOW IS KLV-40W550 SONY LCD COMPARED TO THIS MODEL

If you play movies to flash drives, I would recommend the Samsung TV.

I want to know whether anybody has tried out the reƖ DLNA feature of the LA40B650? Is it easy to setup and configure the TV to be added into a reƖ home network? I was told you need to purchase the Samsung reƖ adapter separately in order for this work. Can any reƖ USB adapter work or does it need to be a special one from Samsung?

Looks cool. Good choice Doctor!

Thanks!

Dear Doctor Inferno,

I was seaching for reviews for Samsung LCD and found your review it is excellent and clear.
I will be purchasing this Samsung
It sounds easy to use.

Thank you.

Hi I've got a samsung LA40B650 LCD TV and yesterday I went to service menu and change some values and since the screen become dark and I know the av calibration and HDMI now are failure. please help me.

regards,
Zak