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249 of 261 people found the following review helpful.
Quirky DLNA, underwhelming documentation, but great picture and sound
By Tommy M.
I chose this model over other 32-inch LCDs because I'm a sucker for things like network streaming, a 5-band equalizer, picture-in-picture, and firmware updating. It also has a semi-documented headphone jack in the rear -- just turn off the speakers for it to work. Also, the power cable detaches, so you can replace that yourself.One might dismiss this TV altogether since it doesn't have LED edge lighting, but that tech does not appear to be earning its price premium so far, considering a higher percentage of panel defects, and a black level so intense that detail often gets lost. 60Hz is also not a deal-breaker, since 120Hz tends to only show its strength with sports programming.The picture quality is ultimately subjective, of course. But I found it well above average. Unfortunately, you can't completely disable Dynamic Contrast. The TV will tell you that it's off, but some enterprising Internet detectives at televisioninfo.com have determined that this is a ruse, which leads to some unavoidable light trailing and somewhat crushed blacks. DVDs look surprisingly good, and standard-definition signals look very solid but not outstanding.Dynamic Contrast, Black Tone, Shadow Detail, Edge Enhancement and the noise filters should probably be turned off. Unfortunately, these features can create more problems than they solve; use them sparingly. Like Spider-Man once said, "With power comes responsibility."I have a Roku box connected through HDMI, an Xbox 360 via component, and clear QAM cable TV through the RF antenna jack in the rear. These hookups are going straight into the TV inputs -- no receiver. I figure that this eliminates a testing variable or two. Picture quality and sound was great from all three sources. When I streamed Netflix over Xbox Live, the Xbox appeared to upscale to 1080i. I could not get my 720p Roku box to do this over HDMI.(Edit: I have also now tried a third-party VGA adapter for the Xbox 360. It looks quite good using the console's "Expanded" reference level; at least on par with component, and upscaled DVDs look quite good, but not as good as Blu-ray.)Audio is in a better boat, since the SRS functions can actually be turned off (as far as we know). There's also that 5-band equalizer. I thought the TV did surprisingly well for two downward-facing 10-watt speakers, but they won't quite replace dedicated external audio.The D550 doesn't do Internet apps, but this feature is becoming increasingly redundant. As for network sharing, you are not limited to Samsung's proprietary, Windows-only "PC Share Manager" software, either. There's a variety of free, multi-platform software that handle networked media libraries. Unfortunately, Samsung appears to have not implemented DLNA according to spec, so you may have trouble getting third-party software to work properly. I had the best experience with TVMobili, which is thankfully free and compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Serviio is also good.In its promotional material, Samsung swears that its Wi-Fi "LinkStick" dongle is *required* for wireless networking (and it is not bundled with this TV). This is simply not the case. You can just use a wireless-N Ethernet "game adapter," which can be had for as little as $30 if you shop around. Dongles are also only compatible with a few devices from one manufacturer.(Edit: It's come to my attention that an Intellinet 523974 *might* also work in place of Samsung's official dongle. I cannot directly confirm it, though. It is also reportedly 2.4Ghz, while the dual-band Samsung model adds a 5Ghz option.)The "E-manual" built into the TV's menu system isn't very good and is difficult to navigate. The PDF version on their website is... a PDF version of the e-manual. Which is white text on a black background. So much for printing it out...Also, the two-piece pedestal requires a Phillips screwdriver. That's not bad, but the screws required quite a lot of torque to get them all the way in. Also, you need to attach the top part at a certain angle, or else it won't be flush with the base.A note about shipping: Amazon Prime does not currently provide 2-day or next-day shipping for this unit; "3-5 business days" is the official line. This is not unusual for products of this size and weight. However, the unit arrived at my door less than 48 hours after I ordered it. So I appreciate Amazon's and UPS's fast service! But your own experience will vary according to your distance from the warehouse and other factors.(Update 4/25: This item is not currently shipped from and sold by Amazon, nor eligible for Amazon Prime. "Video & Audio Center" is handling the item instead. I am not familiar with their service, so the previous paragraph does not apply to the current purchase experience. "3-5 business days" is still the official shipping time, but I don't know how long it may take this third party to process the order before shipping. It may take a few hours, or a few days. Just a friendly heads-up.)Despite this TV's quirks and poor documentation, I think it gets 5 stars for a really good picture and above-average sound (as long as you tweak that equalizer for some bass). I guess that's what matters most in the end, right?Please leave a comment if I've left you with questions, and I'll answer to the best of my knowledge.--Edit Jan 13 2012--Just reporting in to say that the unit is still performing just fine. It's performed quite well as an interim computer monitor -- just make sure to label the input as "PC." I don't recommend using it as a permanent computer display, because pixel density at this screen size is sub-optimal. (At desktop distance, you don't want larger than 24 inches, assuming a maximum resolution of 1920x1080.) But with some cool-looking wallpaper, its presence is not unwelcome :)However, LG has been pricing their LCDs very aggressively lately, so I recommend researching those units as well.
135 of 139 people found the following review helpful.
Great Buy!
By D. Acree
I bought this item a few days ago after doing a multitude of research on flat screen TV's. Frankly, I was ready to be done! Our focus was finding a TV with an external width no larger than 37 5/8". We were faced with a limited selection of 37" TV's or some barely close 40" TV's. The 40" TV's that we had to choose from were LED and cost roughly $1000 or more. Rather than being faced with a close fit of an expensive TV, we decided 37" would suffice. Then we were caught between buying a Samsung or a Sony and whether to get LED or LCD. In my opinion, the Sony brand commands a brand premium in price. Nice TV's though. I read a lot about LED v. LCD. The LCD is still energy efficient and is energy star qualified. After seeing the picture difference of the LCD and LED. My wife and I were both okay with LCD. Then I researched the difference of 60 hz versus 120 hz refresh rates. Okay, I understand the technical mumbo jumbo of this, but after comparing in a store the difference I couldn't tell. Maybe my eyes are not good enough anymore. We also bought the Samsung USB wireless adapter. I thought from all my reading that this TV had some Internet functionality i.e. Netflix etc. It DOES NOT. If you have a Wii or some other game platform that allows internet access - use it and save your money. The wireless adapter will work with some Samsung Blu-Ray players as well. The only thing the wireless adapter will do is connect with your pc network and play movies, music, and pictures from your pc. If this for you - great buy the wireless. Note: it has a network interface for wired applications on the back as well.The nitty gritty of the TV. It works fantastic. Exceeded expectations on standard definition movies and TV broadcasts. No dark "halo" effects when the picture is dark. HD works fantastic...almost too clear and crisp to tell the truth. Works great in the game mode with the Wii. I know other's have said the sound/speakers were issues, but my family thinks it works just fine. The PIP(picture in a picture) function only works when viewing programs from two sources i.e. broadcast and DVD. Not a big user of PIP. Set up is easy. Remote is easy and intuitive to use. The enclosed manual is "light" on info. TV does have a manual you access through TV - it is more in-depth. For $569 and our first upgrade from a CRT TV - I have no regrets. TV is great for everyday use - watching broadcast, movies, games, and PC use. But then again, we didn't need all the bells and whistles of higher end models. Hope this helps your decision.
64 of 65 people found the following review helpful.
Best TV I've personally seen in 2010 and 2011
By Eric Berg
For the last year I've been looking for a TV to replace my 2009 Samsung 26" LCD. It had what some people call "smudging" or "smearing" where if two really dark images move near one another, the black area would leave a trail. It looks sort of like when you make a dark circle with a pencil and run your finger over it. It made night scenes in movies and games really distracting. I even saw it in people with black hair watching 720p Lost episodes.From what I can tell so far, this set has none of it. I went through a Sony, a Toshiba, an LG, and another Samsung. All but the LG had this issue, and the LG had atrocious black levels due to it being a technically "better" IPS panel. I love my LG IPS monitors, but for TV it looks awful. So I stuck with Samsung's PVA panels, and boy am I glad I did.I immediately turned off all the video processing options and turned the backlight down from 14 to 8. IMPECCABLE picture as far as I'm concerned. Looks incredible even at 1080i. It's no plasma, but hey, 32-inch plasmas don't exist, so I'm content with LCD.I have no idea how the input lag is for video games since I play relatively slowly paced games. No fighters, competitive FPS, or other twitch reflex games in my library. I'd be a bit leery if that's super critical for you until more accurate tests are out there. It seems fine to me, but I'm not very sensitive to lag, so take it with a grain of salt.Bottom line, great picture quality, great black levels (for an LCD), decent motion handling (it IS only 60Hz), lots of options to mess with, plenty of inputs, a sleek design. I would buy this TV again in a heartbeat, personally. As the first reviewer said, JUST what I was looking for.
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