HDTV Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Amazon’

Sony BRAVIA V Series KDL 52V5100 52 Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV Black

Keep pace with fast-action movies, sports and game play. Equipped with Full HD 1080p and Motionflow 120Hz refresh rate technology, the KDL-52V5100 52-inch BRAVIA V series LCD flat panel HDTV provides a more fluid, natural and realistic viewing experience while enjoying fast-paced entertainment. Additionally, every scene will be sharp, vibrant and life-like thanks to BRAVIA Engine 2 fully digital video processor. Plus, a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio yields deep blacks in darker scenes. The V series also includes 7 HD inputs to ensure you get impressive image quality from all your HD components such as PlayStation 3, Blu-ray Disc player and your PC.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Very good for a “Introduction To HD” TV
I’ve had this TV since the middle of June 2009(reaching the 6 month period). Before this TV, I’d never had an HDTV or a TV anywhere near this size either. I am pretty tech savvy but HDTVs were not my specialty. With that being stated, I will give you my experience with this particular HDTV.

Since the beginning of 2009, I’d been looking at TVs off and on with the help of “CNET”, just google it, and I’d heard that Sony had an impressive line of entry HDTVs. But I put off the thought of buying one until the middle of June. I was fumbling around on BestBuy’s website (sorry Amazon, at the time, I found a better price. BTW, its just a product review.) and in the “weekly specials” I found this TV on sale for $1499.99, down from its original price of $1999.99. It was the HDTV that I had favored the most from CNET’s reviews, so I made some calls around and none of the stores close had it. I managed to find a store about an hour away that had 2 left, 1 in stock and 1 on display. Drove an hour to check it out and loved it. I added the 3 or 4 year “bring it back no matter what” warranty and after taxes came out to just under $2250, which I paid on the spot in cash, I had not-so-great credit.

Brought it home and set it up and it was a beauty. It took about 30-45 minutes for the TV to recognize (it did something to find all the available cable channels) the channels and our first DVD experience was through our Xbox 360 and it was the Dane Cook’s HBO comedy special. The show wasn’t that greatest thing I’d ever seen BUT the freaking picture was. BTW, the HD cable, Xbox 360, and our Wii look superb on it as well. (Now if I can just get my hands on some Blu-Ray material.)

***PROBLEMS***

I guess every rose has its thorns (haha, cheesy), well this one has (2) of them, and they aren’t really thorns.

1st – MOTION FLOW: To my knowledge(I could be wrong), the MotionFlow feature is the HDTV’s way of enabling the 120Hz refresh rate, which is AWESOME, BUT you can’t just quickly toggle between the 3 options they have for the MotionFlow,(Off, Standard, Full) I mean, you can preview them on the MotionFlow screen, but no quick adjustment feature/button. You have to go into the picture settings every time and slowly make your way to the advanced settings at the bottom of the screen.

2nd – When you have the MotionFlow on “Full” there are still parts during whatever you’re watching that don’t continuously show in that “smooth frame experience”. I’m thinking that the 240Hz HDTVs are probably more dedicated to the continuous MotionFlow. It’s nothing to cry about.

Other than that, the TV is great. The sound is great, it ranges from 0 to 100 and at 60 its good enough for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d go with a home theater system, but for now its nice. The remote is easy to understand and navigate. I would recommend it to anyone else who was in the same shoes that I was in. To say the least…(haha since I wrote a bibles worth of information) I am satisfied.

Feel free to ask any questions.

5 Stars great tv; great cost
amazon was great. terrific product at a very competitive price. also, easy delivery and installation

5 Stars Totally Happy
Have had the TV now for about 3 weeks and couldn’t be happier. Picture resolution in awesome. Sound is actually really good because Sony has a speaker bar type speakers across the bottom of the TV so the sound actually comes out at you instead of being aimed down and bouncing off the stand like some other brands.

The 120hz motion takes some getting used to after upgrading from 60hz. Otherwise I highly recommend this TV even if it is considered an entry level TV, you’ll never even know otherwise.

5 Stars Quality Television Set
This is a quality television set. The picture looks crisp, football is what I use the tv for mostly..that and xbox 360. This tv is awesome for both of those things. Also, blu rays are fantastic on it….this tv is the total package pretty much.

5 Stars Great TV
I did a lot of research before purchasing this TV. It’s one of the best one out there for the price. The picture is great and has a lot of features. It’s 120 HZ which good for watching sports. The sound quality is JUST OKAY -I recommend attaching a sound system to the tv or (just a couple of mini BOSS speakers which u can get for less than $100.)

Buy/More Info

Monster MC 1000HD 2M Ultra High Speed HDTV HDMI Cable 2 meters

HDMI places incredible performance demands on your digital A/V connections. It requires a truly high-bandwidth cable that can deliver enormous amounts of digital data without bit-error and signal degradation. Monster has created the Advanced HDMI 1000HD Ultra-High Speed Cable for those who demand the best in high definition home theater–both now and in the future. This cable is ideal for larger HDTVs, advanced projectors, and high definition AV sources. Monster designs the most advanced HDMI cables and certifies their performance for future generations of products. If the performance capabilities of this cable are ever exceeded by future generations of HDMI, Monster will replace this cable at no charge–see product packaging for further details.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star The usual Monster hype and inferior results – for a price
Don’t get me wrong: Not only would I dare not waste money on an HDMI cable at this price, but you’d have to pay me to watch video thru a Monster product for more than a few seconds. Some reviewers here state that “digital is digital”, there’s no distortion thru any digital cable. Sorry, but that’s incorrect. If you think that the three digital numbers “1001100101111010″, “10011 00101 111 010″ and “001 10 010111 1 010″ are translated as the “same number” by a DAC, you’re mistaken. If you think 30AWG stranded wire delivers audio and video as cleanly as 20AWG solid-core wire, you’re mistaken again. If you think a soldered HDMI cable is just as “good” as a crimp-designed HDMI connector, you’re still wrong. If you think cheap-gold connectors are superior to titanium/copper alloy, you’re so far behind you’ll never catch up. And if the bit about silver-plating didn’t ring a warning bell, you’re hopeless. Anyway, this Monster atrocity came as part of a relative’s purchase of an Amazon-partner vendor’s HDTV deal — “free”, if you don’t count the king’s ransom paid for the TV. The cable has a lot of chroma noise; red is especially noisy and often bleeds all over the screen (This is a calibrated TV!); it seems incapable of displaying a clean blue or yellow. Flesh tones look weird, and in general the colors just never seem “right”. I’ve seen tests where the video impedance in this cable doesn’t meet HDMI’s 100-ohm spec. That certainly explains the awful color. As usual with HDMI, there’s a lot of softness compared to good component coax. Finally, the audio thru this Monster junk is atrocious; it has a depressed midrange, gooey bass, and really mushy upper mids and treble, with a flat soundstage, poor channel separation, and no dimensionality at all. I started to give this cable away, but I wouldn’t do something like that to a stranger, much less to anyone I know. I replaced it with a [...] Chinese cable from Amazon I’ve used for a couple of years; its color, acutance and audio are superior, though by design no HDMI wire at any price can beat solid-core coax. I even have a couple of s-video wires that dance circles around HDMI’s hype, especially Monster’s brand of hype. You could say this product helps the environment by cleverly re-packaging industrial waste, but it’s infuriating to realize that so many people are suckers for gear like this. Amazon has too many other, better HDMI cables listed, so avoid Monster but get your HMDI from Amazon’s other listings. Unfortunately mediocrity like this is selling so well it’s becoming the norm. [...]

1 Star Works no better than a coat hanger
If the picture and sound are there for digital devices, then it’s working. A blind-testing proved this:

[...]

1 Star Snake Oil
I don’t own this cable, but knowing this company, it is pure snake oil, as all of the other high priced cables are. Treat yourself to some knowledge and become well informed on the true physics of sound and visual signals:

[...]

1 Star If you buy this cable, congrats you just wasted $80
Digital signals are a long string of 1s and 0s. There is no .5. it’s either on or its off. There is absolutely no video or audio quality difference between this cable and a cheap $5 cable. If you buy this cable, congrats, you just wasted $80. Same thing with DVI cables too.

This however, is not the case for analog cables such as component, and s-video. Those cables, since they are analog and continuous signals (not discrete like DVI, HDMI), will benefit from higher quality cables.

5 Stars monster hdmi 1000hd
Ok,I have used this cable my self and just bought another cable from a seller here on amazon for 23.00 usd.at 23 dollars people would be fools not to buy.look under used cables they are actually new.but amazon will not allow them to sell as new at there pricing.And as far a other saying hdmi is hdmi are fools.there are 4 revisions to hdmi cables so far.hdmi,hdmi 1.3a,hdmi 1.3b,hmdi 1.3c.If you are like me a home theater audiophile.you will need this cable.I have a denon dts-hd,dolby hd reciever.the cheap cables would allow sound encoded in hd but reciever sounded muted.wasnt very loud.then i put this cable in a wow what a difference.I tryed 3 other hdmi cables i had laying around same results.think about it..you spent 300-1000 for a good receiver,200-500 for a good blu-ray player but you wont spend 23 dollars to buy a hdmi monster cable?It is a monster cable,hence it will work perfectly with nice tight connections and extremely well built design.what others dont tell you is that the cheap cables can come apart and connections may be loose.SO WHY WOULD YOU TAKE THE CHANCE??don’t be fooled buy other reviewers a cheap cable is not as good I KNOW THIS FROM TRIAL AND ERRROR.however do not pay 100+ dollars for this cable that is just foolish.then yes you are getting ripped off.ANOTHER QUESTION I HAVE TO OTHERS OUT THERE.IF YOU HAVE A SAMSUNG TV AND WHEN YOU TURN IT ON THEN POWER UP YOUR DVR OR DVD BLU-RAY PLAYER AND SOUND DOESNT WORK UNTIL YOU RESTART YOUR TV IT IS NOT YOUR TV IT IS YOUR HDMI CABLE.LOOSE FITTING HDMI CABLE TO BACK OF TV CAUSES THIS.BUY THIS CABLE AND PROBLEM IS RESOLVED.

Buy/More Info

Samsung LN40B530 40 Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

39.9″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1920 x 1080 pixels *

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great HD picture and great service from Crutchfield
First I want to say how impressed I am with Crutchfield. When I purchased this unit through Amazon I really didn’t pay much attention to who the actual seller was since it received the standard free shipping. I purchased this on a Saturday morning. With in 2 hours I received a phone call from Crutchfield thanking me for my purchase and explaining how the unit would be shipped, etc. I was very impressed with this and would absolutely purchase from Crutchfield in the future.

As for the Samsung – The picture is great with HD. I got it primarily for sports and the HD channels look great. Some of the standard def channels are not so spectacular but I don’t necessarily think that is a fault of the Samsung, I think it is more a Directv issue. I have an issue giving anything 5 stars but if you are looking for an LCD in this size range you should take a look at this one.

2 Stars dissapointed
i guess my other samsung must be 120mhz cause the picture is not nearly as good as my two year old samsung. wonder if i can return this for a better model? I mean,it pic is ok but not even close to my 46 samsung from two years ago. i just assumed any new model would be better.

4 Stars Samsung 40 inch 1080p LCD HDTV
This is a great TV. The only thing that I found disappointing is the particular model I purchased did not come with the side inputs for hooking up my digital camera or camcorder etc. Getting to the back of the TV is an inconvenience and it also results in less input options.

It’s my first flat screen so I wasn’t aware that this would be an issue.

4 Stars Fantastic Purchase!
I’ve had this tv for about a month now and it’s great. It has superb clarity and the colors are vibrant. Definitely on par with or better than Sony and LG, especially for the price. My only negative comment is the sound. Maybe I’m going deaf or my space is too large, but I have to turn the volume up much higher than I’m used to…I’ve added my Bose speakers out of fear of busting the tv’s. Overall, great tv!

5 Stars all around winner.
Great tv. great price for what you get. Picture is fantastic – colors crisp and bright, definition is sharp for all colors/shades. I have direcTV HD. Cant see how much better this picture will get but it definitely will bridge the game for several years. I don’t use other built in features like gaming to speak abt them. Sound is solid. normal viewing is at about 25% of limit. Tones are balanced and clear. for larger sound i go thru a stereo receiver. one sound quirk – the auto volume adjustment takes a couple of seconds to kick in; but that’s nit-picking.

Buy/More Info

Samsung LN52B630 52 Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

52.0″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio * Touch of Color high-gloss finish — black with red accents * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1920 x 1080 pixels *

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Samsung LN52B630
Product was shipped from Vanns in a timely manner. Everything was excellent. Ordered TV, received TV. TV is excellent. Love the matte finish. No problem with the sound. All in all very smooth hastle free transaction. Superb product and customer service.

5 Stars I heartily reccommend.
I’ve read all the reviews. I went to my local big box electronics store and looked at this tv on display and walked around and looked at all the others. Here’s my personal verdict: look before you buy. Go, look in a store, talk to some of their reps, and read a lot of reviews. I did all that, and this tv is frankly amazing. It’s bright, high contrast and amazing to watch hi-def, standard-def, whatever content on. Even when I stick a highly compressed home movie clip in it on a usb stick, it makes it look good. I turn off the auto-motion plus for movies, but leave it on for tv – personal choice, great technology but it felt odd getting a soap opera look to something like Terminator 2. Video games look amazing, and I have no complaints there. I’ll want to wait a few months and see if my experience is consistent, s I’ll try and update my review then.

Delivery/Amazon/etc – All handled well, Pilot delivered. I took charge of this process, the moment the package shipped, I called Pilot (the carrier) and they told me when it would reach my local station. When that happened, I called the local station and they prioritized me and told me who it would be doing the final drop off. I called them, and ended up having my tv set up a good two days before it had been ‘expected’ to be delivered. The way I see it? A purchase this large, you shouldn’t treat like buying a dvd from Amazon – take charge and you hsould be fine.

5 Stars The research paid off! Great TV
I researched 52″ LCD TVs for about 6 months. After comparing all brands, models, and options the 52b630 by Samsung is superior in all categories… including price.

Here is a little hint, go to the stores, compare the TVs and then buy it on Amazon.

Free shipping, NO TAX (for IL anyway) and great perks…we received a netbook for FREE.

Love this TV and works great with my DVD, HomeTheatre and AppleTv.

You will not be disappointed.

5 Stars Samsung 52in LCD TV 1080p, 120hz
We just finally upgraded to an LCD TV. Samsung was my choice because some of my co-workers recently purchased Samsung and raved about the quality of the picture and sound.

The delivery was absolutely flawless. They called the day before and we received the TV the next day. I am amazed by the quality of the picture. You will not be disappointed.

5 Stars Can’t go wrong with this TV
I researched tv’s for at least for the last 6 months. First off, this tv is great at any viewing angle. Colors are vivid and crystal clear in HD. Before I got HD I had SD for a few weeks and thought that looked good. Once I got HD, it is absolutely amazing.

The tv is in a room with a lot of sunlight and I have no issues with glare at any angle. I had an old 4:3 SD 50″ Mitsubishi that I would often get glare on before I bought the Samsung.

This tv shows great picture at 60hz & 120hz. I watched NFL Sunday Ticket this past weekend in 60hz and could not tell the difference between it & 120hz. I am using the Mediabridge HDMI cables and totally enjoying this tv.

Another nice feature is the PIP on this tv. I will have a 2nd box (standard definition) on this tv hooked up to the tv coax jack to do PIP for games while running my HD box or PS3 via HDMI on the other screen. I love it!!!

Buy/More Info

Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC P42S1 42 Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

When it comes to best image quality in a TV at an affordable range, Plasma screens deliver the best contrast ratio and color depth. This Viera plasma includes the new NEO plasma display panel with improved blacks and native contrast of 40,000:1. Neo PDP combines advances for plasma in cell structure, process technology, and new drive technology. Neo PDP is eco-friendly. It’s engineered to save power and double the luminance efficiency. It offers thinner screens than previous plasma flat panels. NEO technology screens are rated to have a lifespan of up to 100,000 hours. This is more than 30 years of viewing when watched for 8 hours a day, before the TV reaches half brightness. It also has 1080p resolution with 600Hz sub-field drive and Gaming Mode. With all these advances, why settle for an average picture when the Viera plasma display offers so much more. Did you know that some HDTVs deliver considerably less than 1080 lines of resolution, when processing fast motion on screen? VIERA S1 Series Plasma HDTVs ensure full-time 1080 TV lines of resolution, even during fast moving scenes in sports and movies. VIERA Image Viewer provides a better way to share your digital photos. Just pop your SD memory card into the handy slot, and instantly display your digital photos for friends and family to enjoy. With VIERA Link, you can control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home-theater sound system and HD camcorder, all with a single remote and helpful on-screen menus. VIERA Image Viewer VIERA Link AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter Game Mode 3 HDMI Inputs 100,000-Hour Panel Life

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars very good
I’m very happy with this TV. Even SD looks great, which was my big concern. Highly recommended.

5 Stars Great TV
We had originally planned on purchasing this television in store after researching for weeks. For the price at amazon it was too good to pass up. Great television, crystal clear picture and a great price. I would go with plasma over LCD any day and this is the best of the best.

4 Stars Panasonic Is Good But Could Be Better
It has been about 4 months since I purchased this TV. I also have a Samsung LN46A650 LCD TV that I purchased from Amazon a year ago. Delivery on both was very good although the delivery person for the Panasonic didn’t know too much about setting up and connecting the set. The jack marking was confusing but togeather we worked it out. The Panasonic has vivid deep colors and I think the picture is a little sharper than the Samsung. The colors on the Samsung are however more true to life. The Samsung has more color adjustments available including flesh tone which allows better color reproduction. Maybe I am too picky but the Panasonic tends to reproduce flesh tones with a slight green tint on darker scenes and a rose tent on some others. Most scenes are OK however. The Samsung has much better sound. The Panasonic sound has a hollow characteristic. This may be due to the angle of the speakers and I have it a few inches from a flat wall. The viewing angle of course is better on the Panasonic plasma. The Samsung starts to wash out if you get over 30 degrees away from straight on viewing. A word of coution when shopping for a TV. In stores the LCD sets are usually set on vivid. This greatly helps the viewing angle. When you adjust it for normal in home viewing wash out is more apparent. Standard def. programing seems to be somewhat better on the Panasonic. Both are good on HD with the Panasonic maybe a slight bit sharper. Both are good TVs and when I am watching either one I think that it is the best.

5 Stars Great Picture
This Plasma is really good. I looked at different TVs at Best Buy and Plasmas look as good as the LCDs and don’t cost as much. I have Dish Network and in HD these work really well. The color is really great. A swivel stand would be great, but other than that no complaints.

5 Stars Very Satisfied
Extrememly satisfied with purchase.

Easy assembly. Great crisp, clear, picture. No glare.

Good view from all angles. Audio is fine (good sound, but not as high quality as picture)

I had got the 42″ due to space limitations, but now realize that I could have fit a larger TV in my rooms corner. This was the most common regret I read about in reviews before my purchase, and sure enough I feel the same.

All in all, a great tv at a great price!

Buy/More Info