HDTV Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Full Blast’

Samsung PN42B450 42 Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

42.3″ screen (measured diagonally) * 1024 x 768 pixels * 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio * 600Hz Subfield Motion anti-blur technology * FilterBright anti-glare filter *

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Buy This TV!!!
Great TV!!DVDs look AMAZING. Works out of the box. It took me about 4 minutes to set it up; which is the time required to remove the box, find an outlet and turn it on. No tweaking required for me.

Buy this TV!!!

2 Stars No Headphone Jack!!!!!
First of all, this is a great TV despite my 2 stars. After two weeks, everything is perfect with DirecTV HD. The sound, the picture, everything.

Everything, that is, except the lack of a headphone jack.

Now, I knew it didn’t come with a headphone jack when I bought it. But on the Samsung web site, it stated that I could use the audio out to connect to headphones.

I use headphones for about 50-60% of my TV viewing. They are of utmost important to me because there are kids next door, and I can’t turn up the volume after a certain hour. Plus, I have a loud fan going so it’s more comfortable to listen with headphones rather than turn up the volume at full blast.

When the TV arrived, I immediately tested the audio out to headphone connector I bought at Radio Shack. But I soon discovered that in order to listen to the headphones exclusively (without the speakers blasting) I had to turn off the TV volume.

Unfortunately, turning off the TV volume disables the volume control and mute buttons on the remote.

Thus the sound on the headphones, which is VERY, VERY LOW, can’t be turned up or down.

In response, I bought $22 external computer speakers to try to boost the volume. Unfortunately, that didn’t work.

Then I called Samsung, and they said there was no hope of boosting the volume. I was scared I just wasted $680 on a TV that I can’t truly enjoy most of the time.

I assumed listening to a TV with headphones would be a very basic component on a TV set, like it is for possibly every other device.

I had all but given up hope and was going to return the TV, when I discovered the Boostaroo headphone amplifier on Amazkon, which costs about $22. So I bought it, and it actually works great. It boosts the volume. But unfortunately it requires AAAA batteries, which are expensive and hard to come by (unless you buy them en masse).

So because Samsung didn’t include a headphone I had to shell out the following:

Audio out cable and headphone jack connector: $12 at Radio Shack

External speaker: $22

Boosteroo Headphone Amplifier $22 (it now lists at $42).

50 AAAA batteries: $30

I spent $86 to use this TV with headphones.

Anyways, sorry for the drawn-out review, but nobody mentioned a headphone problem in other reviews. Hopefully this will help anybody interested in purchasing this TV.

5 Stars Happy Samsung Fan
I bought this based on the reviews – turned out to be a good decision – great picture and plenty of inputs – you need them if you have Roku, blu ray, vcr, and a dvd player. Only negative would be the sound – satisfactory but certainly could be better. Don’t think you can beat it for what you get for the price!

5 Stars Ooooooh~ Aaaaaaah~
Like many smart shoppers here at Amazon, I’ve done a fair amount of research for my first HDTV purchase, e.g. LCD vs Plasma, 720p vs 1080p, Samsung vs other reputable brands, etc. Thanks everyone for your in-depth posting of your review of Samsung PN42B450.

I bought mine two days ago at Nebraska Furniture Mart during the Berkshire Hathaway (which owns NFM) 26th anniversary sales event for about the same price as I would have paid here at Amazon, tax included and 18 months interest free.

So far, I’m very impressed with the picture quality, sound, and user-friendly menu design. The remote control is sleek and functional, but I wish it had lighted/glow-in-the-dark buttons (I don’t think any HDTV at this price range has one).

FYI, I have my TV placed in a fairly dark half basement family room and sit about 6 feet away from the TV. I watch mostly sports and documentary programs – I’m glad that I didn’t buy a 50″ TV, because 42″ is plenty big, much bigger than it seemed at the store with so many other TVs to divert your attention.

* I think I overpaid for the HDMI cable, so I ordered one for less than $5 from. Let’s see if I see any discernable picture quality loss after switching the cable – I’ll post a follow-up here!

5 Stars Best Picture for Money but Poor Audio
As most of all of you I have looked at many Flat Screens. This is the best picture for the money that I have found under $2000. The LG plasmas are very good but to me they are more forgiving on regular tv and not quite as good as the samsung on HDTV signals. FYI LCDs flat screens in the $800-$1000 range drive me nuts with action blur and off angle viewing. Also, you can adjust this picture to your liking in either dark or bright rooms….maybe too much control. I have no idea how anyone could review this tv with all the different settings. I am an audiophile and the audio is terrible…downward firing tinny sounding speakers, no bass. You will need to use the TV equillizer to get it listenable. AND yes this TV has Left and Right RCA Fixed Audio out which is not clear in literature. Very striking TV. Also, it does not get as hot as other Plasmas??? Not sure why.

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