Customer Reviews

Samsung HLT6176S 61-Inch UltraSlim 1080p DLP HDTV

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I finally made my venture into the world of high definition television. I am very happy I finally made this move, it has completely enhanced my TV viewing experience. This is my first high def TV purchase and although I don't regret my purchase too much, I do wish I would have done a bit more research before finally making my decision.

This TV gives a beautiful picture and more inputs then you'll ever need (including HDMI, of coarse, and also USB, which is cool). The television is quite attractive and very slim when compared to other DLP televisions. The TV is very quiet, I can't hear the color wheel or anything else at all. I noticed in other reviews that people talk about straight lines bowing, luckily I don't have this problem.

Like I said, the picture is beautiful... and I mean BEAUTIFUL! My parents have a plasma TV and this DLP is leagues above it as far as picture quality is concerned. This isn't an entirely fair comparison because my parents bought a "budget" 42 inch plasma, which is now over a year old. Higher end plasmas and LCDs look a bit better then this Samsung - but you pay for that. With a budget around $2000.00 I wanted the best bang for the buck I could find and I ended up choosing this TV because of it's size and it's picture quality (especially for this size).

There is a catch to this TV though. You are buying the standard lamp and color wheel DLP if you choose this one. This will bite your wallet in the future because about every 1000-3000 hours you will need to replace the lamp. This wouldn't be so bad if the replacement lamps weren't so expensive ($200-$400). I have heard some owners getting up to 16,000 hours with their bulbs, but that's extremeley rare, typically you're looking at less then 5000 hours. I purchased my TV at Best Buy and I purchased the service plan with it so it's not too bad now, but in 4 years I'm on my own. I sorta hope the TV goes out at the end of the 4 years and I get a new LED DLP >=]

I wish I could give this TV my highest recommendation because of the price/quality, but it scores low in value. The reason I score it low on value is because for just a couple hundred dollars more you can get LED version of the same exact TV. LED DLPs last MUCH longer (20,000 - 60,000 hours) so you will save a lot of money in the long run. Also you wont have to deal with the lamp going out at exactly the wrong time. I have a feeling that lamps are going to become harder to find in the future and that they may cost more because of that. I hope that's not that case though.

Unfortunately buying a TV these days is a lot like buying a home computer. Gone are the days of CRT TVs that really never became outdated (until now). Now when you buy a TV it can become outdated nearly as soon as you bring it home, like in my case. Oh well, this TV looks beautiful, my XBOX 360 games now look amazing and for that I can't complain. I still LOVE this TV!

** UPDATE **
I recently learned that if you set the TVs mode from dynamic (default) to standard then you will get much more life out of your bulb (1000 - 2000 more hours). Personally standard looks better in my opinion because it's much more natural. When I switch to dynamic now it seems overly bright and a little washed out. However, dynamic mode is great for video games.

We spent about 3 months researching and looking at TVs that were at least 58", 1080p, and that had bright clear image quality and wide viewing angles. None of the LED TVs came close to meeting the size requirement so we nixed them. All the DLP and LED DLP rear projection TVs seemed very dim and could not be viewed at wide angles (although their prices were right). The ony plasma that was 1080P and at least 58" was way too expensive, although it did have awesome picture quality.

We were about to give up and wait for the price of the plasma TVs to drop, when we stumbled across the Sony XBR2. This was the only rear projection set we could find that had an image that came close to plasma quality. The only negatives was that it had a lot of extra features that drove up the price (like PIP) that we did not care about and took up a huge amount of space (24" deep and 71" wide). Since we really liked this TV, we overlooked the negatives and bought it.

While it did look big in the store, once it was delivered to our living room, it became a gargantuan dinosaur. It dwarfed our living room and we ended up visiting 5 furniture stores trying to find a stand that was big enough. To make a long story short, the size and weight of this beast was too much and we decided to return it and wait for the plasma prices to drop.

While we made the trip back to the store, we stumbled across the Samsung HL-T6176S (which had just been released that very day). We were amazed that this 61" DLP TV had:

1) Outstanding, near plasma picture quality
2) Was not dim like the other LED DLP rear projection TVs
3) Could be viewed at a wide angle (not quite as wide as plasma though)
4) Was 600$ less expensive than the Sony XBR2 (which was the best rear projection set we had found so far)
5) Was almost as compact as a plasma set! This set could be easily mistaked for an LED/Plasma. Samsung did a brilliant job of not wasting any space. You can hardly even see the bezel surrounding the picture!
6) Had plenty of inputs, connections, and features without the useless bells and whistles that drive the price up.

The only real negatives are that the remote was not nearly as intuitive/nice as the remote we got with the Sony XBR2 and the picture is a little less bright than the XBR2 was, but still leaps and bounds brighter than the other DLP units we looked at.

In summary, if you are dissapointed in the picture quality of the current DLP rear projections, small size of LED, high price for plasmas, and the huge size of the top of the line rear projection set (like the Sony XBR2), then this TV fits the bill. It does the best job of juggling picture size, quality, compactness, and price of any set we have seen (and we have seen them all).

After performing a lot of research (CNET, Sound and Vision, Home Theater Magazine, etc) on manufacturers and the various DLP TVs as well as talking with many friends and colleagues about their DLP experiences, I decided this model was the best. The colors are excellent and true to life. There is no rainbow effect as in older models (probably due to the faster spinning color wheel). There is now loud fan noise. All pluses.

However, this TV is really cheap in it's construction. It's so flimsy that if you slightly push on a corner of the TV, the entire picture moves. Out of the box, my TV's picture bowed on both sides (kind of like a smile). And the overall image tilted down the right. This is really noticeable when watching letterbox movies as the black bar at the top was thicker on the right side as opposed to the left. And when watching HD channels like ESPN or HD News, the programs tickers or scores on the top of the screen tilted down the right. This bowing and tilt in the screen is really noticable and takes away from the superb picture quality.

Owning the TV for less than a month, I called Samsung who sent out their local tech. He confirmed everything above and said that there's not too much he can do. He explained that since Samsung has gone to an all plastic case for the TV, its flimsyness causes these issues. He also said that the Slim design means they have repositioned the inside mirror to the top of the TV which also contributes the bowed effect on each side of the screen. They are going to replace my screen but he doubts it will do much good. I would strongly advise not getting these Samsung new Slim DLP models until they resolve this issue.

UPDATE: 12/20/07 -- Since my first write up, I have just received my 3rd TV from Samsung. Yes, it has taken many calls, my tech visits at my house, and now two swapped TVs. Every HLT6176 has the exact same issue. Not much to be said for Samsung's quality control. If a regular consumer like me can notice the issue so easily, one would think that their R&D and QC groups would notice the same too. I will soon be calling Samsung yet again. Don't buy this TV!

This TV is just amazing! Its big, its clear and easy to set up. One thing I would like to point out is the "Smile" issue with the screen bowing on one side. I just set the TV up and damn had the same problem the lower right side was bowing toward the top.

I could not notice it until I turned the guide on my cable box. Bam! There it was ' I was all set to take the thing back until I got to thinking. Humm, what would cause this to happen and would it be the same on other sets. I have had projection sets in the past and it dawned on me that the screen is plastic. Well on this set, that is one big piece of plastic! So in order for the picture to be seen the plastic must not be too thick. Just for the heck of it and to see if it would work I gently , and I say gently pushed in the screen where the bow was. Whoo momma, it went away! Go figure that! Ok so now I was thinking well this is a great set and that makes sense that during shipping the screen can get out of shape so I am keeping it for now.

So folks before you go thru several sets and the return issues try it out. I would almost bet you that the other sets have the same problem. Try it some time and just push on your screen and watch it distor

I was ready to buy this TV but, based on some of the comments re bowing of the picture, I decided I'd better double check. I had already seen one in a store and was generally impressed but this reviewer mentioned that the problem was particular obvious when there was a ticker on the bottom of the screen and the content playing when I first saw the TV had not included one so it's possible I missed the problem.

This would be a showstopper for me, not merely because any perceptible distortion seems unreasonable for a TV costing over a $1000, but also because one of my main uses will be as a display for my Mac Mini HTPC which has an ever present set of icons at the bottom that would make the distortion obvious on a regular basis.

I found a local store with a set of DLP TV's nicely arrayed by size and which were playing a sports news program that periodically showed tickers at the bottom. With no tickers, they all looked pretty similar and the Samsung's picture was quite good but, much to my chagrin, when the ticker came on, the Samsung did indeed appear to be distorted at the bottom of the screen. However, rather than being bowed, it was actually tilted to the left. Since the talking heads were not tilted, it was clear this was some type of nonlinear distortion predominantly affecting the very bottom part of the screen.

None of the similar sized adjacent DLP TV's, which included Sony and Toshiba as well as the Samsung's 57" cousin, appeared to have this problem. The ticker at the bottom was completely straight on all of them.

To make sure it wasn't my imagination, I actually went and measured it against the screen. The ticker was approximately 1" from the bottom bezel on the left and 1.5" on the right so it was, unfortunately, not my imagination.

This was quite disappointing, not only because in every other respect, this TV appears to be a good value proposition, but also because I was especially looking forward to the slim depth. My entertainment center is only 17" deep and my current projection TV juts out over 5" from the front as would many of the Samsung's current competitors. This one would have fit nicely inside.

All of the similar sized TV's surrounding the Samsung had deep cabinets. However, they did have a 65" Mitsubishi with a slim cabinet. Interestingly, the Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi WD-65733 65" 1080p DLP HDTV) was not initially playing the same sports news program but rather a demo HD loop made especially for them which looked rather washed out and had poor color accuracy leaving me rather unimpressed.

I hadn't been much concerned since I wasn't looking at 65" TVs but once I started considering this as an alternative to the Samsung, I asked the sales person to switch it to show the same sports program. Instantly, the picture looked 100% better and rivaled the best of the other 50+" DLP TV's again showing how important the content is to any evaluation of a TV.

There was also a very slight amount of distortion at the bottom but much less than the Samsung ( I'm beginning to think that the manufacturers have not quite yet worked out the kinks of these huge yet ultra-slim DLPs). However, I could live with this amount in exchange for the slim depth. Of course, this TV cost a few hundred dollars more than I would have paid for the Samsung, but, as compensation, I got a bigger screen.

I would advise anyone interested in buying this TV, with concerns similar to mine, to see it in person and with the type of content that will show this problem, before making a buying decision.

If you are only concerned about the top 80% of the TV it looks good...even great but when the ESPN banner comes across the bottom it looks as if the stats are on a roller coaster. Samsung rep came out and said it was in spec??? Amazon is returning w/o cost....read other comments on eagle delivery there right on. Note: I own a 50" SAMSUNG DLP for 2 1/2 years and it is great....someone just dropped the ball on this model.

Wasn't sure about buying something so big on the internet but it was a deal. Just under $1800 shipped to my house when at Best Buy the same TV was selling for $2250 before tax and then getting it to my house myself.

The GOOD:
-TV is VERY bright especially for a DLP
-Viewing angle was surprising, it looks great from every angle
-HD looks incredible, SD looks decent. Some SD content looks better than others(DVD's look excellent) making me think its the quality of the SD rather than the television
-SO MUCH TV for so LITTLE MONEY

The BAD:
-The picture was skewed on my first television I received. the edges were slanted up making a subtle (but noticeable on any menu screen)U shape. The skewing isn't noticeable while watching movies or regular TV. CNN news ticker or ESPN's sports headlines at the bottom make it much easier to see.
-Audio is quiet and not good quality (but who cares) if you are buying this TV, buy a surround sound system

*I called Amazon and they immediately shipped me another TV to replace the first FOR FREE. The 2nd TV had the exact same problem (possibly worse)
*Called Amazon again and they are sending me a 3rd TV (again all FOR FREE). They are inspecting this TV though before they ship it to me to make sure it does not have a skewed screen this time.

If I am still not completely satisfied with the TV, I will receive a refund, but it will be totally worth it if they get me a TV that is perfect straight across.

As for now I've been enjoying this TV for a month and haven't been let down. However I am a perfectionist and expect a perfect display with no skewing. I will update when I receive my 3rd (hopefully perfect)TV.

***Update (Oct 16, 2007)***
Amazon said the problem was more widespread than previously thought and were not able to send me a 3rd TV until further research was done on the item. They said they would allow me to work with Samsung customer service to get a repairman at my house to try to fix the bowing and would extend my refund availability time until that was complete. Samsung customer service said I will have a technician contact me in the next 24-48 hours to try to fix it. I will update with final results.

***Update (Jan 14, 2009)***
Totally forgot about this review because the technician could not fix the TV! I received a full refund from Amazon and purchased a Mitsubishi 65" DLP. The Mitsubishi TV had skewing but it was a 'C' shaped skewing instead of a 'U' shaped skewing. A big improvement. It is difficult to have a perfectly projected screen on such a big surface.

1. I did have the problem with the screen being slightly crooked/"bowed" in the frame. On mine, it was 3/8" taller on the right side than the left, measuring a "sports ticker" crawling along the bottom of the screen. Amazon's excellent customer service would have gladly exchanged or repaired it if asked (see below). Hard to notice though.

2. My goal was to stay under $2000 and get the biggest and best picture I could for that. I researched all the 1080p LCD and DLP units available very extensively. The image of this TV is EXCELLENT for movies and television. Really outstanding. Don't listen to those who said you should get the LED version because you don't have to replace a lamp inside. The fact is, I compared this TV with the LED version, side-by-side, in a local store and this one had a much, much better image...brighter and sharper. I also compared it to other brands and it was so obviously the best that no other DLP came close. Not even Sony. So, for me, the only choices were between this TV and a much smaller LCD screen.

3. This is a BIG TV! The manual recommends viewing it from at least 7.4 ft. back. That's about exactly where I have been sitting, and it's WAY TOO CLOSE. The image is better from about 10 ft. back; even 12 ft. would be better. Unfortunately, the way my living room is set up, I am stuck at 7.5 ft. Consequently, after an hour or two, my eyes are tired; after 3 hrs., I have a headache. This is not the fault of the TV, it's the fault of my room. So, if you don't have a room large enough to sit 10-12 ft. back, do not purchase this large of a TV. Either go with LCD or save some money and get this in a 50" screen (Samsung HLT5076S, for $1150 as of this writing; if I didn't like to watch basketball so much...see below...I would exchange the 61" for the 50" and be very happy).

4. If you like to watch basketball, this TV is not for you...too much "motion blur" during movement, and the image is out of focus in the distance (say, when looking at the scorer's table and benches). Up close to a player's face, such as when they are at the free throw line, the image is excellent. I was not impressed with this TV for sports, but if you will mainly use it to watch TV and movies, don't worry about it, as it is otherwise very, very good.

5. I decided that, due to the size and the motion blur (I watch a lot of basketball), this TV just wouldn't work for me. It was obvious in about two evenings of watching it. Called Amazon today...no problem with returning it. Very friendly and cooperative. Top notch service, really. No mention of return shipping charges or restocking fees. I went and ordered the Samsung 120 Hz LCD 46"...about $700 more than this 60" DLP. The clerk watched for my new order to come through, then coordinated with CEVA (shipping company) so they will bring the new one on the same day they pick up the old one.

6. CEVA, the delivery company (formerly Eagle Freight) was AWESOME. They called to say they had it 3 days after I ordered it. I was moving in a couple of days, so I asked them to wait until I had moved to bring it; they did. The driver was friendly, helped me unpack it and test it, and took the huge box with him. Hopefully, they will be equally as good when they pick this one up and deliver the new one.

Overall, I'm really happy with Samsung products, Amazon customer service, and CEVA. There is no reason to purchase your electronics from anyone else, seriously: You'd pay more for the product, pay for shipping, have to pay sales tax in many states, and would get less favorable customer service. Shop Amazon with confidence! (No, I do not have any relationship with Amazon, other than I've been a customer for 10 years.)

I shopped around at the local chain stores like Best Buy, Circuit City and HH Gregg before finding this TV on Amazon's website. I was somewhat reluctant to buy a major item like this on-line but the price was so good, I decided to go through with it. The TV arrived a few days earlier than promised and it looks great. The delivery guy was very friendly and helped un-box everything. He offered to take away the boxes and set up the TV but I opted to do that myself.

I'm very pleased with the purchase so far. I highly recommend this to others!

I ordered from Amazon and the set arrived and powered on so the delivery guys took off pretty quick, they must have known something. The first thing I noticed was the the horizontal lines on the menu were not straight, they were smiling at me. Big curve up at the ends by a good 1-2 inches. The screen is bowed out due to the cheap flimsy case. If you wiggle the case a little you'll see the geometry of the picture change greatly. I was extraordinarily disappointed. It got worse, after about 30-40 minutes the TV just shut off and started making a weird noise. I unplugged the set for 30 seconds to do a reset and then it powered on fine and worked ok save for the bowed picture, which is unacceptable. I turned the TV off again and came back a couple of hours later to turn it on again and the TV took nearly 3 minutes to power up, something not right here. It eventually powered up but then shut itself down and the 3 blinking lights of death started flashing on the front after 5 mintues. The TV is complete dead now and will not power on. Back in the box, the TV is being returned to Amazon for a full refund ASAP. IMO the new Samsung DLP and LED sets are all cheaply built junk. It's really too bad because they can have a great picture but the build quality is going to hurt them big time. I'm heading to Sony when they launch their new sets in August. Sorry Sammy but you really blew it with the new sets and you've lost a customer.