Customer Reviews

Samsung LN32B550 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

2 months after receiving this TV the screen has gone black. Samsung instructed us to ship it to a service repair center and shipping is the responsibility of the customer. I called UPS and the cost to custom-pack a 32" televisions is 120 $. I called Samsung to request a box to ship it in and they re-iterated, shipping is the responsibility of the customer - but would send me a return label. So now we have an 800 $ television that's going to cost 120 $ to pack for warranty. We've only had it two months. I see from another reviewer that sending it Samsung is no guarantee the television will come back any time soon.

On a related note - up until 2008 Samsung's 32" televisions received free in-home repair service. As of 2009 32" is now considered "small" and must be shipped to the manufacturer for service.

Great TV just don't throw away the box and if it breaks take a deep breath and don't bother calling Samsung for sympathy.

Update September 17, 2009: It's been a month and we still don't have our TV back. We've called Samsung every week since they received it. Today we were told the replacement part would take too long to arrive and they would begin the process of approving a replacement television. This process entails Samsung repair shipping the TV to Samsung corporate. Once corporate receives the TV they can can process the replacement. If our TV is no longer available they will offer us something "comparable". This new phase should take "less than a month".

I have traditionally been a fan of the Sharp, or Sony TV's, however, I was looking for a TV to fit in a cabinet in my bedroom. I wanted to get the largest one that would fit my space restrictions. The Samsungs, in general, seem to sit lower on their stands than most other brands and really provided the only 32 inch option that would fit my height restrictions. I sure am glad this was the case.

This TV is wonderful. The best part is the picture. It just looks great. The swivel stand is a very nice touch too. I hadn't been looking for it, but it is quite useful as the TV is not directly in front of the bed. The settings and adjustments available are plentiful and adequate. The menus to access them are clean and intuitive.

Another wonderful feature is the energy saving modes. One can set varying levels of energy saving which controls the intensity / brightness of the light for lower power consumption. There is even an auto mode that will adjust the intensity based on what is currently on the screen. This is perfect for the bedroom. When it is late and I am starting to fall asleep I don't like the TV as bright. Energy saving mode is perfect for this and it saves power.

Another feature that I have been wanting in a TV and didn't have until now is a volume moderator. The TV will increase or lower volume automatically to make up for varying source volumes.

The TV seems performant. I haven't had a chance to plug my gaming laptop into one of the 4 HDMI inputs, but with heavy action scenes on TV I haven't seen any ghosting of images. Blacks look black and colors are sharp. No noticable artifacts of any kind.

All in all I am very happy with the purchase.

I purchased this tv after a review in consumer reports. The tv was delivered promptly and I was very pleased. The tv arrived on May 20th, on May 22nd I had a black screen. I contacted Samsung and they walked me through a few things, and still a black screen. I was instructed to box it back up, pay for the shipping and return to Samsung. I did this immediately. Today is the 16th of June and I still do not have a tv. They inform me that they are having difficulty getting the part. When I ever do get a tv back, I will now have a repaired tv, when I never really had a new one. I am very dissappointed, I requested they just send a new one out to replace it, they said they could not do this. I ordered it because my old tv had gone out, so in the meantime no tv. I would not recommend Samsung based on the time it has taken, and no idea of how much longer it will take. I just can't understand why they cannot get parts for their own brand or let me enjoy having a new tv instead of a repair. I can not afford to purchase another one in the meantime, so I am at their mercy to wait.

You know all the usual things--terrific hi-def picture, handsome black-framed screen with a slice of red on the bottom horizontal edge, good range of movement left and right. But here's the best part: for someone who didn't know the difference between BluTooth and BluRay, hooking up the auxiliaries was a color-coded breeze. A tangential benefit: the delivery person was careful about unpacking and setting up the set and helpful about explaining its use.

One of the best televisions on the market. This tv has a crystal clear picture and sits well on my tv stand. With 70,000 to 1 contrast ratio, the picture is life like. When the picture becomes blurry or distorted that is not the fault of the tv, but rather your placement of the tv in your home. Blu ray looks amazing on here. It doesen't get any more relestic then this. Samsung is the best brand for televisions and you get a lot for your money. If your a gamer or just enjoy a great picture this is the tv for you. This television has great performance for its value and blows any Sony television away. I have this tv in my room and is just the right size. I have it hooked up to my home theater system and sounds like your in the movies.

This is my second samsung TV purchase, I am just as happy with this one as my previous purchase. Samsung is the best LCD you can buy, and you cannot beat the price on this one. The picture is amazing, better than any HDTV I have seen and I have had a few (Toshiba, Phillips).I actually sold my Toshiba so I could buy this Samsung....My wife thinks I am crazy, but it was worth it, especially for the price. The design is also great, light weight and very sleek, the TOC is a nice added feature. Amazon is also great, TV shipped quickly and it was free, even the delivery person commented on how good Amazon is as a seller. Have been shopping with amazon for almost a year, best prices, excellent delivery(free most of time)and products in one piece. Highly recommend this TV and all Samsung TV's to anyone.

I'm very pleased with this TV. The HD picture is top notch. The standard def picture is just OK, but that's as good as you can expect with a standard signal. The set itself is also very nice looking, though I must say I don't really see this red "touch of color" that Samsung claims. That's not really a big deal to me though. I spent about a week adjusting all the picture settings to get things just right. Maybe I'm just picky, but it was nice having all the different picture settings on this tv so I could dial it in just the way I want it so the picture looks good in both a lighted and dark room.

The speakers also sound very good. I have read a few other reviews on other Samsung models that complain about the audio quality, but I was quite impressed with the sound I was able to get out of the TV speakers after a little fine tuning with the equalizer.

I bought this straight from Amazon with free shipping. Everything went smoothly. The delivery guy brought the set in the house and just opened up the box to make sure it wasn't damaged. He didn't plug it in to see if it would turn on though. Luckily it turned on and worked fine once I assembled the stand.

My 32 inch Samsung LCD was great for five months then died a spectacular death. While watching it one day, a huge spark arced out of the top of the TV, and it was absolutely dead. That was the start of my trouble as warranty service was horrendous. I made nearly two dozen phone calls to Samsung, their warranty service contractor and the various technicians. Scheduled service visits would result in no one showing up. It took nearly a month and a half to get replacement parts installed. I'll never buy a Samsung product again.

Rating lower for subpar warranty.

Tv is great but be aware if you are not near a Samsung warranty facility and have an issue, shipping is on you. Samsung does not provide inhome service as incorrectly stated by Amazon. Samsung has a mistake in their own warranty statement if you look. It appears that 32" is missing from their policy but is there because they say only 37" tv's have in home service...

Be aware and maybe by an extended warranty since lcd's are dieing faster than old tubes.... 2-4 years is normal it appears...

From Samsungs warranty site.

37" and larger televisions, in-home service will be provided during the warranty labor period subject to availability within the contiguous United States. In-home service is not available in all areas. To receive in-home service, the product must be unobstructed and accessible to service personnel. If during in-home service repair can not be completed, it may be necessary to remove, repair and return the product. If in-home service is unavailable, SAMSUNG may elect, at our option, to provide for transportation of our choice to and from a SAMSUNG authorized service center. Otherwise, and for 27" and smaller televisions, transportation to and from the SAMSUNG authorized service center is the responsibility of the purchaser.

This TV was to replace an older Sharp LCD and it is beyond comparison better. I'm especially impressed with the contrast ratio. It was delivered ahead of time and the deilvery guy asked me to turn it on before he left to make sure it worked OK. This was not the added "white glove" delevery, but the standard for this TV.
When I need another TV, I'll look at Sansung 1st.