Customer Reviews

Samsung LN46A850 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First off let me provide some basic info so you have an understanding of the use, location, and expectations for this TV. Let me state that this is the first HDTV we have ever owned. This is a replacement for a functioning 25" Zenith color console with a rotary dial (only has a flat UHF and VHF input) that we purchased new 25 plus years ago. We have basic cable (Time Warner) that was hooked up to the old TV through a VHS and DVD (separate) player. We started researching HDTV's last year. After information overload from all of the various manufactures as to why they were better we settled on the Samsung brand just to start narrowing it down. After that we took up the Plasma vs. LCD. We settled on the LCD and then quickly narrowed it down to the 46" model based upon our living room layout. We have three interior and one exterior wall, with the exterior wall facing east and is all glass. We have a fireplace at the end of the room and that is where the TV has always set. After all of that was done we were ready to pull the trigger and purchase the LN46A650 but waited for a while ($$). By the time we were ready to purchase, Samsung had just released the 850, 860, and 950. Jump back into research to see what the differences were. Well thin is what we needed to help with the room arrangement so we quickly changed to the 850 (ToC red) / 860 (ToC blue) model. We purchased the 850 on Cyber Monday. It arrived the following Monday.

1. CEVA Logistics, Just after placing my order I received a confirmation from Amazon with the tracking #. Goggled CEVA, placed the tracking # in the main web page to locate the TV and there it was, at the warehouse outside of Harrisburg Pa. I checked it several times that week and followed it through their system. I received a phone call from the local agent on Friday who setup a delivery time on Monday (7 days after the order) for a delivery between 9 and 1. They arrived at about 10:00 with a small urban type delivery truck. The two deliverymen were college aged and friendly. They met me at the door and we inspected the package together. They advised me before stepping into the house that they were only to unpack and check that it powered on. They did just that and there were no issues. I tried to tip them but they politely refused and went on their way. I am mentioning this here as some reviews were all over the place on them.

2. The TV, It was easy to hook up. Screwed in the cable to the back and turned it on. It went through a couple of quick menus and then it was searching for channels. It even tells you on the screen where it is in the process. We only get about 60 basic cable channels so I was quite surprised when it said that it was up to about 150 and still going. Once it reached the end it stated "removing scrambled channels" which brought the number back down. It found all of the HD channels that Time Warner provides free and I never new they were there.

3. Navigating the built in menu system is fairly easy. Once you get the hang of the remote you can set up the entire TV in about 30 minutes (in my case).

4. I will say that the remotes are pretty particular that they are pointed at the lower left side of the screen. One remote has everything on it. The second remote in the box that is pretty basic. It will turn the TV off and on; change the channels and the volume.

5. ToC, this is a non issue in this model. You can barely see it at all and there is no glare that we can detect at all through the sides that affect the picture.

6. The black bezel is extremely glossy and looks spectacular. When our room has all of the lights on you can see the reflections off of it but it has not interfered with our viewing. We mostly have one light on in the room at the far end in the evening and it is not noticeable. Daytime viewing, in the morning the room is brightly lit as it gets the rising sun. The screen is not affected from it.

7. Factory defaults, from the start we left them alone till we had a better feel for the TV. We have been tweaking here and there and believe that everyone can customize to their tastes. The picture is just exceptionally clear and the TV does a great job of adjusting the straight 4:3 broadcast into what ever format you want. I think that there are 5 different settings here (4:3, 16:9, zoom 1, zoom 2, wide fit) and you can set to your tastes.

8. DVD Player, Hooked it up to the TV with component cables as the connection. The player is a 2001 model and is pretty basic. We placed a Star Wars DVD in because of the THX calibration (Google it) and was utterly amazed that it looked that good. We did not do a calibration and left all of the settings alone. The TV has a built in surround sound emulator that can be turned on and off if you do not have external speakers. The sound was absolutely great compared to what we had before. I am sure that it does not match a true 5:1 or 7:1 but in no way is it weak as other reviewers have claimed.

9. Update on DLNA (12-20-2008),(additional info posted under comments, 1-19-2009) You do not need to install the software if you have Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate, or Windows Home Server. The DLNA hooked up while I was trying to figure out the instructions in the manual. That is about the only good I can say about this at this point. The instructions in the user manual are almost worthless. It makes it seem that you have to install the software which is not the case if you have any of the 3 OS above. The DLNA found my extensive home photo library and that part works OK. The USB on the side of the TV will not support anything but FAT 16/32 formatted keys. It will not allow the running of an external hard drive on the port. Home Movies and an extensive music library will not play on the TV. DLNA supports a very limited set of formats and codec's. Nothing that I have will run in either of these two categories without an error message "format not supported". How many folks will want to convert hundreds of gigs of home movies and music? After doing a little research I am finding that there is software that will sit between your storage devices and the TV that will convert on the fly. It will be till January sometime that I have a chance to try that out.

Final Thoughts on DLNA, I am disappointed that Samsung did not choose formats that more closely resembled what the general population has sitting on their home computers. The use of converters and the shortcomings here are a major let down as compared to the rest of the TV. I will say that my photo library looks stunning on the TV. Samsung has a way to go to support home movies and music. While this is a major shortfall it does not take away the viewing quality that this TV produces when watched. Just be aware that you need to be somewhat Techy to get DLNA working.

10. Infolink, The INFOLINK found everything the first time. News, Sports, Weather, and Stocks etc can be programmed fairly easy.

Final comments, the channel search found double channels on all of the major broadcast affiliates (NBC, ABC, FOX, ETC). It is easy to go through the menu system and tell which is analog and which is digital. Delete the analog as you can see a major difference in the quality. One can hit an "info" button on the remote and it will give you all of the technical stuff on the channels. I really like the feature that tells you which format the broadcasts are in, 4:3 or 16:9, and the resolution 420i, 720P, 1080i. The HD channels and shows themselves are clearly awesome as you see features on the shows that you have never seen before, blemishes on the actor's faces, individual strands of hair, subtle makeup differences in shades ETC. The swivel stand is nice and the TV itself is not that heavy. It comes with a micro fiber cleaning cloth. Only time will tell if this model will give us the longevity that we are accustomed to. We are totally pleased with our purchase.
Thanks
GM

My wife and I bought this bad boy last week from Amazon, and it arrived in 4 days flat with their great delivery service. We decided to hang it up on our masonry fireplace. We chose a Sanus tilting mount for the job, which was surprisingly easy to attach to the masonry.

The 850 is special because it's super thin. 1.9" at it's thickest point. This makes wall mounting especially attractive. Throw in the excellent picture, and I'm on cloud nine.

After one day of enjoying it, I say that while I'm impressed with the clarity of the 120Hz feature, my wife and I keep the setting set to "low", which introduces a higher framerate, but not so high as to be actively distracting. For us, the "camcorder-like" feeling of the full 120Hz is best for sports, as opposed to movies/tv.

Bottom line: The Samsung LCD's are amazing to begin with, and the "8" series, given it's thin frame, adds some extra style. Keep that in mind when your comparing this model to all the others, including the 9 (950/960) series which has a superior LED lighting engine, but is considerably thicker than the 8 (850/860).

I just got this TV set up and going last weekend and after tweaking all of the settings, this is truly the best TV I've ever owned. I previously had a 30 in tube HDTV. The 850 equals all the best qualities of the CRT and has dozens of tweaks to zero in on the best picture for each type of input.

I'm getting my HD signal over the air with a UHF antenna. I have my basic cable running through the S Video input since I don't have any HDMI outputs from my cable box. HD is awesome and standard definition is excellent.

What sets this set apart from many others is the USB input. I've put my pictures on a thumb drive, plugged it in and wow. My pictures have never looked better and I'll never look at a 4x6 print again.

I have yet to hook up my PC to the TV through the wiselink, but that's next where I'll be able to browse and play all of my movie files. Of course you can put your movies on a thumb drive just get an 8 gig for the movie files.

This TV does it all and with style. The screen is very good at holding down room reflections and I am not bothered by the reflective trim.

This is a great LCD and only a plasma or LED model at twice the price would beat it.

So you wanted to know the difference? Here it is. It's THINNER. Actually the thinnest Samsung has ever made @ 1.9" Other than that nothing has changed between 750-850.

However the 950 there has been a substantial change. LED SmartLighting as been added to the 950 which according to Samsung it only brightens the areas of the screen that need to be, in short this addition gives the 950 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

I can't really add anything to what has already been said about the picture quality of this TV, but I can relate a little of my experience in the hopes that it helps somebody.

I was between the LN46A650 and 850. Fortunately, they were side by side at my local Abt. The bezel of the 850 is slightly thinner, so the frame of the picture is skinnier on the 850 when you are watching. The 850 is also a lot thinner front to back, dramatically thinner (1.9 inches). However, the reason I went with the 850 is because the greens were noticeably deeper side by side with the 650. The Abt sales guy said they were both using default settings, so take that for what it's worth.

I used a Peerless ST650P mount (Peerless ST650P Tilting Wall Mount for 32" to 50" Flat Panel Displays (Black)) to put this on the wall. The difference between the "P" and non-"P" versions of this mount is that the non-"P" version uses security screws; other than that, they are identical.

Also, it's important to note that all of the input ports for this TV are on the LEFT side when you are facing the TV (right side if you are looking at the back). The power cable is closer to the center of the TV then the rest of the inputs (more off-center left). I had to reconfigure how I was going to run cables for my home theater setup because of this, so keep that in mind when designing your layout and buying cables.

I made the decision to buy a Samsung LN46A850 after several weeks of research, but finding a suitable vendor was the next big challenge. Although some local stores offered price breaks, Amazon seemed to offer a significantly better price, along with free shipping. Once I placed my order, the delivery process was straightforward, easy to track, and on-time. The delivery person even brought the box up a flight of stairs. The television arrived in good condition and was easy to set up.
I am very happy with this purchase and the overall shopping experience with Amazon - thanks!

I bought this TV a few months ago now and am totally impressed with it. Thanks first off to Amazon for the cheap deal, NO SHIPPING and NO TAX!!

I am going to try to keep this short....

I shopped around, couldn't find a cheaper store or website for TV's.
I read reviews, checked out different sites, researched TV's and found this one. I am in the military, so I mainly wanted a great picture that didn't weigh a lot and was slim so I can move it myself and it won't take up much space just in case I have to put in storage when I deploy.

...seriously consider this TV. It is more expensive than the 650 or 750 series, but wow!! Read up, and do your homework, but if you decide on this one, I know you won't be disappointed!! 1.9 inches thick BABY!! LMAO!!!

When the tv is on, there is so much interference that our other remote controls wont work. So, we cant control our cable, or DVR by remote. Samsung hasnt been able to fix it, or authorize an upgrade to the 950 or downgrade to the 750. We will probably have to take the tv back and get another brand. We have lost our confidence in Samsung now, especially because they wont work with us to get a different model instead of the 850. We would even pay to upgrade to the 950, or take the 750 and some cash back, but they havent authorized that yet.

I have purchased this television 8 weeks ago, a month ago I finally finished hooking up all the cables. 3 weeks ago I upgraded to HD with Dish network. The results are quite impressive, the clarity is really there. There is such a difference between the two most watched televisions in our home as one is not HD. Eventually I'll be getting another quality set like the Samsung LN46A850.

One of the main reasons I chose this TV was the thickness at 1.9 inches it helps the bulk on the wall seem less than if I had a TV stick out 4 to 6 inches more than this one.
With a Blu-ray,a dish receiver, and a Bose system I'm going to have to get a remote that can operate all 3...I can see that with electronics there's no end. I am happy with this TV, hopefully it'll last for years to come.
The delivery was also handled well, although I was not able to view the TV when it first arrived, everything turned out great, especially since I saved nearly $700 buying it at Amazon instead of a name brand store.

I recently had a group over to watch a football game together and everyone was impressed with the SamsungLN46A850, at it's size, the HD, the TV thickness. My team lost but the TV was a winner.

Samsung has consistently produced top rated HDTVs. Their LCD HDTVs top the latest (Fall 2008)Consumer Reports list in nearly all sizes. This specific model was not one they tested, but the CR article states that other models within the same brand usually have the same performance results. I purchased this model for several reasons. First of all it tops out at 120 mhz. if you want to watch sports, you need at least 60 mhz and 120 is better. Secondly, it converts movies to match the film standard of 24 frames a second so there is little or no motion blur. Third, Amazon's price and free shipping saved me over $300 when compared with area Department Stores and other online stores. I created an Excel spreadsheet and then studied and compared specs. I then compared store prices on HDTV models for 12 months prior to my purchase. i read everything I could find using consumer Reports as well as Samsung, sony and Toshiba websites (helpful info). This product had the features that I wanted. People who come to my home are amazed at this set and its HD picture. The only problem I note is sound. when I use my home theater with the speakers in the TV there is a slight delay so I have to turn the TVs sound down. The remote is easy to use after one becomes familiar with the features. You can actually click on a button to go between different modes such as watching sports, a movie, or using a gaming system. The set also has built in features such as picture galleries that are stunning. there are alson plenty of HDMI inputs, S-video, & component input/outputs. this may not be the cheapest (nor is it themost expensive)HDTV, but I am finding it to have the features and picture quality that fits my needs.