Customer Reviews

Samsung LN46C550 46-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was between buying this LN46C550 or a more expensive LED 3D Samsung TV. I am glad that I bought this one and saved a lot of money. This is an excellent TV, the picture quality is extremely good. I was concerned that the 60Hz would be inferior to 240Hz technology; but the picture is perfect, I can't really tell the difference! Do yourself a favor and save some of your hard earned money and buy thus TV instead of much more expensive ones; you'll be happy!

I purchased the Samsung LN46C550 HDTV last month and finally got it installed this week by professional installers and I must say that this HDTV is great! Black levels, color saturation, are all excellent, this HDTV even has a wireless link connection (must be purchased separately)! This is my first HDTV but not my first Samsung TV and I must say that in keeping with the tradition of high quality TV sets, this is another fine entry in Samsung's catalog!

I love the TV. Excellent resolution. The sound could be better, however, that is the compromise for such a thin profile.

This is my second LN46C550. The first arrived with a strange audio problem where the sound would have interference for a brief second several times a minute. Kudos however to Amazon who quickly sent a replacement that is working fine.

I purchased this TV for the bedroom, and can compare it to the Samsung UN55B7000 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV I have as our primary TV. The UN55B7000 was last years 120 Hz edge-lit LED model that is really a great TV except for the poor flashlighting produced by the edge-lit design, and its poor DLNA support. With all the frustration I had with that, I almost swore off Samsung for good.

So how does this LN46C550 compare to a TV that cost more than twice as much? Actually, pretty well. I have this connected to a Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player and the HD 1080p is rendered pretty well, however, this being a tube backlit LCD at 60 Hz, there are most definitely some differences in picture quality between the two.


VIDEO:

The fit and finish of the TV with its Touch of Color design (matches the UN55B7000) is nicely done. The firmware for this years TVs (the C series) is much better than last years. There is a plethora of configuration options for tuning display parameters. While the set comes with 4 preset picture modes, they are woefully over-saturated and inaccurate. Many of the dynamic adjustments are noticeable and intrusive, making them more bother than they are worth. Spending an evening with the Spears & Munsil High-Definition Benchmark Blu-ray Disc Edition [Blu-ray] is well worth the effort. The display can be tuned to a respectable level of accuracy for all but the most critical viewer.


AUDIO:

Yeah. 10 Watts x 2. Basically, two little downward-firing tin cans. While it has some sophisticated audio signal processing, and preset sound modes like voice enhancement (very handy) and Virtual Surround, no DSP magic is going to trick you into believing you aren't listening to two very cheap, underpowered speakers. Luckily this does have a digital audio out connector.


FEATURES:

The TV has a wide variety of features and connectivity options. I specifically chose a TV that has DLNA capability. This years models are a little better in supporting it than last years. I currently use a wired connection to my network, and a PC with Twonky and Mezzmo to stream recorded TV shows. Samsung hasn't figured out how to support Windows Media streaming. However, I must say that the Windows 7 "Play To" feature now works with the C series sets in a limited fashion, no FF or RW.

The remote is functional, but nothing to write home about. The TV supports AnyNet+, so you can use the remote to control other Samsung connected stuff.

Another neat feature is the On/Off timers, which allow you to use the TV like an alarm clock if you wish.


SUMMARY:

All-in-all, a lot of features for the money. While it's not going to knock the socks off the vipheophile in the family, the extra features overcome its average picture and audio quality Samsung does have some quality control issues, but so far, offer a decent buying experience. Would I buy it again. Yes.

I had it set up on the stand and running in less than 15 minutes. I immediately plugged my laptop in through the VGA input and selected the "PC input" selector and within 3-5 seconds the screen was on 46 inches of glory. IT WAS SO SIMPLE, I DIDN'T have to do anything to get it to show up on the LCD TV, it just knew how to do it and how to display it correctly. I don't own a MAC but I know when I have used them they were so simple and intuitive. That was my experience with this TV. Samsung has figured it out. I was using "Netflix watch instantly" within another minute. THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE I HAD to do. I was navigating the web with a huge monitor.People say the sound on LCDs is not that good and I normally use a small stereo on my computer, but at half volume it was plenty loud!

This TV is beautiful too, what looks to be a glass/hard plastic/fiber bevel around the edge as well as the stand. It looks very complimenting to a taken care of home, nothing cheap about the tv except its price, which I got it for $[...] after shipping.

This is my second night with it. My wife and I were sitting on the couch with our wireless mini remote checking my emails and one of my [...] email advertisements came through and we bought something, like interactive TV, so simple. It doesn't feel like a computer anymore.

I bought this TV from an Amazon Marketplace seller a couple of months ago. So I have had some time to experience it. I use this TV for watching a lot of sports (Hockey, Baseball, Basketball and Football) some programming - like House and The Simpsons (and sometimes Spongebob)- and some cable fare on Discovery, Science Channel, HGTV, TBS-TNT and so on. I find the picture to be absolutely perfect for sports. Bright, sharp, and clean. I don't have any blurring or "pixelating" or whatever it's called when I watch sports. So no, if you ask me, you don't need 120Hz or more to watch sports. Sometimes on non-sports cable programming I get some blurs and pixelation but as far as I can tell it's mostly when I am watching movies that weren't formatted for HDTV. For example, I saw periodic but noticeable pixelation when I watched the 1st Bourne movie, Terminator 2, and (I am embarrassed to admit) Speed on TNT. I also find some of the Discovery programs to sometimes get a little smudgy - very little and only periodically. I think that's weird because those programs are allegedly in HD. I am not sure they are. The channel might be in bonafide HD but maybe they record the programs using some other format and lose something in the conversion. I have no such problems on Fox, NBC or ABC either. And the last time I watched CBS for something other than sports I was still living with my parents - so no comment there. Heck, even Spongebob looks great on NickHD. Anyway, that is one the weird thing I don't like about the picture but I'm thinking it's a problem with the service and not the TV. One thing: after I got my Sony I thought that the Samsung picture looked less than great. That Sony Bravia picture is awesome (as long as you are watching from straight on and not from any angle). But then I saw some internet advice that told be to calibrate the picture using a DVD with a "THX optimizer" feature. Most Disney movies have that. I broke out Finding Nemo and tweaked the picture settings and now it looks about the same as the Sony. And I want to point out about the Sony that although the picture is phenomenal it is only that way from dead center viewing. If you get off center by even a little bit the colors start to fade out. On the Samsung I can watch from almost any angle and the colors hold true. That makes the Sammy better for the living room and the Sony fine for the bedroom.

For sound, I know there are some complaints but ignore them. The sounds is perfect. It's pretty full for a TV and the stereo effect works good as well. I rarely crank it up past 10 on the dial and I think it goes up to 40 or something. Really - ignore the sound complaints. Audiophiles are never satisfied.

For features, it has a lot and I rarely use them because I'm not that kind of TV consumer. But you can do all kinds of stuff with your computer and flash drives and cameras and MP3 players and so on. I never bothered with the internet set up because the 32" Sony Bravia I have has that feature and it's lame. I'm not plunking down $60-$80 for a wireless USB stick to watch reruns of Good Times and Sanford and Son. Here is the thing about the internet feature: if you have a cable provider or satellite feed you probably don't need it. You can get your movies streamed over those cable services for the same price (or better). You also get the bonus features like channel guides over the cable service. But I guess if you don't have cable or satellite provider then the internet service would be a good feature for you. There are some free services and movies but they really are pretty lame. The rest you pay for on an ad-hoc basis. The only thing I use internet for on the Sony intenet is to catch You-Tube replays of some horse races that I missed. (I told you I like sports). But that isn't worth extra money. The Sony TV came with the USB Wireless stick thrown in, by the way.

Overall, this is a great TV. And if you are making the move from a tube TV or other non-HD set then this set will probably blow your mind.

I downsized from a 72" to this TV and love it. The screen size is great, picture is great and sound is great.

A very nice 46" LCD set, with good features and a good price.

Only con: the optional wireless network USB adapter (only available from Samsung) is pricey.

I got a special deal on this through Amazon and Chase. Amazon has a tendency to delete prices in reviews, so I'll just say this: look at the crossed out suggested list price and divide it by two. That's what I paid, including free shipping and setup by Pilot Freight. It was delivered on-time and in perfect new condition.

I couldn't pass it up at that price. The picture is good, especially with HD sources. My PS3 games and Blu-Ray look excellent. The sound is decent, but not spectacular. It gets the job done, but you won't mistake it for home theater. No surprise there.

To my eyes the picture quality of this set is on par with many of the more expensive Samsung models. I think the lower price is just due to having fewer features. I didn't care about 240Hz, or built in Netflix, or any of that. I just wanted a basic TV with good picture quality and I had a limited budget. If you're in the same boat, then you should put this TV, or some of the similar Samsung models, on your short list.

For the price that Amazon is asking, this is still a decent deal for a high quality set. If I had paid that price, I'd probably say it's a 4-star set. At the price I paid, it's 5-stars for sure.

As always, my purchases from Amazon are on the money. I'm really enjoying my Samsung 46 inch LCD HDTV. Really glad I made this purchase!