Customer Reviews

Samsung LNT5271F 52-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

5 star:		(219)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I've had this TV for a few weeks (bought it from Amazon, who had it to my house in less than 48 hours...how do you guys do that?!?) and am so far very impressed. This set is from Samsung's 8th generation LCD plant, which puts it on the cutting edge of LCD production technology. Blacks are very dark and scaling is generally pretty good (not perfect...an outboard video processor is still the way to go if you're really picky). The number of tweaking settings available to the user is overwhelming...just a huge array of parameters to make you happy with the picture. If there's any downside to this set, it's the softness of the bezel plastic; it scratches very easily. Overall, I'm quite happy with the set and would buy it all over again if I had to make the decision a second time.

I researched the 81 and 71 series for as long as they had been announced (~ 6 months, since CES show). I got all hopped up about the "100k" contrast ratio on the 81 series due completely to the new "LED" backlighting. Well, at AVS forums, one guy bought both, and concluded that it only mattered when the screen was totally black (like the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen when watching a wide screen formatted movie, or a fade scene), and then only a little. The general conclusion seemed to point to the 71 series being the sleeper hit so far this year (dunno about the xbr5, but some reports put this one right with it), and that the 81 series wasn't worth the extra grand or more.

Too late for me, because I rushed into BB to pay up front for an 81 series tv as soon as the store had the sku in their system (4 weeks before they even showed up). Yeah, I got to use a 12% off good customer coupon, but in the end I could have had a 52" 71 series instead of a 46" 81 series (especially seeing how heavily discounted they are now on Amazon). The anti-motion options in the 81 are only available in "movie" mode, and are buried in the menus, and only has an on/off option, versus the 71's easy to navigate 3 level options for the anti-motion feature.

The reviews point to the colors and picture appearing just about the same between the 2 tv's when the screen or a large portion of it wasn't all black. Other than that....get this one. It is worth the premium over the 61 or 65 series. As long as you can live with a glossy / semi-glossy screen (versus the xbr4/5's matte screens), you won't be sorry. As for me, I'm wondering if I should bite the bullet and be one of those turkeys who uses the 30 day guarantee to return the TV and get a 71 series...it is a lot of money not to be totally satisfied with the purchase. Best of luck.

I have had the Samsung LNT5271 in my house for several weeks and I am still amazed at the quality of the picture every time I watch it. Over the past year, I have done extensive research and spent lots of time at Best Buy and Circuit City comparing the various offerings. Up until this point, I have always been a "Sony" purchaser and initially I was leaning toward purchasing the XBR5. I would have purchased this set over the LNT5265 but during my last visit to Circuit City, one of the salepeople showed me the new LNT5271 and I was blown away by the colors and crisp picture. It was set up next to a XBR5 and had the same feed. In my opinion, there was a substantial difference. The other factor that swayed my decision was the larger size of the Sony and the glass bezel they insist on using around their XBR sets. My wife took one look at the Sony and declared it would not be coming home with us. Sony does not build an XBR quality TV without the bezel but regardless I would have chosen the Samsung. I did purchase through Amazon and it took a bit longer than I hoped given that it was "in stock". Eagle delivered the set with no issues but unlike other reviews I read, they did not plug in the set and they did not take away the box saying I should keep it in case the set needed to be returned. The Eagle guys were kind enough to help me move my old gigantic Sony tube TV (250 pounds) and the armoire that housed it. I tipped both guys well for their help. The overall set-up of the TV was easy and I used the HDMI cables purchased from Amazon. I did not tweak the picture too much since the three standard modes loaded into the set already are more than sufficient for my current needs. One last note, I originally wanted a LCD over a plasma since my room has a lot of windows and gets a lot of light. In addition, with our old Sony tube TV we would always get reflections from the room lamps depending on where you sat. Thus I was concerned with the shiny Samsung screen and also the shiny housing. I even considered just buying the Pioneer Elite plasma instead of the Samsung but I honestly could not tell the difference and thought the Samsung had just as good performance especially in the blacks which are supposed to be the strength of a plasma versus an LCD. The shiny screen and bezel are not even noticeable (except when the TV is off) and the picture is so good that I doubt anyone will be bothered by it. If you are on the fence with this set, I highly recommend jumping off and buying it.

I have seen this 71 up close and personal. It is on my list of things to get. A friend and I went to check out this bad boy at a local electronics store. We compared the Samsung 71 to the Sony XRB5. The results blew us away. Sony comes far in second place in our books. The black contrast was far from being deep black as Sony has boasted. The Samsung was the cleanest, deepest black contrast that we have ever seen; not to mention the color contrast was out of this world. My friend and I are engineers; we see a lot of high tech gadgets up close and personal. If you're a simple hard working person like me, then I would suggest buying the Samsung over the Sony this time. Don't take my word for it; go check it out for yourself. Ask the sales person to connect the same video source to the two TVs at the same time. Make the comparison yourself.

Conclusion:
Samsung has my vote for this TV. Sorry Sony, you really need to get it right in order to get your name back. I am a die hard Sony dude, but this time, Samsung has won my heart (and money).

Follow up:
I just bought this bad boy and can't wait to get it. I am sure that I have made the right decision on this purchase. I told a few of my friends at work and they all hate me (YEAH!). Anyway, I am excited about getting the set soon. I hope my luck will be as good as the others when the set arrives. Now, if I can just get those dudes to heft that heavy boy up the steps in my high rise... (More to come)

Update:
The TV arrived; Eagle shipping had unpacked the box; setup the TV, powered up and WOW! My expectations were exactly as I had expected. Couple of my work buddies helped me hang this bad boy on the wall. We were all blown away the great picture. Later, I tested USB port with a memory stick. I loaded up some digital images and was blown away again. This TV never ceases to amaze me. Yes, I did make the right choice in buying this one.

Oh, BTW, Eagle shipping even carted off the empty box for me.

Thanks Samsung; thanks Amazon and thanks to Eagle shipping for a great experience.

Famous last words, "I'll be back!"

UPDATE: 04.23.08: TV still working great. No problems at all. There is one bit of advice to owners that are not enjoying the TV as much as I am. There is a forum on the website that is dedicated only to this TV. I am not sure of the link, but if you Google "Forum Samsung LNT5271F 52-inch", you'll get a few links. From within the links, check out some of the recommendations in tweaking your TV to look better. I did and I am glad I did. I think if those owners that reported a bad review, they should at least tweat the set to suit their purposes. In all fairness, the TV is a wonderful set. I wished that I had not bought the Sony for the living room because the Samsung really did blow Sony out of the water this time. BTW, I called Samsung to see if there was a problem with customer service. They went out of there way to answer my questions, even though nothing was wrong with the set. Just wanted to follow up on what the other owners are complaining about with the bad reviews.

Final thoughts: I am glad I got this TV. It has been a very good one from the very first day I switched on the power. I only wished that other owners have the same experience as I.

Later!

For openers let me say that I love this TV. The picture is great with vivid detail and rich true colors. Hi def picture is great and standard def picture is very good for this size set.

The following is included for those who may run into this problem with their set.

I received delivery from Eagle. They were on time. The TV was delivered from van rather than a larger truck and showed no signs of wear on the outer carton. The delivery man unpacked it and helped me set in on a low table (temporary until I could get help to attach it to my Omni mount). After plugging it in the delivery man attacked the auto set up like the mad clicker from hell. At some point during his clicking the red stand by light started blinking. When he left I signed for the TV as having no picture in case I couldn't fix the problem myself. After a few days of frustration I called Samsung. None of their techs were able to suggest a solution. They put in a repair ticket. At that point I unplugged the set and left it unplugged for a day.

Amazon customer service was great and offered to replace the set.

When I tried plugging it in again the problem was resolved and I canceled the replacement.

I saw 1 posting with the same problem. The bottom line is that the TV needs more than the suggested 15 minutes to reset.

If you want a great picture this is the set for you. Buy it and enjoy your viewing.

I first saw this TV in BestBuy and CircuitCity, and one of them had it set-up with a Blu-ray disc player. I was totally astounded! I decided to go home and do my research, and found that Amazon had a much better price, free shipping and delivery. It was an easy sell. I ordered it right away. From the time I ordered it and the the time it shipped, the price went down and I asked Amazon to adjust the price which they did. a few days later I received a call from the delivery company, on a sunday! They set up a time to deliver it the next day and showed up promptly. I was not disappointed with the TV at all and the shopping experience with Amazon was very good.

The picture is beautiful --- even with SD (standard definition) and normal DVDs. Frankly, because of this, I could care less about having HDTV or Blu-rays. I have my PS3 (HDMI), Wii (RCA), media center (PC), and cable line (coaxial) plugged into it. All four look great!!! As you can see, I use it for gaming (PC, Wii, PS3 --- all with no lag!), DVD movies (via PS3) and TV/ DVR recordings.

For months, I was going to get the Sony XBR 52" LCD, but then I saw this one, and I bought it in a BLINK of an eye. And you can't lose if you buy it here on Amazon: great delivery service, 30-day price guarantee, and in most places, there are no shipping or tax fees (this alone will save you a bundle). This is by far the biggest and most expensive purchase I've ever made here on Amazon, and it was PAINLESS! :)

After reading the reviews on the predecessor model 65, seeing the LNT5265F in the showroom, and reading initial reviews for the the model 71 (LNT5271F), I decided to go for the 71 as soon as it was available in September.

Purchase Experience: The price dropped pretty rapidly from MSRP to $3445 and I ordered it at that price. Two days later the Amazon price was down to $3299. An email to Amazon asking for price protection, and they credited my account for the difference within a day or two.

Shipping and Delivery: Not quite as good an experience here. The tracking email notification gave a date range to expect contact and delivery. Those dates came and went with no contact. I eventually had to contact Amazon and Eagle shipping in Phoenix to initiate the delivery process - ultimately about 4 days late. Once scheduled, the actual delivery was on time, and included unboxing the set, hooking it up and making sure things worked properly. This last part was somewhat awkward because the Samsung needs to go through a multi-step setup process before you get a chance to see a real picture. If there are any satellite receiver or cable box setup steps, the process is even longer. The delivery guy was patient, however, and waited until the setup was done, the picture was checked and he took the packaging material and left. He politely refused a tip, by the way.

The LNT5271F: As previous reviews have mentioned, the glossy screen can reflect bright lights and windows in some situations. Brightness, contrast and black levels produce a picture so nice, however, that your mind very quickly adapts and after a few days I don't notice any reflections at all. Overall the picture quality is terrific. There is very little drop-off in picture quality at even pretty extreme viewing angles - much better than the old projection TV it replaced. Sound quality is just OK, both in standard and TruSurround XT modes. A feed to a good sound system is advisable for an immersive viewing experience. I see very little difference between the settings for the Auto Motion Plus 120Hz feature. A slight jerkiness during very fast action can sometimes be detected, but only if you're looking for it. Some menu features seem to be available only with certain connection types or in concert with other settings, and these are not well documented in the manual.

Bottom line: My overall experience with the product and Amazon was very good.

I researched LCD's for 6 months, was about to buy the Samsung 5265 but the Amazon price spikes on that over the summer made me wait. Then the 71 series was discussed, saw one on display at Bestbuy and pulled the trigger over Labor Day - used the 12% off coupon ($3850 was the price for the 52 delivered), got 3 years no interest, plus 60 day price guarantee. Over the weekend, Amazon had this same unit for $3,375 + free SH. Went back to Bestbuy yesterday requested a price match to Amazon or advised I would return the set, they not obly matached Amazon, but also gave me 10% of the difference. Nice deal, love the set so far.

So I finally got the tv at the price I wanted from Amazon. It came early, within a week (order placement 11-20: Delivery 11-26). I had it installed and used the supplied remote control to make the intitial settings using the supplied booklet. I connected by Toshiba HD A35 DVD player and inserted Planet Earth.

My wife daughter and I watched and we were stunned. The clarity, the precision of the sceneries were breath taking. I used the flat HDMI 1.3B cable, 4 meters in length. I connected my cable box to the tv using the component vidoe cable and watched Comcast On Demand HD Gallery Player. Again, WOW factor.

So here are my ratings.
Sound Quality: Na- None as I use my audio-vidoe amplifier for sound.

Picture Quality: 9.5/10-Excellent when used with true HD source but with some caution. There are different settings for the picture size and based on the setting the picture quality may suffer. I discovered that even though a cable broadcast is in HD, the video source is not necessarily in HD and this was reflected in the picture quality (no fault of the tv). Based on the picture setting, you can get lines at the top and bottom of the screen. There is a setting " Just Scan" that is suppose to automatically select the best picture size, that only makes the picture quality worse when the video source is not true HD. Once I have a true HD video source (HD DVD playing or some broadcast channels)the picture sizing works well.

Set up and Configuration Simplicity: 7/10- Better than average. What is lackking. It would be good to provide guidelines on the preferred selections. I know there are personal tastes, but it would be good for Samsung to recommend a best setting or provide the means for the unit to automatically default to the most desirable settings. However I must insist some guidance as to what each setting means is very usable.

Remote Control: 7/10- Average; It was a pain to program other devices. In fact I was not able to program any of the devices successfully. Since these are common models (Toshiba DVD player, Magnavox cable box) I would certainly expect the codes to work. The actual programming was made more difficult by having to use a sharp pointed object to insert in hole cotaining Set button ( really a small opening or hole) unlike the other buttons that are elevated or raised and can easily be pushed.

In closing this is the best HD 1080P television I ever watched. I researched long and hard before deciding on this one. I went to several Best Buys and watched side by side comparisons, (Sharp and Sony) and the quality of the picture was the best on the Samsung. This was the only one with a contrast ration 25000 to 1, where as the others were 10,000 to 1. This is important to view shades of black, especially on clothing. The 120 Hz refresh rate was a plus. Yes there are much cheaper 1080 P 52 inch models out there, but I go for high quality snd am willing to pay for it. ( I win out in the long run)

Desired Features: It would have been good if the unit was internet ready or internet-enabled or better yet have a wireless internet capability (Sony and HP units now offer this feature and this is the way of the future)

There are still more features for me to try out (pc hook up, showing photos via the USB port etc.).

Pricing: Amazon dropped the price to $2650 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and having paid $2799.99 on 11-20, they refunded the difference. It is back at $2799. Plus I did not have to pay for shipping or tax and the delivery guys placed it exactly on the stand where I wanted it. Now that was service. (Great work Amazon) Best Buy, Circuit City are not even close.

Overall Score: 9/10

I hope you find this review helpful and informative.