Customer Reviews

Samsung UN26D4003 26-Inches 720p 60Hz LED HDTV (Black)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After a period of adjustment, I've come to be quite pleased with the quality of this TV. Standard-Definition looks crisp on this TV - and, after having seen the way other brands of TV render standard-definition signals (when I was trying to see if a different TV would be a better fit) - I have to believe that this Samsung TV is among the very best among the recent "entry-level" TVs at displaying standard-definition TV. It's good to know that Samsung hasn't completely neglected the consumer who still watches standard-definition TV - for I imagine that there are many other people out there who need a new TV, but cannot commit to the greater expense of high-definition TV.

1ST SET DEFECTIVE, 2ND SET FINE: The original Samsung UN26D4003 that arrived at my door had a couple of problems. There were a few areas on the screen that looked "washed out" (particularly when displaying black and/or dark images) - as though the "pixels" in these areas were not functioning up-to-par. And the overall standard-definition picture left a little to be desired - at least when you stood closely to the screen. Somehow, I thought that it was possible that I had received a defective set - instead of it being a problem with all Samsung UN26D4003s. So I contacted Amazon about the problem - and Amazon was wonderful about shipping (completely free-of-cost) another set to me right away. Sure enough, the problems I had with the first set have been absent with the replacement set. Once things "settled down", I realized that this set really delivers on the quality.

SMALL FOOTPRINT: One of the things I like so much about this TV is that - for a TV with a 26" screen-size - it has a small footprint. You can check out the published dimensions for yourself. The borders of the TV are very thin, and there is no visible "speaker bar" underneath the bottom border. These facts contribute to the TV's simple, elegant look: other 26" TVs look bulky in comparison. The TV's smaller footprint saves me precious inches in a modestly-sized, cramped bedroom.

NO PROBLEMS WITH STANDARD-DEFINITION (4:3): There was another reviewer - Stan - who had the complaint that the Samsung wasn't displaying the full standard-definition picture of his DirecTV. That review made me hesitate a bit in buying this TV - but after rationalizing that Stan's review didn't mean that I would have the same problem, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the purchase. Sure enough, I was relieved when I had no such problems. The standard-definition picture of my Comcast Cable has fit the screen perfectly. The default display mode is NOT "Zoom" (the setting that gave Stan some problems) - but "16:9". The "16:9" setting does not cut off any part of the picture - and it fills the screen when displaying scenes that were intended to fill the screen. In order to ensure that the picture fills the screen perfectly - be sure that the correct setting is selected. With this Samsung, this setting is NOT called "Zoom" - but "16:9".

BLACK BARS NOT SAMSUNG TV'S FAULT: Sometimes, I will watch shows in which the picture does NOT fill the entire screen - black bars will appear across the top and bottom. Whenever this happens (and it happens somewhat frequently) - I know that this is NOT a flaw of the Samsung TV, or even my cable company. It's due to how the show's producer, or the TV station on which the show appears - decides to display its product. It has become a little bit of a trend for companies to broadcast their shows in a widescreen format - with the black bars on the top and bottom. For example, I believe Fox TV is now showing NFL games like this - and ESPN seems to now broadcast most of its shows like this, as well. There is no setting on any TV that will "fix" this. I don't really mind when shows are displayed like this - I'm pretty used to it, and am barely conscious of it. If anyone has a problem with this, there is really nothing you can do but take it up with the TV station or the show's producer.

CHECK WITH YOUR CABLE/SATELLITE PROVIDER (IF NEEDED): Apparently, it is possible to make some picture adjustments through your cable's on-screen menu or DirecTV's menu - so if you encounter any problems that you think could/should be fixable, an additional option is to try to fix the problem via your cable/satellite box or company.

LOTS OF OPTIONS FOR PICTURE ADJUSTMENTS: This Samsung offers a vast array of picture adjustments - considerably more than most "entry level" TVs. This review has gotten long - so you can check the user manual on the Samsung website for further detail. But if you're anything like me and need to have lower brightness levels and "warmer" colors - this is a great TV to have. It's also great if you like your TV very bright - and/or with vivid colors. There are several settings that allow you to "fine tune" the picture to your liking - including "Advanced Settings".

BIG SOUND, LOTS OF OPTIONS FOR SOUND ADJUSTMENTS: The sound is more than adequate for my bedroom. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, the sound would probably be good even in a large living room. The volume goes all the way to "100" - and rarely do I need to have it above "15". Much of the time, I have it below "15". And there are an array of sound-settings which you can select to make those "finer" adjustments: for ex., there is a setting that supposedly enhances people's voices above the "background noise", and a setting that is "ideal" for music. You can activate SRS TruSurround HD on this TV - which gives more of a "movie theater" quality to the sound.

ONLY ONE A/V-COMPONENT INPUT: One thing about this TV that may be a drawback is that it only has one A/V input. Furthermore, this A/V input is actually a combined A/V-component input - so you cannot hook up a device that uses A/V (a.k.a. composite) connections and a device that uses component connections at the same time. For those of you who don't need these inputs - or only need to hook up one A/V or component device - this isn't really a problem. But for those of you who need to hook up 2 or more "older" devices that connect via A/V or component - you may be frustrated. It may be possible to get around this limitation by getting a "component to HDMI" adapter or a "composite to HDMI" converter - but I'm not knowledgeable or experienced about this, so I don't know how well this works.

DISPLAYS MY VCR/DVD IMAGES WELL: I have a VCR/DVD recorder hooked up to this Samsung TV via the A/V input - and I've been pleased with the quality of the images.

CUTE FEATURE: one small, endearing feature of this TV is that it makes a gentle "chime" sound when you power it on or off.

SMALL INACCURACY IN AMAZON'S DESCRIPTION: I can assure you that the screen diagonal is a full 26", not the 25.5" that Amazon lists in the specifications above.

Overall, this TV lives up to Samsung's good name. 4 stars instead of 5 - simply because I would have liked to have had an extra A/V-composite input.

Great picture and is perfect as a bedroom set, however the lack of ports and the fact that there is no Audio out just keeps this from being a 5 Star product. Honestly don't understand what Samsung was thinking with so little ports and options. To make things worst, the pair of speakers are only 5 watts so don't expect much.

Decent buy, could have been better if the speakers were better or had audio out port.

This TV set has NO AUDIO OUTPUT or HEADPHONE JACK.

The only way to hear it is through the tiny rear-facing speakers.

WHAT ON EARTH is Samsung thinking?

I always buy samsung Tv's and this one did not let me Down!!! The Pix is awesome its my first LED Tv But probably not my last. The pix is very crisp even in standard tv Mode And HD is Amazzzzzzzing!!!!! The sound Is pretty Good Too For a 26inc NOt the best But good enough For My Bedroom!!! I would Def Recommend this Tv too people I am A loyal Samsung Customer I always Will be!!!!

Picture quality is fantastic but..., there is no audio output on this TV. Probably does not matter to most people. If you are hooking up surround sound, does not matter. Personally, I have been more than happy with the sound quality of a couple of good quality PC speakers hooked up to the headphone jack of my previous TVs. This allows volume to be controlled with the existing remote control and results in easier hook-up and less cable clutter. You cannot do that with this TV and you probably will not be satisfied with the built-in speakers on this TV. (Update: Built-in speaker performance improved significantly after changing sound mode to "Movie" and turning "Tru-surround HD" and "Auto Volume" on. Still not as good as external speakers though).
Checked four other televisions for sale on Amazon (2 Samsungs, a Panasonics and an LG) just to make sure this feature hadn't been phased out industry-wide and 3 of the 4 had audio output and one had an actual headphone jack.
So, if you want to hook your TV up to speakers without losing your ability to control the volume through the same remote, keep shopping.
I just assumed all TVs had some kind of audio output.

This TV is really nice for our kitchen because it fits under the cabenet at only 16.5" tall. The picture is sharp and vibrant. Worth every penny.

The Samsung television has been in our kitchen for about two weeks - no problems. The television is light and fit up on a built out shelf perfectly. The package was sustantial and thus no damage during shipping even though the edges of the box were worn. The set up of the televisoin was easy and accomplished in about 15 minutes. The picture is what I have grown to expect from Samsung - excellent. I like everything about the set except the sound is somewhat lacking. I am considering adding a sound bar or something like that to enhance the sound. Overall, very pleased with the set.

Picked this up to be a TV in my bedroom. It works great, though using a standard definition signal for cable doesn't seem to work to well. Some times the channels look like they are cut off if it is in full screen mode, and in wide screen mode everyone looks really fat. This doesn't happen on my Sony LCD, or any other Samsung LCDs I have, but with those I did spend more for the TVs, so I figure it is the "level" of TV I purchased.
When watching movies, or anything with a HD signal though the TV is fantastic.

I was so pleased by this television. I spent a few hours in different stores comparing pictures and it certainly seemed like the best quality of them all. Once I got this one at home, I was pleased that the quality of the sound was also excellent. The remote is also very user friendly.

Excellent TV with a great price. Just what I needed for the bedroom. My only problem was that I ordered the VideoSecu wall mount at the same time and the two weren't compatable. The TV has VESA mounting holes spaced at 100mm x 200mm, while the mount only has 100mm x 100mm. I made two adapters from some 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum stock which I fastened to the mount so that I could drill holes at 200mm spacing. Everything worked out great.