Customer Reviews

Samsung UN46C8000 46-Inch 1080p 3D 240 Hz LED HDTV

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This TV is absolutely stunning. I was actually waiting for the C9000 to come out, but that TV's price is way over the limit. I found out that this TV which is the next step down and actually has the exact same technology as the C9000 minus the touchscreen remote (which can be bought seperately) and the slim profile, not a big deal considering the TV already looks beautiful and is half the price or less then a C9000!

In all honesty, I think this TV has one of the nicest pictures I've ever seen. One example is the pin-point dimming, which has garnered a lot of criticsm and skeptisism. I have seen the production TV model live and I must tell you, I think it's better then local-dimming and I'll tell you why... Unless there is a new panel that is made to fix the local-dimming "halo affect", this is currently the only way to get outradgeous contrast levels without that problem. The pin-point dimming on this TV dramatically lowers the dark spots on the screen in certain area's without a halo affect and actually goes completely pitch black when watching movies with dark screens just like a local-dimming TV. I think this TV actually excels at the dimming part over a local-dimming TV because it creates supurb black levels without any halo affects. That's a huge deal for me. Next is the color accuracy of this panel, I think the whites and colors on this TV are probably better then I've ever seen. Sure Plasma's can sometimes have better color temperatures, but they will not pop out of the screen with ambience like this TV shows. This TV is sharp looking and beautiful and it displays wonderful 3D and High-definition like never before.

Last, but not least... this tv is LOADED with features, easily making it one of the most feature rich TV's there is on the market. It's completely wireless, has 4-hdmi conenctions, has internet applications and streaming capabilities and best yet, it does it well! I have done a lot of research and have compared this TV with it's newest competitors and this one is it. Don't just take my word for it, go see it for yourselves and you'll just see what I am talking about.

Length:: 5:32 Mins

If you have read any of the other reviews you probably have noticed a general theme - the Samsung C8000 has a picture that is unmatched. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but in this case it really is the truth. prior to purchasing I had spent about 6 months going to box stores and staring at various televisions. In all of that time I decided that the Samsung LED's were in class by themselves. At long last I was ready to make the purchase and I decided to order from Amazon.com in fact the price was attractive enough that I went ahead and ordered the Samsung UN46C8000 46" 1080p 3D LED TV, 1080p Resolution, 3D Technology, 3D HyperReal Picture Engine, Touch of Color Design, Kit Includes 2 Pairs of 3D Glasses, BD-C5900 1080p 3D Blu-ray DVD Player, Dig Pro HDMI Cable.

Wow.

In all of my travels to box stores I never came across a picture that was as good as the C8000. Nothing is even close.

A few of my notes

- I have never used the television in 3D, and I doubt if I will until sometime next year. To be honest the 3D accessories are too expensive and the available content is too sparse. So why would I buy a 3D television? Well for the price of the Samsung C8000 I am able to get a 3D television for the price of a different mid-range television. However, with the C8000 I get the industry's best picture and the expandability of 3D for a later date. Really how can you lose?

- The picture is both bright and crisp. The detail is beyond belief. The best way to describe it is that the picture resembles a professional photo (print) in a high quality frame.

- 4 HDMI inputs - Please note that 3D televisions require high-speed HDMI cables. Take my advice and save yourself some $$$ by purchasing AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters) [Supports 3D + Audio Return Channel] - no need to thank me, but you will save major cash.

- The internet tv function and Samsung apps are interesting, but far from critical. You may find yourself using them, but you will likely use your Tivo, PS3 or other device to stream you content.

- The actual "look" of the television is remarkable. It looks like a giant brushed titanium picture frame. The television is less than 1" (roughly the same thickness as the remote control).

- Sound quality - is good, but not to the same quality as the picture. You may want to consider in investing in an audio system.

- While it is internet ready, the C8000 is NOT wireless. Seems like an odd oversight.... unless Samsung is just pressing to sell more Samsung WIS09ABGN LinkStick Wireless LAN Adapter

Final Verdict - Everyone who has watched my television has been amazed. I really do think that it is both the value and picture on the market today.

5 Stars

Being an electronics buff, I hold a high standard to quality. This Samsung UN46C8000 is amazing. Picture quality is the best I have ever seen. From the quality remote to the stand this television is the set for you. After it was programmed and user preferences were set, the first HD channel was a golf tournament on Golf Channel HD. Truely breath taking!!! My other HD sets are Plasma ranging from 58 to 32 inches. This is the first LED television I have owned. Being one inch thick, weighing in at 55 lbs it was very easy to handle. The picture quality on non 3D broadcast makes it look like a modified 3D. I have never seen anything like it. My wife who could not care the least about technology, was very impressed with the picture quality.
Amazon made the purchasing experience painless with no sales tax and inside delivery. The delivery staff unbox your television, plug it in to make sure it works and are friendly to boot. Last but not least, you will be very impressed. I am very impressed with this next generation of quality. Samsung you definitely got this one right!!!!

Update:

All of the above comments are still true. I have watched my first 3D movie with the glasses and everything worked perfectly. 3D makes movie watching a whole different experience. Only one major problem...Other than the 3D movie that came with the free Samsung glasses, there are no other choices to purchase. 3D Blu-ray technology has not caught up with the 3D televisions. ESPN 3D debuts in June on Directv. The All Star game will be telecast in 3D and the College Football National Championship game will be in 3D. The television had software update available at the Samsung website. It was easy to update. The television was manufactured on March 30, 2010 and the software upgrade was available on April 15. The 3D Blu-ray DVD player also had an update. Not difficult to perform but a little surprised.

I just got the TV a couple of weeks a go and decided to post my first review ever on Amazon, as well this is the largest purchase I've made. This is my first LCD purchase in a while, I've had a Pioneer Plasma that I've loved forever, but just moved to Boston and left the Pioneer back home. The picture is extremly clear, almost too clear, sometimes I feel like the TV shows are live action TV, which takes a bit to get used too. The features seem great. I read through some of the comments, I'm pretty sure the C8000 doesn't have WIFI, as it wasn't an option, but I had ethernet right behind the TV so I didn't dig super deep. The Internet options are great, can't wait to try netflix out. The Yahoo gadget bar is cool and the Internet TV seem great, first time I've had these options on a TV.

I watched the masters in 3D, pretty cool, but your eyes get tired pretty quick, active 3D makes your eyes work more than passive 3d IMHO. I'm stuck with crappy comcast in my new building, so no 1080P coming through for other channels. I did the 3D combo and got monsters vs aliens. Wife and I watched a bit of it to check out the 3D. Way better quality than the Masters in 3D, but to be honest when I remember watching HDTV for the first time versus Standard TV, that leap was way bigger than from HDTV to 3DTV, maybe when more content comes out. I was hoping to get Avatar 3D, but those jerks are going to wait a year before releasing it. But atleast Comcast has the 3D Channel, maybe they will do more events in the future.

TV is beautiful, nice and thin. One comment about the C9000 it won't support the pin-point dimming, so the C8000 is Samsungs best picture TV. That touchscreen remote can be purchased, but it won't allow you to watch TV on the remote with the C8000 like the C9000 does.

Setup was simple, haven't really dug deep into the features. Sound is OK, but then again I'm used to my home theatre. Does extremely well with the glare and I haven't mounted it on the wall and I'm using the standard stand, comes in handy to turn it slighty to get the glare from the sun out of the picture.

One more thing the 3D mode has some ghosting, I wonder if that will be fixed over time. I do think it is worse when your eyes get tired though. I don't mind the glasses, but I wouldn't wear them in public ;-)

If you are getting a new TV, go for this one, don't be put off by the 3D as a gimic, all TVs are going to ship with them, I don't think you are paying a premimum for the HD. I still love my Pioneer Plasma, the thing is 6 years old and still has a great picture, but this is way better than the two Sharp LCDs I own, espicially the one I dropped and broke the screen on.

If you've read many of the professional reviews of the UN46C8000, you know that one of the common criticisms has been ghosting and shadows when displaying 3D source material. With the June 28th firmware release, this problem has been greatly reduced and the 3D is spectacular. The new firmware load also adds a new "3D Optimize" option to the TV's 3D menu. Selecting this option seems to help minimize ghosting and enhances the 3D effect.

Samsung also seems to have done something to reduce the amount of eye strain caused by wearing the 3D glasses. I can wear them for hours now and not notice any particular problem. Unfortunately, there's very little 3D material available yet, but DirecTV's 3D broadcasts are excellent, probably just as good as my one 3D Blu-ray disc.

For other, non-3D material, this TV is simply superb. If you want to get the best out of it, I recommend you read the review at Home Theater magazine's web site (no, I'm not affiliated with them) and then configure the TV using their recommended settings. Unless you're already an expert at setting up a TV like this, you will likely get much better results by starting with their suggested settings than you would by starting with the factory defaults.

Also, be sure you upgrade the firmware before you adjust the settings, because upgrading the firmware wipes out your customized configuration. Then write down your settings and save them for the next time you need to do a firmware upgrade.

One other item I wanted to mention is that several web sites, including televisioninfo, have stated that this TV "has a very heavy-handed dynamic contrast ratio" that you can't turn off. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dynamic Contrast can be adjusted or turned off completely under the Advanced menu. When it's off, I notice none of the adverse affects on the picture mentioned in some of these reviews.

I gave this four stars because This TV has a nice picture and some of the features work. If I gave it a rating on internet connectivity I would give it only one star though. (note: see also the update I wrote at the end of this review)

I'm having a problem with (and apparently I am not alone) the "Internet@TV" feature. One of the main features I purchased this model for is the internet application features. There are two types of internet features on this series of Samsung LED TV: One is called "Widgets" which gives some very limited internet content and it does work on my setup and communicates via the internet ok, the other feature is called "Internet@TV" which presumably gives all the advertised but missing functionality I was looking forward to. Internet@TV does not work with my setup even though my Widgets communicate on the internet fine, I can even go online to shop for, purchase, download and watch videos with my Widgets. I purchased,downloaded and watched one of my favorite shows "Whale Wars" the most recent episode. I know for a fact that my internet connection is communicating with the TV with the Widgets.

After many hours of trial and error with configuration changes, firmware updates (that was a time-consuming problem as well as Samsung's website url for support files also has problems and also the TV will not do an update online) and unfruitful chats with Samsung techs I did extensive research online and found the problem I am having is a common and known problem with no apparent solution from Samsung at this time.

The common complaint is that people who use Verizon as their internet provider are the ones who have the most problem with the Internet@TV feature not functioning and with being able to download support files like firmware updates via Verizon not only via the TV but even when using a PC to try to do so.

As a tip for anyone using Verizon as their ISP who wants to try to update their firmware via a PC and USB drive: when you get the link for the download from Samsungs Support website erase the "org." part at the very beginning of the link and try the link... it worked for me, I was then able to download, manuals and firmware with no problem. For example this edited link works for me for the firmware update [...] well I tried to help with the link but it was apparently deleted and not allowed here.

I'm writing this review to warn and inform that this is a concern and that the amount of time that others may waste on trying to get this Internet@TV feature to work with certain ISP such as Verizon or to get Samsung tech support on this issue will likely be be excessive and fruitless.

I'm very aggravated by this as most of the advertised features for internet connectivity that I was counting on DO NOT WORK. I would say, as a conservative estimate, I have spent at least 20 hours on this problem and am no closer to resolving it. I am now waiting for Samsung "Tier 3" support to return my call.... someday. They agree something is wrong but that my network/internet appears to be operating OK. One of their experts is supposed to call me back..... probably, possibly? maybe? Seemed pretty noncommittal to me. They said if I don't hear from anyone then I can try to call back someday. I never heard back from Samsung "Tier 3" or any other Samsung "tier". Samsung "tier 2" told me all I can do is to call Verizon and tell them they are blocking my access to Samsung's domain and Samsung Internet@TV. I've tried to get help with Verizon but gave up on after trying for a couple of hours with their tech support. I can imagine that Verizon will likely blame it on Samsung anyway.

You have been warned! If you buy one of these Samsungs for the internet features and especially if you use Verizon as your ISP... you better keep your box and packaging and make sure you are willing and able to return the unit for another brand or model that will work correctly.

If I have any success on this problem I will plan to amend my review here to reflect that in the future.

update 8/4/2010: I am amending my review now, my internet@tv function is now working. I did nothing at all to my setup, tv or dsl modem configuration and it started on its own one day. It did a bunch of internet@tv updates automatically and it is working properly now. Samsung Tier 3 support never contacted me though. I'm leaving one star off because of that and the related hassle I went through trying to get it to work and attempting to get support to resolve the problem.

Greetings from Berlin, Germany!

I just got this TV as well - here it's called C 8790. I am really impressed. I have to admit that I jumped from a 27'' JVC to the 46'' C 8790 - so from a 5 year old TV to this brand new gadget. Thus the differences are enormous. The most mentionable fact I.M.O. is that black is just black. From former TVs I know what it means if black is something like a misty dark gray... A few days before I watched a Blueray with my wife and within the film we thought the TVs somehow switched off -'cause the screen suddenly turned completely black - then we recognized that it just was a scene within the film ;-)

On sunday I watched Germany football cup final (ah yes - you call it "soccer"). It was broadcasted in Full HD and it was amazing how natural and vivid the picture looked. I really felt as being in the stadium. Due to the fact that I live in the same city as where the match took place I was able to compare the sky (outside the window in the "real" world) to the sky how it looked like in the TV - yeah and didn't notice any difference.

Considering the 3D feature. I don not care that much about it - I am an early adopter and I know that this in only the beginning and these are the first steps in bringing 3D to TV sets. Nevertheless it's nice to see what's possible and to get idea of what will be possible in future. There's still a lack of real 3D Bluerays, so we'll have to see. I watched a Star Trek movie with 2D/3D conversion and - yes - it looked three-dimensional and there was some kind of graphical deepness added to the picture. Though this is not comparable to 3D in cinema it's exciting to have something like that at home. It depends on the input material. Tried this with another movie - did not work. Looking forward to upcoming 3D bluerays.

Mediaplayer! I got this TV connected to a network router. It immediately discovered my Upnp mediaserver (it's a TwonkyVision which runs on a QNAP NAS). Browsing pctures, music and video was no problem. I needed to do some configuration work on the twonky server to get most of my videos sucessfully displayed and some still don't show up. But at least my Simpons archive is accessible now directly via TV ;-)

The only thing I am still not able to get up and running is the timeshift feature. I'm using an external HDD on USB1 of the TV. The system checked and formated it. I am able to pause the TV (starting timeshift) but when I try to contunue watching after 30-40 seconds the picture freezes and I have to switch the channel to get it all working again. If I try to replay the timeshift from its beginning i got a message similar to "Unsupported mode, please switch the resolution". I dropped a message to the Samsung support, maybe they know what's this about. Meanwhile I'll try this with another external HDD - maybe that will fix it.

But overall I have to say it's a great TV which absolutely meets my requirements. Happy with that!

*Update*

Timeshift now works for me. My external USB HDD just was too slow to for that feature. Exchanged with another one - works fine :-)

I bought this TV along with the Samsung 3d Bluray player, the starter kit, and an Onkyo S3300 HTB 3D Compatible Home Theater System. I am pretty picky about picture quality and was skeptical that the TV would look as good as the 7000 did in a nearby store. I must admit I have been thoroughly impressed. The fact the TV uses very little energy compared to peer sets is great and that it is very thin is nice too. It has internet conectivity and lots of widgets that I have not used much but look fun.

The picture on this TV is simply the best I have ever seen! Even my wife who doesn't usually see the difference in TVs-was blown away. We compared it to the plasmas and other LCDs and it was the clear winner. I purchased from Amazon with no issues. Great price and great value. Buy it!

I've been a HDTV early adopter since Samsung sold their first generation DLP sets. I think I paid $4500 for a 43" back then. Up until now, the eight or so HDTVs purchased in between have been incrementally better than the previous ones. The last one, a Panasonic 42" 1080P plasma, had a good picture but could also heat the family room. The UN46C8000 is a huge leap in picture quality and runs at only 92 watts.

Watching Avatar in 1080P was awesome and the first night scene in the movie convinced everyone in the family that we needed another new HDTV!

I didn't buy this set for the 3D technology. 3D will improve in a few years and content needs to be more abundant and affordable. 2D quality was what I was interested in.

I'm not a fan of the sleek remote. Although the control is backlit, you need to press a spot on the upper right corner to turn on. I like remotes that you shake to see in the dark. I'm thinking of buying the rmc30c2 remote when it comes out. I read that video on the remote screen won't work like on the 9000 series, but that's not an issue with me.

I highly recommend this LED HDTV. Amazon, your price rocks!

Ok, so I did a lot of research before buying this. Read a lot of reviews but sadly ignored minor things I saw here and there that should have raised a red flag. First, CNET has really good critical reviews on TV's, check that out before your read anymore user reviews. I'll make this brief. The TV is attractive, very sleek. The picture is great, very bright, great contrast, deep blacks. The internet connectivity is good for what it is. Settings are plentiful. Here is the reason for the 3 stars: If you sit on the middle cushion the TV looks great. If you sit 2 cushions over, it sucks, plain and simple. The viewing angle is horrible. You will see grey blacks and you will actually see the LED light from the edges of the TV. I can't believe top of the line Samsung LED LCD (from 2010) suffers so terribly from this. I have a L shaped couch and a love seat on the other side. My living room is a social place and people watch TV from various angles. I was sooooooo disappointed when I finally got this TV and If I sat 45 degrees from the center, the only thing I could see is faded grayish picture. I was expecting perfection. Oh, and another thing. My parents have an older Samsung LCD that's 120Hz and I've noticed the blurring every time something moves fast, its distracting and hardly accurate. SO, I decided to get the 240Hz, hoping this wouldn't happen. Guess what, its barely different, it still happens. Not only watching sports or fast action movies, but even if a girl flips her hair in a movie, you see blurry hair, lame... Other than that, the TV is great! But to me the inaccurate contrast/picture based on the viewing angle and lame "motion plus bs" was enough to make me return it. Thanks Amazon for giving me 30 days from the day I received it to make sure its what I wanted. In conclusion, I bought the Samsung Plasma 8000 series from Amazon (I'm a Samsung guy), it solves these problems, its cheaper, its bigger (51") and there's no compromise, unless you consider the extra $25/year it'll cost you to run it.