 Better Than The 650's! See For Yourself! |
| Review Date: November 13, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Thomas E. Rhodes, Boston |
I have had the LN52A630 for a week now and I have to tell you that it is clearly the best overall choice for an LCD TV with 120hz. I recently wrote a similar review for the LN46A630. I chose to replace it with the 52" only because our livingroom is too large for the 46".
I'm not sure why more people are not going for the 630's over the 650's just for the glare issue alone. My friend has an A650 and in my opinion the reflections are just as bad in his living room as they were in the showroom of the big box stores with the 650. I have two windows directly opposite the TV and a large bow window to the right. My concern was how little control I would have with that much natural light hitting the TV. So far, my 630 has past the evening lighting test with flying colors. With all of the possible lights on in this large room, there is absolutely no reflecting light visible on the TV. During the day with the Sunlight filtering directly into the back windows hitting the TV, there is no reflections to speak of. Awesome, consistent picture on the "matte" screen.
Thanks to the reviews of the 650's about the reflections, I took a chance with the 630 with the "matte" screen and am I ever glad that I did. The difference is significant and because of this reason, I truly believe that the 630 has a better overall picture. It's all about personal preference. Sure it's got one less HDMI and slightly less contrast ratio because of the screen but there are more than enough settings to compensate for this.
I am still making adjustments and learning just what this TV is capable of, but I got to tell you that the Celtics/Hawks game in HD was nothing less than orgasmic. I was in awe switching between that and the Hockey game in HD. Unbelievable!
This TV is the way to go if you want all of the features of the 6 series but not all of the reflections. Get this TV, you will be happy that you did!
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Great TV
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| Review Date: November 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: DAG, |
For a long while I couldn't decide between the A630 or the A650. I finally went with the A630 because I tend to notice the glare on really glossy screens.
I'm the one with the customer image of the crazy "monitor" setup... I've had this TV for about a month, use it quite a bit every day. Every day I'm changing between source inputs... I use this Samsung for TV (not much), some movie watching (DVDs), a lot of xbox 360 and quite a bit as the secondary monitor on a dual computer monitor setup.
I'm quite happy with this purchase. The clarity is awesome, and the glossiness of the screen is just right for me ~ it's not totally "matte", I'd call it semi-gloss. The contrast is excellent, colors vibrant, and I would highly recommend this TV for any of the purposes I currently use it for (TV, movies, video games, computer monitor).
As for the "touch of color"... I'm actually not sure what that means for my set... I don't see any red or any other color for that matter.
The 120Hz is... interesting. I think it really helps TV and movies. I can't quite explain it... it's almost like it's so fluid that it just looks abnormal, I don't know. Some people say they don't like it, or it makes the video footage look like poorer quality... but I actually like it and use it except for fast paced video games (when every millisecond of video processing delay counts). You can adjust how much of the 120Hz processing you want, including turning it off.
I bought straight from Amazon and the delivery was extremely quick and painless. Overall I couldn't be happier with this purchase.
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UPDATE
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It's been almost 11 months and I just wanted to say - I'm still very happy with this television. It's great for High Defintion TV, movies, Netflix over Xbox360, and video games. I'm quite relieved that my first expensive TV turned out to be so nice! |
Perfect for bright rooms. Fantastic picture. Excellent TV.
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| Review Date: December 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Gio, usa |
One thing that always helped me make a decision between plasma and LCD sets was the fact that LCD's used a matte screen to reduce or eliminate reflections and glare. When I began shopping for a 2nd LCD for the home I wanted to go with Samsung as we had excellent experience with our 40" LCD. I was surprised and disappointed when the Samsung models I was interested in had a "new" glossy screen. The LN52A650 and LN46A650 were both sets I was looking at. I really wanted a bigger screen than the 46" but didn't want to spend too much money.
Our TV room has windows on every wall and a gloss screen was just not an option. After an obsessive amount of research I found reviews for the Samsung 630 line. I bought our first set at Ultimate Electronics in Minneapolis and thought I would go again. They didn't even carry the 630 line. Its seems the 650 line is being pushed by most retailers. Had it not been for the reviews on this site and others I would not have known the 630 line was out or that it had a matte screen.
Onto the set. The picture is one of the best I've seen on any TV. Just fantastic. There are a lot of adjustments that can be made to tweak the picture. Many sites I've seen on tweaks actually recommend using standard settings and backing down back lighting and brightness. The idea being real life isn't viewed in dynamic or sport settings on the TV. That's up to the viewer and I haven't found the perfect setting yet though I'm getting closer.
The HD channels are beautiful, crisp, clear and sharp. Most of us still have to deal with some of the standard DEF channels. These channels are OK but a lot depends on the signal you get from your service. We have some that are better than others. If you watch HD channels and switch to standard, you will notice how good HD is. But the standard channels are still good and look good on this TV. Hopefully HD will become the norm soon. Movies are excellent both standard and of course B/R.
The 120 HZ is great. The "auto motion plus" is great for sports. Its a matter of personal taste for movies. It gives a somewhat 3-D appearance to movies, making them look like video instead of film in certain situations. Some cinema experts would say the Auto Motion Plus detracts from the film feel. I turn it it off for movies because I don't like it, but again this is personal taste. NOTE: 120HZ is NOT the same as Auto Motion Plus. The TV will always run at 120HZ. There are a lot of sites where 120HZ is explained. Just remember this TV is 120HZ no matter what and Auto Motion Plus is an anti judder feature that can be turned on or off or set at different levels. The reason the display usually says 60HZ, is because its the signal coming in, but the TV process rate is 120HZ. It up-converts to 120HZ. "Mr. Samsung" on C-net explains a lot about the two. This link shows the set processes 120HZ with AMP turned off. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=997138&page=9
I also confirmed this on a "Live chat" with a Samsung tech on their web page.
Some reviews really slam the sound of this TV. In general TV's alone don't usually have concert hall sound. That being said I think the sound on this set is very good with some adjustments. We are hooked up to a big sound system but for every day use the set's own sound works very well. If you look at the slim depth of the TV you really shouldn't expect punchy, deep bass. If you are looking for cinema sound, you really should consider a system to enhance the experience and not depend on this or any flat screen set to take the sound beyond what's normal for most sets. Bottom line here is that for basic viewing the set is just fine and the sound is good.
Set up is easy, the remote is nice and lights up at night. The "Touch of Red" they talk about is hardly noticeable. I had to look hard to see it in the right lighting. Its not like the 650's. The color does appear if there is some backlighting behind the TV. I personally like it but its very hard to notice. It is there though.
We have the set of our dreams. Big but not too big, nice looking and well,,,, the picture is unreal! After reading a number of reviews, this set specs out nearly identical to the 650 line. The dynamic contrast ratio is slightly lower 40,000 to 1 compared to the 650's 50,000 to 1, but that is said to be related to the 650's glossy screen in part. C-Net reviews rated the 650 as a "similar product" to the 630 and the 650's picture received an outstanding review. The 630 costs less too. The picture is on par with some of the best plasmas and as good as any other LCD out there according to the review and from what I've seen. The Samsungs have been getting high marks on picture quality and the LN52A630 is at the top. Again don't sweat the contrast ratio in comparison with the 650. The matte screen of the 630 is PERFECT for bright rooms! I stood in the store comparing reflections off of the 2 sets and found that we needed the matte screen. Don't let people tell you the 650's gloss isn't noticeable it is very reflective, As far as features go, I found them to be adequate. The series 7 and 8 seem to have more inputs and outputs and some other things that don't deal with picture quality. The price jumps and to me is not worth it, but they are very nice. The key to the 630 is the matte screen. Though I should say its not a completely "sandpaper flat" matte finish like some of the older models. It has some gloss that doesn't reflect and by no means is a glossy screen. Side by side with the 650 the picture of the 630 is about equal. Add sunlight or in house lights and any advantage of the 650 is lost.
Some of this review has been updated since our purchase. I hope it helps people decide between models within in the Samsung line, they are all nice, or between Samsung and another brand.
If you need a matte screen but still want the 120HZ and new technology the Samsung 630 line is the way to go. Its one of the nicest pictures amongst ALL flat screens to date. |
My Researched Choice
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| Review Date: November 18, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Nathan, Austin, TX |
I reviewed and studied this whole flatscreen tv jungle for over a year and this was the TV I chose. I am obsessive over buying the BEST for what I can afford. So, first I researched the difference between plasma and LCD. Down to the end I just had to choose LCD though if the price was right I would have taken a Pioneer Kuro Elite plasma. That was a big hurdle but allowed me to focus on brand, quality and price. Brand came down to Sony, Samsung and Panasonic. I wasn't going to go with Samsung until I came across the 630 for the one defining feature... the matte screen. All other Samsungs have the "Plasma shiny screen" which is AWESOME if your family room is a movie theater, but I have windows and therefore pointless and actually hurts the quality of your picture. I then saw the 630 (which only came out like in late July or August), which is essentially the 650 with the matte screen and one less HDMI outlet and a few hundred bucks cheaper. No brainer. My mind was made. I've owned it since early October and haven't looked back. Love my purchase and I got a great deal for a little over $1900. At the price I see it now on Amazon (just under 1900), I think it's an EXCELLENT deal.
ooh, if I were to add one thing that I don't care as much about, it's the 120HZ. Cool if on sports or nature shows, but for regular TV or movies I don't like it and leave it on the 'low' setting. |
Samsung Rocks
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| Review Date: November 19, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Steven J. Kwan, Daly City, california USA |
I bought this tv about 2 weeks ago through Amazon.com. Got free shipping with it. The shipping company was a bit late in delivering it to me as they did not have my phone number and the agent who took my call got confused about the time zone. A freight company that gets confused about time zones is not good! However the TV did finally get to me in perfect condition. The delivery folks do not unpack it for you, but if you get "white glove" delivery apparently they do that and set it up for you. I chose the 630 model as the face of the tv is non reflective--a big difference when you watch tv in the daytime or at night with some lights on. Picture quality is excellent, set up was very easy. I bought a Bello TV stand ( ON amazonBell'O PVS-4218HG Flat Panel Audio Video System (Gloss Black $216))and it is the PERFECT stand for it, I connected my new PS3 to it via an HDMI cable I also bought on Amazon (Cables To Go - 40315 - 2M (6.5ft) Velocity HDMI Digital Video Cable (Blue) $9.99!! )and the games AND blu ray movies are simply amazing. I've heard that the PS3 also up-converts regular DVDs, not sure if true or fable, but they look fantastic as well. Very happy with purchase and overall service!
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