Samsung LN46B530 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Review by Jon Knowlton for Samsung LN46B530 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
I have owned this TV for about 5 months and I am very impressed with this TV and have many good things to say about it. I currently have this TV hanging on my wall and usually watch it at around a 12-foot distance which I believe is a good distance for a 46-inch TV. I am also using this TV as a monitor for a home theater PC which looks just as good as my other computer monitor, if not better. The only reason i didn’t give this TV 5 stars is because of the built in speakers

PROS

Matte screen finish (Reduces glare significantly which is a big plus when viewing in a room with lots of windows)

Built-in video up-scalar is awesome (I am always impressed when watching VHS and DVD movies.)

Power Consumption (Only 230 Watts powered)

Weight (Weight without the stand is less than 50 lbs which is light enough for me to lift it onto the wall by myself)

HDMI connections (3 HDMI connections seems plenty enough for the devices I have currently)

60,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (twice as good as previous model)

CONS

Built in speakers (Speakers started to rattle and buzz after the volume was turned up to around 50. I would defiantly recommend a home audio system if you want to get the full movie experience)

Component video connections (I had to buy a component switch that could handle my component connections from my Wii, Playstation, and DVD player)

Review by D. Jenkins for Samsung LN46B530 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
This will be my 3rd HDTV purchase as somehow I have been unofficially designated the HDTV guru of my friends and family. I have done ALOT of research (about 3 years worth). I have become quite familiar with the HDTV market and various HDTV brands and what they offer, pros and cons of each etc.

FYI:

Right now is probably the best I have ever seen the HDTV market for purchasing a HDTV set.

Amazon is by far the best source to make your HDTV purchase decision for several reasons.

1. Reliable Customer Service

2. No Sales Tax

3. Extended premium warranties are by far better and cheaper than at the brick and mortar stores.

4. Customer Reviews are extrememly helpful as people that have already purchased the TV may point something out you may not have thought about.

5. Free Shipping

My Previous Purchases (All Purchased from Amazon):

1. Sony KDL-40V2500 (For myself)

2. Sony KDL-40S5100 (For a friend)(contacted sony and had them send be a USB flash drive (for free) with the firmware update preloaded and have not had any problems since)

3. Samsung LN46B530 (For my grandpa)(Does NOT have Red touch of color as I think that feature is ugly)

4. I have setup and installed countless other HDTV’s for friends and family members that I did not purchase.

But enough about that, lets take a look at the Samsung LN46B530 shall we?

PRICE WAS AWESOME, Under $850 for a 46″ 1080p Samsung?? Where do I sign?!

Out of the box impression is quite normal, packaging is plentiful and the TV is well protected for shipping. The panel itself is NON-REFLECTIVE which is great. For those of you who may not have thought about it, most HDTV’s are insanely polished and look great in the store, however when you get home what happens is that window or lamp is making a glare in the middle or half the screen. Beleive me, it may not be that big of a deal at first, but after a while day after day after day it really becomes annoying.

One thing I did notice is the power cord that comes with the TV is NOT very long, maybe 5.5 – 6ft tops. No worries, all you have to do if you need a longer power cord is go here:

Belkin 12ft AC Replacement Power Cord (AC Male to AC Female) And it will work just fine.

The TV stand that comes with it is nice and sturdy and swivels from side to side. There are no side inputs on the TV, however the TV controls are on the lower right hand side of the TV which is nice if you either wall mount or use the provide stand. Comes in handy if you can’t find the remote. Conversely, on some TV’s the buttons are on top of the TV which could create headaches if the TV is wall mounted.

Keep in mind that this TV is shiny everywhere except the screen so dusting will be a weekly chore to keep it looking nice. Remember, DO NOT use windex or alcohol or soap and water to clean off the viewing screen. A soft cotton cloth LIGHTLY dampened with just a little water cleans the screen just fine. There are HDTV cleaner solutions but I would recommend against it. The TV does come with a small microfiber dusting cloth, this is also ideal to use, however, keep it dry. The shiny surfaces surrounding the TV are fingerprint magnets.

Contrary to other reviews, I found the TV’s internal speakers to be satisfactory and without buzzing even at maximum volume. Granted the TV doesn’t have much bass but I didn’t really mess with the volume settings much. Of course a surround sound system is the best option, but if you don’t have surround sound it really isn’t that big of a deal.

Standard Definition channels look the best I have ever seen in a HDTV. I wasn’t really expecting much since this is a 46″ HDTV so I figured SD viewing would be slightly painful, of course I was pleasantly surprised. I did read a review that said that the TV has an internal upscaler but I was unable to produce any evidence of this via amazon or samsungs official site specifications. The TV DOES have an internal ASTC tuner that allows the TV to receive and decode DTV transmissions from your local TV stations via the air waves via “rabbit ear antenna”.

HD of course is phenominal, I was never really able to tell much difference between 60HZ and 120HZ, certainly not a justifyable cost to be sure IMO.

One gripe I have on this TV is the lack of inputs. Sony seems to be king in this department in my experience. It has plenty of HDMI inputs (3) however there is only 1 component and 1 composite. Certainly you can buy component and composite switches to expand input capacity but of course that is just one/two more things you have to deal with. Nowadays just about everything is HDMI anyways so it is probably a non-issue in your case.

Overall considering the cost and the fact super-saver shipping only took 2 days to deliver, I give this TV 4.8 stars. Minus .2 for lack of plentiful component and composite inputs.

Review by Sea View for Samsung LN46B530 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
We recently replaced an old tube style TV with this Samsung 46″ HDTV and are very satisfied with our purchase. The picture is incredibly clear and the colors are well balanced. Reflections from nearly windows are virtually non-existant and off-axis viewing provides no noticable deterioration in picture quality which are a big plus. The only marginal aspect of this HDTV is its internal speakers which offer fairly limited voice and music quality. Using separate stereo or home theater sound components is highly recommended. All in all a great TV!

Review by Tom for Samsung LN46B530 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Rating:
For the price 1,099 and quality is unbelievable 60,000:1 crystal clear picture even use antenna for HDTV the sound with build in speaker was good, don’t let the price fool you. It’s just awesome..I’ve this TV about a month now no problem so far.and don’t worry about 120 MHz thing you don’t even notice if there is any difference.