Big, Sexy Widescreen TV
Written: Dec 23 '02 (Updated Feb 21 '03)
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Pros: Big Screen TV Livin'
Cons: Everyone Wants to Come Over and Watch Sports
The Bottom Line: DLP TV's are lightweight and chic. They're the latest fashion accessory.
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| megugrrrl's Full Review: Samsung HL-M5065W 50 in. HDTV-Ready TV |
This review doesn't contain much technical stuff because frankly, if you're a gearhead, you probably wouldn't be reading an epinions review by someone you don't know for specifications or expert information. This is just my review. If you're hungry for numbers, you'd can read about the TV on some gearhead site or samsungelectronics.com.
(Here's the TV's brochure with more specs than you can shake a stick at - http://www.samsungusa.com/pdf/hlm5065w.pdf)
I have always put off buying a giant TV because I didn't want to be tied down - my friend has been stuck in his dusty apartment for five years because the idea of moving a 400 pound TV scares him. Why not get one of those wall-hugging plasma screens you ask? I'd rather not shell out $10,000.
Enter this flat screen digital HDTV with DLP.
Huh?
DLP - Digital Light Processing
Old school, or analog TV's, work with a heavy glass cathode ray tube (CRT), anodes, and electrons. If you want a big screen, you need a big cathode ray. A big cathode ray weighs a lot. A whole lot. This TV has an opitical semiconductor, mirrors, and a lamp to project the image - no cathode ray, no heavy weight. It's the latest craze.
Size
Since there is not CRT, DLP TV's are super small - this Samsung HLM5065W only weighs around 85 pounds, about the same as our old 27" tube TV but is twice as large. (The new TV has a 50" screen.) It's slimmer (17.6 inches!) and sleeker as well. This was the main reason why we purchased this TV.
Because of its size and weight, the TV doesn't come with one of those ugly, bulky cabinets that you see lined up at electronics stores. Our TV fit on our old TV stand. The monitor is framed by silver matte. And it looks sexy.
Picture
Digital is definitely better. The images are sharp, crisp, vibrant, and mesmerizing - almost like a computer monitor. Its got great resolution and is stable. The screen is flat and the images are true. Some projection TV's make everything look wide and fat but this widescreen Samsung leaves everyone looking fit and slim.
The rectangular widescreen (avec a 16 to 9 ratio v. 4:3) makes everything look better. You can choose from the preset aspects - wide, panorama and normal to tweak with images. The image with the two former listed fill up the screen, normal is like a 'normal' tv - square-ish.
One thing you should now about this "HDTV monitor" is that you need to get an HDTV tuner (to the tune of $500) to watch TV shows that are broadcast in HDTV like "Everyone Loves Raymond" - it's just HDTV 'ready'. I don't care about Raymond so I'm putting off on getting the tuner.
Sound
30 watts of stereo goodness. Everything sounds rich and full. The dual channel speakers are in front under a magnetic speaker grill (no electrons to mess up) lined up under the screen. Like all TV's these days you can use presets or customize your sound. It's also got BBE to enhance sounds as well as "Dolby Virtual" which means the TV's L/R speakers "provide a home Theater-like Dolby effect." (TV Manual) No arguments there.
One sound feature I like is the Auto Volume which automatically twekas the volume based on modulation signals so that everything channel has the same level of volume and infomercials (that always seem to be too loud) just sound normal when flipping channels.
Extras
-you can hook your computer up to the TV and use it as a jumbo monitor
-fancy picture-in-picture (split screen even)
-Lots of rear panel jacks for DVD player, sound systems, PC, DVI, PC and the mysterious RS-232C jack. I have no idea what that would be.
-the on-screen menu system is a cinch and can be accessed with the remote or TV's the side panel.
-surround sound hook up, ok!
-universal remote to control everything except the universe
One Thing That Bugs Me
It takes around 30 seconds for the lamp to warm up and the TV's image to show. Thirty seconds doesn't seem like a long time, but it is - especially if you are used to things like DSL, microwave popcorn, and fast food. Since there is no tube, there is no 'thunk' sound, just a chirpy cell-phone like jingle to let you know it's turning on.
Warranty
Since it's lamp-powered, it will eventually burn out. Even though the lamp rating is 8,000 hours, I purchased the in-home warranty because I wouldn't want to have to lug this puppy to the repair shop.
Oh, And One More Thing
As of 2/03, the only places you can buy this TV are Magnolia Hi-Fi and Bestbuy. You also need to know that I got an insande deal on this - Firefighter's special deal - 10% above cost.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3000
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Epinions.com ID:
megugrrrl
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