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Samsung 2008 LCD TV differences explained in a chart. I plan on adding how many bits the panel and processor are for each model. If you want to comment with the correct bits for each model, I will add them. If you have any suggestion or corrections that need to be made please comment. I have a blackberry and will do the changes at work within 24hrs. Hope this help you out. I remember when selling TV for CC it was very confusing for customers to understand the differences between each model. I do plan on releasing something very similar to this for the Sony LCD TV 2008 Line.
For more info I wrote on the 9 Series.
Go here for the Sony LCD TV 2008 Comparison Chart
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This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Home Theater, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Just a few minor corrections in regards to the LNXXA630. I believe it has only 3 HDMI inputs compared to the 4 on the larger LNXXA650s. Also, the bezel is more similar in appearance to the LNXXA750 series, as in it’s flat and not curved like the LNXXA650s.
Thank Dan. I believe you are correct. I’ll be updating the chart shortly. I still haven’t had time to do research on how many bits the panels and processor are for each.
LNXXA650s do not have 120Hz on models below 40″ but still does have 4 HDMI
Thanks for the heads up!
For some reason I thought I saw the 32″ with 120 Hz.
I’ll update this later tonight. Also will upload the Sony Chart
[…] Home Theater Post Samsung LCD TV 2008 Comparison Sony XBR 8 Overview Samsung 9 Series Overview Affordable Blu Ray Player Comparison Sony LCD TV 2007 […]
This is probably the wrong place to ask this — First I love your blog .. I would like to as you a question on Samsung lcd — I want a 40 in. wife wants a 46. My question would be which 46 in model number would be your first pick Available here is Sams, Best Buy, Circuit City. I would really value your opinion. Again if this is the wrong place to put this I regret my inconvience to you .. Thanks for your help
No no thank you for your question and praise!
Wish others would chime in and ask for help.
The first question I would ask is how far are you sitting? Second would be is this going in living room or bedroom. If bed room 40 is plenty! I personally have a 40″ in the living room but also live in a condo. I sit about 12′ away and its sufficient(then again I had a 32″ before, now in the bedroom).
I will say the Samsung 750 is onsale at Circuit City for $1700 which is a great price! I’m not sure if the 46″ is on sale as well.
When I use to work at Circuit City most people went with a 46″ for the living room. Just being honest with you.
If you have any other questions let me know.
Not sure if you’re looking at Samsung’s. Figure you are since you posted on this article.
Just checked CC.com and they have the 46″ 650 for $1800! If you go with a 40″ go with the 750 and if go with 46″ go with the 650. Unless you have a ton of light entering the room and watch TV during the day. Then I’d go with the 630.
Thanks for your response to my questions. I am looking at samsungs because seems like every review web site has the samsung listed as best buy, most bang for the buck, etc. Circuit City list the different models as 550 -$1500, 650 - $1900, 750 - $2100, 850 - 2400. All are 46 inch. Went to the store here and noticed the 850 had a $3000 tag on it. Do you like any other lcds better????
Back to circuit city — while talking to the salesperson he informed me of their setup fee for configuring the set for optimum picture, energy use, ****etc. for a $200 fee. Is this a nneded service or just something they try to push. Distance of viewing would be 8 to 12 feet. Ambient light not really a concern. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Honestly at that distance 40″ is good enough for me but hey if you’ve got the cash and I was married I’d probably go with a 46″.
Alright like I said the 650 is the best deal for the 46″ size. The 750 just has some additional features like subwoofer and integrated internal memory. Unless you plan on going all out and networking your house with your TV I’d stick to the 650.
LOL $200 for an optimum picture, energy use, etc… hahahaha more like a calibration that doesn’t tap into the actual TV. All they do is pop on a calibration device (spider) and adjust the levels. If you goto AVSforum.com you’ll be sure to find a thread on which ever model you get and what the best settings are. Usually you’ll find 2-3 settings most people enjoy having their set on and you can tweak to your liking. In other words CC HE guys are pressured every day to make their daily install budget. Not to mention I know they have incentive programs where you can a ‘commission’ every month based on your GP for the month.
Ohh yeah and don’t get caught up buying any of those Monster products that they’ll push you on so much. Head over to Monoprice.com if you need cables. And if the kid is really just being an ass about it tell him why are HDMI 1.3a cables so cheap on Monoprice.com and tons of studies show how Monster is no better then the rest.
The only thing I’d consider is the warranty. You’ll read online most places say don’t buy them but I’ve seen too many issues with sets lately. Even mine had a issue recently. You can try to play hard ball with them. Depending on how the day is going for them you can win. Tell them you know you are not taking the calibration and services they offering but if you lowered the price of the TV you’d consider buying the 3yr extended warranty. If they hessitate tell them you’ve seen the TV much cheaper online at Amazon or something to that affect and tell them you only trying to help them out because their stock price is under $2 (LOL don’t mention that actually). But tell them you want to talk to a manager and see if they could work out a deal for you with the warranty and the TV and you’ll be out the door.
Good luck!
What fantastic and valued advise you give. Not to beat a dead horse but I went back and compared all three and just like you said just minor differences for bigger bucks for the 750 and 850. We are an old retired ccouple and really dont need the super set — just something to take us to the future with the grandkids. Off I go to CC this morning and see what deal I can make. By the way Amazon beats CC by $200 on the 650 and $250 on the 750. Backed with the other info on bargaining power you provided we will see where my backbone is. Thanks again and I’ll be back with results and more questions on hooking it up the right way……
Just returned from CC with the 650.
Their internet price was 1900 and Amazon was 1699. They sold it to me for 1749. Now I will disconnect my dinosaur and see if I can get this one going. Total Cost with the 3 yr service contract was 2038.
Again thanks
I have been reading about LCD’s for what seems like weeks and your blog is the first to be of any real help. THANK YOU!!! As a techno-phobe/idiot, I still am very uncertain about some issues…
The wife is redoing the kitchen/living room and making one big room. I’m going to put a 52 in LCD over the fireplace. Based on what you say I’m probably going to go with the Samsung 650 with a tilt mount. Will one certified for 165lbs be sufficient? There are so many out there and the one thing I’m beginning to realize is that the stores are gong to RIP ME OFF.
Also… my wife doesn’t want any wires and someone recommended and “eye?” on the TV so that we can put the cable box/DVR and the DVD player in a remote location. Looks like the HDMI cables have to go under the floor. Also it’s probably time I upgrade to blue ray. Since the TV is Samsung should I go with the Samsung blue ray, or Sony? Someone just told me to get a PS3 player instead which (he says) will play DVD’s and allow you to play games and costs the same. (Sounds like two things for the price of one)
Any recommendations re: “wireless” and blue ray?
You’ve already been helpful, so thanks in advance!!
Thanks for all the praise. Glad to hear I’ve educated someone.
Alright now to business. First off definitely recommend a professional service such as Circuit City or Bestbuy for your installation. The reason why is because mounting over a fireplace is a hazard and not something you should do on your own. Also I might reconsider the location but if you find that is your prime location then go for it! As yes they are going to rip you off. Will talk about this at end.
I’m not entirely sure what your setup looks like. If you’d like take a photo of the location of the fire place and I’ll mock something up for you in Photoshop. Not sure if you have a power outlet by the fire place but to acquire the no cables visible look you’ll HAVE to place an outlet above the fire place. It’s a fire hazard for a power cable to go through the wall. NO installer will run the power cable through the wall.
Now for the blu-ray player question. Honestly the person who told you the PS3 is your best bet is right but with some conditions. It does the most for your money BUT if you are an audiophile you might lose out on some things if you have a fancy receiver(can learn more about this in my Why is DTS-MA added to PS3 article on the right side bar). If you are looking for sound as well it might be worth taking a look at some of the Sony Home Theater systems with Blu-Ray player. As far as the “eye” thing is concerned you can go with a remote control extender or get a Harmony remote or Universal remote with RF so it can go through walls. That’s up to you.
Now for buying the TV and install. Most places charge a premium for fireplace installs. Your best case scenario is to walk into one of the big stores like CC or BB. Tell them that you are interested in getting a “package” put together for you. Essentially what your goal is to get them to lower the price of everything since you are buying a complete package. Trust me they LOVE when you say you want an install. Especially at CC since they are pressured by their performance. Get an idea of how much the set goes for online (Amazon, Fry, Ebay, etc…) Usually it will be cheaper online then in the store. Tell them you’ve seen the price of the set on Amazon, etc.. and understand that its more to buy in the store but you are willing to pay that much shown and get a break on the installation. Roughly an install on a 52″ will be around $500 with mount included. Your goal is for them to lower the price of the TV or installation dramatically because you getting the Mount/Install and added cost of Fireplace Install. All those services has an EXTREMELY high mark up. In the end get them to lower the price of the TV to balance how much you paying for the Install to come out much less since they lowered the price of the TV. Chances are they going to pitch you the Warranty hard considering your over the fireplace. If you willing to buy it tell them you want an even bigger cut cause you are spending a lot and could get the TV, Mount, Service, etc… much cheaper if you went online or paid for each service separately.
One KEY NOTE. If you do plan on running the cables through the roof or floor DO NOT buy cables for this at the store. Get an estimate of how long cables need to be and order online at Monoprice.com.
It might be worth getting Geek Squad or CC City Design to goto your place and give you an estimate. I know CC City Design LOVES doing this and will try to up-sale you like crazy but if you stick to your plan just act interested and get an estimate of how long of cables you need or best option you like for doing a no cables visible option for you.
You know what I’d love to know about these models? What kinds of panels they use. I’m looking for an IPS panel television/monitor, or, at the very least, a PVA panel. The 630 looks really good, but I need to make certain it doesn’t use a cheap TFT panel.
I just thought you might want to add the content menu to your samsung comparison chart for the 7,8, and 9 series. Not available in other series.
Peace and Blessings
Good work mate.
I would like to see you add the following in you comparison table:
indicate which of the models have the PIP feature. I think this means that the TV needs to have dual tuner. Alternate you could state which of the models come with dual tuner. Either way one would be able to co-relate it to the other.
@Nihal
Samsung doesn’t use dual tuners anymore. The older models use to have one for AIR and another for Cable.
All new models support PIP BUT they have to be video inputs. For example if you have an over the air HD antenna in your RF input & your cable box in your HDMI 1 input you can do PIP. You can also do PIP with your PC input. Be working on your PC and be watching TV in any of the other inputs.
New sets don’t really come with dual tuners anymore because 1) Cable boxes are the ones who have taken this task on 2) Manufactures realize that majority of people don’t use cables from the wall but use a cable box or set top box.
Awesome compilation! You brought out things that Samsung’s marketers missed (glossy vs. matte screen, Wiselink PRO). Only problem is that now I’m considering a higher-end model than the 5-series!
A note for those considering the 7-series due to Wiselink PRO: I read around on forums and the TV’s ability to actually play the files you want it to (MP4s, Divx AVIs…) will be limited. All users who posted found limited success and often had to re-encode, ultimately opting to just plug in their computers.
Any chance you could post / email me the XLS version of this? I’d love to be able to dork out with sorts, filters, and conditional formatting.
Cheers,
Mike
@Mike:
Thank you for the praise. Give me some time before I send out the XLS. Thanks for mentioning that the Wiselink PRO has some issues. It is worth writing about. I am not surprised though considering much of this technology is fairly new and products like the iTV and 360 limit you on what formats can be viewed as well.
The best solution for a true geek to get the best out of a TV is to hook their sets up directly to a PC. Granted this takes quite a bit of knowledge and money and is the reason Wiselink PRO was made BUT I believe if people actually have the resources to have a PC connected to their TVs it would give a better user experience. ie: Netflix HD streams now
Plan on putting something together talking about creating convergence at your home with all the technology out there.
Thanks for the Samsung 2008 Chart. Comparing the 6 Series w/ 7, the major difference is DNLA Certified and Internal Memory. What does the internal memory do for a HDTV?
Great blog, and thanks for the chart! I ended up going with the 52A630, as I hated the glare in my old 40″ HD-RP-CRT and I didn’t need any of the extras offered by the 7 series. DLNA is severely limited, it can’t play Matroska files, which most of my HD material is in. I have the popcornhour for all my network streaming stuff anyway, so why pay for the extra feature I don’t need. The loss of one HDMI port didn’t really bother me either, as I will get an HDMI switching receiver in the near future. Loss of network port is no bother either, I’ll just use my laptop. The drop in Contrast ratio kinda sucks, but I doubt I will even notice. Got the new LCD for $1699 at Amazon, shipped with no tax. Bought it at 12:30am for $1749, then looked after work that afternoon, and it had dropped by $50, called Amazon and they refunded me the diff. Sweet! The cheapest price I could find for the 52A650 was $235 more…not worth it to me for the diff in options.
Hi there,
I will soon be a proud owner of a big screen
But the thing is that I am still not able to decide or even make-up my mind on what to purchase and which brand or size will suit me.
Heres what I am planning to do:
1) I will be playing games from the computer and PS3.
2) Using the internet for browsing and sometimes chatting.
3) Watching movies and listening to music. I have a small collection of DVDs, but I also planning for a Blu-ray in the near future.
4) Grafix designing (personal and not professional - I dont even know photoshop yet)
Kindly please keep in mind that I have never ever had a LCD before so I do not know what I am looking for. The last PC I purchased and I am still using it was almost 10 years back (Now I think you will have the right picture about my situation).
Things that I would like to get:
32-40 Inch that can both work as a Monitor and a TV.
Should have dual in-picture. I mean I should be able to watch TV while I am using the computer or playing a slow game. I am more into Age of Empires kind of games
Black should be black and not brown or any other color.
It will be in my bedroom - If you reply back, I will send you snapshots of my room.
I am single, but I have good relations with my nephews and nieces, so they will be playing along with me.
My location is Qatar - Middle East.
I will be purchasing the Monitor, Computer and a PS3 within the next few days or maybe within a week.
All in all, I am looking for someone who can guide me in the right direction with simple English as in what feature will do what as I do not have enough knowledge regarding these things. Is LCD good or is Plasma screen better? Most probably I will go for Samsung as a friend of mine has suggested it with great enthusiasm.
Looking forward for your kind suggestions
Regards,
DJ
Sorry to post the comment in the wrong place…
So will I also get HDTV…??
Just a quick note, one thing I was disappointed in the 52a630, is the optical digital output. If you’re using one of the internal tuners, the digital out sends full 5.1 audio, but if you’re just repeating an HDMI source, then it down samples the source to stereo sound. Very strange Samsung designed it this way. So now I have to switch sources on both the TV and Receiver and run an additional digital output from each source to the amp….that is until I get an HDMI switching receiver. In the future Samsung should just repeat any digital audio sent in through HDMI, why downsample it?
Hey there,
Thanx for the heads up. I spoilt myself and I bought a 32 inch Samsung LA32A550 Series 5. I was happy like anything as this has been one of my dreams come true
Thankyou for the support.
To further my happiness I bought a new pc too. The last PC I had bought was around 9 years back, so this was a big thing for me.
Now my nightmare starts:
After plugging in everything and ready I was hoping that I will open up a world of fast games, HD movies and stuff, but NO. The display was even bad from my 9 years old PC.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk303/djdesistorm/Image1.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk303/djdesistorm/Image2.jpg
Heres the configuration for the LCD and PC I have used.
LCD:
Samsung 32 inch LA32A550 LCD Full HD 1080p
Computer:
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 9400GT
Motherboard: Gigabyte EP43-DS3L
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 775 socket with 12MB Cache
RAM: 4GB
HDD: 500 WD
All sounds perfect, but I have attached a couple of images to let you see my suffering. I have installed and re-installed the VGA drivers, the motherboard drivers. I have been to avsforum.com for calibration settings and stuff like that. The display appears as there are no vga drivers installed. I have also connected A DVD Players and a Satellite Reciever which work perfect and are simply great. The only problem is the PC mode. What should I do now?
Your help will as usuall be praised
Regards,
DJ
Ohh and the operating system is Windows XP Home Edition SP 3.
I have a correction for you. But it’s a great chart! It helped me so much in understanding the Samsung lineup (their site is terrible), and helped me pick out my LN46A630.
The correction…the 530s have no USB as far as I can tell from Samsung’s .PDF spec sheets. Doesn’t Wiselink = USB? You already note the 530 has no Wiselink.
Hey,isnt the model le40a750 exactly the same as the le40a756??
If there is a difference plz let me know. Thanks