Excellent HDTV Picture Quality Without The High Cost
Written: Jul 15 '06
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Pros: Made By Samsung, Easy Hookup, Not Heavy, User Changeable Lightbulb
Cons: Having To Replace The Lightbulb Every 3-5 Years
The Bottom Line: If your looking for a HDTV for fast action sports & movies & not breaking the bank this TV is for you!
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| singleguy1974's Full Review: Samsung HL-S4266W 42 in. HDTV DLP TV |
I recently jumped into the HDTV market after giving up my old standard picture tube TV for this Samsung HDTV Rear Projection DLP TV.
I read up on HDTV's through Audio/Video magazines as well as past users experiences along with Consumer Reports before going out to buy my 1st HDTV TV set. At first I purchased 2 different 42 Inch LCD HDTV's from Circuit City, but when getting them home hooked up to my satellite system & watching sports on them I found too much pixels when sports action was fast. So, I returned both LCD HDTV's & then tried this Samsung HDTV Built In Rear Projection DLP TV which I have been using for the past month now. I have it hooked up through my Dish Network satellite system along with my local HDTV channels that I get free through my antenna.
The HDTV digital tuner built into the TV has very good reception. I am about 10-12 miles from downtown & I get all the HDTV channels locally free & crystal clear. For those of you who are new to HDTV the channels come in like they would over a Dish Network or DirecTV satellite system. Unlike old fashioned analog TV signals where if your closer to the TV antenna the better picture you get & farther away from the antenna you are the pictures gets more snowy & less watchable. With HDTV signals no matter if your near the antenna or farther from it you get the same picture as long as you have a HDTV signal. Once you get to far from the antenna the picture will not come in at all like it does on DirecTV or Dish Network when you loose your signal due to bad weather. So, as long as you have an outdoor antenna you should be able to get a good HDTV signal.
With my Dish Network satellite receiver hooked up to this TV set through the S-VHS Video connection the picture quality is good. Until I get an HDTV Dish Network satellite receiver I will not know the full picture quality of programming from Dish Network to my TV set.
The TV has 1 cable coaxial connection, 1 TV antenna coaxial connection, 2 HDMI imput connections which 1 can be used for a DVI input connection, 2 S-VHS input which also service as 2 RCA jack inputs as well, & 2 component inputs on this TV. The TV also has 1 set of RCA outputs for outputting your TV signal.
If you watch a lot of fast action sports you will notice the difference in clarity with hardly no pixels on a rear projection HDTV DLP TV compared to a Plasma TV or LCD TV.
The instruction manual is clear & easy to understand. The Samsung customer service also is very helpful if you need to call them as well as friendly. The TV has many adjustments for fine turning your picture. I recommend the factory settings or standard & normal to optimize the life of your DLP lightbulb. According to Consumer Reports tests & Samsung customer service the DLP lightbulb should last you around 3-5 years & is user replaceable.
Also, if you buy an extended warranty for this TV which I highly advise you to do, do not buy it through the store! If you have a Platinum Visa card you can get a 5 year warranty for $137.99 which covers all parts & labor for 5 years as well as 1 DLP bulb replacement & surge protection. Compared to Best Buy & Circuit City charging nearly $400.00 for a 4 year warranty you can get the same warranty protection & coverage for a lot less plus this is a 5 year warranty & not a 4 year warranty which the stores offer.
I also advise to maintain your DLP bulb life to hook your TV up to a UPS battery backup with the right wattage that it can handle your TV. The TV when it shuts off has a small fan which runs about a minute after the TV power is turned off to cool the DLP bulb down. So, if you get power spikes or surges which shut off the power & the fan does not cool off the DLP bulb it will shorten the life of your DLP bulb. Or if you get power surges to where it effects the bulb will also cause it to have a shorter DLP bulb life span. So, I advise buying a 300+ watt UPS battery backup for your TV as a precaution to extend your DLP bulb life. This way if you have a power spike or surge can turn the TV off yourself & still have the fan working off your UPS battery backup to cool the lightbulb down.
I would also advice even if you have the extended warranty to have a spare DLP bulb handy, since you do not know how soon they will be out to fix your TV if the DLP bulbs does go on you.
After owning & using this TV for a month now I must say I am very happy with the ease of you & picture quality from it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1300
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Epinions.com ID:
singleguy1974
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Location: NE Florida
Reviews written: 227
Trusted by: 114 members
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