Strengths:30,000:1 contrast ratio, picture, set up
Weaknesses:Only 1 S-Video/RCA Jack, 'Enter' button on remote is not convenient, some closed captioning appears in the middle of the screen
Posted May 7, 2008 - I had already bought a Toshiba 37CV510U for a gift, but I wanted a 40 inch for myself.
Contrast ratio and response time were both very important to me since from what I can tell, it mattered greatly to the picture quality and sports action.
I wanted to get a 120Hz TV, but they all cost too much. When the series 5 Samsung's came out, the improved contrast ratio, 5ms response time, and price fit everything I was looking for.
The set up was very easy as there was nothing to assemble. The HD pictures look great as long as you're not sitting a foot or two away from the TV. Watched some DVD's on a normal DVD player and the picture was great. The only thing that looked a bit weird was the subtitles were a bit pixelated. I imagine an upconvert DVD player will look even nicer.
I am currently just receiving over the air broadcasts and the digital broadcasts look great. The analog broadcasts look better on the old tube TV's though, but it really won't matter with the required transition in 2009.
The only issues I had with the TV are: (1)There is only one S-Video/RCA Jack so you pretty much need to upgrade all of your equipment. (2)The close captioning on some channels appeared in the middle of the picture. (3)There is only 1 'enter' button on the remote and it is at the bottom with all of the arrows. When I manually punch in a channel near the top of the remote, I either have to wait or press the 'enter' button at the bottom.
Those are all very minor issues though and I would certainly buy this TV again and recommend it to others.
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