A superb TV at a nice price.... (Samsung LE-40A557)

Member Name: jodyv

Product:	Samsung LE-40A557
Date:	01/04/09 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price and features

Disadvantages: None

The Samsung Series 5 comes with full 1080P High Definition when compared to the Series 4. I decided to spend the extra cash to make the most of my equipment and go for the full HD model.

I ordered the TV from Empire Direct who has now been bought out by Richer Sounds. The TV was delivered in a rather large box containing a 40" TV, remote control, instructions and a cleaning cloth. It cost roughly £600 9 months ago with a Samsung upscalling dvd player included. I believe it's still around the same price...

Firstly, due to the piano black gloss design it attracts a lot of dust and finger prints. The anti static cleaning cloth really does the job leaving it almost free from dust after a swift wipe.

The TV sits on a swivel base; buttons are located down the left hand side and the front connection sockets on the left hand side. The TV has a good variety of inputs:

3 x HDMI
1 x Component
1 x Analogue output
1 x Optical Digital Output
1 x USB slot for Wiselink
2 x Scart
1 x Aerial
1 x VGA
2 x Audio input for pc - phono and jack
1 x S-Video
1 x front video and audio
1 x earphone socket

With the growing variety of input/outputs for other components, TV manufacturers are being pushed to provide even more options and more of each option...

Once turned on I went through the automatic set up which didn't take long, I then logged on to my pc and used some tried and tested picture settings from avforums.com. If you've taken your TV out the box and left the settings as standard, you really aren't getting the best out of your picture! The Samsung was a bit too bright, some colours would bleed into others and when using the computer my eyes would water due to the contrast being so high.

After adjusting the crazy amount of settings which little I understood, I played around, did a bit of channel surfing, tested the games consoles etc...

The picture really is superb especially compared to my friends budget Panasonic. If you're looking for a reliable TV which has the higher end features at the middle range price, Samsung is your best bet.

The only issue I have had is the first TV I received didn't produce any sound, but the replacement has been perfect.

Summary: You get more than what you paid for and it looks great!

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