Looking for review/comparison of Samsung LE40A686M1

Hi,

I've been very impressed with the picture quality on the LE40A686M1
but before I take the plunge I'd like to check how it stands up
against the Panasonic and Sony equivalents (I'd probably be looking at
the 37" models in their range)

Anyone know of any good review/comparison sites, or care to offer
advice? I gather the sound quality on the Samsung isn't too great, but
I'm not too bothered as I plan to buy a separate sound system anyway.
I'm not expecting to play games, just watch freeview, Blu-ray disks,
and freesat as soon as I get around to it!

Thanks

Chris

wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been very impressed with the picture quality on the LE40A686M1
but before I take the plunge I'd like to check how it stands up
against the Panasonic and Sony equivalents (I'd probably be looking at
the 37" models in their range)

Anyone know of any good review/comparison sites, or care to offer
advice? I gather the sound quality on the Samsung isn't too great, but
I'm not too bothered as I plan to buy a separate sound system anyway.
I'm not expecting to play games, just watch freeview, Blu-ray disks,
and freesat as soon as I get around to it!

Thanks

Chris

I have an older LE40 and I must tell you, mine was the early S-type panels
and its excellent, I dont know what the difference is but if that one is
half as good as the LE40BD's out there then you will never regret picking it
for it's screen quality. The sound however on it, is HORRIBLE... I have a
cheap 38" in another room that's got generic speakers and it sounds really
good in comparision to the samsung!.. Even with the volume turned all the
way up the samsung is hard to hear, on top of that it's really scratchy!..
If your going to use the built-in freeview then this may be something you
really want to consider, as the audio output is at a fixed level and the
samsung remote isnt going to turn volume up or down. You can get around
this by using the headphone outputs, but it's not ideal.

If you do not want audio description, a lot of people say the Samsung is
very good.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
wrote in message
...
Hi,

I've been very impressed with the picture quality on the LE40A686M1
but before I take the plunge I'd like to check how it stands up
against the Panasonic and Sony equivalents (I'd probably be looking at
the 37" models in their range)

Anyone know of any good review/comparison sites, or care to offer
advice? I gather the sound quality on the Samsung isn't too great, but
I'm not too bothered as I plan to buy a separate sound system anyway.
I'm not expecting to play games, just watch freeview, Blu-ray disks,
and freesat as soon as I get around to it!

Thanks

Chris

In message , Brian Gaff
wrote
If you do not want audio description, a lot of people say the Samsung is
very good.
Brian


From reviews, certain models are good but you should not read a review,
or have a recommendation, about one TV set and assume that all the
others in the range are the same. For instance, some manufactures use
different panel technologies in their range depending on the screen
size. A good 40inch panel may be a better technology than the panel
fitted to the 37 or 42 inch TVs. Just viewing certain screens off axis
shows the differences immediately. The Toshiba range seems to the worst
with their mixture of reasonable and c**p screens, but they are not the
only company to do this.

The manufactures also fit different processing engines to their sets
with, in general, the better processing being reserved for the larger
screens. The up-scaling processing in some TVs is poor. If the majority
of your time in front of the TV is viewing Freeview or Satellite
Standard Definition (SD) content then place at a lower priority the hype
about how good it looks in High Definition or with a Bluray DVD. The
quality of the up-scaling processing/de-interlacing/intermediate frame
reconstruction etc. has much more of an affect on your viewing pleasure
when using a SD source. Your local TV shop will usually be using a HD
source or cartoon to disguise (or hide) the bad performance with a SD
material. It appears that some of the default settings are optimised
for shop use and not home use. Being able to turn off most of the
processing options on the TV set may be important to get a reasonably
looking picture.
--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

On Sun, 8 Feb 2009 12:26:51 +0000, Alan wrote:

about how good it looks in High Definition or with a Bluray DVD.

Because of a slight smear on the right lens of my glasses I first read that as
"Blurry DVD". I was very puzzled until I read it more carefully!

On Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:03:34 +0000, wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys.

I took out a one month subscription to Which, and was surprised to
discover they really didn't like it...

"The picture quality leaves something to be desired. Our viewing panel
noticed problems with white when watching standard-definition
transmissions – on the DVD they looked burnt out, and the images
seemed dim and dull. With Freeview, the contrast was too strong, so
the pictured looked stark and artificial. HD looked better, though not
up to the standard of the most dazzling sets available."

....which is odd cos the other reviews I've seen have been very good.
Maybe the 686 is good with high definition input, but not with
standard broadcasts?

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:03:34 +0000, wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys.

I took out a one month subscription to Which, and was surprised to
discover they really didn't like it...

"The picture quality leaves something to be desired. Our viewing panel
noticed problems with white when watching standard-definition
transmissions - on the DVD they looked burnt out, and the images
seemed dim and dull. With Freeview, the contrast was too strong, so
the pictured looked stark and artificial. HD looked better, though not
up to the standard of the most dazzling sets available."

...which is odd cos the other reviews I've seen have been very good.
Maybe the 686 is good with high definition input, but not with
standard broadcasts?

You need to compare the "most dazzling sets" and see if the price range is
something you can eat..
There is forever something better, but it means you must pay for it!.. I
highly suggest you find a store selling these and try to look at it side by
side with other sets, at the end of the day your eyes may find one screen
pleasing, while others find it horrible.

From:
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 Time: 17:03:34

Hi,

I've been very impressed with the picture quality on the LE40A686M1
but before I take the plunge I'd like to check how it stands up
against the Panasonic and Sony equivalents (I'd probably be looking at
the 37" models in their range)


A useful tip that someone once gave me: When wanting reviews on anything
expensive, don't bother Googling for the product name -- all you get are
dozens of people saying how wonderful the product is. Instead, Google
for "Problems with productname" (without the inverted commas). Then
the dirt really comes out of the woodwork!

(I did this when Googling for a top-of-the-range GPS tracker that was
supposedly the bees' knees. Sure enough, it tracked OK, but there were
many complaints that it wouldn't stick to the windscreen. So I didn't
buy it. Since then I've avoided dodgy washing machines, cameras, phones
etc etc.)

Another tip that's worked for me over the years: whatever Which? says,
do the opposite.

Try Googling for "Problems with LE40A686M1".

--
Ian