Home > Consumer Reviews > Samsung HCL4715W 47-Inch Widescreen High-Definition Projection TV

I remember when I first saw this TV on a Sears showroom floor. At the time the Sears people were using a Satellite TV feed with a digital tuner using the Discovery HD channel. In the dark room they were using the picture looked like nothing I had ever seen before. I went to Best Buy where the TV was a $100.00 dollars cheaper and decided to buy. Overall I would give this TV an average grade. It's HD picture did not look as good in my house as it did in the Sears showroom. I have Comcast digital cable so I am using their HD cable tuner. ESPN HD is best picture by far in HDTV. I'm a little disappointed in this TV's High Definition output. The TV's HD visual output varies too widely from channel to channel. On the DVD side I used a Marantz DV-8400 DVD player which a year ago was one of the tops in it's class. I could not tell the difference between 480I and 480P visually using this TV and using progressive scan on the DVD player. It looked the same to me. To top it all off the red convergence unit went out after 3 years. When I bought my TV from Best Buy I got the extended warranty because I was concerned about this technology at the time. It turned out to be a good move since the TV was still covered by the warranty when it broke so Best Buy repaired it at no charge. Finally this TV does not display any picture using 780P which is the HDTV standard. This is troubling to me because I own a XBox 360 which displays their HD games at 720P resolution and this TV can't show the games or anything else in that resolution at all. After my experience with this TV and hearing about other owners of Samsung Televisions have similiar experiences my advice would be to stay away from Samsung Televisions regardless of type. There are better deals out there.

I have owned this set since June 11, 2002. It first broke on January 4, 2003 and was not repaired until February 10. Samsung admitted they had 'parts availability problems.' Then, on July 6, 2003, it failed again and as of August 6, 2003, remains dark with again, 'parts availability problems.' Samsung can not promise me ANY date it will be working, can promise no date for delivery of parts and generally does not follow-up or return telephone calls. I have hired a lawyer since after $1800 - they have very poor customer and warranty service - spend the $200 and buy a Mitsubishi.

Let me point out first that I'm a former Sears employee who had to sell these things on a daily basis. And I say former so that no one thinks we're out for higher commission, because Samsung paid about the best.
The fact is, though they look great when working, these TV's just don't last. We actually had a Samsung rep/repairman tell us one time that they are notorious for blowing out almost exactly at the three year point.
Second, while the picture is bright and clear, Samsung uses no form of screen refresher. While this isn't a huge problem if you're watching widescreen DVD's or a high definition signal in 16:9 mode, prolonged viewing in 4:3 mode burns bars into the sides of the TV. Expecially since instead of black bars, Samsung uses gray bars.
In the end, you get what you pay for. There's a reason you pay more for TV's like Hitatchi, Sony, Mitsubishi, etc. If you must buy this TV though, do yourself a favor and get the extended warranty if it's offered. It will be worth whatever you spend on it.

I have had this TV for 3.5 months and the picture is incredible. When the TV works you can't get a better performance for the price. My TV blew an internal power regulator and was out of comssion for a month shortly after I bought it. I must say that the samsung support technician I called for help was very nice and went the extra mile to make sure my TV was fixed.

I was looking for a bigger TV with great picture without the big price tag. Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi are ok but not that affordable. By comparing the features with those with similar sizes, this 47" Samsung stands out. I own a 27" Samsung and I never had a problem with it so I'm confident about the quality of the brand. After the break in period, I was amazed with the quality of the picture even while watching cable. I purchased a progressive scan DVD and the picture was even better. I can't wait to try out the HD capability. My only problem is not with the unit but with the remote's design. The joystick like up/down/left/right/enter button makes me nuts. So if you have a universal remote, you can just throw this damn thing away and enjoy a stress free TV viewing.