Home > Consumer Reviews > Samsung LN52A550 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

I did a lot of studying of HDTV's before settling on this LN52A550. Concerns about possible screen burn in, and higher heat/power consumption pushed me away from plasma. For LCD's, Samsung seems to have the best overall quality for the money right now.

Next - which LCD model? If money was no object, I would have bought the Samsung 52A860 or 950 in a heartbeat. With a desired budget of $2k or less however, the 860/950's were out of the question. That left the 550 vs the 650 or 630. In the end, all of the pro/con arguments about 60hz vs 120hz sets didn't sway me towards the 630/650. For starters, I really don't like the red touch of color on the 650. After viewing and playing with the 52A550 at a local Fry's store, I decided I wasn't willing to spend another $400-500 for the 630 or 650 (I spent the money I "saved" towards speakers instead). It seems that the 5ms panel of the 550 really helps with concerns about motion blur. I really don't notice any concerning/annoying issues with motion blur myself. Lastly, I prefer matte screens over reflective ones.

I am running this TV paired with an Onkyo 705 and PS3. The picture of this 550 is pretty stellar overall. Using the best calibration settings as defined by users on AVSForum, this TV looks STUNNING while playing blu-ray movies on my PS3. Standard definition tv looks pretty good as well. I have found however that while using these same settings when playing recorded HD content from my ATT cable service, the content comes across too dark. I need to work out good calibration settings that work better with my AT&T TV service. I've never had to figure out and use different settings for games, movies, tv content before...but once I work them all out properly, it'll be no big deal.

Delivery from Amazon was stellar. It came in 2 days - a happy surprise. The closest thing to instant gratification (without having to pay sales tax or shipping). White glove service brought in the tv, unpacked it, placed it on my TV stand and powered it up to confirm it had a picure - it was much as I expected and more than what you get from most online retailers. This is my 2nd TV purchase from Amazon, both have been good experiences.

In the end, having paid $1580 for this 550 PLUS getting a FREE Samsung BDP-1500 Bluray player, I feel like I got a solid deal. ($200 off Samsung BDP-1500 deal). Not sure what I'm going to do with the extra Blu-Ray player yet, but it'll come in handy as a second player or as a good XMas present.

Overall I'm pleased with this TV. After about 2 weeks; thus far I can safely report there is no buyers remorse. Sure, come 3-4 months from now the 630 will probably be the same price I paid for the 550 but thats the way things go when it comes to electronics purchases. I'm sure this 550 will provide me with years of enjoyable performance, without breaking the bank. I am giving it 5 stars because the Samsung 550 is still one of the best 52" HDTV's avaliable today for the money. Good product.

I had the TV for about one month now. It fits the family's needs.

Although I found other Internet vendors with lower price, I chose Amazon for its return policy.

The 4/5 star is due to service quality, not on the product.

The delivery arrived two days before the scheduled date. However, I had to track down the delivery company via the web search to arrange the delivery. Their initial attempt to arrange a date/time with my wife wasn't clear. She thought the call was from a telemarketer so she hung up and the caller never made an attempt to leave a return call number! Furthermore, the "white glove" service didn't mean much. The delivery man just put the box in the house and waited for me to sign off. I had to sign off before I could unpack. The driver wasn't willing to help unpack and I wasn't ready to unpack by myself. It's a two man job unless you're willing to lay the box down and possibly risk a potential damage to the screen. So I signed off before checking for damages inside... All was well though.

Likes:
- Great picture quality
- 52 inch fits nicely in the family room
- Reduced glare compared to 650 model
- Clear picture even from a 1080p up scaling cheapy DVD player via HDMI
- Can act as a terrific 1980x1080 computer monitor! Though you need a VGA cable and a PC sound cable
- Swirling base allows me to enjoy the full dynamic picture range from various positions
- easy and quick way to change the common settings



Dislikes:
- Sometimes while watching a football game in HD, fast movement comes out as a bit jagged. This is the only time I wish I had a 120Hz model like A650.

- Like any other LCD TV's, when watching the TV from an angle, the dynamic contrast is lessened.

- TV sound is acceptable, but I think you may need at least a subwoofer speaker connected to audio out to enjoy a movie, if the movie includes explosive sounds.

- watching non-HD cable channels. Of course this would be the same with any other HDTV

- only 3 HDMI.( Not enough for HD Cable box, Game Console, DVD player, HardDisk based HD media player)


Recommended extras:
HDMI cable (about 11 dollars via Amazon with shipping) - Mediabridge Ultra-High Speed HDMI Cable - 6ft - Version 1.3b

1080p upscaling DVD player. ( *hilips models do a great job for the price: forty to sixty)

Black TV stand - I bought a cheapy (again) from B*st B*uy for about 98 bucks. 48 inch stand works well

You just can't beat this tv for the price. HD picture is very nice and non hd is good. Sound is bearable with the right settings (check AVS forums for audio and video settings)under ln550 link. Very happy with tv and no problems with delivery.

I bought this TV from Amazon a few days ago. CEVA delivered the TV to me 2 days ago well before the delivery commit date. CEVA service is good and I am completely satisfied with the delivery. There is one problem though. I did a mistake by not picking up the Special promo of Tivo DVR at the time of the order. I realised it later and called Amazon. There is a weird and laughable procedure to get the DVR added to my order. Amazon asked me to cancel my order and reorder the TV again with special promotion. I could not cancel the order since the TV is ready for shipping. Amazon representative told me that I have to refuse the TV when CEVA delivers it to me. I asked them why can not I ask CEVA to stop the shipping right away. Why should I wait unitl it is delivered to me. After a few conversations, I called up and asked CEVA not to ship the product to me. CEVA not willing to do it until they get the confirmation from Amazon :-) Again afte a few calls, Amazon asked CEVA not to ship the product. I reordered the TV with special promo of Tivo DVR. I had a problem again. Somehow, Amazon is charging the full Price of DVR at checkout time. Amazon could not fix the issue and they asked me to go a head and order the DVR with price. They gave me the refund later for the full price. In this whole process, getting my TV got delayed more than a week and I got frustrated with the number of calls I made to Amazon.

But in the end, I recieved the TV atlast. Even though there is a sloppy job from Amazon on this issue, their representatives are patient enough and their service is great. They could have done a better job though.

Having said all this, One thing I should say is all my happiness is back after seeing this TV. I did lot of research as any body else and I was debating between 550 and 650 models before I finally decided on 550. I was nervous cause I felt I might have done a mistake for not going to 120 Hz. All those doubts were blown away after I started watching this TV. Picture is absolutely stunning. Sound is not a problem after the suggested AVS Forum settings. I followed the same forum for the Standard mode settings and I could see good changes for the Standard Cable channels as well. HD channels quality is absolutely outstanding!! I feel there is no need of going for 120 Hz with my limited viewing of last two days so far.

I have had this TV since June. I purchased it and received a FREE TIVO unit as part of a Amazon promotion. After months of reserach and store visitng and standing in front of these things (and countless "Im just browsing" encounters with salesmen, I finally picked this one over the Panasonic 50" PZ800u (I couldnt get over the price for a 52" screen compared to a 50", lighter set for wall mounting and what I felt were identical contrast ratios and color saturation over supposedly smoother motion)

I also picked the 52a50 over the newer model samsung ln52a650 ( I sacrificed some contrast ratio and color saturation here but I couldnt get over the screen glare I was seeing in even the darkest store setups and I knew it would bug me at home as well because Id be looking for it). I should also say that I did not consider the television sound in the purchase (Panasonic 800 and 850 series are THS certified) as I have my set hooked up to my home theatre system and haven't used the TV sound at all. All in all a great purchase From AMAZON with no regrets.

Having been to various stores to look at these things,(I went to all the big stores Sears,ABT, best buy, circuit city, Fry's, etc.)and there is no question that you wont get the kind of pricing and return policy on a brand new unopened box TV "in-store" that you will find on Amazon.