Reviews & Coupons

Last Christmas I was trying to find the best LCD HDTV for home and make it a big surprise to my family with a great plasma. I read as much as you can imagine to see what users are saying about certain plasma and found many websites and magazines reviewing each plasma, some of them were good and some were bad. I wanted a plasma which fits my needs and I found the right one which is Samsung LN46A550P 46-inch 1080p LCD HDTV. At the end of this review you can find an Amazon coupon so you can save more than $400 OFF (depending on Amazon status) and get it for a cheaper price than I got it. Before continue this review I would like to write down this product description: 46″ widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1920 x 1080 pixels *

I ordered the Samsung LN46A550P 46-inch 1080p LCD HDTV, sight unseen, from Amazon.com based upon the price/performance ratio and the fact that Samsung HDTV’s have always struck me as having the best image quality. So far, I’ve not been disappointed. For a price just under $1900 (without a coupon), this is undoubtedly a lot of TV for the money.

First and foremost, the picture quality is superb. I have spent much time at Best Buy, Circuit City, and the Electronics Expo for the past 18 months and so I’m not easily impressed. But I’d have to say that the A550 image quality easily rivals the best Pioneer plasmas costing many thousands more. I only compare it to a plasma because the image is so smooth and grainfree, it almost doesn’t seem like an LCD display. Of course the 30,000:1 contrast ratio and 5msec response time helps put the Samsung among the very best of the best. With the `Black Mode’ and `dynamic contrast’ turned up, there’s that sense of looking through a window. The image clarity literally blows away my previous HDTV… which was a Philips.

When turned off, the LCD display is not quite as glossy and reflective as some of the earlier Samsung models. Its more of a semi-gloss. So there are no annoying reflections to contend with …and the picture still has great depth and rich color. Of course the surrounding frame itself is still high-gloss black. The set comes with the swivel stand pre-assembled and the TV can be lifted by one person without too much trouble. It should be noted that the swivel stand is a very useful feature.

Before turning on the set, I hooked up all the peripheral devices, namely an HD Cable Box, a Panasonic 30K Blu-Ray player, a Toshiba HD-DVD player, and my laptop computer. I then turned the set on, fingers crossed, hoping there wouldn’t be any problems. The first show that appeared on the screen was from an HBO HD movie, Chris Rock’s `I Think I Love My Wife’ in 1080i. Even without any adjustments, the image clarity was jaw-droppingly good. As I’ve stated earlier, it blew away anything I’d ever seen with my previous Philips. In fact the picture was so enjoyable, I didn’t really feed the need to channel surf to find a ‘better’ HD image. I was able to just relax, enjoy the movie, and not even think about the TV for the whole movie. Incredible.

Next, I watched `Kingdom of Heaven’ in full 1080P using the Panasonic Blu-Ray player. Of course it was spectacular visually. But damn, it’s a boring film. And finally, an hour of ‘Planet Earth’ on HD-DVD may have been the most impressive of all. The size of the screen was most appropriate for the landscape scenery. The close-ups of birds and plants had that 3-dimensional feel.

Sure, the A550 is not 120Hz. But to some extent, the 120Hz anti-judder filters are a gimmick that add an artificial clarity…turning movies that were filmed into video-game like drawings. Its an interesting effect, to be sure…but I didn’t think it was worth spending an extra $600.00 for one feature that amounts to `processing’. Indeed, the A550 gives the best image possible from the source material while still looking entirely natural.

As for reliability, the TV has worked flawlessly so far…but I’ve only had it for a day. The PC input worked well: text was crisp at 1920X1080 resolution. Digital photos look astounding…providing you have a good camera, of course. If you’re into digital photography, seeing your photoshop creations displayed on the big screen in the highest resolution is amazing.

About the only negative thing I can say is that the built in speakers are laughably inadequate. Of course you’ll want to have a good external stereo system.One more thing, the TV does an excellent job of upscaling 480p sDVD’, so there’s no need for an upconverter. However, at 46″, the low resolution of sDVD’s is not very impressive.

After researching more than 1 hour to find the best place to buy this product. I found that Amazon has the best price and with this Amazon coupon (automatically addded into the links when you click it) you will save more than $200 OFF on this Samsung LN46A550P 46-inch 1080p LCD HDTV. Is a bargain really so check it out: Click Here To Redeeem Coupon Code

B. Sign up for a new Amazon Account (Clicking Here) with a new email address. Use your real name.

In my gold box the tv Samsung LN46A550P 46-inch 1080p LCD popped up in my gold box and the price was 1499.99 which is a good price for this tv. I was going to purchase this TV from FRYS for $1699 just minutes before. I thought 1699 was a good price until I could save 200 bucks

Features include a 1920×1080 (1080p) native resolution, ATSC, NTSC, and QAM tuners, 30,000 dynamic contrast ratio, 5ms response time, 500 cd/m2 brightness, and three HDMI, VGA, component, S-Video, and RCA inputs.

Item(s) Subtotal: $1,578.86
Shipping & Handling: $45.70
Gold Box Discount: -$78.94
Shipping Savings: -$45.70
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Total Before Tax: $1,499.92
Estimated Tax: $0.00
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Grand Total: $1,499.92

Some people seem to be getting different prices in their gold box. Many actually seem to be paying less than what I paid… Interesting…. I am betting that if you set up different accounts you would get different prices, but for me it is not worth the possible $10 savings…

I had never clicked on the gold box deal before btw. I didn’t realize that it was an actual gold colored box at the top of the screen when I was in amazon. Just and FYI for anyone else who has never click on the box.

UPDATE: I called Amazon and told them the price on the TV dropped to $1400.54 and they gave me a credit for $99.38. Of course they forgot to add the shipping and handling but I did not correct their mistake. So….. If you already got in on this deal and you want to see if you can get the price adjustment… Good Luck! My total price including shipping was $1400.54…. (Note: The price increased to $1599, but you may be able to get the better price if you use the gold box steps above).