New TV: Triggered Pulled

[sub780lime]

Well I pulled the trigger on the Samsung HL-T5687S - seen here



Got Best Buy to price match AbesofMaine.com for $1969, instead of of the $2499 they had it listed for.

The TV will be here on Wednesday, I will post an initial review once I have it.

I also took a step into the HD world and bought a neighbors 360 HDDVD Drive off of him since he upgraded to the Toshiba player.

Now I need to find a TV stand for it...more shopping

Specifications:
Stereo Broadcast Reception MTS
Display Device: Single digital micro mirror device
Pixel Count: 1920 horizontal x 1080 vertical
Channel Coverage: VHF 2-13
UHF 14-69
CATV 1-125 (up to 181 pre-selected channels)
ATSC 1-69
Audio Power: 10W x 2
Power Consumption: 230 Watts
PC in 1
S-Video In 2
Composite 2 (RCA)
DVI Audio in 1
Component Video Input (Y/Pb/Pr) 2
HDMI input 3
RF input 2
Video out 1
Audio out(RCA L/R + Optical) 2
USB 1
Order Code: HLT5687SX/XAA
UPC Code: 036725256903
Product Dimensions(w/o foot): 50.4"(W) x 34.9"(H) x 13.4"(D)
Product Dimensions(w/ foot): 50.4"(W) x 34.9"(H) x 14"(D)
Product Weight: 69 Lbs.
Shipping Dimensions: 55.1"(W) x 39.9"(H) x 18.5"(D)

[chlngr1970]

Congrats! That sounds like a great set.

So, is the first HD-DVD you buy going to be Serinity?

j

[sub780lime]

Should have been, picked up Batman Begins yesterday, they didnt have Serenity in stock at Bestbuy.

[ganthc]

Congrats on getting into the HD arena. You'll like Batman Begins!

[Ruined]

Grats on the new TV. Make sure you grab King Kong and Corpse Bride on HD DVD to demo it!

[Iguana Man]

That is a sweet TV! Red X and all!

Don't listen to Ruined, watch Bats Begins and then watch King Kong.

Actually, I gotta admit after watching BB's a third time, it DOES look incredible. KK too but get ready to actually see where the special effects come into play. KK in HD shows sooo much detail you can actually tell some scenes are fake. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but it is true.

[zepherman]

sub780lime,

Way cool!! Gorgeous TV! And it using an LED engine is very cutting edge. Big congrats on that very fine TV! I have read that the picture is the brightest of any of the newest display technologies. How would you describe the picture? Thanks for sharing and enjoy!


Seth

[bembol]

Looks sweet, congrats! 3 HDMI, 1 DVI & 2 Components, nice. Post pics when it arrives Wednesday.

[Iguana Man]

You know, I wonder how others feel about that super thin bezel of black.

Advantage or disadvantage?

[sub780lime]

Need to stop being so lazy and just host an image, I always seem to choose poor sources...we shall see how well Amazon works out

I like the Ultra Think Bezel (though I dont have the TV yet), the reason being, the super thin bezel reduces the amount of Black seen around the screen. I can get my room pretty dark, but a TV image easily lights up the frame of the TV usually...and by having such thin bezel, I think you notice less any difference in source material black levels to the TV edge. Now a TV and source that will put out pure blacks always makes a huge difference, but having a thinner distraction I think is a plus.

I will post pics when its setup. The wife and I also went and spent too much money on an entertainment set...a console table and and two outslde bookshelves... it should look real nice..and we started painting the media niche the TV sits in yesterday, should be done today. It will be deep dark red. That should help the whole look. I must admit, I am excited for the new console and book shelves. I think it will look a lot nicer in our living room.

I just ordered V for Vendetta and Phantom of the Opera HD. Bestbuy had them on sales for $15 with free shipping. King Kong I can borrow from somebody. Wife and I don't like the movie that much, but we will watch the first half...until they leave the island.

DVI

Can't wait to hook up my PC to this and play some Total War.

I will post pics come wednesday. Really cannot wait.

On another thought, I am currently running this DVD Player
http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/dvd/prod...?model=SD-5980
What do you think? Do I need to upgrade?

[sub780lime]

The furniture we bought came this morning. supposed to be delivery from 7am to 11am...they were there at 650am. Could have knocked me over with a feather I was that surprised. Well the furniture looks great, get the TV at 5 today

[Iguana Man]

Can't wait to see it! Make sure that pretty wife of yours is in at least one of the shots.....purty please?

[sub780lime]

Lol...so guess what? TV Picked up. I couldn't believe how light the box was. I have pushed around my Dad's 50" DLP, but this thing just ways nothing, especially compared to my 34" 16:9 CRT...thing ways 170lb...this new one only weighs 70 pounds - I love that.

And guess what - the Picture is beautiful...I bought the Polar Express and Serenity HDDVD yesterday. First thing I stuck in was Serenity, skipped to the Reaver/Alliance Battle. Gorgeous. Next thing I put in was The Polar Express. Skipped to the end with Santa. It was just so pretty.

And Guess what else..the TV is defective. Thats right, defective. Well maybe not officially defective, but you will see what I mean if you read on. The first source that I brought up on the TV was my HD Cable...and I notice there a black spot about a foot down from the top of the TV and centered left to right. I get up close and notice that this isnt on the screen, its the image. I then look around the TV and notice that there is that spot, one a little gray and squiggley right at the top edge just to the right of the first one. Theres one on the left side of the screen and one on the bottom to toward the right. The convenient thing is you only see the first one when watching an HDDVD. So...I was quite pissed and still am. My thinking is, there is probably dirt on the mirrors that are reflecting the image...thats why they are all different shades of darkness and all different shapes. I could be wrong, what do I know. So I called Samsung today (i have heard their service is horrible, we shall see) gave them the info, so a tech is supposed to call me to set up an appointment. If I dont hear from them on Monday, I might just go the Best Buy route. Exchange the TV, I didnt want to have to do that, because Best buy doesnt yet have them in stock in store, so they have to order it from the warehouse, which means i have to weight again...not cool. I have also considered buying the service plan which I skipped on. I could still add it and then use that. Best Buys service (my experience with my Dad's TV) has generally been pretty quick, while I have heard Samsung is like waiting for snail mail.

So what do you think, I know you havent seen it and i will try and take a picture, but the spots are definitely under the screen, they are part of the image. Think it just might be dirty in there?

So my overall mood right now is

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

So my overall mood right now is

It shouldn't be. You still have an uber hot wife.

Good luck man. Seriously.

[sub780lime]

Do you think my theory about the mirrors being dirty is plausable, Have you ever hear something like that? Or has anyone?

[sub780lime]

Okay, so all is good in the world. Maybe thats an exaggeration, but they serviced my TV this weekend. I couldnt even be there because I had a dentist appointment, but i let my neighbor sit in for me. There was a bunch of crap in the back of the TV, just dirt, some plastic peices, a string (that was making the sqiggly line)...so they cleaned it out real good and its fine now. The only other thing I noticed was there a litle bulge on one part of the screen. I only see it when I have a flashlight on the tv and I am looking from above it down along the screen. I cant even see it during viewing. Never-the-less, they are ordering me a replacement, but they wont have it until september - TV is too new. I can't see it so I don't really care.

Wached part of Phantom of the Opera HD-DVD yesterday and all was well. Calibrated my TV a little. Honestly, I am not sure what I want to use or not where all the features are concerned. DNIe, The Color Gamut, etc etc.