DLP HDTV Review: Great Price, Good Picture, Bulky Size
20/02/10 23:34
A review and recommendation for a decent 52” DLP HDTV “ready” TV: Samsung HC-P5241W. The ups and downs - decent picture, great price, horrifyingly gigantor weight and size.
Samsung HC-P5241W 52” HDTV-Ready TV
I purchased this TV about a year ago and after continual usage, have decided to give it a write up. We paid about $1000 for this 52" rear projection TV by Samsung and admittedly, at first were a bit disappointed. I was expecting crystal clear, sharp television images but cable was coming through a bit 'snowy'. I was sweating having to send this thing back but I put in a DVD and there it was: the crystal clear image that I had hoped for! When I switched from cable to satellite, again, great image for television.
I like the viewing options under the menu: 16x9, panorama, zoom, or 4:3 which lets you pick which format you desire for your program or disc.
If its an old school televised program in 4:3 (square picture) then the 16x9 will 'letterbox' your show on this telly, the panorama will stretch it just at the edges which causes occasional distortion on edge movement, 4:3 shows it in the original square format on this widescreen set with either gray or black at the sides (not a fun thing to watch).
However, lucky for us, most programs and DVDs are formatted for 16x9, and after a few tweaks, is gorgeous on this TV.
The specs: it actually does have 2 'wideband' inputs for HD and actually 3 composite inputs. you can verify this on the Samsung site
I like that it has a hidden composite input on the front behind the right lower edge of the speakers. I'm a videographer in Las Vegas and I need to plug my camera in on the fly to preview items, I can plug it in, watch, listen and unplug without digging around behind this behemoth. The down side is that it does not have an HDMI input, which means you cannot view 1080p on this set, it only has the component (Red, Green, and Blue) inputs which limits you to a max of 1080i.
Which brings me to the negative. This set is huge. They make it a one piece gigantor that rolls but is SO large that moving it from location to location is a pain. Its on rollers so moving it a few feet isn't really an issue.
You will have to have a good sized media niche to fit this thing in, and now you have to buy separate entertainment units to house your DVD player, satellite/DVR Receiver and possibly Stereo system. It would have been nice if they made it where you could opt to use the base or not for space limitations, but alas, they did not.
Like all rear projection sets, you have to watch this thing straight on for the optimum picture, viewing it from the side or above is useless. That just goes with the DLP projected territory.
If you wish to avoid this anomoly and would like to watch your TV from every angle, then I recommend that you avoid DLP, and LCD for that matter, and get a plasma.
Along these lines, you might also have to replace a projection lamp at some point in the future but despite moving my TV across town, I have had no issues with the lamps. I've simple clicked the 'refocus' button from the menu and its good to go. By the way, this refocus feature is turned on by default and is annoying as crap in that it takes over whatever your watching and turns the 'refocus' process into the ENTIRE focus for a few minutes. This is remedied by setting this feature to manual from auto and turning off the 'status' bar, which allows it to refocus subtly.
The speakers give great sound for this price range and there is a number of menu options to pick from that give you an equalized sound for your application, i.e. cinema, etc.
Ultimately the Samsung HC-P5241W 52 inch HDTV-Ready is a great buy for around $1000. Great picture, great features, and decent input and outputs, Its form factor is too big and bulky but if that doesn't bother you, this is the TV for you.
As an after thought and in response to a comment, I purchased this set at RC Willey's in Las Vegas for this price. I got it on sale but I think the regular price was only about $1200 or so. I've also seen this unit for sale on ebay for somewhat close to the $1000 price. Its so huge, I would not bother with ebay, but would pick one of these up via Craigslist if you’re lucky enough to see one come available.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1000
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