Customer reviews from Samsung US
Samsung - Factory-Refurbished 46" Class / LED / 1080p / 240Hz / HDTV
Average customer rating
4.6
(11 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 11 reviews
5 Stars
8
4 Stars
2
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
0
1 Star
0
100%of customers recommend this product.
(
11 out of
11)
Customer Reviews for Samsung - Factory-Refurbished 46" Class / LED / 1080p / 240Hz / HDTV
Customer Rating
4
almost happy
on February 22, 2010
Posted by: jdolphin
After researching and reading reviews of TV's for the last six months (both what is out and coming out), my purchasing decision came down to the Panasonic v10 plasma and the 46b8500. I was leaning toward the V10 until I heard of the black level issue. Around the same time a really good deal came up for this TV and I jumped on it. I was going to wait for the new 3D sets, but after researching them I found out that the models I could afford would not have the outstanding picture quality that the 8500 has.
I am still trying to get a my settings perfect for the tv for each setting.Video Games, DishHD and Bluray movies all need to be tweaked individually, but so far I am pleased with the picture.
My only BIG problem is that along with purchasing this TV I also bought a blu-ray(PS3) and thought I was good to go since I already had a digital receiver(no HDMI but optical). While playing a blu-ray the second night I noticed lip syncing was off. After much research I found out this tv (along with other LCD/LEDs not Plasmas) cause this delay because of the video processing. This delay does NOT occur when using the tv's speakers, but that is not an option. If you have an AV unit that corrects this problem you should be good. I didn't find out about this issue till it was too late. So I am torn between returning this and going with the V-10 or spending even more money to purchase a receiver that can correct this. Vizio I think is the only current company that has an LED with a fix for this in their menu options.
I would recommend this TV for the price and quality only if you plan on using the built in speakers(not recommended) or if your receiver and or blu-ray player can correct the lip sync problem that will occur.
I am still trying to get a my settings perfect for the tv for each setting.Video Games, DishHD and Bluray movies all need to be tweaked individually, but so far I am pleased with the picture.
My only BIG problem is that along with purchasing this TV I also bought a blu-ray(PS3) and thought I was good to go since I already had a digital receiver(no HDMI but optical). While playing a blu-ray the second night I noticed lip syncing was off. After much research I found out this tv (along with other LCD/LEDs not Plasmas) cause this delay because of the video processing. This delay does NOT occur when using the tv's speakers, but that is not an option. If you have an AV unit that corrects this problem you should be good. I didn't find out about this issue till it was too late. So I am torn between returning this and going with the V-10 or spending even more money to purchase a receiver that can correct this. Vizio I think is the only current company that has an LED with a fix for this in their menu options.
I would recommend this TV for the price and quality only if you plan on using the built in speakers(not recommended) or if your receiver and or blu-ray player can correct the lip sync problem that will occur.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
4
Performance
4
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
3
awesome picture quality but reliability a concern
on April 2, 2010
Posted by: shark
from San Jose, CA
Expertise:Intermediate
we have had this TV for more than 2 weeks now. soon after we hooked up the TV, we noticed 2 medium sized shadow patches on the screen. So, we called samsung support and they arranged for an in-home visit by a local service company. I was very impressed by how quickly my call was answered (I believe by an american representative); virtually no wait time. The local service technician came over within 2 days and ordered some parts that needed to be replaced. The part replacement was scheduled within the next 5 days. Actually the whole panel needed to be repplaced. After panel replacement, the TV just works great! This is our first HDTV, and we are extremely pleased with the vivid picture quality. The blacks are just superb and colors are very accurate. There are a myriad of picture settings to choose from. So, feel free to play around to suit your eyes. Definitely hook this TV up with a home theater sound system to truly enjoy it. Other than the picture quality, the TV is extremely thin and looks sleek when put on the wall (of course with a slim wall mount). The only feature I wish for is built-in wireless connectivity. I would have given the TV 5 stars, but for the panel that needed to be replaced. I do feel that manufacturing defects can occur randomly, and I was unfortunate enough to be a recipient of one. I do give credit to Samsung to seamlessly arrange for the repairs.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
1
Value
2
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Oh.......
on December 5, 2009
Posted by: Hummdis
from Phoenix, AZ
Expertise:Intermediate
This TV is INCREDIBLE! We got a better deal than the MSRP that's posted on this site, but that has not affected my opinion of this TV at all!
Picture quality is absolutely amazing. I've got friends that have LCD HDTVs that are simply envious of the picture quality, even the DTV picture is better than our LCD TV. Apply that to the performance and BluRay quality and you've got one fantastic movie, sports, and entertainment experience.
Samsung has done it again!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
4
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
We're stunned...
on December 15, 2009
Posted by: OldnRusty
We shopped for months before we settled on the Samsung UN46B8500. Everything about it is just right. There's nothing else on the market that even comes close. We live in a remopte area and our television reception is brought to us through a satellite dish. It is our primary link to the outside world and now, with the new LED technology, we're enjoying the ultimate in media entertainment. If you like eye candy, you can't go wrong with Samsung's LED HDTV.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Amazing picture quality
on March 6, 2010
Posted by: HappyFamily
from San Francisco, CA
Expertise:Intermediate
After waiting for THE BEST HDTV, My husband finally got this Samsung UN46B8500 on Valentine's day as gift. I was so happy and couldn't wait to turn it on. Setting up was easy and when we turned it on with UP Blu Ray movie, we were just like WOW!!!, what an incredible picture. Its a feast for eyes to watch movies.
Built in Speakers are OK, but we also got the sound bar, while watching movies we turn it on.
You need to see it to Believe it... ENJOY!!!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
You get what you pay for
on February 26, 2010
Posted by: TouchOfColorFan
We selected this model explicitly for the 'local dimming' feature, after reading many reviews on various websites. The picture, as everyone indicates, is outstanding.
Media play is apparently also a nice feature, however my son says that if Samsung was going to include internal flash memory, 850MG being a mere few dollars' worth, the company should have included a lot more such memory. The small 850 MG will hold only a couple of movies at most.
The preloaded game content is useless for us.
The swivel features and overall design etc are just what I was looking for, however.
There are also many internet features we are never going to use which I would have preferred not to have to pay for, but this 8500 model was the ONLY choice with LED local dimming, so that became the overriding factor in my decision.
In exactly one month of ownership, thus far it has not disappointed.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Great Purchase
on March 15, 2010
Posted by: lind
I purchased the LED model #UN468500XFXA, what can I say it's a great buy. The picture is great and all the extras included are too.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
4
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
4
Incredible picture quality; very clunky extras
on November 20, 2009
Posted by: mccart777
from Pittsburgh, PA
Expertise:Expert
In terms of video quality, this TV is awesome. I can't imagine how the picture could be much better.
There are some picture quality issues with off-angle viewing (as the CNET review states), but I think CNET exaggerates the severity -- it's only noticeable to me if I'm far off center. Although CNET suggests setting "judder reduction" off, I like the effect. While setting this to 10 introduces some distortion at times, a setting of 6 smoothes out motion well without noticeable distortion. I haven't yet noticed any blooming effects. Setting energy saving mode to "auto" doesn't seem to hurt picture quality.
The remote is RF rather than the standard IR that most home theater equipment uses. While many people may consider this a plus, the downside for me is that I can't use my universal remote with the TV. For years I've only had one remote on my coffee table, now I have to have two. Although I did hear that a 7000 series IR remote will work with this TV.
Unfortunately, digital audio output does not pass through multi-channel audio from HDMI inputs. You need to run extra digital audio cables from your DVD player and other components to your AV receiver if you'd like Dolby Digital or DTS sound.
One small build quality issue that I encountered: the plastic at the base of my TV extended a bit too far, making it impossible to fit it into the stand. I had to carve away some of the plastic in the slots of the stand just to get it to fit, which made me very uneasy.
The TV has a variety of Internet and media features. But ironically, I think that I'd be happier with the TV if it didn't have any of these, as there are lots of quality issues such as:
1. When playing video files through USB, DLNA, or Internet features, most TV controls are disabled, including aspect ratio control. While you can adjust basic picture settings, you can't choose 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios. In playing NTSC video (i.e., any video that came from standard def TV, home movies, or DVD) from USB or DLNA, the aspect ratio is *always wrong*: 16:9 video is always squeezed too thin and 4:3 video is always stretched too fat. To me, it's unwatchable.
2. The TV does not decode DTS audio for video files played through USB or DLNA. While I wouldn't necessarily expect this of a TV, I would have hoped that it would just pass through the audio stream to the digital audio output for an AV receiver to decode. It does pass through Dolby Digital from video files (but not from HDMI) to the digital audio output, but it does not pass DTS. Many HD video files on the Internet have DTS, and I can't play any of these on this TV.
3. There is no fast forward, rewind, or chapter advance when playing video clips or movies. This is true of playing YouTube videos as well. Although there is a "skip" feature where you can jump in increments (e.g., 10 seconds), this is only available for some video files (most don't support this, in my experience).
4. As the CNET review stated, the Yahoo widgets are extremely slow to start. Note that this has nothing to do with your Internet speed, since I have a 25 Mbit Internet service with wired Ethernet to the TV and it's still painfully slow. I have an HD TiVo with a lot of the same features as the Yahoo widgets, and that is far more enjoyable to use. But the one area where the Yahoo widgets outperformed TiVo was YouTube -- the Yahoo YouTube widget can play HD video clips as HD but TiVo plays them as SD.
5. For some reason, the DLNA file management user interface is a bit different from the USB file management UI. You can work with hierarchical folders with the USB capability, but not DLNA. All video files from your PC are presented as a flat (large) horizontal list, and it's awkward to navigate if you have more than a few files. Both the USB and DLNA UIs are kind of clunky, but DLNA is worse than the USB.
I assume that these problems exist with all Samsung TVs with the Media 2.0 feature. Perhaps these problems will be fixed in a future software update (I have the 11/09 version). If so, I'll post another review. But I would have preferred a (cheaper) TV that didn't have any of these features to a (more expensive) TV that provided these features poorly. I'll probably end up getting an MVIX or similar device for these features, rather than using the features built into the TV.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
3
Performance
5
Design
4
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US