Picture Quality -
Pros - The picture on the samsung c630 looks very good right out of the box. Watching Avatar on Blu-Ray is simply amazing. Playing PS3 on this TV looks equally amazing and with no noticeable input lag. I haven't had chance to switch to HD cable programming yet so can't comment on that but standard cable still looks pretty good on this 40 inch tv, a solid 8/10. Watching standard DVDs through an upconverting 1080p DVD player also look very good. You can see some graininess if you're within 3 feet or so of the TV but any further than that and the picture looks crisp and clear 9/10. Blu-Rays just look phenomenal, no other words to describe it really. 10/10. This TV has plenty of video adjustments to tinker with make the picture suit your taste. I actually turned the contrast and backlighting down a hair on my set because it was a bit too good. The TV will also save your picture settings for each input device.
Cons - One of the main reasons I went with the c630 model was for the 120hz capability. I wasn't really sure how much better the picture quality was with the 120hz over the older 60hz models so I decided I'd be better off safe than sorry. I can say now that the 120hz feature on the newer model LCDs seems more of a gimmick than anything. Within the first few hours of watching my new tv I turned off the 120hz and set it back to 60. This can be done by changing the Auto Motion Plus setting in video options(settings are standard, smooth, clear, custom and off). The 120hz feature does indeed give the picture a clearer almost 3D like appearance, however the soap opera effect caused by it unfortunately makes watching movies very distracting. You feel more like you're watching a live stage show than a film. It's good for watching sports and some other live broadcasts and events but bad for pretty much everything else. Another comment i have about this tv is with the viewing angles. While the picture remains clear even at the widest angles, the colors get a little washed out when viewing from the sides...although not to a huge degree. Overall the picture looks great from all angles but you will probably notice a slight difference in color saturation depending where you're viewing from. Color Reproduction overall on this tv is very good. Colors are accurate, whites look white, blacks look black. If I had to pick a weakpoint however it would be with the grayscale. Some grays may appear fuzzy or grainy if you look very closely. This should be unnoticeable however from normal viewing distance.
Features -
Pros - The Media Play and AllShare features are quite nice. you can plug a flash drive right into your tv and play a variety of video files, mp3s, jpgs with easy to navigate menu's. Playing files from your PC works in the same way. You do have to download a file sharing server app from Samsung (it's called PC Share Manager) for it to work but it's fairly straight forward to set up. You just install the app and choose which files/folders you want the samsung TV to be able to browse on your computer.
Cons - I was unaware of this before purchasing the tv since the product description says you can connect wirelessly to your PC but I have since found out wireless network connection is not built in to this tv. To connect this tv wirelessly to the internet or to your pc, you need a seperate wireless LAN adapter from Samsung which costs about $60 on Amazon. So now I either have to purchase another 25 ft of ethernet cable or cough up 60 bucks for the adapter.
Another problem i have with the Media play feature is it can only handle a limited number of files. I have a 16Gb flash drive with over two thousand mp3s on it but the tv will only read the first 999 of them and the rest cannot be played. Also for playing music or video files there is no shuffle feature. You can sort files a number of ways but Samsung left out a random playback ability.
Sound -
Pros - Sound on the Samsung c630 is decent although not spectacular. It's about what I would expect from built in speakers which there is little room for in many of these newer and thinner LCDs. I haven't seen an LCD tv yet that had amazing sound quality right out of the box. There are plenty of Surround Sound presets and an equalizer to fine tune the audio to your liking.
Cons - To get the true movie theater experience with this tv, unfortunately you'll have to hook it up to an external home theater system. Built in speakers are adequate but certainly don't raise the bar for LCDs. I purchased the Phillips DVD home theater HTS3371D.F7 along with the TV and it sounds spectacular for only $160 extra.
Overall -
For the $800 range the Samsung C630 seems to offer the best picture along with the most features and 120hz capabilities compared to other sets in the same price range. The internet capabilities and media player of the C630 are very handy and this set has easy to navigate menus with plenty of audio/visual settings to tweak. The casing of the TV also looks very sleek and stylish. The 120hz in my opinion seems like a limited use feature and may not be worth the cost over a 60hz set if you're not also looking to get the additional features many of the newer LCDs have as well. Although that and most of the other negative comments I had aren't even knocks on this TV set in particular but issues with LCDs in general. The only true complaint I have with the Samsung C630 is that it requires a seperate adapter to connect wirelessly to the internet which is not what the product description would have you believe. Some of the features I might be nitpicking about aren't even offered on other tvs in this price range. Overall, unless you're willing to invest a couple hundred more to make the jump to the new LED backlit LCDs, this is one of the highest quality TVs you'll find for the price.
Other notes -
The C630's Energy Saving features allow it to automatically adjust screen brightness to fit room lighting. Although it's not as energy efficient as the newer LED tv's, the C630 doesn't seem to be generating too much heat.
The box that the Samsung LN40C630 came in was about half the size as the box the for an LG 37" LCD I had bought my parents the year before. Not much packing in the box besides styrofoam holders on the top and bottom end of the tv.
Recieved the TV one day prior to estimated delivery with the free super saver shipping. Was shipped via Pilot Freight and then transferred to another regional freight service which did not show up in tracking information. I only found out by calling Pilot to try and schedule a delivery time.
Get more detail about Samsung LN40C630 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black).
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