If you are reading these reviews you are probably considering buying a Samsung HP-S4253 from Amazon. Three weeks before I purchased this set I read all of these reviews as well as reviews from other sites. While the majority of all reviews were positive there were enough negative comments to make me pause. I have always suspected that many "consumer reviews" are written by the representatives of both the manufacturer and the competition, so I take all reviews with a grain of salt. The following is a synopsis of my experience.
Even though I have purchased many expensive items from Amazon, I still had some hesitation in ordering an HDTV on-line, but a $400 savings over any "Big Box Store" gave me the courage to give it a try. I chose Standard Delivery a.k.a. free shipping. The set arrived 10 days after I placed my order. It was delivered by two men from the freight company who carried it up my stairs and set it up on my stand and removed the boxes from my house. I always tip these guys as they go beyond what's required.
The cable company was coming the next day to hookup a high definition set top box, but I wanted to see how it looked with just digital cable, so I hooked it up with the plain A/V cable. The setup was easy, mostly automatic. The picture and sound were truly magnificent.
The cable guy, sorry I couldn't resist, came the next day and installed an Atlanta Scientific Explorer 8000 set top box, a DVR with 80 hours of record time and HDMI connections. As I wanted a better DVD to go with my new TV, I also order a Samsung DVD-VR335 form Amazon. This unit is a combination DVD player/recorder plus VCR which has the ability to upscale DVD's when hooked up with a HDMI cable. HDMI cables are the best and easiest way to hookup any HDTV. They simply plug in and carry both the audio and video signals. Because a digital signal is either on or off, I believe you don't have to have the most expensive HDMI cables for great results. So I have a HDMI hookup from the set top box to HDMI #1 on the TV and a HDMI hookup from the DVD player to HDMI #2 on the TV. These connections work flawlessly and couldn't be easier to install.
This TV looks great right out of the box, the color is the best I've seen, the definition is superb and the sound is excellent for any stand alone system. If you see this set in any store where the picture doesn't seem better than others in this price range, keep in mind that the store can detune the Samsung if they wish to push another brand. Other negative review comments such as buzzing are probably due to improper cable hookups. The issue of watching standard television on a wide screen high definition television is a compromise. The Samsung HP-S4253 handles this compromise better than most as it gives you four options, Standard (faces become a tad stretched), zoom1 ( great picture but cuts off the bottom and top), zoom2 (also good but I prefer zoom1), or 3:4 ( shows the same picture that you are use to in a letterbox - be careful of burn in during the 1st 100 hours). A click of the remote button allows you to cycle though all formats. Believe me you will enjoy watching standard TV on this set as the picture is so much clearer and the color is more natural.
My conclusion is that this is a great set at an outstanding price and you can't go wrong with it. My only minor complaint is that I am back to having to use three remotes to take advantage of all the options I now have. Normally I just use the set top box remote for most of my viewing.
| Brand Name | SAMSUNG |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 88.2 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 29.8 x 13.4 x 41.5 inches |
| Item model number | HPS-4253 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color Name | black |
| Special Features | Flat |
| Item Weight | 88.2 Pounds |
| Standing screen display size | 42 Inches |
