First off, great TV. First review ever of anything, just to try to help out people that are in the same boat I was in.
Second, to get to the bare knuckled overview of the 60es7100 skip the next couple of paragraphs that tell of my trials and tribulations while trying to secure the best tv for my buck.
A new big-screen TV is one of the biggest purchases I will be making, so I took a lot of time researching and reading in my decision process. Let me tell you right off the bat, what you read can be deceiving.
I am coming from a 2008 Panasonic 42" plasma, which I was very happy with over the years. The reason I decided I needed a new TV was because a friend of my picked up a 2011 model Samsung 55" and the Blu-rays on that TV blew me away. I was amazed at the 2d depth and clarity of picture. And so my quest to find a new tv began. After reading and reading and reading some more, I came to the conclusion that the tv to get was the Panasonic 60st50. It is super highly regarded by big name reviewers like CNET, it has got great ratings on places like amazon, and it seemed to be the best value for the money. Now, armed with this information, I just had to convince my girlfriend that we should purchase this new tv. It took some convincing and time, but...
One dark and dreary afternoon, as some storm clouds rolled in over the horizon, we departed our quaint little house in search of the every elusive HDTV of our dreams. We decided that our first stop should be our aforementioned friends house. She needed to see the quality in which hdtv's have progressed over the last 4-5 years. It took all of 2 minutes of watching a game of thrones blu-ray for her to declare- OK lets go buy a tv. WooHoo! Off we went to Best Buy, in hopes of having them price match amazon and away we would walk with our new Panasonic 60st50.
When we got to Best Buy the girlfriend immediately thought that the LED's looked way better than the Plasmas. I explained that, that is often the case because of how lit up show rooms and big box stores are and that LEDs are brighter and look better in those conditions. I also explained how everywhere online still said: don't be fooled, go for the plasma. Ultimately, I let her make the decision (she has boobs, I can't say no) and we bought the Samsung 55es7100. We brought it home and it looked, for the most part, fantastic. The picture was bright, crisp, and clear. The 3d was awesome, the 2d had good depth, it was nice. Unfortunately the clouding around the corners was horrible. Most the time it wasn't noticeable, but during super dark scenes, ugh. I read that it will reduce with time, and that also you could lightly 'massage' the screen to lessen the clouding. I probably could have lived with it, but there was one more major flaw. As great as the movies and blu-rays looked, I watched my first football game and was really disappointed. The way the tv deals with motion is, ummm, interesting. There are many motion settings, so I messed around, and found some that I think I liked. I noticed the motion blur in fast scenes during movies and while it was kind of disappointing, overall it was not too bad... But, the football game was the killer. Whenever there was a fast pass the football would seem to jerk in and out of existence and seemingly flicker. Still, the television looked so beautiful in movies and slower parts of the game that I was torn as to whether or not to return it. After a few weeks, I did just that.
I decided the motion blur was to much for me to deal with. I later would find out turning off the Digital Noise Filter would fix my problems. At this point, I decided to go with what my research told me to go with: the plasma 60st50. Not only was it 5" bigger (which is significant, adds nearly 20% viewing area), it was also $200 cheaper. A couple days later I received it. I heard that plasma has to break in a little, but the first thing I did was apply settings I found on the Internet. The TV looked good. Very very solid. The colors seemed accurate, the blacks were great, the clarity was superb. And the motion blur was non existent Zero. But...it just didn't have the realism, 2d depth, the pop, or wow factor to it that I have seen with both my friends and my Samsung LED. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it just didn't seem as good of a picture. I had the plasma for three weeks, while continuing to read online about both the TV I owned and the TV I departed with. Then the girlfriend starting sharing her opinion, that, for such a huge amount of money we should make sure we have the TV we like the most. And she liked the Samsung way better. Just as she was putting this in my ear, the price of the 60es7100 dropped to $1999 plus a $200 amazon gift card. And despite, never before in my life returning a fully functional product, I returned my second TV in the previous month and a half and purchased the 60es7100.
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Overview.
I purchased the 60es7100 and I couldn't be happier. It looks fantastic. Clouding is very minimal and turning off the digital noise filter fixed my football problem. If you are deciding between this and the Panasonic plasma's, let your own eyes be the judge not online reviews. I owned both and believe the Samsung LED to be a considerable amount better when it comes to the picture it produces.
PRO's:
- Picture quality is great. Picture clarity is amazing. There is a depth to the picture that you have to see to understand. The colors seem accurate to me, and I never notice any 'screen uniformity' issues. The blacks are plenty deep and the whites are really bright.
- Physical form is great, albeit, not as nice as the 55es7100. The bezel is slightly larger than the 55, but still very small. The TV is light and easy to set up.
- Smart Hub works fine. I use it for netflix and youtube. Having HD movies streamed straight through the tv is awesome. Typing sucks. The web browser works, but a keyboard would be needed to make it anything less than tedious. But seriously, use a computer.
- 3d is good. 2d->3d conversion works decent. I haven't watch a ton of 3d content so it is hard to review, but I do enjoy it. I would say very similar 3d in the panasonic and in this. The glasses are decent, nothing special, but affordable and included.
- Motion blur is minimal.
- Settings are abundant. Can really fine tune the settings. (pro and con)
- Remote control is nice, navigating the tv's functions is easy.
- Putting movies or music on a usb and plugging straight in the back of a tv is a nice bonus that I wasn't counting on.
CON's:
- Sound is weak. Seriously, where are you supposed to fit decent speakers in a TV this thin? Oh yeah, nowhere! If you buy an expensive new tv budget in another $150-$200 for a sound bar or surround system. I learned this real fast. I picked up a Sony ct150 sound bar system and it works great. It hooks up through the ARC hdmi port so I can control it through my tv remote and my Directv remote.
- There is some clouding. It is hardly ever noticeable though in actual TV usage.
- Motion control still not quite up to par with plasma technology.
- Settings are abundant. I have no idea if I have my TV working at its peak performance. Probably not, any suggestions from current owners, feel free to share. And some settings, while you change them, remain hidden behind the menu. Dumb.
- SD picture quality. Meh. Not sure if this should be a con or not. But after watching almost all HD then trying to watch a standard def channel, seems worse than it probably is.
Advice:
- Feel good about purchasing from Amazon. I couldn't be happier with the price, the customer service (returning a big screen HDTV), and the delivery they provide. Amazon takes care of their customers.
- Buy a sound bar or surround system for this TV, for real. If you are spending this much don't cheap out on the sound.
- If you like getting the most out of your HDTV, DirecTV offers a great signal. I switched from Comcast cable (HD) and the difference is incredible. If I would have known, I would have switched years before I did.
- Let your own eyes tell you the truth. Go to best buy during a non busy time and have them play the same scene from a blu ray for you on the TV's you are considering. Reviews can get you narrowed down, but trust your eyes.
| Brand Name | SAMSUNG |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 45.5 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 60 x 6 x 33 inches |
| Item model number | UN55ES7100 |
| Color Name | Silver |
| Number of Component Outputs | Optical |
| Specification Met | energy_star |
| Special Features | Flat |
| Item Weight | 45.5 Pounds |
| Standing screen display size | 55 Inches |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| Wattage | 20 watts |
