Samsung LN52A850 52” 120Hz, 1080P LCD TV: The Living Review

Product Number: LN52A850S1FXZC
TechWiki Info: Samsung LN52A850S1FXZC
Price: Approx. $3200 to $3700 CAD
Warranty: 1 year
Manufacturer's Product Page: SAMSUNG Canada



Raise your hand if you still have an older tube-style T.V. I am sure that quite a few of our readers have not yet subscribed to the HD phenomenon which has seen LCD, Plasma and DLP TVs make their way in countless households across the country. Unfortunately for consumers, HDTVs are like everything else in life: they come in varying degrees of quality and are priced accordingly. Prices range from just a few hundred dollars to literally tens of thousands for those well-healed consumers out there and naturally, you get what you pay for the majority of the time. Sure there are exceptions to this rule since there are a few diamonds in the rough but keeping the old adage “you get what you pay for” in your head when HDTV shopping is usually a good idea.

In this review we will not only be introducing you to a new review format (more on that later) but more importantly, to one of Samsung’s high-end HDTVs; the LN52A850 52” 120Hz, 1080P LCD TV. This TV is a successor to the ever-popular 750 and 650 series which are still on sale (along with the older 550 series) at major retailers across the country and while it may be a newer product it is priced within spitting distance of the LN52A750 depending on where you look. I guess spitting distance is relative to the buyer since this new 52” 850-series TV will put you back between $3200 and $3700 (yeah, a $500 difference from one store to the next). This may be a biter pill to swallow but it could be eased somewhat when you look at Samsung’s marketing that claims their new set is one of the best on the market right now. Those are some lofty goals considering the price range this TV flirts with but Samsung has rarely steered us wrong in the past so it will be interesting to see if it can lie up to our high expectations.

Since there is a hell of a lot more to a TV than keeping it for a week and somehow formulating an opinion on it, we have chosen a bit of a different review format this time around. If there are any of you who bought a new HDTV and have been completely satisfied with it after a mere week then congrats because you are a lot less picky then I am. No fewer than 4 HDTVs have passed through my living room and I have determined one thing: it takes a while to configure a TV to your viewing preferences and even longer to get a good “feel” for it. That is why this review will follow my experiences with this TV over a 4 week period; from my initial impressions in this article to the changing opinions and expectations which come with an evolving experience with a product. So, make sure you tune back in every Thursday night for the next month in order to see new impressions and some new tests which will be run. Don’t worry though, this will be a review “for the rest of us” with easy to understand terminology and a very straightforward viewpoint since a mere year ago I had a minimum of knowledge about HDTVs so I know where you are all coming from.

One way or another, enjoy this living, ever-evolving review for the next four weeks.