Samsung UEXXB7020 owners - love to hear your feedback

ADSLUSER

Anyone purchase these new Edge LED LCDs TVs, I would love to hear your feedback. Looking to order the UE55B7020 model but would like to hear some feedback first. I played around with one in DID and was absolutely amazed at the picture quality (running a Blu-ray Samsung demo disc) and slimness of this TV. I couldn't get over how thin the screen was and very pretty looking TV too.

Anyway, any feedback would be welcome.

Conar

Hi.
I recently picked up the 40" version and I'm very happy so far.
I have it hooked up to my Freesat HD Recorder and the picture quality is very impressive on both HD and SD.
My only gripe at the moment is trying to figure out how to add Internet@TV widgets as the only one I can get is youtube and can't search in it.
I've not noticed any bleeding.
I've hooked it up to the Wii and I've no issue with input lag. I haven't turned on RockBand yet though so I'd say that would be the true test.

Not sure what else to say about it.
Very happy with my purchase.

ob

I have the 40" version as well, delighted with it. I have Sky+HD connected to it, great picture. I haven't connected a blu-ray to it yet though.
Being so thin, the sound isn't great, but I'm planning on getting an amp and surrond sound speakers so this isn't a huge issue for me.
I love the fact that I can plug in usb hard disk to the TV, and watch video files directly from it.

Conar

Yeah, forgot to mention the media support.
I've been watching Planet Earth 720P videos streamed over my 85MB/s Homeplugs and it works really well. Haven't tested the USB play yet as no need when it can stream without issue.

ob

Are you using the Samsung software on your PC or do you have a DLNA Network hard disk?
Not too keen on having to use the PC software, as I'm going to get a NAS with DLNA.

Conar

I installed the software.
Not really using the PC for anything other than downloads and file shares so it was no odds to me really.

ADSLUSER

Thanks for the feedback, keep them coming in.

I've pre-ordered mine but the model I've ordered isn't in stock yet i.e. UE55B7020.

A couple of questions:
- Conor - let me know how you get on with Rockband. I'm really curious what the lag is like

- Anyone connect a Sony Vaio laptop through the PC monitor port? I really like to connect my laptop to the TV and use it as a giant monitor sometimes but I heard there are incompatibilities with Vaio and Samsung TVs in general. There are apparently updated drivers with mixed success. Just curious if anyone else has connected a Sony Vaio. Apparently other brands work fine. My problem is that I have 3 VAIOs in the house!

- I noticed there is only one mini composite port with a SCART adaptor. This could be a problem for me as I have a lot of legacy hardware that do not have component or HDMI output

- I watch some foreign movies that required subtitles to be switched on - I heard the LED Edge dimming doesn't work great with subtitles. Anyone any views on this or have they noticed.

- Lastly, anyone any negative things they've noticed from usage? It's a big investment so I want to be sure this TV meets my needs. So far, it's far more functional and stylish than any other TV in it's class and above in many cases.

ob

I just got the Samsung ultra slim wall mount, I was expecting a VESA mount type one, but it's basically a wire! You hang the TV like you hang a picture...

ADSLUSER

ob wrote: »

I just got the Samsung ultra slim wall mount, I was expecting a VESA mount type one, but it's basically a wire! You hang the TV like you hang a picture...

Where did you get the ultra slim wall mount and how much did it cost? I would be interested in getting one myself when my TV arrives. In the spec. it suggests it's included in the box but from what I hear, it's definitely only available separately.

ob

I got it through a distributor that work uses, they're uk based, I got the TV from them as well. I think the wall mount cost €120 ex VAT & delivery. The price is crazy for what's in the package, must have cost about a fiver to make!

I updated the firmware last night, now have more internet widgets.

ob

One thing that has being bothering me is the motion plus frequency. This is meant to be a 100Hz TV, yet whenever it's turned on it displays 1920 x 1080 @ 50Hz in the top corner. How can I get it working at 100Hz?

I've only connected to a Sky+HD box so far, would this have anything to do with it?

ADSLUSER

ob wrote: »

I got it through a distributor that work uses, they're uk based, I got the TV from them as well. I think the wall mount cost €120 ex VAT & delivery. The price is crazy for what's in the package, must have cost about a fiver to make!

I updated the firmware last night, now have more internet widgets.

Thanks. I now see you can order it directly from samsung @ http://www.samsungconnect.co.uk/

Crazy prices for the wireless dongle or the wall mount as cool as they are. And the site does deliver to Eire.

Greenpiece

ob wrote: »

I got it through a distributor that work uses, they're uk based, I got the TV from them as well. I think the wall mount cost €120 ex VAT & delivery. The price is crazy for what's in the package, must have cost about a fiver to make!

I updated the firmware last night, now have more internet widgets.

I have the 40B7000 and downloaded the firmware to usb stick but it doesn't find file when I select software update. The file is T-CHU7DEUC.exe firmware 1006.0. What am I doing wrong?

Conar

Did you forget to extract the file or something?
You should be able to simply extract to the USB key and it picks it up.

Greenpiece

Thanks Conar, you were on the right lines. For some reason all the files did not extract correctly when exe file was on usb stick. So when I moved exe file to HDD and then ran extract to usb all files extracted OK and it worked fine.

On another subject, have you tried using the media player?
I tried to play some video files I had through a usb hard drive. These are .ts files I downloaded from my DM7000s. They play but not in wide screen. They have large black vertical bands on left and right. Same with some .mpg files that I had converted from .ts. I had selected fit to screen.

I also downloaded some movie trailers to see how mkv files would play as this is mentioned in the cnet review. Video fine but message saying audio not supported, so no sound.:(

Greenpiece

Conar wrote: »

Hi.
I recently picked up the 40" version and I'm very happy so far.
I have it hooked up to my Freesat HD Recorder and the picture quality is very impressive on both HD and SD.
My only gripe at the moment is trying to figure out how to add Internet@TV widgets as the only one I can get is youtube and can't search in it.
I've not noticed any bleeding.
I've hooked it up to the Wii and I've no issue with input lag. I haven't turned on RockBand yet though so I'd say that would be the true test.

Not sure what else to say about it.
Very happy with my purchase.

Conar, I got the samsung wireless dongle and can only see yahoo widgets for news, sport weather etc. but none for youtube. How did you access youtube?

Conar

I updated the firmware and now I've no YouTube but have got all the other bits.
I don't really use it so I haven't stressed, I assume that another firmware update will sort it all.

I forgot to report back about Rockband. That worked well, I didn't notice any input lag.
Its my daughter that plays it, I'm fairly pants at it but I got a continuous streak of 250 on medium so I reckon its a non issue.

One thing I have noticed about streaming media which is worth pointing out is that when streaming over the homeplug network it streams fine but I'm only able to pause on some files and no skipping, others nothing at all.
When I take the same files and connect over USB I can pause, rewind, skip etc.
I haven't had time yet to check if this is simply down to bandwidth limitations but for now if I know I'm going to want to pause a flick or rewind etc I use USB.

zAbbo

Conar wrote: »

I updated the firmware and now I've no YouTube but have got all the other bits.
I don't really use it so I haven't stressed, I assume that another firmware update will sort it all.

If you can access the service menu, you might see some additional options, but be warned the service menu isn't for messing around with and could leave your screen dead :eek:

ADSLUSER

For those of you interested to see the 7-series 55" in action, they now have one on display in Curry's in Blanchardstown. Simply stunning. The model they have is the UE55b7000 - the model with the red bezel as opposed to the grey/blue on the UE55b7020.

ADSLUSER

Here's a tip from the AVForums. If you don't like the local dimming feature and wish to override it, you can do so in the Service Menu. Technically speaking, you won't get the deep blacks local dimming offers but you may not notice it at all. It will still give you the regular blacks of a non-local dimming LCD. Some users have found the local dimming feature annoying on certain types of movies with a lot of blacks. Personally speaking, I don't notice the local dimming and believe it does a pretty good job. However, it's still good to have the option to switch this off for users who prefer viewing without it.

To access the Service Menu and make this change, follow the steps below. Please be careful when accessing the service menu and not to change other settings. It could render your set unusable if the wrong setting is changed.

At the tv in standby mode, then press on the remote: INFO then MENU then MUTE and in the end POWER to put the Tv on again. The tv is now starting up and the service menu will apear.

After you are in the sevice menu scroll down to advanced then press 0000.
You will see a box with CE DIMMING, scroll to it then click enter.
Then click on standard or movie then go left or right to select on or off.

Stephen P

I bought the 7 series 46" today, great picture. I only had the YouTube and weather widgets so I upgraded the software so I could get the Yahoo widgets, now I don't have the YouTube widget. Anyone any idea how I get YouTube back?

Cheers!

ADSLUSER

Stephen P wrote: »

I bought the 7 series 46" today, great picture. I only had the YouTube and weather widgets so I upgraded the software so I could get the Yahoo widgets, now I don't have the YouTube widget. Anyone any idea how I get YouTube back?

Cheers!

Apparently this is a bug with the current software upgrade. You get all the other Yahoo widgets but lose YouTube. Hopefully this is quickly rectified with the next software upgrade. YouTube was working rather well when it lasted so see no problem putting it back in.

Conar

Hey guys.

I managed to break the screen on my TV but luckily it was covered by the house insurance.
They just took the screen with no stand or cables etc.

If anyone has broken their stand or lost any of the cables just let me know as I have spares now.

Greenpiece

ADSLUSER wrote: »

Apparently this is a bug with the current software upgrade. You get all the other Yahoo widgets but lose YouTube. Hopefully this is quickly rectified with the next software upgrade. YouTube was working rather well when it lasted so see no problem putting it back in.

I just installed the latest firmware (2004.0) and now have YouTube and Twitter as well.:)

Stephen P

As far as I know I have the latest firmware version. If I press Internet@ it connects to Yahoo!, how do you connect to YouTube? Is it a widget on Yahoo!?

Conar

Handy tool here for converting audio on MKV's.
If you get the error about not having the audio codec then its probably encoded with DTS.
Just convert to AC3 and it's done in about 15 minutes.
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PopCorn_MKV_AudioConverter

Greenpiece

Stephen P wrote: »

As far as I know I have the latest firmware version. If I press Internet@ it connects to Yahoo!, how do you connect to YouTube? Is it a widget on Yahoo!?

Go into the Yahoo widget gallery and select it from there first. If it doesn't show up as featured or in all widgets you may need to re-install latest firmware again. You can check what version firmware you have by going into Menu_Legal Notice_Software Upgrade and it should show your current version as 2009/06/04_002004

pauln

Hi all,
Where did ye purchase from? I'm searching around for the best price on a 40'' or 55''.

Paul.

Conar

I haven't checked in some while but these guys were decently priced when I checked a few months back.
http://www.samsyerman.co.uk/

I also have Youtube by the way so can confirm that 2004 firmware definitely brings it back in. Its very cumbersome though.

BopNiblets

Hello hello, looking for a new TV and the Samsung 40" LED UE40B7020WW from Power City (€1479.95 online) looks great:
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-13-40B702&pages=2&prod=40B702&brands=SAMSUNG

Very interested in the DLNA (can I just connect it to my PC through my router?) and USB (XviD support?) tech on it!

It costs about twice as much as the cheapest Samsung LCD 40" though... but I can't find a review of the one on PowerCity, seems to be an older model, not even on the Samsung website...

Conar

BopNiblets wrote: »

Very interested in the DLNA (can I just connect it to my PC through my router?) and USB (XviD support?) tech on it!

Yes and yes.
Depending on network bandwith though you might not have as much functionality over the network as you do with USB. Example - on higher bit rate movies I sometimes couldn't even pause when using DNLA but was always fine with USB.

BopNiblets

Cool thanks.
Just checked around Power City Tallaght might have some or Harvey Normans Swords, sold out in their other stores, heh.

Stephen P

I have YouTube now, I just checked and it was there. I only recently updated the firmware and mustn't have checked the widgets, I just presumed YouTube wasn't on it yet.

BopNiblets

How is the sound on this TV, one review gave it a 6/10 compared to the other features that all scored 9/10!
I like my noisy movies!

I have a Samsung SlimFit CRT at the moment and the sound on it is finicky at times, you have to jack it up high for some things and then it blares for others.

Conar

BopNiblets wrote: »

How is the sound on this TV, one review gave it a 6/10 compared to the other features that all scored 9/10!
I like my noisy movies!

I have a Samsung SlimFit CRT at the moment and the sound on it is finicky at times, you have to jack it up high for some things and then it blares for others.

The sound isn't great at all to be honest. If you like turning up the volume you may want to look at hooking up a sound system.

One point to note with this tv is that it doesn't come with an Audio jack output. The only audio output is through optical out.

ADSLUSER

BopNiblets wrote: »

How is the sound on this TV, one review gave it a 6/10 compared to the other features that all scored 9/10!
I like my noisy movies!

I have a Samsung SlimFit CRT at the moment and the sound on it is finicky at times, you have to jack it up high for some things and then it blares for others.

Yes, sound isn't the best and with the speakers in the back, doesn't help either but makes the TV look really tidy. The 55" model does have slightly higher wattage but you're best connecting it to a Hi-Fi for a proper cinema sound. In my opinion, it's the definitely the most featured pack TV in it's class. I just love the fact you can stick in a USB and watch DivX movies straight away. It also resumes play too!

Smeghain

I bought the 7 series 46", ive upgraded the firmware to 2009/06/04_2004 i cant seem to get twitter or facebook, anyone any ideas or suggestions ?

Stephen P

Don't think Facebook is on it, is it? You need to go into the Widget Gallery to add Twitter and other Widgets.

Smeghain

the only widgets i have access too or can add are youtube, accu weather and usa today (news service) if i go into the setup or widget gallery i dont see any options to add anything else just to clarify ive got the tv location set to Ireland, im not sure if this has any relivence but it might be whats wrong.... ?

Stephen P

I think my TV location is set to Ireland and I can get all the widgets. Maybe do a re-install of the firmware, it might solve the problem? Don't what else the problem could be?

lemeister

What's the general consensus on these TV's? Seems reasonably positive from this thread in terms of picture quality and functionality. I know the sound is not up with the best TV's but is it good enough for your normal day to day TV? Anyone got any major regrets since purchasing?

Smeghain

Actually its a brillant TV, ok the sound isnt the best but then again none of these flat LED/LCD have great sound, but theres always an external amp for that... i love the media player in the tv and the net tv is also an added bonus, there could (and probably will be) more content and various other stuff comming out in future updates (hopefully a fully functional web browswer) i had an LG LCD tv before the samsung but i wouldnt buy another...sound was crappy and that sensor for various conditions just didnt function, was also a very annoying buzzing noise comming from it constantly. out of everything ive seen in the LCD/LED range i`d have to rate the samsung at the top for picture quality and features.

wayne040576

I got the 55inch version a couple of weeks ago. It's an excellent TV.

This is it (pic is a bit dark):



As mentioned by another poster, I only have 3 widgets, Youtube, Weather and usa news. There are no other widgets available in the gallery. I have firmware: 2009/06/04_2004

Been trying to get it working with the media server. It was going well until I decided to to switch to folder view on the telly for music now I keep getting an error "request cannot be completed " and get thrown back to the main menu.

Smeghain

Now ya need a samsung blue ray dvd and surround system to go with it

irlrobins

Is that 55" balanced on the sky plus box??? Or is that shelf supported at the back?

wayne040576

irlrobins wrote: »

Is that 55" balanced on the sky plus box??? Or is that shelf supported at the back?

It's suspended from the ceiling with invisible wires .

It's sitting on the top level of the stand that is supported at the back. The top level is black as well so it might be difficult to see.

Oh, I updated the firmware yesterday to the latest. I still only have 3 widgets, youtube, weather and USA Today.

irlrobins

Thought as much, but you never know. Some people etc...

ADSLUSER

wayne040576 wrote: »

It's suspended from the ceiling with invisible wires .

It's sitting on the top level of the stand that is supported at the back. The top level is black as well so it might be difficult to see.

Oh, I updated the firmware yesterday to the latest. I still only have 3 widgets, youtube, weather and USA Today.

Go to the Widget Gallery and you will be given a list of other Widgets to install e.g. Yahoo Finance stock tracker, games etc.

ADSLUSER

ADSLUSER wrote: »

Yes, sound isn't the best and with the speakers in the back, doesn't help either but makes the TV look really tidy. The 55" model does have slightly higher wattage but you're best connecting it to a Hi-Fi for a proper cinema sound. In my opinion, it's the definitely the most featured pack TV in it's class. I just love the fact you can stick in a USB and watch DivX movies straight away. It also resumes play too!

Btw, I've noticed an improvement in sound after using the latest firmware... on the 55" model anyway. I've seen similar reports reported by other people on AVForums as well.

wayne040576

ADSLUSER wrote: »

Go to the Widget Gallery and you will be given a list of other Widgets to install e.g. Yahoo Finance stock tracker, games etc.

Already tried that even with latest version. The gallery only has those 3 available. I'm fairly sure I set my region to Ireland.

wayne040576

Well I made (some) progress with the widget problem. I think it is a region lockout problem. My issue is that I have none of the Yahoo widgets/service at all.

I found this bit of help on the Yahoo site that shows you how to reset internet@tv.

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/connectedtv/tvwidgets/samsung/tvwidgets-13.html

To restore the factory settings:

1. Launch the Profile Widget.
2. Select System Settings and press the enter button on your remote control.
3. Select Restore Factory Settings and press enter on your remote control.

If you can not get Restore Factory Settings to work through the screen navigation, press the remote control buttons in the following sequence in order to reset the system: Mute, 9, 4, 8, Exit.


After this I saw the yahoo install option for the first time. It installed all 13 yahoo widgets and I could scroll around the dock and use them. But as soon as I exit the dock - Bang - it is gone and can't be restarted. I have to turn off the telly and turn it back on. Then when I try to use the widgets it just installs those 3 built in widgets and the yahoo stuff is gone again.

I found another explanation for this here:
UPDATE: Ignore this and look at post below. I'm leaving it here for the service menu instructions.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=186221

It basically shows you how to change your infolink country using the service menu. My country was set to none. I tried setting it to both Ireland and then UK but it didn't work in either case. So I guess I'm still missing something.

Point of note, the Yahoo service doesn't give an option to choose Ireland as a location when installing so I suspect it is not available here.

For those who have it working, did you purchase through a uk retailer or Irish retailer? I got mine from microaid.ie. Not sure if Samsung would preset them knowing where they are going.

Sorry for the long post.