Samsung LE26R74BDX LCD HDTV review
| Design |
Following the steps of its big brothers the LE32R74BDX, the LE37R74BDX and the LE40R74BDX, the Samsung LE26R74BDX has the same sleek and stylish design. It comes with a glossy black surround and matching stand that it really makes it stand out in your living room. At first sight, the Samsung LE26R74BDX looks impressive and the glossy finish really says: “quality design”. The problems come as soon as you touch it. The glossy finish is an absolute finger print magnet so make sure you wear gloves when you install it. |
| Setup/Installation |
| The Samsung LE26R74BDX has minimal installation so you can start enjoying it straight after you have unpacked it. Plug it to the mains, connect TV source and let the clever LE26R74BDX do the rest. It tunes the channels using the auto-programming setting that you will find in the menu and you will be watching TV in less than 5 minutes. |
| Features |
| The list of features on the Samsung LE26R74BDX is very long indeed, although you will find that newer LCD TVs have more and better features. The Samsung LE26R74BDX has a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels, a response time of 8ms and a contrast ratio of only 3000:1, which is a bit of a disappointment. Samsung has incorporated their Digital Natural Image engine (DNIe) on this HD LCD TV, which is supposed to provide crystal clear images. In order to enhance picture quality, the LE26R74BDX has a 12.8 billion colour display, which produces pictures with extremely vivid colours and great depth in all environments. Connections are good. It has 2 scarts, 1 HDMI, 1 component, 1 composite and 1 S-video. It also has a PC connection, allowing it to function as a high-resolution PC monitor. Other features include SRS TruSurround XT, provided by hidden bar type speakers. |
| Performance |
| Well, if we have to be honest (and we are), the Samsung LE26R74BDX did not perform as well as we were expecting. We were hoping that the image produced by this sleek LCD TV would be incredible, but that was not the case. Colours were rich and vibrant, but the picture when watching a DVD was a bit blurred. HD content is a different story. When playing back the HD demo we have in the office, the Samsung LE26R74BDX really showed its full potential. No blurred pictures and the black levels were impressive. But the thing that disappointed us the most was the sound quality. It was thin with not much power, but I guess that’s why you have home theatre speaker systems in the market… |
| Overall Opinion |
| The Samsung LE26R74BDX is a stylish 26-inch LCD HDTV that would look great in any living room. Performance could be better and the price could be a bit lower, but as new LCD TVs are released, the price of the LE26R74BDX will drop in the next few months. |
By Nacho Galvez |
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Pros + PC connectivity + Sleek design |
Cons - Only 1 HDMI - Sound quality - Images a bit blurred |
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Sound Quality 5/10
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Picture Quality 7/10
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Connectivity 7/10
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Future Compatibility 6/10
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Ease Of Use 8/10
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Overall Rating 
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15/1/2007 at 3:51:57pm
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