Samsung Touch of Color LN-40A750 40" HDTV LCD TV

My 10 year old 32" Sanyo Television set, which had served me well, was on its last legs. I was in the market for a new television, and of course I wanted a top-of-the-line high-definition flat screen (Is it even possible to buy a non-HD, non-flat screen tv nowadays?)

I read countless reviews and recommendations and as with any large purchase, was particularly concerned about reliability. Consumer Reports had high scores for most models, but particularly for Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung. And these manufacturers have been typically reliable (although Consumer Reports made a point to mention that they don't have enough data on flat screen televisions to give long term reliability ratings -- consequently I bought an extended warranty).

I found Sony's products to be by far the most expensive, and Panasonic's televisions are mostly plasma as opposed to LCD (I don't claim to be an expert on the difference, but from my understanding Plasma televisions have had problems in the past with 'screen burn', where an image burns permanently into the screen. That made me a little nervous, so I went with an LCD).

Samsung LCD televisions have universally great reviews (I was hard pressed to find anything negative written about them), and the price is typically much better than Sony. 40" is about the perfect size for my apartment, so I went with the LN40A750.

The 750 models are near the top of the line for Samsung and features 1080p resolution, 120Hz Refresh Rate, Picture-in-Picture, 4 ms Response Time, DLNA Compatibility, 178 degree Viewing Angle, 4 HDMI Inputs, an integrated sub-woofer, hidden speakers with SRS TrueSurround Audio, InfoLink (Get RSS Feeds of News, Weather, Sports, etc. on your television), Preloaded Content (HD Artwork, Recipes, and Games) and my favorite feature: WiseLink - a USB port that allows you to play music and movies that are saved onto a flash drive.

You can get a detailed description of these features on Samsung's website, but let me just say that the PICTURE QUALITY IS SIMPLY AWESOME. It is by far the best quality on a television that I have seen anywhere. I honestly do not believe that you can find a television at any price that will give you better picture quality.

But in addition to the amazing picture quality, there are other features that I find useful:

WiseLinkPro allows you to store music, movies, and pictures on a flash drive, and then view/play them on your television. I have most of my music collection now on flash drives, as well as a few movies that I've downloaded. The television has a very user-friendly 'media player' system to view and play your stored media. You can also connect your own MP3 player, instead of using flash drives (Note: This model features 'WiseLink Pro' which allows you to play music and movies, while the 650 version features 'WiseLink' and does not allow you to play movies).

Picture-In-Picture Great feature that I've never had before. You do need a separate source for picture-in-picture (like a DVD Player), but I believe this is true for most, if not all televisions that offer this feature.

InfoLink I also enjoy the InfoLink feature which allows instant access to weather, news, or sports just by clicking a button (the television needs to be connected to the internet through an ethernet cable). I like turning on the television in the morning and instantly seeing the weather.

4 HDMI Ports You should never have a problem connecting gaming systems, blue-ray players, laptops, etc.

Preloaded Content The LN40A750 comes with preloaded content that includes cooking recipes, games, and HD artwork. The recipes and games are silly in my opinion. The artwork is very nice and can be displayed as a slide show. The preloaded content cannot be changed, nor can more content be added (an odd oversight in my opinion).

Sound System The sound coming out of this television is very good -- obviously not nearly as good as a separate surround sound system, but with two hidden down-firing speakers, as well as a built-in subwoofer, I don't think you'll get better sound quality from another tv. My music sounds pretty good on this television. (Note: The 650 model does not come with the internal sub-woofer).

The one minor flaw, if you can even call it that, is that it takes about 3 seconds for the television to power on. It doesn't bother me, but I could see that some people might find that annoying.

I bought the television online through butterflyphoto.com. The shipping was free and there was no tax. I paid $1500, plus I purchased a 3 year extended warranty for $150. Especially for this price, you cannot go wrong with this television!