- Ultra Clear Panel Tecnology
- 15Wx2 audio output
- Wide Color Enhancer Plus
- Internet at TV
- 4 HDMI (ver 1.3), HDMI-CEC
Samsung LED HDTVs combine breakthrough picture quality and advanced connectivity options that will keep you entertained 24/7. This UN65C6500 LED HDTV also makes it easy to be green, and will save you some green, by being ENERGY STAR compliant.
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(Note, I am ranking this TV 3.5 stars)
I have a Sony 46″ XBR3 but have been dying to upgrate to at least a 60″. So when I see Samsung has two 65″ers in their 2010 line up (the 6500 and the not-yet-released-at-this-time 8500), I knew that I have to get one of them now.
First a few disclaimers on my purchase decision:
1. I only want to buy a LED LCD from Sony or Samsung–it’s a personal thing. No Plasma/regular LCD/projector. So there aren’t that many choices
2. Ideally I would have bought a local-dimming LED LCD since it will have the best contrast/dark level. But it’s not available for 60″+ and I don’t see it in the horizon in the next 18 months.
3. I hang the TV on the wall and only use the TV for display only. So all the other bells and whistles on sound–I don’t care and won’t review here
4. while 3D can be cool, I think it’s over-hyped and doesn’t worth another $500-1K for the 8500. I also need the TV now so 6500 it is!
5. This purchase is a “upgrade” to my 46″ Sony XBR3, which was a decent top model 3-4 years ago. I also bought a Samsung 46″ b650 LCD last year, so some of my comments will inevitably be compared against these TVs.
Pros:
1. Aesthetics. At 1.2″ thickness, this unit is super slick, especially if you hang it on the wall–a great visual asset to our family room. Viewing aside, the glossy screen actually makes the unit looks more elegant.
2. Picture quality is not bad, when you can overlook some uniformity issues in bright/solid color scenes (see my cons). No clouding/flash light issues in dark scenes that are common with some LCD TVs. Excellent contrast and in terms of viewing angle; I don’t see any significant degradation even past 45 degrees.
Cons:
1. There is only 1 big con IMO that makes this a 3.5-star instead of a 5-star The TV has some uniformity issues (vertical bands/lines of a different shades). This is especially blatant if you are watching bright scenes (i.e., watching the World Cup in a sea of grass green or in a DVD player menu when the background is supposed to be one solid color). At first, I thought this is due to a defective TV so I called AMZN for an exchange. (BTW, Kudos to AMZN concierge for the excellent CS.) But the 2nd TV also has the same problem, amid milder that I can probably “live with”. I now think the problem is due to the edge-lit LED design as the bands seem to exhibit a pattern and especially obvious in the center (furtherst from the edge). Minus 1 star here!
(Other cons):
1. No wireless adapter included. Samsung, you just lost a potential customer who could potentially give you extra revenue from using the internet apps. Instead, you decided to nickle and dime me on the wireless adapter that probably worths $10 mfg cost (and no way am I buying it for $79-100).
2. For whatever reason, Samsung decides to use a glossy screen on all their LED TVs. My windows are behind the sofa so I see all the glares during daytime viewing. A downgrade from my Sony XBR3 or Samsung B650 which have matte screens. Minus .5 star here!
3. The chrome TV base is very cheesy and ugly. I am glad that I get to remove this for hanging the TV. It was also a pain to remove the base as well. In my Sony XBR3, you can remove the screws and the TV would still sit securely on the stand, so you can take your time to lift the TV and hang it. But the C6500 base is poorly designed that as soon as you remove the screws that secure the base, the TV would fall and have no where to go but up–a challenging task you if only have 2 people for the task.
3. It’s impossible to access the I/O panel once you hang the TV (I have a low-profile mount). I don’t understand why they don’t leave a few extra ports on the side.
4. If I have to be picky, the remote looks cheap. It looks like a remote from a 10 year old VCR, totally not matching the sleek glass bezel of the set. I use an universal Remote so it’s not a big issue for me.
5. Finally, this TV, like any other 120Hz or 240Hz TVs out there, has a motion enhancing feature (Motion Plus) that makes a lot of movies become video-like (instead of film), i.e., the soap opera effect. Some people likes it, most don’t. Personally I don’t but you can easily turn off the feature or I use the custom setting to keep the blurr reduction at 10 while reducing the judder to 4.
Rating: 4 / 5