Samsung 55" 1080p LED HDTV

After much research and pricing among many models and brands we decided to go for the basic model from Samsung's line up. We just could not argue with the picture for the price nor could we justify the huge price jump when looking at comparable models which offer Smart and 3D features. We own an Xbox 360 with LIVE that offers movie and music streaming as well as an internet explorer app so our Smart needs are pretty much already met for what we use it for. Fellow reviewers have also mentioned several alternative add on's if you desire said features so I encourage anyone to look into those options and save more than a few bucks. We took delivery of this TV on November 29th 2012 and to date (12/13/12) we have been more than happy with our purchase. This TV replaced a 2007 26 inch 720P LCD Toshiba Regza so the jump in size and picture quality is quite a bit so I apologize if I may have a bias in this review. I'll start this off with PROS: Thin design Very thin bezel Super light for it's size about 45 lbs excellent picture and contrast CONS: None really for me but I would list a lack of ports for those out there who love options. Picture: The picture quality of this TV is phenomenal. Super bright display, whites are brilliantly white while blacks are deep rich and dark and the colors are vibrant and vivid. Do spend some time calibrating the TV yourself as our eyes are all different and a few settings on here I did not like for my viewing needs. ( plus why wouldn't you want to spend time playing with it?) There is a plethora of calibration options to tweak the picture as you see fit and I probably spent about a week tweaking the TV until I felt the picture was optimal for our needs. Don't keep your first settings as your eyes adjust to the new screen you'll more than likely readjust the picture. DO NOT judge this set based on over the air or cable TV. It simply made the picture look like garbage. DVD's Bluray PS3 XBOX are what you want to judge the picture on, then you will see just how gorgeous your new set can be. I would calibrate your TV with a DVD or Bluray movie that has a wide range of whites blacks and colors. The contrast between white and black is out of this world. I have never seen such dark deep blacks on super bright whites on any other TV. I am thoroughly impressed as it takes dark themed movies and games to a whole new level for me personally. The colors are brilliant and rich however you may want to tone the out of the box setting down as the colors can be unrealistically bright with LED's. It is a showcase of how vivid LED tech can be. Lastly you have the ability to tweak auto motion plus 120hz settings or use presets for fast scenes which I love and the ability to turn it off which is a huge plus because with it on it can give a movie that super ultra realism that quite frankly can take away from a movie. So that is an awesome feature as there are some instances I use it and some where I don't want it at all. Overall we are in love with the picture quality and could not be happier. Menu: The menu system is very easy to navigate and really quick compared to our old set. I am happy with the organization of menu and sub menu and how quickly I can go through settings and change things around. It is really responsive. That is really all I could ask for in a menu system. Remote: It's a remote and it works for me very well. Great feature is that it has back lit buttons. responsive operation and seems well built. Only time will tell. Design: We love the design of the TV from the super thin bezel to the light weight which made it easy to lift and install to our mount. It does not get very hot at all compared to our old LCD and the depth thickness of the set is still really thin to us, so it wasn't an issue that it wasn't made with current razor thin tech. Just the right amount of ports for me personally, I know some will argue that but I can only speak for myself. The 55 inch screen is perfect for our viewing room which is on the smaller side so overall this TV has fit our needs very well. Value: Considering screen size, design with no bells or whistles just an awesome beautiful picture for a great price. I would have to place the value as pretty high. We didn't need nor want any of the other features of higher end models and the savings from choosing a basic model is a very nice thing and makes the bank account very happy. Plus it leaves us money to add a new home theater system in the very near future so how can we argue with that? Simply a great TV, great size screen, great picture for a much lower price than a Smart/3D set. Overall this has been a great buy for our needs and we are very happy and have had no issues thus far. We did purchase a 4 year warranty to be on the safe side of things, because as we know there will always be a percentage margin for manufacturing errors and or defective parts from suppliers. Nothing is perfectly manufactured so they do pop up from time to time. That is just part of the game, so with anything in this price range a warranty purchase was no question. I would highly recommend this model for anyone looking for a great TV, not a TV trying to be a computer.