Samsung UN40J5500 40-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV (2015 Model)

Samsung is noted for having the best panels in the business. I was committed to sticking with this brand for that reason and the 5500 series has always hit a sweet spot for value/bang-for-buck compromise. The ID aesthetic of this set is quite amazing. Thin bezel, thin display, sleek and tasteful chrome-like accents. Beautiful set either on the stand or hanging on the wall. 40 inches is a pretty perfect size for the average user. The larger screens are really just for bling or if you are putting it in a very large room with long viewing distances, IMO.Color reproduction is great but needs to be tweaked out of the box. Detail in video is quite nice.I have only a few criticisms of the set:1. Samsung's app store is sort of weak. It seems like a lot of the little apps are basically junk - either having low quality content or not even functioning. I saw a bunch of reviews showing all these apps in for the TV but you will notice most of these reviews show you a couple of apps and then just scroll really quickly through the rest. That is because the rest are not even worth DLing most of the time. Basically, the ones you would use are Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, maybe Skype (if you shell out the extra $100 or so for the camera), and maybe a few others. It may very well be my router (which needs an upgrade) but the youtube app lags out and sometimes does the buffering stutter every few minutes on longer videos.2. The refresh rate on this TV is lower than previous models. The previous generations 5500s were rated at a CMR of 120. This one is listed as 60. I was a little hesitant about this set for that reason but I took a chance. I have to say I feel like there is a noticeable difference between this set and the previous year model in the store, but it is almost impossible to judge without them side by side. That said, I have noticed, particularly with animated films some significant artifacts in the picture. It is hard to know whether this is the screen, the Blueray player, or the disk itself. I have not noticed this on regular films, just animated films like from Pixar or Disney. It is particularly bad on older DVDs but that is probably just the TV accurately reproducing the poorer video quality of old standard resolution films/tv shows.3. I had some wifi issues out of the box. I called tech support which was very responsive but it basically came down to doing a factory reset. Seems like there might be problems with the latest firmware. When I checked my update version before the reset, it said I was up to date. After I did the reset, some of the interfaces seemed different. I can only assume I rolled back to a previous version which is working better.4. The screen mirroring thing is not explained well in their marketing materials. Basically if you want screen mirroring, you have to have a WiDi capable device. What is WiDi? It is tech that allows your device to send and receive to other devices without a router so they talk directly (Di) to each other. If you have an older device, plan on using an HDMI chord to get it up on the screen.5. ARC is still a little glitchy. I have everything hooked up correctly but I have to say Samsung doesn't give you any guidance here. If you have never set up ARC before, you are going to need to find a tutorial on youtube (which there are a couple of good videos teaching you how to do this). But let me say this - old school geeks may remember when HDMI first came out you would patch everything through your receiver which would then pick up the audio stream and then you would use the pass-through to send video to the TV. What ARC does is make the TV the hub which then uses its computer to control all the components and uses the Audio Reverse Channel (read HDMI pass-through) to send audio to the receiver. The pass-through is HDMI 2 - that goes to the receiver and everything else is plugged into the TV. The one draw back to this is that instead of having only one HDMI chord going to the TV while the rest are tucked in behind your stand, now you have like 3-5 HDMI chords going back and forth between the TV and the components. That said it is a slick technology and it sorta makes sense to do it that way. The ARC software is still a little glitchy here though. Even though I have everything plugged in and it is being controlled properly by the TV, when I go into the devices list, sometimes not all of them are there - despite the ARC still working... This makes it hard to set device specific settings like whether or not you want the TV to turn it on and off every time you turn the TV on.Verdict - This is a solid installment for the 5500 Samsung. I think my biggest criticism is that they downgraded the refresh rate. That seems pretty sketchy to me since every single previous set in this line had CMR 120. The other part is that I am underwhelmed with the smart TV deployment. This is my first smart TV so perhaps my expectations were too high. Like I said, I was pretty set on getting a Samsung and at the time I purchased this they had not released the 2015 "dumb" tv models.I am happy with the purchase but I think if I were to do it all over again I would have opted either for the LG 42LF5600 at a MUCH lower price point with almost identical display specs (although LGs panels don't have the same color vibrancy as the Samsungs, in my experience) and simply bought a Amazon Fire TV stick for like $40 (no they didn't pay me to say that). Fact is that things like Sling TV, Roku, and Fire TV are going to be supported more by their companies. This means more apps, more support and development, and probably longer useable life. All in all, they will most likely have a better "smart TV" experience than anything being done natively by the TV companies.What I will say is that if you get this set, you will more than likely be happy with it, but there might be better options at this point on the market. My feeling is that if Samsung had kept this at CMR120 and had a better app deployment this would have been a homerun.

The flagship of the 5-Series, this TV really delivers. Whether you use it as a standalone TV, Internet terminal, or A/V hub, it's got all the features you'll need. I didn't buy this for the "Smart" features, so it's not fair to rate that aspect. I did connect to my 5.2 GHz home WiFi easily, and played around a little. It seems to work as advertised, but the privacy concerns kept me from fully enabling the smart hub. The auto-update feature is nice, though.Connectivity options are quite generous. We have 3 non-Samsung devices connected (STB, BD, A/V receiver), and Anynet+ functions perfectly with all of them. We use the ARC feature to pipe TV audio down to our A/V receiver without an optical cable. One less cable to mess with, and no need to switch sources on the receiver. A nice feature.Tons of options for tweaking the sound and video - but be prepared to take some time before you get it right. First, turn off that Eco Sensor - you'll thank me later. Then, start tweaking your video settings with all the add-on features (dynamic contrast, black level, clear motion, etc) disabled or neutral. All these interpolative features tend to interact with each other, making it difficult to adjust for a single issue without affecting the other video settings. Once you have the basic controls (brightness, contrast, etc) set for a good picture, you can then experiment with the advanced settings one by one. I achieved the best pix quality with most of the add-ons disabled, but your mileage may vary. I prefer a more natural picture to the over-saturated output a lot of folks seem to like. Whatever your preferences, you'll find enough options to dial it in.Built-in sound is actually pretty decent for viewing in smaller rooms. Has a bit more low-end response than others I've seen. For TV-only listening, most will find the sound acceptable.So far, we really haven't found much to complain about. There is some motion blur noticable on certain sources with certain program material, but this isn't a frequent occurrence. Since the clear motion feature made no difference, I think this is more of an issue with the source rather than the TV. Generally, though, we've had no serious problems with motion fidelity on BD or HD-STB sources. If you're a rabid gamer, though, you may find this refresh rate unacceptable.PROS:- Superb picture quality, with more than enough adjustments for anyone.- Decent built-in sound, better than most.- Low power consumption, very little heat dissipated.- Clean design, looks good without being obtrusive.- More connectivity options than most sets in this size.- Lightweight, at under 20 pounds. Small footprint as well.- Remote is well layed out, has decent-size buttons, and is backlighted.- With the "Instant-ON" feature enabled, this set boots up almost instantly. Nice- No reliability issues to date.CONS:- 60Hz refresh may be inadequate for higher frame rates.- No automatic source selection when devices are disconnected - you must manually switch sources on the TV (ie; from BD to STB).- Some motion fidelity issues, but generally OK for most viewing.Overall, a superior midsize set at a good price.

Let me first start off by saying that I purchased this TV mainly for the smart functionality, and do not have any cable television service. I have been enjoying the TV for a weeks now since I received it.Smart functionality:It seems to me like Samsung has really just optimized this TV to be as user friendly as possible. Pretty much right out of the box I plugged the TV into an outlet and literally in less than 5 minutes it picked up my wifi and everything was setup. My amazon prime and Netflix work beautifully with no issues or problems whatsoever. There are also several other useful and nice apps that can be downloaded for free including weather, news, Youtube, and some others.The TV also picks up all of the videos, pictures, and music that I have shared on my network. I can wirelessly stream just about anything from my laptop/network onto the TV without any issues. Really a great feature. Of course a usb drive can also be plugged in view all of your media but I have yet to test it out.Picture Quality:The picture quality is very nice. I have everything on stock picture settings and have yet to calibrate or change anything other than turning off the true motion correction feature (soap opera effect).Sound Quality:Better than I expected. I often play music off of Pandora from the TV and it really does sound great.Remote Control:The remote is basic, user friendly and functional. It does not have too many advanced features/options but gets the job done.

don't buy any tv across the border!