Samsung UE40ES5500 - Any Info/Reviews on this screen?

Went to pick one of these up today but didn't like the positioning of the power cable and the majority of the inputs as I would be buying to wall mount. The speakers also stick out at the bottom. Disappointing!!
 
I picked one of these up from John Lewis much the same as a few others in here. I haven't had delivery yet but went into comet near by for a look and it looks decent for the money, features and five year warranty. It looks much smaller than my current Samsung 40'' TV, but I think that is because my current model has a thick border around the screen. I will post my verdict once I've set up and tested the set.
 
I got one of these from my local John Lewis store on Sunday. Very pleased with it so far, I've just got to learn how to use it now lol. A big difference compared to my old knackered 11 year old Toshiba 32" TV (which at the time should or been @ £1200, but I got it for £750). I was expecting the new TV to look huge, but the overall size with the surround is just about the same as my old Toshiba
I can get 3HD channels - BBC 1 & 2 plus ITV. It's got 2 USB ports, but can only use one of them for an external hard drive. Using a 500gb drive which the TV formatted so I can use it for timeshift & to record programmes. Also got another 60gb drive with some films in various formats which seem to play very well. Thinking of getting a 32gb memory stick to put films on from my PC so I don't have to keep swapping hard drives.
Waiting to get a RJ45 crossover cable - think the Samsung wireless dongles are too bloody expensive :eek:, but might try the Hama dongle if I can find the right one cheap enough.


@ watcher64 - have you got a model number (& a link) for that Hama dongle please.
 
I got my Samsung dongle off ebay, £32 delivered I think it was.

Interestingly JL were £599 for the TV yesterday.

The TV also automatically switches off after three hours viewing, unless you click the remote, then it's ok.
 
Hi guys

I have this TV - and I'm enjoying it so far (happy to answer any questions!).

I have been trying all the settings and LED Motion Plus makes the screen much darker when it's switched on - any ideas why this might be?
 
What is the setup pinnate?

Is it Aerial > TV > Freeview
or Freeview box > cable > TV > Freeview
or something else?

Also have you tried the following options?

Energy Saving : Off
Eco Sensor : Off
Backlight : 19 (Adjust according to room brightness)
Motion Lighting : Off
LED Motion Plus : Off
Black Tone : Off
Dynamic Contrast : Medium

I got my TV today and those were the default settings (except backlight = 17)
 
I would like to know what the black levels are like and also input lag when gaming?
 
After a bit of research thinking of taking the plunge with this screen, despite reviews being thin on the ground. I wonder why as it's now been out a few months? I understand that some apps (Lovefilm, Iplayer) are still n development for a few 2012 models so maybe they're witholding review units until they are? I'm a bit worried despite most of the positive views I've found from buyers online.

Richer Sounds still have it at £499.95 so have submitted a price match request to JL, who have upped their price to £599.00 on the arrival of new stock.

Will let you know how I get on.
 
I ordered a Samsung UE40ES5500 from John Lewis last week and finally received it today! After a good 12 hours sat in front of it (come on it's been a rainy day!) I thought I'd share my opinions on it. Reviews do seem very thin on the ground and 4 pages of people talking about price fluctuations isn't particularly interesting!

I've divided my thoughts into various sections that will hopefully help prospective buyers know what to expect, but on the whole I'm very happy with it, it has fulfilled all of my expectations and would certainly recommend it to others:

Aesthetics: the thin panel and tiny bezel make this TV look a lot more 'top-of-the-range' and expensive than it is. Obviously if this is really important to you, try to go to a shop to see it first, but personally I think it looks great. The only point to mention is that the screen does not rotate on its base; if you're having it in a large room and will need to rotate it regularly it could be an issue.

HD picture quality: using the built in Freeview HD tuner I was very impressed with the picture quality and . Colour reproduction is excellent, blacks are nice and deep (there's a setting to fiddle with this too) and the picture is nicely sharp without looking like it's had the contrast ramped up too far. Fast motion scenes looked very smooth, I've been watching lots of football this evening and it performs flawlessly. Also I've gone through various dark screen scenarios and can only see a very small amount of clouding around the very perimeter of the screen. This is perfectly acceptable to me, given the nature of edge-lit LED panels.

SD picture quality: this seems to have come in for a bit of stick in some other reviews I've read, but I think it's actually quite good. I've watched a range of different types of SD programmes this afternoon and it handles them all quite well; no obvious aterfacts or pixellation as others have reported. Also just watched the cricket on Channel 5 and the scorecard graphics looked as crisp as can be expected from an SD feed.

Sound: after listening to some of my music library it was very obvious that the bass is not great. For general TV viewing it's perfectly fine, doesn't sound weak or tinny at all, but if you're going to be watching a lot of action films for example, you'll notice the lower end of the sound range rather absent! I think this is a common issue with many of the recent ultra-thin LED TVs and it might be worth considering an external speaker system to make the most of it.

Smart Hub software: I think this is massively overrated. Many of the reviewers of the 2011 and 2012 Samsung sets seem very excited about the Smart Hub software, but to me it's a lot of useless apps for stuff that you probably don't want to use on a TV anyway. For example, the Facebook and Twitter apps both had very ugly interfaces and only fit about two or three posts on the screen at a time; nowhere near as sleek as the actual websites. As for the Rightmove and Teletext Holidays apps, I'm never going to use them. Maybe when the BBC iPlayer app becomes available I'll pay it closer consideration, but initial impressions are that it's just a bit of a gimmick.

Remote Media: I have a Synology Network Attached Storage device upon which I store photos and music and accessing this via the Smart TV was one of the principle reasons for buying this model. After connecting the TV to the network it detected my NAS straight away, no need for faffing around with settings, and whilst the photo viewer and media player are a bit cumbersome to navigate with a TV remote, they do the job. Handily, you can access the NAS directly from the normal menu of input sources (e.g. HDMI 1, HDMI 2...) so you don't have to navigate through the Smart Hub every time. For the record, with the Synology DSM software, you need to have the Media Server app installed and running for DLNA devices to be able to access it; regular shared folders that may be visible to other PCs may not be visible to DLNA devices such as this TV.

Live recording: for those not aware, you can plug a USB hard-drive (or even a small flash drive) into one of the USB ports and use it as storage for a Sky+ type recording device and for pausing and rewinding live TV. Obviously the set only has one tuner, so if you can't record one channel and watch another, but it's a very nice addition nonetheless. Playback of recorded footage (even HD) is indistinguishable from the live feed. The recorded programmes can accessed via the Smart Hub or Source Menu (as above) and are nicely organised, if with slightly too few items per screen.


Hope this is helpful to some of you and if you have any specific questions, please post them and I can try to help!
 
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I bought the UE40ES5500 from John Lewis last weekend and mounted it to the wall on Friday. I bought a slim bracket from m form (http://www.m-formonline.co.uk/lcd-plasma-led-wall-mounts/32-to-46-super-slim-lcd/led-bracket) which puts the TV 20mm off the wall. I discovered that once I had put right angled connectors on HDMI and the coax connections and a short RJ45 connector on the ethernet cable, the TV doesn't sit completely flat due to the power cable (despite being right angled) sticking out slightly too far. It is a minor gripe but simply worth noting that if you have a bracket that sits the TV 25 mm off the wall, there's probably no value in trying to buy a slimmer bracket.

I do find Samsung's menu systems really awkward compared with my Panasonic G20 plasma and I still haven't managed to find where to edit the favourites channel list to eliminate the channels I would never watch. From a google search last night, my last hope may be within the smart hub section, which I'll check later this morning.
 
I do find Samsung's menu systems really awkward compared with my Panasonic G20 plasma and I still haven't managed to find where to edit the favourites channel list to eliminate the channels I would never watch. From a google search last night, my last hope may be within the smart hub section, which I'll check later this morning.

On the whole, I've found the Samsung menus easy to navigate, especially the EPG, but I suppose it's largely down to personal preference. I still think the Smart Hub interface is awful (*** is the SmartHub section in the top right supposed to do, mine seemingly just loads a splash screen?!). However the media playing technology behind it is good and thankfully you can access remote media without having to trawl through the Smart Hub as I said in the post above.

As for altering the channel list, yes you can do this via the Smart Hub. In the bottom left there's a 'Channel' section, here you can change channel numbers/delete channels and/or set up Favourite Channel lists. I just switched the SD versions of BBC one, ITV and CH4 (channels 50-52 as standard) with their SD counterparts to make them a bit more accessible.
 
Craig Armstrong said:
I bought the UE40ES5500 from John Lewis last weekend and mounted it to the wall on Friday. I bought a slim bracket from m form (http://www.m-formonline.co.uk/lcd-plasma-led-wall-mounts/32-to-46-super-slim-lcd/led-bracket) which puts the TV 20mm off the wall. I discovered that once I had put right angled connectors on HDMI and the coax connections and a short RJ45 connector on the ethernet cable, the TV doesn't sit completely flat due to the power cable (despite being right angled) sticking out slightly too far. It is a minor gripe but simply worth noting that if you have a bracket that sits the TV 25 mm off the wall, there's probably no value in trying to buy a slimmer bracket.

I do find Samsung's menu systems really awkward compared with my Panasonic G20 plasma and I still haven't managed to find where to edit the favourites channel list to eliminate the channels I would never watch. From a google search last night, my last hope may be within the smart hub section, which I'll check later this morning.

Hi mate, I'm trying look for a right angled power cable. Not having that much luck though. Where did you find yours from?!

Thanks
 
I ordered a Samsung UE40ES5500 from John Lewis last week and finally received it today! After a good 12 hours sat in front of it (come on it's been a rainy day!) I thought I'd share my opinions on it. Reviews do seem very thin on the ground and 4 pages of people talking about price fluctuations isn't particularly interesting!

I've divided my thoughts into various sections that will hopefully help prospective buyers know what to expect, but on the whole I'm very happy with it, it has fulfilled all of my expectations and would certainly recommend it to others:

Aesthetics: the thin panel and tiny bezel make this TV look a lot more 'top-of-the-range' and expensive than it is. Obviously if this is really important to you, try to go to a shop to see it first, but personally I think it looks great. The only point to mention is that the screen does not rotate on its base; if you're having it in a large room and will need to rotate it regularly it could be an issue.

HD picture quality: using the built in Freeview HD tuner I was very impressed with the picture quality and . Colour reproduction is excellent, blacks are nice and deep (there's a setting to fiddle with this too) and the picture is nicely sharp without looking like it's had the contrast ramped up too far. Fast motion scenes looked very smooth, I've been watching lots of football this evening and it performs flawlessly. Also I've gone through various dark screen scenarios and can only see a very small amount of clouding around the very perimeter of the screen. This is perfectly acceptable to me, given the nature of edge-lit LED panels.

SD picture quality: this seems to have come in for a bit of stick in some other reviews I've read, but I think it's actually quite good. I've watched a range of different types of SD programmes this afternoon and it handles them all quite well; no obvious aterfacts or pixellation as others have reported. Also just watched the cricket on Channel 5 and the scorecard graphics looked as crisp as can be expected from an SD feed.

Sound: after listening to some of my music library it was very obvious that the bass is not great. For general TV viewing it's perfectly fine, doesn't sound weak or tinny at all, but if you're going to be watching a lot of action films for example, you'll notice the lower end of the sound range rather absent! I think this is a common issue with many of the recent ultra-thin LED TVs and it might be worth considering an external speaker system to make the most of it.

Smart Hub software: I think this is massively overrated. Many of the reviewers of the 2011 and 2012 Samsung sets seem very excited about the Smart Hub software, but to me it's a lot of useless apps for stuff that you probably don't want to use on a TV anyway. For example, the Facebook and Twitter apps both had very ugly interfaces and only fit about two or three posts on the screen at a time; nowhere near as sleek as the actual websites. As for the Rightmove and Teletext Holidays apps, I'm never going to use them. Maybe when the BBC iPlayer app becomes available I'll pay it closer consideration, but initial impressions are that it's just a bit of a gimmick.

Remote Media: I have a Synology Network Attached Storage device upon which I store photos and music and accessing this via the Smart TV was one of the principle reasons for buying this model. After connecting the TV to the network it detected my NAS straight away, no need for faffing around with settings, and whilst the photo viewer and media player are a bit cumbersome to navigate with a TV remote, they do the job. Handily, you can access the NAS directly from the normal menu of input sources (e.g. HDMI 1, HDMI 2...) so you don't have to navigate through the Smart Hub every time. For the record, with the Synology DSM software, you need to have the Media Server app installed and running for DLNA devices to be able to access it; regular shared folders that may be visible to other PCs may not be visible to DLNA devices such as this TV.

Live recording: for those not aware, you can plug a USB hard-drive (or even a small flash drive) into one of the USB ports and use it as storage for a Sky+ type recording device and for pausing and rewinding live TV. Obviously the set only has one tuner, so if you can't record one channel and watch another, but it's a very nice addition nonetheless. Playback of recorded footage (even HD) is indistinguishable from the live feed. The recorded programmes can accessed via the Smart Hub or Source Menu (as above) and are nicely organised, if with slightly too few items per screen.


Hope this is helpful to some of you and if you have any specific questions, please post them and I can try to help!

Very helpful review! I was particularly interested in how it handled football as it'll be used for that a lot. Are you connecting to the NAS device by wifi or Ethernet? How laggy is it?
 
Hi mate, I'm trying look for a right angled power cable. Not having that much luck though. Where did you find yours from?!

Thanks

It is supplied with the TV. I also looked around for an alternative (hoping for a lower profile) but without success.
 
As for altering the channel list, yes you can do this via the Smart Hub. In the bottom left there's a 'Channel' section, here you can change channel numbers/delete channels and/or set up Favourite Channel lists. I just switched the SD versions of BBC one, ITV and CH4 (channels 50-52 as standard) with their SD counterparts to make them a bit more accessible.


Great, I've selected my favourites and reordered them. However, whilst they are displayed in my preferred order in the channel list, the guide still lists them as per their channel number :rolleyes:
 
Just about narrowed down my TV hunt to one of these- can anyone please confirm if the BBC Iplayer app is working yet? I've seen something saying it would be available in May, but nothing since.
 
Very helpful review! I was particularly interested in how it handled football as it'll be used for that a lot. Are you connecting to the NAS device by wifi or Ethernet? How laggy is it?

Both my TV and NAS are connected are via ethernet cables and there's no lag at all. I tried out some of the online Smart Hub apps (had a quick look at the Netflix one I think) and the menu navigation was a bit laggy. You don't get any of this when navigating files on the NAS though, very quick and snappy loading of all the menus and files. I was streaming some 1080p home videos I took whilst skiing earlier in the year and it didn't have any problems at all.

As for the football, watching Spain v Italy now and can confirm it's brilliant. Even watching cricket, (which I would've thought the dark ball whizzing over the light pitch would highlight any fast motion issues) still looked fantastic.

Edited channel numbers - what a laborious exercise!

Yes, what a pain!
 
Not yet but I've seen a blog entry stating that iplayer is available for some 2013 Samsung TVs as of last Friday and so I'm hoping this TV receives the update in the next week or so.

BBC iPlayer App Lands on Samsung ES7000 and ES8000 Smart TVs | Gadget Helpline

Excellent news! From what I gather, the Smart Hub software on the ES7000 and ES8000 are based on the same firmware as the ES5500 (although they offer more functionality) so hopefully it shouldn't be long.
 
Ok I have a question for you guys now!

Due to the aforementioned poor speaker quality on my new UE40ES5500, I want to connect it to a small hifi system for use when watching films/listening to music. The problem is, audiowise the TV only has a digital optical out and my hifi doesn't have a optical input, only a 2x RCA input. At the moment I've got a 3.5 mm jack to 2x RCA cable running from the headphone output on the TV, but this obviously cuts out the TV speakers and I'd like to be able to use them for occasional TV watching, without having to fiddle around with the cables all the time.

SO! My question is, will the SCART socket on the UE40ES5500 output sound, so can I use an adaptor like this and connect the 2x RCA audio outputs to my hifi. If so, will this work when watching all sources, such as TV, HDMI inputs and streamed media?

SCART Adapter - 3 PHONO + S-VHS IN/OUT: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
 
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I have the UE40ES5500, got it yesterday. Paid £550 at Comet. Wish I'd seen this thread before I paid up!

Anyway, I notice that on my set there is a dark patch about 1/3 of the way across the screen from top to bottom. Particularly noticeable on panning shots of a football pitch etc.

Should I take it back? Or is this to be expected on a low end TV?

Any thoughts much appreciated...
Jack
 
Ok I have a question for you guys now!

Due to the aforementioned poor speaker quality on my new UE40ES5500, I want to connect it to a small hifi system for use when watching films/listening to music. The problem is, audiowise the TV only has a digital optical out and my hifi doesn't have a optical input, only a 2x RCA input. At the moment I've got a 3.5 mm jack to 2x RCA cable running from the headphone output on the TV, but this obviously cuts out the TV speakers and I'd like to be able to use them for occasional TV watching, without having to fiddle around with the cables all the time.

SO! My question is, will the SCART socket on the UE40ES5500 output sound, so can I use an adaptor like this and connect the 2x RCA audio outputs to my hifi. If so, will this work when watching all sources, such as TV, HDMI inputs and streamed media?

SCART Adapter - 3 PHONO + S-VHS IN/OUT: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
I have a surround sound system connected to the TV by SCART and it works fine. I have muted the TV sound and use the external speakers for everything

I also tried one of these dongles from Amazon and the TV wouldn't recognise it so sent it back and ordered a Samsung one

Hama Wireless LAN 300Mbps USB 2.0 WiFi Stick (suitable for Samsung TVs): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
 
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Just got this TV. Pleased with it but does anyone know the $ky remote code ? the $ky box is the old $ky+ box not the HD one. Thanks.
 

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