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 enlarge | Brand: Samsung
Category: CE
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Media: Electronics
Display Size: 30
Shipping Weight (lbs): 140
MPN: TXR3080WH
Model: TXR3080WH
UPC: 036725230880
EAN: 0036725230880
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| Customer Reviews:
 Pretty good February 24, 2006
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
I've had this model for close to a month now, and I've been pretty satisfied with it. I picked the R3080WH over the nearly identical R3079WH because the cabinet space I had would just barely accommodate the speakers-on-the-bottom '80 but not the spearkers-on-the-side '79.
On the positive side, the picture is generally quite good. I'm no true video expert, but I've been quite pleased with the overall picture quality, especially in widescreen, in a variety of lighting conditions. The audio is probably nothing to get too worked up about, but it's a vast improvement over the tinny speakers in the 10-year-old 20" stereo TV this model replaces. Not bad sound at all, really, for built-in speakers, though any serious audio fan is going to want to spring for a separate set of speakers. The set does have a nice look to it--superior, in my view, to that of the '79 and '81 versions, and it looks fairly slim despite the obvious protrusion of its tube. No one's going to be fooled into thinnking that this set's an LCD or plasma, but it's not a bad look, anyway. The TV also has a built-in HDTV antenna, which would be a better deal for someone living in an urban area with more nearby HD signals than I get where I live.
My chief complaint is, probably no surprise, the bowing. It's neither as severe and disturbing as some would suggest nor, I dare say, as insignificant as some others have implied. It's quite noticeable even in normal viewing; when you call up a satellite-receiver menu or even the volume slider, it's pretty darn blatant. Your mileage may vary. I find it to be distracting, but I pretty much knew from other reviews what I was getting into, so I have no room to complain much. I'd advise trying to see a '79/'80 in the store first before buying.
For the price, this is, I would say, a pretty high-value set, and I'm happy enough with it. Allegedly, the '81 version of this set has better geometry, but it appears totally unavailable. If you think bowing's going to be a problem for you, wait for forthcoming models or try another brand. For me, the '80 was a pretty good choice given my available space and budget.
 The truth about the geometry issues. May 8, 2006
17 out of 33 found this review helpful
Truth be told I don't own one of these sets but I have some info that may be helpful to owners and prospective buyers. There seems to be some misunderstandings about the geometry issues with these sets. First off not all of these sets warp the image, which means clearly the sets aren't meant to. If some have this issue and some don't its clear it is a solveable problem. Some with this issue seem to have been able to solve it by calibrating the set, however it should be noted that the reset option in the Service Menu should be avoided. Using it can really screw things up and may make it difficult to return it to Samsung (they won't like the idea of you fidling around too much). And indeed returning it seems to be the best way to get a TV without issues.
A fellow reviewer seems to think others are just nitpicking about this issue and seems to be simply tolerating the warped image. This is absolutley ridiculous. Progress isn't scrificing quality for new features, it's adding something completely new that complements the already existing integrity of the system. People who dole out the money for this set should get to enjoy the same quality everyone else does plus this products great design for the extra cash they had to drop on it.
I give this set a 4 because it seems like a great set, the quality of which is only hampered by the hit and miss game you may have to play to get a good set. If you find yourself dealing with this issue please don't simply tolerate it. The more Samsung hears about it the more likely they are to fix it.
 Do not buy this TV September 14, 2006
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I made a mistake. I did not read the user reviews of this set before purchase, only the product specs and marketing noise... I was absolutely horrified when the screen started it's "bowing". It is unbelieveable that a high-end electronics company like Samsung would put their name on such a flawed tube design.
I was drawn to the set by it's price, plus it was the absolute perfect size for the shelf in my bedroom! This is my first HDTV and I was really excited to get it. It has been a real let-down.
Come-on Samsung! This is an HD TV, not a fish finder. The display is what it is about! If it could not be engineered properly, ie; overcome the "Geometry issue", then it should not be sold, or it should be sold with a big red warning label on the box alerting you to the design flaw. Samsung has made their design problem my problem and that is just plain wrong.
I am in a long drawn-out process of trying to get Samsung to make good on this product. I am still hopeful that eventually Samsung will either fix it or replace it with a different product, but I will continue to be unforgiving about my wasted time. Don't waste yours!
BAD TV AND HORRIBLE SERVICE BY SAMSUNG September 13, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I BOUGHT THIS TV IN MARCH AND AFTER 2 MONTHS IT SHUT DOWN AND NEVER WENT ON AGAIN. ITS BEING NOW 3 MONTHS AND AM STILL ON THE PHONES WITH SAMSUNG AND ITS SERVICES TRYING TO FIX MY TV.VERY VERY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE
Good HDTV for cramped spaces, but audio output shuts off November 27, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
We got this HDTV as a replacement to fit in our cabinet: 32"x23.5". It fits perfectly, with not an inch to spare!
This is a good solid HDTV, that does all the things you'd expect: 16x9 widescreen display, ATSC (HDTV over-the-air) tuner, HDMI and VGA connectors. There's two component connections. There's three S-Video and/or composite connections, but only two are really usable: the third is buried off to the side and almost unusable (a very poor placement). In addition, it has two cable connectors, which is handy: I use one for our existing analog cable and another for getting free ATSC from an antenna.
The switching between input sources is rather complicated, as there are *three* buttons on the remote to do it all: one switches between component and HDMI only, the other switches between the two cable connectors, and the other switches between the various composite and S-Video hookups! That's amazingly complicated for what should have just been a single button, or maybe a second button to bring up a menu. In addition, the TV does not skip over unused input sources, and provides no way of manually disabling them during setup, so you end up having to wander around a lot before managing to find the input source you want.
Our middle-class AV setup, a mishmash of components acquired over the years as finances permitted, ran into a limitation of this TV, unfortunately.
The audio output jacks, on the back of the TV, only work when the TV is displaying a signal from the built-in TV tuner, or a composite video input source! S-Video connectors (our Playstation 2), and component video connectors (our DVD player), do not have any sound output at all! This is a real oversight. It is a hassle, because it means I have to have an extra audio switchbox and make the people in the house get up and hit buttons whenever they want to change video sources, so they have matching audio to our receiver. I can't just take the existing TV audio output jacks, unfortunately, because the TV cuts off their audio output.
What's maddening is that it does this on purpose: I hear the sound coming out of the small built-in TV speakers, but there's nothing coming out of the TV's audio output on the jacks going to my audio receiver! So, the TV is getting audio just fine, it's just choosing not to pass it along. This is a stupid design oversight that Samsung should have detected during engineering. It makes hookup a real pain, and a lot more complicated than it should have been.
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