Prior to picking this TV up I had 2 of the 71 series televisions. Both of them had problems concerning a flicker as well as a some dim pixel clusters under the screen. I still had my last 71 under the 30 day policy so i returned it for this years new model: the 650A.

The Tv itself is beautiful. The hint of red is very subdued yet adds a nice touch when you get up close. A warning about the screen, it is glossy. If your room is well lit and you get distracted by reflections, this is not for you. The benefit of the glossy screen is more vibrant colors and contrast. SO for most its worth the glare to have a beautiful picture when you close the blinds. Though in daylight I don’t have a problem at all watching it, but its optimal in dark.

The remote is interesting. It has an Ipod inspired turn wheel in the middle of the remote that is super touchy. It takes some getting used to but its kind of cool. The source input is now a drop down menu where you directly choose the input rather than cycling through them one by one. It also has a motion sensor in it, when activated, auto turns the light on in the remote when its moved. People complain that its an ugly remote, but seriously, its a remote. You dont stare at it like the TV’s picture.

Speaking of which the picture is where the tv truly shines. Vibrant colors, amazing detail, inky blacks. This is the LCD I have been waiting for. Bluray= amazing.

So the TV is very similar to the 71 except 3 new modes which are called “Entertainment Modes” These are Pre-calibrated from the factory and you cannot adjust the picture at all.
1. Sports mode: For high speed sports. This mode is a lot brighter than the others and is designed for faced paced imagery.
2.Game: This is for games obviously. The AMP feature is toned down but the Video Processor is turned up for a smoother game play. Colors are less vibrant than sports, but just a tad.
3. Cinema Mode: Intended for film and is a darker more film like picture. AMP is functioning at normal capacity. Some think this is to dark but I really think its Ideal.

The best part about the Entertainment modes: No judder or stutter and TBE is fairly gone from the 71 series. These modes are amazing and should be the only modes used on the tv for smooth performance.

You can read about more of the features but So far this TV has been exactly what I have been waiting for. There have been quite a few reports of random restarts, I have yet to have any. If this is a widespread problem it will be patched on the older models and will come out of the factory with the fix installed. Samsung tvs have had this problem before and it was fixed last time. I have no worries. (And it just restarted, hooray)

I agree with the other reviewers that the picture is AMAZING. I am also happy to see that Samsung has added a 4th HDMI port. I was initially concerned that the “Touch Of Color” might clash with my decor, but it is very subtle especially if you mount the TV inside a cabinet. The “Infolink” feature is cute and easy to set up, but I don’t see it as being extremely useful.

Now for some caveats. I purchased this TV right after setting up an LNT4661F for my inlaws, and I was quite surprised to realize that the A650 is missing several features from the 4661F, despite the A650 costing $650 more. For starters, the A650 does not have rear composite video or S-video ports (only one of each on the side). This is probably not a big deal for most people, but if you are using a VCR, surveillance cam, etc. you will have a cables plugged into the side of the TV. More of a concern to me was that the A650 has only 1 antenna input versus 2 on the 4661F. That means with the A650 you can’t plug in both an antenna and a cable input. I guess Samsung figures everyone is using a set top box so they cut corners there.

By far my biggest complaint is with the Remote control. Again unlike the 4661F, the A650 does NOT have a universal remote! It’s essentially a TV-only remote, although it CAN control Samsung “Anynet+” components connected via HDMI. This seems like a big step backwards and bothers me more than the other features that were removed. Also the remote is not described on the Samsung website so I had no way of knowing that the remote had been “de-improved”. I agree with other reviewers that the navigation wheel is horrible … it spins freely which makes it practically useless … you spin the dial to make your selection, then as you move your finger to press the enter button inside the scroll wheel, the wheel moves and you select the wrong value. You have to wonder “what were they thinking?”. I’ve seen Happy Meal toys with better tactile feedback!

Despite my criticisms and annoyance that some features have been removed, I still rated this TV as 5 stars because in my book, picture quality is by far the biggest consideration and it looks great to me. Also the aesthetics are very nice and the new features such as 4th HDMI and Infolink make up for the removed features and poor remote control.