Samsung LN55A950 LCD TV

Jan 16th, 2009 | By Simon

The Series 9 remote control is very similar to ones in the past. The body doesn’t appear to have changed between the Series 6 and Series 9. The ergonomic curve is still there and the layout of the keys has not changed.

I did notice that they removed the PIP button and replaced it with a button to launch the pre-loaded content. All the other buttons have not moved or changed. The remote still comes with a light feature which is extremely sensitive. The slightest nudge would cause all the keys to glow a soft orange. This is very handy at night if you don’t know where the remote is. Slightly nudge where you think it might be and it’ll light up. Don’t forget that with each nudge you use a tiny bit of power.

One qualm I had with the remote control is the location of the enter button. I can be impatient at times and I don’t like waiting a few seconds before the TV automatically changes channel. Instead, I like to key in the channel I want to go to and hit the enter button. However, the enter button is located in the middle of the control wheel – too far for most hands to reach. I would like to see a second enter button closer to the key pad for the impatient few like me! I should also point out that the spin dial has an odd level of sensitivity, sometimes it jumps to or three positions when I just want it to move down by one level but sometimes it doesn’t move at all. I recommend going back to the four button design: up, down, left and right.

If you press the content button on the remote control, the Content Library opens and can browse different galleries, recipes, play a few games, entertain children or view fitness activities.

While this is handy for some users, it seems more like a great opportunity for Samsung to show off the power of its TV. Each content option has pictures that have a wide range of colors and contrast.

Art Work

Cooking

Games

Fitness

WiseLink Pro is back and I really enjoyed this feature with the Series 6 TV. By plugging in a USB drive, you can share your favourite trip photos with friends with background music of your choice.

The final feature is InfoLink, also making a return from previous Series. InfoLink requires a network connection but once you’re on you have access to news, weather and stocks courtesy of Yahoo. I noticed two changes with InfoLink from previous version, one I like and one I’m not too fond of. Starting with the positive, InfoLink now has Canadian weather available. The negative is that you can’t create a favourite list of stocks, only view the overall market.