TV Woes, Part 1

A few years ago we bought a Samsung LN46C630 TV. We love it. It is a nice size (although my wife now admits we could go bigger), a quality-name product, and has a very nice, clear picture. Recently, however, the picture started suffering from a problem: it flickered. By "flicker" I mean that the entire picture would start strobing brighter and darker rapidly while never actually losing the picture. This strobe effect would sometimes turn off when a new signal was received, like the station going into or out of a commercial break, or when a DVD would move to a new chapter, etc., and would occasionally fade or stop on its own.

It was getting worse, though. When it first started, it was only our main (Component 1) input that was affected. If we switched to any other input, the flickering would stop and we would be left in peace. However, over the last few months, switching inputs stopped working to resolve the issue. We were at the mercy of some sort of signal change. Then the signal change stopped working. At that point, once the TV started flashing, it would keep flashing. Needless to say, it made our really nice TV virtually unwatchable when it happened.

We were to the point where we considered buying a new TV. Our TV was out of warranty and, actually, the problem started very shortly after the warranty expired. I decided to check online to see if others were having this issue. Searching on "Samsung TV flickering" and "Samsung TV strobing" I found that there were many who were having the same issue with their Samsung TVs. Reading through the many hits, I found a trend: it seemed to be all the "LN##C###" in particular were having this issue, and the C600 models specifically. It also seemed strangely common and convenient that it happened just about the time the warranty expired in almost every case.

Reading further, someone had called for servicing and his service person was told by Samsung that it is a common problem with a particular run of TVs and that cutting a jumper on one of the two electronics boards inside the TV can resolve the issue. Depending on the exact model of your TV, the exact jumper number may be slightly different, but they are located in the same spot on the board and perform the same function.

Everyone who tried the solution presented had excellent results and their flickering problem went away.

I've been laid up again with back pain after falling down the stairs. So, I've been sitting in the front room in my recliner watching a lot of TV. Having the flickering happening nearly all the time was driving me nuts. I confirmed with my wife that the TV was out of warranty and that we had enough in our account to buy a new TV if needed. I then tackled the issue following the advice/instructions I found online.

Instructions

They are pretty simple and straightforward. The one piece of advice I would add is that the sensor that reads the remote signal is in an awkward place and you can easily pull it out while taking off or putting on the TV's back cover. If you find that you follow these instructions and the remote "stops working," crack open the case and find the little daughter board and make sure the cable that connects that board (and the sensor) to the main motherboard inside is still connected, or reconnect it if needed.

Since performing that little bit of surgery, we have had no flickering/strobing on our TV. It is back to working 100% and looking great.

Home Run

I don't feel like I hit an electronics home run often. Usually, when I purchase anything electronics, I simply stop looking at my flyers and emails because I know that something better will be on sale within a week of my purchase, or whatever I purchased will have a massive price drop shortly afterward.

My wife and I agreed to use one of my paychecks from my current contract to get me a laptop. This had multiple uses and reasons behind it:

• First and foremost, it would get the software required for the current contract off my PC. Ever since installing it, my otherwise completely stable and never crashing PC has been crashing and achieving the dreaded BSOD.
• It would allow me mobility, to take my work into the office for a consultation or training, etc. It would also allow me to take it with me and work from exotic locales, if my wife and I travel somewhere but I still need to do some work while we're gone.
• It would allow me a separate machine that I could always reset to a "like factory new" setting after a contract, wiping away all traces of the work-related instals if needed.

I started looking. I didn't have many prescribed needs, but I knew I needed a maximum of memory, I wanted a 16" or larger screen due to some of the programs I would use as a technical writer (some of which will use all the memory and screen real estate you give them), and I preferred to have a dedicated graphics card.

We stumbled on a sale that had a Samsung NP-RF710 for $899. This machine had a 17.3" screen, 4 gigs of memory, a dedicated nVidia 330 graphics driver, an Intel i7 processor, and a full-sized keyboard. During my searches, pretty much all 17" and i7 or equivalent AMD processor machines were selling for between $1000 (cheap, no-name brands without dedicated graphics cards) and $1400, so to see one for $900, with those stats, was pretty incredible. In addition to that, it had USB 3.0 ports, the touch pad mouse had iPod-like capabilities, and the fastest wired/wireless networks.

We discussed it, and decided to pull the trigger. Neither of us were familiar with Samsung as a laptop maker, but we really liked the Samsung TV we had purchased recently and I said, "If they make great consumer TVs, how bad can their laptops be?"

I've been using the machine for a couple of months now. I am so impressed with it, you cannot believe it. The thing runs very cool and is extremely quiet. The graphics are superb, I have a nice, wide viewing angle on it, the i7 processor is fast. It has been able to run all of my tech writing software easily, as well as the various applications I need to install for this contract. I have yet to have a BSOD on the laptop.

I decided recently to run a Windows Experience test on both my PC and this laptop. The results were nearly identical, with my PC being slightly better in RAM and Graphics/Gaming Graphics, and the laptop actually beating my PC in processor (all other WEI numbers were identical). So, basically, I have a PC-quality machine that runs cool and quiet as my laptop.

What pleases me the most is that I haven't seen a laptop with equivalent stats sold as cheaply since that deal. It is refreshing to see that I a) got a great deal and b) actually got a very good machine, one that is working as well or better than advertised.

My wife and I will certainly entertain Samsung for laptops in the future. We have found it to be a quality product, sturdy, works as advertised, and without a lot of bloatware or adware. We are incredibly happy with the purchase and feel it has a made a big difference in my work.