Samsung UN55C7000

Internet Features (3.00)

Samsung did some serious bragging at CES about the internet features on the new 2010 lineup of televisions. Let us be the first to tell you that, as of March 2010, they have failed in a big way to deliver on that promise.

In our review of last year’s Samsung UN46B8500, we asked one question after spending an hour or so playing around in its online features: why did you even bother? Yes, it was that bad. The good news is that the new Samsung UN55C7000 is not as poor. But it’s not very good either.

The biggest problem is content partners. Samsung has promised a greatly expanded package of content feeds from Netflix and others of that caliber. At the time of the product’s release, the list of partners is pathetic: YouTube. That’s IT!! Granted, Samsung has been loud about the partners in development: Netflix, Blockbuster, Pandora, and more. We just wish they were actually ready by the time they starting selling the TVs. That doesn’t seem like much to ask.

For comparison’s sake, take a look at the internet features on a new 2010 Sony TV, the KDL-46EX700. It features over 30 content partnerships, including Netflix, Amazon on Demand, Yahoo, Blip, Crackle, Wired, DailyMotion, and about a dozen topic-specific channels for food, golf, and more.Sony managed to cement all these partnerships and ship the TVs faster than Samsung (or Panasonic, for that matter).

There are a handful of other features included in the Samsung internet ‘feature set’ that aren’t video related, but they’re not very good either. For instance, the USA Today app appears woefully outdated. With excessive graphic junk and a clumsy interface, the only similar product that comes to mind is an early ‘90s CD-ROM encyclopedia (remember them?). There’s also a handful of pre-loaded games, which are really just knock-offs of popular puzzle games like Bejeweled.

The inclusion of Skype is promising. The interface looks good, and the prospect of talking to a 55-inch tall version of your friend is pretty cool. Unfortunately, we had to settle for the mere prospect. To actually have a 2-way conversation, you need to purchase an add-on camera/microphone set, which is not yet on the market. We did manage to get a 1-way call going with someone in the office. For some reason, the person on the other end did not have the option to send a video signal, so that function may also require the camera/microphone.

Overall, we’re disappointed that Samsung didn’t manage to get their big name product ready in time. The feature set is painfully slim, and the features include were prone to crashing. It’s just another sign that this product was rushed out ahead of schedule with all the seams showing.

Local Media Playback (14.00)

The Samsung UN55C7000 can play back photos from either of its two USB drives. If you’re the type of TV owner that likes to have slideshows going at parties, you’re in luck. There are a lot of options for controlling the transition speed, transition style, background music, and more.

Unfortunately (boy, we seem to be saying this a lot), the firmware was clearly not ready. You can see from the photo below that the picture browser crashed, merging photos and creating weird, wavy lines. Sorry, Samsung.

The Samsung UN55C7000 can also play back video and music clips through the two USB ports. One of the USB ports supports hard drive, the other simply plays back thumb drives. Unlike the photo playback interface, these did not crash. With an iTunes-like interface, you can sort music by album, song title, artist, genre, and mood.

Other Media (0.00)

The Samsung UN55C7000 includes a feature called ‘AllShare’ that syncs with Samsung mobile phones for messaging, media, screen share, and using the phone as a control device. Unfortunately, we did not have access to a supported phone, so we have no idea how well this works, if it works at all yet.

Other Models in the UNxxC7000 Series
For more information on other models in this series, check our Series Comparison Page.
Samsung UN40C7000 40 in.	Samsung UN46C7000 46 in.