Samsung LN46A650 Review-Breathtaking, But Still Flawed

What would you say if you saw the Mona Lisa, but Da Vinci had painted her with a missing tooth?  How about if Michelangelo’s statue of David had horrific acne, or a third nipple?  Would you be horrified?  Or perhaps, insulted that an otherwise great work had been marred by such a strange and unnecessary flaw?

This is exactly how I felt when I tried out the Samsung LN46A650, a forty-six inch 1080p with four HDMI ports, a hundred and seventy-eight degree viewing angle and a whole SLEW of options and modes.  This is an absolutely breathtaking TV, with unbelievably clear picture and sound.  It is a thing of true beauty, except for, like I said above, one strange and unnecessary flaw.

The missing tooth, the third nipple, on this magnificent work of television art is the fact that, no matter how hard I looked, I could not find controls mounted anywhere on the device.  No channel, no volume, no menu option, no contrast or hue control.  Nothing.  I looked on four sides and all along the back.  I could not find controls on this thing ANYWHERE.  Unless I missed them, and they’re so well hidden that they can’t be easily found or reached, there aren’t any.  That means you’re just left with the remote.  And if something ever goes wrong with that remote, you’d better have a couple universal backups in storage or your amazing new TV is a two thousand dollar paperweight.

That’s what this beauty costs, two grand.  And it’s worth every penny, except for that one strange little design flaw.  There’s no denying that it’s an amazing system, but why can’t they have backup controls?