Samsung 40" 1080p LED Smart TV w/ Wi-Fi

The TV works and looks great. But I returned it because the Smart TV software is riddled with issues, even after updating to the latest version and working with Samsung tech support. I bought the 40" Samsung UN40EH5300 Smart TV for my wife for her birthday. The whole family was excited to set it up and get it working. The Smart TV software detected our network, prompted me for our security passcode, and connected effortlessly. We were browsing the web and streaming HD video from Netflix in just a few minutes. Throughout the day, however, the Smart TV software kept forgetting our network passcode, and I had to keep re-typing it to proceed. Maybe this would settle down over time. I wasn't willing to find out since it made using the Smart TV features a real pain, and it doesn't feel very stable so even if it self corrects, I'm worried about it breaking again in the future. The Smart TV has an impressive level of parental controls over which TV and movie ratings it will allow. Parents can override this at any time via a 4 digit PIN if they want to watch something that's blocked. Also, you can lock _nearly_ any app on the Smart TV screen so it also requires the PIN to gain access. However, you cannot lock the Web Browser app! Nor can you remove it or delete it. I find this brain dead and unacceptable. Why give me all these parental control features when right next to the Kids Games app (which can be locked), there's a Web Browser app that cannot be locked. Is this my TV or not? The Smart Hub app, which is always on and serving up ads I don't want to see, also cannot be locked. I can understand why Samsung would not want me to disable the Smart Hub app, and I could live with that if I could at least lock the Web Browser, so I consider the always-on Smart Hub app merely irritating. My kids often watch Netflix "Just for Kids", or the kids version of Amazon Instant, on the Wii or PS3. Neither of these apps are available in the Samsung apps store. I want to be able to let my 5 year old turn on the TV and go to her familiar "Just for Kids" interface, but I cannot with our brand new Smart TV. We resorted to hooking up the Wii with its lower resolution so she could safely stream her shows from there without having to navigate around mom and dad's shows, but hooking up the Wii to watch Netflix pretty much defeats the purpose of getting a Smart TV. Another minor irritation: whenever you turn on the TV, a "connecting" icon spins in the upper right hand corner of the screen before you can do anything with the TV, even if all you want to do is watch TV or access the DVD player. The "connect" time varies, but it sometimes takes nearly a minute. Why does the TV assume whenever I fire up the TV I want to use the Smart TV features? Instead, it should load those in the background. I'm returning this TV and will never buy a Smart TV again, since those features seem to take over the TV. I'm getting a dumb TV instead (the VIZIO E Series E470-A0 47-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED-Lit HDTV) and I'll connect a gaming console or video streaming box for Netflix and the like, one that allows me to choose what I want in my living room, not what someone thinks I should have. For an example of Samsung's attitude on allowing consumers the freedom to lock and unlock what they want, see this thread I found online from a couple years back: ########################################################### # How to de-junk Smart Hub / Smart TV # by leopold55 # Hi, does anyone know how to get rid of all the junk in the Samsung "Smart Hub". # # I can see that you can uninstall some of the "Apps", but what about the ones on the # top half of the screen? # # Yahoo, LoveFilm, & all the other video on demand. "Your Video", is particularly # annoying because it's not my video, it's yet another v-o-d service. # # Would be fine to ignore if I didn't have young kids, who I want to be able to use # the TV, but shouldn't be exposed to some of this stuff - even the covers and # meta-data for these are potentially inappropriate. # # As for the Samsung Apps - we'll they're mostly very poor, but again, I don't want my # kids just downloading rubbish games or surfing inappropriate YouTube stuff. ########################################################### ########################################################### # How to de-junk Smart Hub / Smart TV # by Samsung_HD_Tech # In Reply to: How to de-junk Smart Hub / Smart TV by leopold55 # # leopold55, # # The "Recommended" Apps are part of the App package. For some of them, adding them # separately may require several installations, so those Apps are pre-installed without # the ability to be removed. Some of the Apps cannot be uninstalled, as they are part of # the Apps lineup. # # I'm sorry if movie jackets, titles and name files are "potentially inappropriate". # We don't pick the movies or titles shown on any individual App. If you have pictures # or examples of what you feel are beyond acceptable standards, such as "this would # never be a movie jacket or on a marquee outside a theater", please take a photo, # upload it, and paste the link here. I'd be happy to pass it to the appropriate # department for review. # # --HDTech ########################################################### ########################################################### # You are missing the point # by leopold55 # In Reply to: How to de-junk Smart Hub / Smart TV by Samsung_HD_Tech # # Dear HDTech, # # It looks like you completely missed the point # # You should be able to customise stuff not least to make navigation more efficient # - just look at any OS - less junk is good thing. Nobody likes loads of useless stuff # they're not interested in to get in the way of the parts they want to keep. # # "If you have pictures or examples of what you feel are beyond acceptable # standards, such as "this would never be a movie jacket or on a marquee # outside a theater", please take a photo, upload it, and paste the link # here" # # You're kind of missing the point here too. It's not just about whether stuff is # offensive. Chocolate at the check-out of a supermarket is not offensive per se, it's # that it's not helpful to parents to put it there just because the kids are going # to fixate upon it. # # If you choose to place something called "My Videos" prominently on the screen, any # 7-10 year old may well think those are indeed "our videos" and start clicking on them # expecting to be able to play them. Lo and behold, they are confronted with mainstream # titles, posters and synopses which are not for them - whether they are corrupted by # them or not is totally not the point. # # The whole point here is it should be possible to get rid of the annoying stuff that # you're not interested in, instead of having it distract you and potentially upset your # kids. # # This is a very basic concept of good design. You're not going to make many people buy # your TVs more just because you have advertising for lovefilm, etc. For those who don't # use these services it's just junk. For those who do - they already subscribe. I'm sure # these guys are subsidising these apps in the hope they will lead to more subscribers, # but you should know better than to push this stuff so crudely # # You should learn from what happened with operator sponsored pre-loaded mobile phone # and PC apps and "trial/bloatware" - people go to great lengths to remove them and it # ends up creating negative feelings about the brand ###########################################################