Buying an HDTV can be a confusing experience. Shoppers have to decipher HDTV features like contrast ratio,motion response time,viewable angle,or display type (LCD,Plasma,DLP,Projection). What do they mean? What do I need? What can I afford?
There are many text-based guides available to shoppers on the web. If a shopper is technically inclined,he or she could muddle through it. However,most shoppers probably need an online advisor that matches their needs with HDTV features.
Enter Samsung. Samsung HDTV Selector is a well-designed application. The seven-step advisor makes recommendations based on a shopper defining the following needs:wall space,couch distance from the television,room location in the house,room lighting,program preferences (sports,movies,internet,gaming),and budget. The output is a list of HDTVs.
Seems great,right? Not so fast. Although I chose a budget of under $1,000 the first three HDTVs on the recommended list where $4,499,$3,999,and $2,499 respectively. Where did the advisor go wrong? Do we have a problem with listening skills? I said under $1,000,umm,please? Without understanding the business logic,it appears budget is not weighted as much as some other needs. One improvement Samsung should consider is the ability to weight the importance of each need. If budget is important,you probably cannot afford a 1080p LCD 60-inch HDTV that is DLNA Compliant. If money is no object,ship it!
