Having been on the lookout for a good LCD tv for some time, and being on somewhat of a budget, I came across the Hannspree XV LCD HDTV. I fancied something a little larger than my old 32", so I opted for the 37" version. I was a little nervous about spending so much money on a relatively unknown brand, but I had bought a Hanspree monitor a few months befoe, and had been very impressed with it, with no problems whatsoever. I had also done quite a lot of research online, and had yet to find a bad word said against them.
I bought the tv for just under £400 from Amazon, towards the end of last year. At the time, LCD tv's were pretty much still being sold for well over £500, so it really did seem like a good deal. By now however, LCD tv's have decreased in price significantly. The tv arrived within a couple of days, as always, with Amazon's excellent delivery service, and came well packaged in an extremely large box. The tv was very heavy, and lifting & positioning it was a two man job. The set-up and installation process was very easy, and I had the tv up and running within about 15 minutes.
The tv itself looks fantastic. It comes in a sleek black glossy finish, and has a high quality design that is very similar to the brilliant Samsung tv look. The speakers are positioned horizontally across the bottom of the screen, and the manual control buttons are placed on top of the tv. The picture quality is
outstanding. Being that the tv is not a top branded make, I somehow expected the picture quality to suffer a little, but I cannot fault it one bit. Even now, nearly a year on, the picture quality has not deteriorated one bit. I have seen HDTV's that actually reduce the quality of standard definition pictures, but I can have no complaints about this picture.
For anyone unsure about upgrading to a 37" from their old customary 32", let me tell you, a 37" tv looks fantastic. If you have the room, and your living room isn't too small, then a 37" is a must. The size of the screen simply blows you away, and watching movies or sport on a stunner like this is awesome. I had reservations at first, but having gone for a few trips to some high street shops to take a look at a few, realised that it would not look silly, or out of place .. and I wasn't wrong. Going for a 37" was the best decision I believe I have made regarding the tv, as this model does also come in a 32".
I am not much of a spec guy, but they are very important to some people nevertheless, so here goes. The tv has a very good 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, which in turn outputs a nice 720p crisp, flicker free picture. It has a contrast ration of 1200:1, which is decent, but very good for the price. The 8ms response time means that blurred pictures or ghosting is kept to a minimum. The tv has plenty of input / output ports, including 2 HDMI ports and 2 scart ports for all your dvd & gaming needs, and even has a pc input port that can turn the tv into an enormous pc monitor.
The contrast ratio is very important, and I find that in order to get the best picture available, tweaking the tv settings is a must. This tv has, as you would expect, all the available settings you need to be able to adjust the picture for optimal performance, such as contrast, colour, brightness etc. There are many internet sites with guides available on how to ajdust your tv's settings to find the best picture, even using a normal dvd to help. I always do this with a new tv, and having done so extremely easy with the Hannspree, found the picture to be excellent.
The majority of my viewing has been done in standard definition, since I don't have a HD subscription through my Sky, however I have played many HD dvd's and the picture is superb. Being that this is my first HDTV, it's difficult for me to compare the tv's HD capability with any other, but all I can say is that the HD picture produced by this little gem nearly had me in tears. The tv does have a downside though, since it only receives an analogue signal, not digital. Personally, this has no bearing on myself, since I have Sky, however this is certainly something worth noting should you wish to buy one. If you do have Sky, or a digital set top box, then this shouldn't matter too much. I cannot comment too much on the sound quality, as I have always used my surround sound system instead of the tv's speakers. However to get optimal sound performance from any tv requires 5.1 surround sound.
I have yet to find a bad review on this tv, and you certainly won't get one from me. A disadvantage that it does have possibly, is that it is not a new tv. It has now been around for some time, and as you will know technology seems to improve each day. However, this tv can now be bought for under £350, which for a 37" LCD HDTV is some bargain, and probably one of the lowest prices available for this kind of tv. This tv has appeared in numerous best but articles, and also on HotUKdeals.com. This is a quality tv, and I would not let the brand put you off. Hannspree are a top quality manufacturer, who make top quality products .. this tv is proof of that.
Specifications -----------------
Product Description: Hannspree Xv37" LCD TV Product Type: LCD TV Diagonal Size: 37" - widescreen Dimensions (WxDxH): 94.1 cm x 29.5 cm x 72.6 cm Weight: 25.4 kg Digital Television Certification: HD ready Resolution: 1366 x 768 Display Format: 720p Input Video Formats: 720p, 1080i Video Interface: Component, composite, HDMI, S-Video, SCART PC Interface: VGA (HD-15) Technology: TFT active matrix Progressive: Scan Yes Image Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Analogue TV Tuner: PAL, SECAM Sound Output Mode: Stereo Speaker System: 2 speakers Remote Control: Remote control - infrared Power AC: 120/230 V
Many sites have dis-continued selling this tv, due to a newer, more expensive model having been released by Hanspree. However, there are still some sites that do still stock it, and here are some of the best prices I have found for it:
Sep 7th, 2008
exceptional by (11%):
very helpful by (89%):
