LG 22LG3000

Author's product rating:   

How is the Picture Quality?	Good
How is the Sound Quality?	Good
Ease of Installation	Simple
Range of Features	Above Average
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Looks smart, very good sound and picture quality, adaptable for use with PCs or computer games
Disadvantages:	Needs to be placed on a very stable surface if not mounted to a wall

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I'm not someone who has to purchase the latest gadget. I usually end up buying them, eventually, when they've gone down in price and probably not the latest any more. I also find it difficult justifying purchasing a replacement for something, if that something already functions perfectly well.

However, I've gone against my rational mind and bought a new 22" LCD flatscreen telly as a replacement for my old analogue 15" Toshiba. I did feel guilty at first, as it's served me well for over 10 years without so much as a hiccup. But, it's hulky and bulky and I so much prefer the streamlined slimness of today's flatscreens.

This wasn't a purchase I hurried into though. Oh no. If I was going to spend my money on replacing something that already works well, then it must be good and have the features I want. I researched umpteen review sites and traipsed around electrical departments for comparisons and found the LG 22L G3000 Flatscreen LCD seemed to fit all my requirements.

My particular requests for my new television were:

An LCD 22 or 23? flatscreen (the largest that would fit into the vacated space in my bedroom);
It must have integrated digital Freeview;
Widescreen;
Decent sound quality;
Good picture quality;
Not too expensive - I didn't want to pay over £300;
And finally, it must look good.

I'm not particularly technical, so I'll just describe the features I regularly use. Oh, and this TV can also be used as a monitor for your PC. I haven't yet figured out if I can connect it to my laptop.

~~~Specifications and Cost~~~

Technical Details

* Resolution: 1680x1050
* Peak Brightness: 380cd/m2
* Contrast Ratio: 15,000:1
* XD Engine
* 2 HDMI

Product details

Weight: without stand: 5.15kg; with stand: 5.4kg.

When I purchased the TV at the end of 2008, it was priced £229.99 from Amazon. At the time of writing it's costing £256.

~~~My Experiences~~~

I must admit that I was somewhat sceptical when it came to making the final decision to purchase this television. The main reason being that I've always been very loyal to Toshiba and all the other TV?s in our house are made by Toshiba. The other reason is I'd barely heard of the name LG. I've since learned a lot more about them and see that they're well known for producing good looking equipment, particularly mobile phones and televisions.

But looks aren't everything of course. I was expecting a lot more from my new TV.

I ordered it online from Amazon and it duly arrived within a couple of days. Along with the television itself, you are supplied with the remote control and a set of batteries, a pedestal stand, the owner's manual both on CD and in book form. The paper manual is enormous but don't let its size get you down. Only around 18 pages of it is in English. The other 400+ pages (I didn't count them) are in every language you can imagine ranging from Romanian, Russian and Turkish to the more common French, German and Spanish and others I can't make head or tail of. There's something in there for everyone.

I didn't bother with the CD, preferring to follow the step by step paper guide. It was all very straightforward and simple to follow.

~~~Looks~~~

I won't go into detail about how it looks as you can see from the picture at the top of the page. However, in my opinion, it's one of the smartest, streamlined LCD televisions on sale. The surround is a glossy black which is quite narrow around the top and sides, thereby not contributing too much to the overall size.

~~~The TV Pedestal Stand~~~

Because flat screen TV's are much lighter than their predecessors, it's recommended you fix them to the wall to prevent the danger of them toppling over. There are easy step by step instructions for fixing the TV to the wall. However, you do need to purchase the separate components necessary such as the wall mount bracket and screws.

As I'm not putting my TV on the wall, I just needed to slot the stand onto the base which just clicks into place. The TV stand is shaped in a half circle and supports the TV well. It doesn't swivel or tilt but it?s easy enough to reposition the TV as it's so light.

Once the stand is in place, you can then connect whatever cables you need to the back. In my case it was just the cable for the TV sender as I'm not connecting to a DVD or video player. There's a useful cable tidy clip at the back which keeps all your cables neatly together.

~~~Tuning In~~~

It's simple tuning the TV in. When you first plug it in, the onscreen display provides you with options for tuning. Selecting auto tune is the easiest method. It scans through and automatically assigns the channels when it finds them. For some reason, when I did this, it automatically assigned the channels (1,2,3,4 and 5) to channels 900, 901, 902, 903 and 904. I only realised this when I pressed 1 and nothing happened, ie it didn't change channels. So what I have to do to change channels is use the programme up and down arrows on the remote control, which works perfectly well.

~~~Remote Control~~~

It's a nice slimline, lightweight remote control that's not overloaded with buttons. It's coloured black, to match the TV and has a large green power on button at the top. The rest of the buttons are quite small, about 7mm in diameter for the numbers so probably not the easiest to use if you have larger fingers. I have small fingers so it suits me fine. As well as the usual number buttons, text, guide, TV.RAD, AV Mode, there are a few new buttons that aren?t always found on the old analogue remotes.

Newer features include a return button (this allows the user to move back one step in an interactive application), programme up and down, guide, fav (whereby you store your favourite TV channels - handy if you like Freeview or Sky channels and can't remember their number), Q.View (returns to the previously viewed programme) and the arrow keys for using the onscreen displays and an OK button in the middle.

~~~Features~~~

Sound...

Apparently the sound quality of some of the smaller LG LCD flat screens weren't up to much. However, according to some reviews, they've made huge improvements in the 22". And I certainly agree. Although I can't compare this model to their predecessors, I'm pleased with the sound quality. I can turn it up to a very high volume without suffering from distortion and sound is crisp and clear.

However, despite the excellent sound quality in itself, I've actually managed to hook it up to my stereo system and now enjoy an almost cinema like surround sound experience from my TV. All I can say is it?s fantastic!

Quote from LG about the speakers: "Invisible Speaker Wide Sweet Spot - The front bezel works as a speaker, replacing the normal speaker grill. With the Invisible Speaker system, the speakers are embedded in strategic spots underneath and around the front bezel. This new speaker system provides a clean and fashionable design compared with traditional side or bottom speaker designs."

Picture Quality...

Because I live in the London region, we haven't switched over to Freeview yet. This TV being an IDTV should solve that problem. However, because reception is so appalling using a set top aerial, there's no way I can get any kind of decent digital signal. You probably think there's no point in having the Freeview TV. You could be right. However, I wanted the larger, flatscreen, and widescreen and it should function digitally in 2012! Another reason I can't get particularly good reception via a set top aerial is because I live in a basement flat. Even obtaining a decent mobile phone signal can be troublesome down here!

In the meantime I have to use this cable provided by the council which links me to an analogue signal. Because the aerial isn't particularly good quality, I can receive clear pictures, but whereas on the small 15? analogue the quality appeared fine, once it?s enlarged on the 22" digital screen, I can notice the picture isn?t as sharp as it appeared on the my old 15". At first I thought it was down to the screen quality. But it?s not. When I use my TV sender to send the picture from the lounge TV (which is digital), the LG displays a perfectly clear and crisp picture which I'm extremely happy with.

The widescreen function works well. There are several different ratios for you to choose by pressing the ratio button. I tend to stick with 16:9 which is the setting for widescreen. I think most new films and many current programmes are produced in widescreen nowadays.

~~~Other~~~

Because I can't tune into Freeview, I?m not able to make use of the onscreen guide. However, it's a very useful function for checking what's on if you don't have a TV guide to hand.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with this purchase and would be happy to buy another LG television. And my old 15" analogue hasn't gone to the scrapheap. My sister's putting it to good use as a spare in her house.

Also reviewed on dooyoo under the name foreveramber.