LG 32LG4000

...2 companies I rank below LG in TV production anyway. I personally think that I got a bit of a bargain with this but am sure that it will get cheaper in the New Year.

'''9/10'''

'''Reliability'''

Well, this is not an area I can really comment on as, having only owned the TV for a month, I have not really had enough time to assess this. So far, I have not had a single problem though - the DVD player has ...
...is reliable. On another note, LG TVs have a good reputation so I do not see why this one would be any different.

'''Noise'''

I have not noticed any excessive noise from the TV so far - although when you have sound coming out of the set I suppose you wouldn't hear it anyway!! The DVD loading system operates with a whirring noise but this is not really that loud - my girlfriend never wakes up when I am putting DVDs on ... more

A Bit of Background

Having now been a homeowner for about 18 months the majority of the debts we acquired when setting up home have now been curtailed and it is now the time to buy the nice things to smarten the place up rather than spending on the boring things like decorating and double glazing!!

With that in mind and, having been frustrated to only have one really decent TV in the house, we decided that we would like to get a new TV for the bedroom. After careful consideration we decided that it had to have Freeview and a DVD player built in and be at least 26inches in size.

We had planned to mount the new TV on a wall bracket so this was the main reason behind us being insistent on the DVD and Freeview being built in - I, like many others, hate all the wires that come with separate devices!!

After shopping around on the internet for a week or two we had narrowed it down to one of three TVs and the one we chose seemed like the best deal - it was a decent size (32 inches), was made by a well respected manufacturer (LG) and came within our budget (£406 including delivery).

Aesthetics

At 32 inches this TV is obviously quite a decent size - fairly heavy too for a flat screen. The first thing I noticed was how deep the TV is - as the DVDs are inserted in the side the TV needs to be a bit deeper to accommodate this. This does not take away from the attractive look of the TV.

It is fairly square in design and black in colour with a small section of red near the bottom on the front. It would have been nice if this red bit lit up - I feel this would give the TV a "warmer" feeling (a bit daft of me but I like the blue light up section beneath my Samsung).

All in all though, this is a fairly good TV. It is well made and does not look cheap in any way. It seems to be pretty solid, although that doesn't mean I would want to drop it or anything!!

8/10

Picture Quality

The picture quality on this TV is something I am more than happy with. In January, we took advantage of the sales and bought a Samsung for the lounge that we were very happy with - the picture quality on this TV far surpasses the quality of the Samsung.

Boasting a contrast ratio of 50,000:1, a resolution of 1368x768 and a peak brightness of 500cd/m2, the picture through this TV is clear and sharp. The colours are setup very well and the detail on the pictures is very good too.

8/10

Sound

This model comes complete with 4 two way speakers and these provide more than ample sound. Supported by SRS TruSurround XT the audio configuration does this model proud. I'm not really one to have the TV on too loud in bed but this TV is capable of going pretty loud if you so desire!

8/10

DVD Player

This is the first thing I have a gripe with but, to be honest, it is my own fault as I should have read up a little more closely about the TV rather than getting carried away in the moment! This model doesn't seem to be compatible with DivX format DVDs - this is particularly frustrating for me as I have quite a few so that I can fit more films on my iMac.

It is not too much of an inconvenience as I can quite easily convert the files back to DVD but I did expect the DVD player to be compatible as most decent models are these days. Other than that, I am pretty happy with the DVD player so far.

I have not had any other problems with DVDs not playing, can rarely hear it working and the quality of the picture when using the DVD player is excellent. The DVD player is positioned to the side of the TV so is nicely tucked away and comes equipped with a self loading slot.

One thing to note - if you are looking to play Blu-Ray then this is definitely not the TV for you as the DVD player is not a high enough spec to play these.

7/10

Setup / Features

The setup menu is really easy to use and also looks pretty good too. When you press the menu button 6 boxes are brought up on the screen with the ability to select Setup, Time, Picture, Option, Audio and Lock. Upon switching the TV on you simply need to select the Setup option and ask the TV to search for either Digital or Analog channels, or both if needed. This takes a couple of minutes and you are ready to roll.

The time option has an extremely easy to use sleep and alarm feature - you can set the TV to switch off after a specific number of minutes (great when you are watching films in bed at night) or a specific time. You can also set the TV to come on at a specific time too - handy if conventional alarms just don't do it anymore for you!

The picture and audio menus are also very easy to navigate with most of the options being set using sliders.

8/10

Price

I managed to find this TV for £406 and this was by far the best deal I could find for a TV of this quality with all the features I wanted and also made by a very reputable company. This has now been reduced further by some companies and the cheapest about at the moment is just £370.54. At the other end of the spectrum, there are companies selling this TV for up to £699.99 (yes, it is a catalogue!)

When comparing to other TVs, there is a Panasonic on the market at the moment with a DVD recorder built in retailing at about £1,800. Similar priced TVs include a Sharp for about £420 and a Toshiba for £389. There are also cheaper about - a Westinghouse for £343 and a Magnavox for £329.07.

As you can see, the TV I bought was only a little more than the cheap budget makes and current prices make it cheaper than a Sharp or Toshiba - 2 companies I rank below LG in TV production anyway. I personally think that I got a bit of a bargain with this but am sure that it will get cheaper in the New Year.

9/10

Reliability

Well, this is not an area I can really comment on as, having only owned the TV for a month, I have not really had enough time to assess this. So far, I have not had a single problem though - the DVD player has worked perfectly so far.

I did a quick search on Google to see if I could find any common problems that other users may be having but these searches returned nothing of note so it would seem that this TV is reliable. On another note, LG TVs have a good reputation so I do not see why this one would be any different.

Noise

I have not noticed any excessive noise from the TV so far - although when you have sound coming out of the set I suppose you wouldn't hear it anyway!! The DVD loading system operates with a whirring noise but this is not really that loud - my girlfriend never wakes up when I am putting DVDs on at night.

Things I Like

There are several things that I like about this TV. I love the way it looks on the wall - so imposing it is impressive! The menus are really easy to navigate and I am sure that anyone who can read would have no problem with it. The remote control is laid out very simply and it is very easy to use in the dark as the buttons are all where they should be!

The picture quality is very good, the sounds sound like they should be and the DVD playback experience is everything it should be.

Things I Dislike

The only thing that has bugged me about this TV is the inability to play DivX movies through the DVD player. To be fair though I can't really criticise the TV for this as this is something that I should have checked over before being overcome with excitement and hitting the "Order" button!

Summary

To sum up this TV fits our needs perfectly. It has everything we need - good size, Freeview, built in DVD player and good quality. For the price I am very happy with the package that I managed to acquire.

We use this TV in our bedroom but this could quite easily cope as a lounge TV too. I think this TV is probably quite versatile and should be considered whatever your needs. 

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