Have you bought a new television, lately? Perhaps not if you're reading a review of one, but believe me when I say it's gotten very confusing.
I mean with terms like HD, HD 1080, HD 1080p, 50Hz, 100Hz, LCD, plasma, HDMI, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, 50,000 DPI, etc, etc, ad infinitum, it's wonder you can make an informed choice without spending weeks researching these things. I have done that... and I'm still none the wiser!
However, I did pick up a few things. For example, get a tv with a refresh rate of 100Hz instead of the usual 50Hz. And find one with a decent screen. You'd be surprised by how variable that is.
So when our television finally gave up the ghost, and it had been terminal for some time, we looked with the intention of buying as soon as possible.
Our criteria were a decent screen, minimum 32", though 37" would be nice, budget of no more than £400, HD ready, and a good reputation. Above all, it needed a good picture quality. Wandering round the usual places we saw a few sets
that met this criteria but we were not necessarily bowled over by them. Then we walked into our local Comet and, amongst the others, we saw the LG 32LH3000 on offer for £399.99.
We had a good look at it in the shop and it met/exceeded all our criteria, plus one more we hadn't thought of... it looked pretty good, too! The salesman also told us that it hadn't long been on the market and that it should be £550, not £400! He said it was a steal at this price. His words were duly taken with a large pinch of salt, and we headed home to check it out properly. The few reviews we found online said the same thing... it was extremely good, so much so that one reviewer put it up against his friend's more expensive Sony and found the LG to be better.
Minutes later, I was going through Comet's "Click and Collect" on their website. The next day, I went to pick it up.
What Is It? The LG 32LH3000 has a spec that you need to see on their site, but the highlights are: Size: 32" LCD Inputs: HDMI, PC, 2 Scart, audio and video Sound: Internal speakers, but can output to surround sound systems Freeview: Yes
In the Box, First surprise to find was that it is quite light. I fully expected it to need two of us to get it in and out the car. Aside from the bulk, it is light enough for one person.
Removing the packaging, inside we found the television itself, a stand, a cover plate for the stand slot in case you wall mounted it, screws for the stand/wall mountings, power cable, remote with batteries, CD with the full manual, brief manual, and the usual warranty paperwork. Also included was a small dustcloth. The tv can be mounted on the included stand, or has screw holes for wall mounting, though the wall mounts are not included.
Set It Up Easy! Swtich it on and familiarise yourself with the remote, go to the menu screen and the first thing you see is the auto-tune. Having cable and no tv aerial, it did mean that it was searching for terrestrial channels and not finding any. No surprise, really. However, turn it to AV1 and there was our cable package. Easy and no fuss.
So What Is It Really Like? Sitting on the tv stand, it looks sleek and stylish. It's shiny black fascia and stand are very pleasing, though, like any other item with this sort of surface, the dust is attracted quite easily.
This set also comes equipped with Freeview, but not having a tv aerial, this is something we haven't used, yet.
The remote is fairly intuitive. It has an Eco button on it which perplexed me for a while until I realised something... LCD screens require a backlight to view them properly. The Eco function allows you to set the level of this backlight and perhaps save energy as a result. We haven't played with this setting too much yet, but I did set it to a lower setting, went out of the room, came back and couldn't tell the difference. In fact, when I turned the Eco setting off, the screen became too bright.
As for thesound, well sometimes the internal speakers just aren't up to the job and external sound systems are needed. This set can easily cope with such sound systems, but it's own speakers buck the trend and deliver a sound that is clear and full. The volume control starts to get too loud around 15 where it can be turned up to 99! Even when it is too loud, there seems to be no loss in sound quality. I did think of getting a surround sound system, but it is good enough that I think I'll save my money for something else. It is certainly better than the previous set.
But the big question is what is the screen like? Our cable package does not include HD channels, so when I first turned it on, I didn't really see the difference between this picture and the picture from our previous set. I was a little disappointed at fist until I realised that I was watching a non-HD channel on a HD tv. I couldn't expect the tv to make up for what it received. The colours the set displayed were clear and vibrant, but the picture was a little blurred, as though it was my old tube equipped set that had just blown up on me.
My disappointment changed to to very pleasant surpirse, however, when I put a DVD on. I don't have a HD DVD, but I reasoned that the picture quality from the disc would be better than the quality from the cable. I was right and was rewarded with a picture so clear and so sharp it was untrue. I can safely say that the quality was infinitely better than anything I had seen in the past.
I had definitely bought the right television set!
Now, if I can stop the 10 year old hogging it with the Cartoon Network or endless replays of High School Musical dvd's I might get to find out more about this set!!
But, from the incredible clarity of picture, good sound from the speakers, pleasing looks and the smugness that comes with paying £150 less than the RRP for such a good television, I can wait till he goes to bed!!!
And I think I need to go back to Comet... I owe a saleman an apology and I need to replace some salt!!! It was a steal... and I'm guilty as charged!!
Cheers,
Schneckster
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
really good review, i am thinking of getting this for my room so that i can play my ps3 on it, just two things one do you have a ps3 or used a ps3 on it and two if so is the picture quility etc good
Advantages: Easy to use; Freeview; Great picture; Can be used as a PC monitor; Good value for money Disadvantages: problems with guide and channel changing
redbeanxh 14.10.2009 (15.10.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of LG 32LH3000
Advantages: Easy to use; Freeview; Great picture; Can be used as a PC monitor; Good value for money Disadvantages: problems with guide and channel changing
redbeanxh 14.10.2009 (15.10.2009)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of LG 32LH3000
May 26th, 2009
exceptional by (11%):
very helpful by (89%):
