The HD ready Samsung LE32R74BDX arrives in a beautiful black design and has an integrated digital tuner for access to free to air channels. It features an impressive 5000:1... more
close to the wall as possible (approx 2cm away), Suitable for any Plasma / LCD from 23" up to 37", Max load capacity: 75kgs (165lbs), All wall fittings are included
Max Clearance from wall 70mm, Left and right swivel: 180 degrees and Up and down swivel: 45 degrees, Max load capacity: 15kgs (33lbs), All wall fittings are included
A review by msumsion on Samsung LE32R74BDX September 30th, 2006
Author's product rating:
How is the Picture Quality?
Excellent
How is the Sound Quality?
Excellent
Ease of Installation
Simple
Range of Features
Above Average
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Picture quality, connectivity, appearance, value for money, HD ready
Disadvantages:
Limited PIP options, missing information from instructions
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
When I decided that I was going to have my bedroom renovated I made the decision to buy myself a flat screen TV. I wanted something that was not too expensive and at the same time had all the features that I wanted. I did not want a TV that was tacky to look at either. I searched around and found this TV just about to be released. I went for it and have not regretted it once.
I have wall mounted the TV using a wall mount purchased from B&Q (a well known DIY chain) this cost me around £40 which was far cheaper than many of the alternatives I could find on the internet.
The TV looks awesome on the wall; although the swivel stand that it comes with looks equally good if you did not want to wall mount the TV.
The looks of the TV were a major consideration for me when buying this TV, but far from the only one. Functionality was equally important.
The TV is HD ready (as you can find out from sales information anywhere), but what does this really mean. The TV has component HD and HDMI inputs that make it a flexible choice. I have never used the HDMI; however I have an Xbox 360 connected to the component HD inputs. The picture quality is awesome. Anyone who has a surround sound system connected to a DVD player, who watches a DVD and then switches back to normal stereo sound from their TV speakers know how bad the sound is by comparison. This TV is exactly the same, you can watch normal TV and you think the picture quality is great, then you watch a HD DVD, Sky or play the X Box 360 and then when you go back to normal TV you notice the difference. This TV has a game mode designed with Microsoft to optimise the performance of the screen although I have to be honest I don't think I can tell the difference really.
If you have ever plugged a computer into a CRT monitor you will know how poor the quality is, text is blurred by the low resolution supported by CRT TVs. This is not a problem with this HD TV. In fact I am writing this review on the TV. The TV is equipped with a standard monitor port and PC is one of the source options. The TV works like a fully functional monitor; with 1360x768px (widescreen) resolution meaning the picture really is as good as a dedicated TFT monitor. To go further the TV also supports power management from a PC, which means that when the computer turns the monitor off to save power the TV enters standby mode, and come on out of standby mode just as quickly when you start to use your PC again. Of course next to the VGA cable input you will find an audio input. This ensures that you get both the sound and the picture from your PC on your TV.
This TV also come with PIP (picture in picture) if you do not know what this means, simply it means that you can have pictures from two sources displayed on the screen at the same time. One of them fills the main screen, the other a small square in the corner of the screen. Naturally you can choose which corner should have the second image and it is worth noting that you can choose which image provides the sound. This is very useful when using the TV as a computer monitor as you can use the main area of the screen for your PC and then in a corner you can watch TV, DVD Digital TV etc. You can then choose to listen to the beeps from your PC or more likely the sound of your TV. The options for the PIP are disappointing. You cannot choose any source as the main image and any source as the second image; you have to choose from the strict selection. However although in theory I find this annoying it has not actually ever prevented me from using the TV how I want to.
The other feature worth commenting on is that this TV has an integrated digital tuner. this allows you to watch freeview channels on your TV without the need for a separate box, simply plug the aerial into the TV press the setup button and it will find all the digital channels, and of course give you a full electronic program guide to go with them. I have not used this much as I have cable connected to my TV, but I have tested it and was happy with the results.
The remote control is easy to use, and can be used to control other devices, like a one for all remote. It has buttons for TV, DVD, set top box, cable and VCR. I personally do not see the point in set top box and cable. Helpfully these buttons light up on the remote when you select them and the selection is displayed on the screen. This is great if you are using the remote in the dark and want to check that you have pressed the correct button as I often do. There are two problems for me with this one for all style remote. Firstly I have not found a record bu8tton, you can play fast forward rewind etc, but for some reason they have omitted a record button. Secondly and far more importantly you have to configure this remote with a code for each device. This label on the remote tells you to refer to the instructions for the list but it does not exist there is no list of codes. I had to search the internet and managed to find a list of codes for a different Samsung TV which seemed to work.
My only other complaint about this TV is the connectivity ports. Yes there is a fantastic selection, yes there is a side mounted AV input for you camcorder etc. However the main scart/HDMI, component HD PC etc ports are all located on the back, so what is my point you may be asking, they are all mounted on the back of the panel, recessed slightly but crucially not enough. This has meant that when I mall wound the TV I have had to space it off the wall or the scart cables simply do not fit, they would hit the wall. This is a fairly minor problem and has only needed about an extra inch of separation from the wall, (a standard piece of MDF solved the problem).
Overall this TV has a good range of inputs a great picture quality, good sound quality (it would not be fair to call it amazing if you compare it to a surround sound system, but for TV speakers I really cannot complain), a great ourchase. For the energy conscious you may be interested to know that this is no hard power switch on this TV, if you do not want to leave it on standby you will have to unplug it.
The only other thing that may be of interest is Samsung's customer service. While I have not had any faults with this TV, I have a DVD recorder from Samsung that was faulty. They sent a courier to collect it, fixed it and returned it to me with no fuss. Simple great customer service, a pleasure to deal with. While I was speaking to them I enuired about what would happen if there was ever a problem with my TV, and they simply informed me that with an item of that size and value they would send the engineer to me, fix it at my home with no fuss. A definite recommendation for this product from me.
Advantages: Great images, ok sound, stunning design, plenty of connections. Disadvantages: PIP options are hopeless for those not using HDMI.
...I am told that Samsung make screens for many of the more expensive manufacturers which I can say after experiencing it I can believe.
Now to using the Game mode through a composite connection, the real reason I bought this HD ready set. What can I say, WOW! The picture quality is fantastic and really adds to the games I have, so much I have been playing through old games just to see them in glorious HD. I also have a Wii console which I have conneced ... ...a DVD via scart and the sky by scart, although the set also offers HDMI connections I do not have anything that uses this yet.
The set does get very hot whilst on so make sure its well ventilated although I'm sure they thought of this when they made it. It also has some useful buttons for the source, volume and channel on the side of the set which offer a nice alternative to the remote when you are near the set. The remote is the usual fare of some ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Stylish, Great Picture Quality, Easy to Set Up, Fantastic for Gaming Disadvantages: Lacking in volume
...the range of sleek black Samsung LCD TV's caught my eye.
I made the order, and soon after a beautiful, stylish television arrived at my house. 32 inches of great picture quality. I plugged it in, plugged in my HDMI cable to DVD player and first checked out a BBC natural history DVD. The first thing I noticed was that the clarity and colour depth was incredible straight out of the box. Nature has never looked so beautiful on a screen! It was fairly ... ...up a preset by using the samsungs easy to understand menu. So far so good.
After switching to TV mode, a quick glance at the user manual explained how to tune in my terrestrial TV, and less than 15 minutes later BBC 1 to channel 5 were all programmed in and clear. Obviously, the pictures now were 'TV' quality, as I wasn't yet receiving a digital signal, but the results were pleasant nonetheless. A good clear picture, with little pixelation.
After ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Fantastic picture quality, nice sound, ease of use and a good looking TV Disadvantages: One HDMI
...are looking for then the Samsung LE32R74BDX 32" HD is the TV for you. This screen is one of the better looking on the market and looks great both on the side with the supplied stand or mounted on the wall (wall mount not supplied). The picture quality is phenomenal. The TV has DNIe (Digital Natural Image engine) which helps to 'step up' the inputted source. This means a great quality pictures even from my DVD player connected through one of the two ... ...This negates the need to update a DVD player for one with a HDMI connection. The screen produces up to 12.8 billion colours and has a contrast ratio of 5000:1 giving great definition between light and dark. In fact the two main disadvantages with LCD TV's have been solved with this screen. The viewing angle is 178 degrees both horizontally and vertically and the response time is 8ms. This results in a TV you can watch from nearly any angle in the ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: excelent warrenty, good compatability features, can be wall mounted. Disadvantages: unfortunate software crashes.
...for normal channels.
The Samsung also also has a VGA port for connecting it either to a PC tower or using it as a seperate screen for say a laptop which is always usefull. This peice of electronic hardware also comes with many internal features such as audio and video setup, auto channel tuning and updatable software. I also has a channel guide for all the digital and terrestrial channels. one thing i have noticed is that about six months after ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Bright clear picture with easy controls and plenty of connection options Disadvantages: Sound is a little muffled - but not for general viewing
I previously had a 32\" Phillips TV which eventuall gave up the ghost. After a long research I bought this TV. Of particular interest to me was the fact that when you compare directly against others in a shop, it was much brighter, with sharper colours than all the others ata similar price point - and some a great deal more costly.
The Picture is very bright and I do switch off the effect some times if watching certain types of TV - but that is ... ...and picture quality even from standard non HD signals.
The Menu system is straightforward and the DIgital tuner is also fine - I have a weak signal area and managed to get pretty much all of the channels with no booster so that is one less piece of equipment cluttering up my lounge !
I have used all the imputs (and there all all you could want) - my LapTop runs great through the PC connection and playing games on a 32\" LCD screen is simply wonderfull ...
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Audio System / Surround Sound Effects: SRS TruSurround XT
Colour: Black
Digital Tuner: with Digital Tuner
Built-in Sat-Tuner: No
Compact Flash Card: No
Energy Savings Trust Feature: No
Multimedia Card: No
PCMCIA Interface: No
Smart Media Card: No
xD-Picture Card: No
HDMI Interface: with HDMI
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Listed on Ciao since : 11/06/2006
Manufacturer's product description
The HD ready Samsung LE32R74BDX arrives in a beautiful black design and has an integrated digital tuner for access to free to air channels. It features an impressive 5000:1 contrast ratio and a 1366 x 768 resolution for a richly detailed picture. Samsung unique Digital Natural Image Engine further enhances colour, contrast, motion and clarity within the picture.
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