I've been wanting a new flat-panel TV for some time and, though I do make a lot of purchases on-line, I felt like I actually needed to look at a TV in person.My wife and I were looking at the TV's in Wal-mart when another customer pointed out that the better TVs had a higher contrast ratio and he thought that was the most important factor.Sure enough, the one we thought had the best picture was the one with the highest contrast ratio - it was 3200:1, the best 32-inch in the store.(I really wanted something with 1080p resolution, but they only had 720p in the 32" size TVs.We decided to get that one, since we had seen it and felt like we could enjoy it - but they didn't have one in stock...
I came home and began to research.It turns out that there are only a very few 1080p TVs in the 32" model, this being one of them.In looking at the contrast ratio I found that this one was rated at 15,000:1 - almost 5 times better than the best one at Walmart. (High contrast ratio seems to give you darker darks and whiter whites - lower contrast ratios have a milky looking gray where it's supposed to be black...)My research combined with what I saw in the store gave me the confidence to purchase a TV on-line.I settled on the Samsung LN32A550.
The TV arrived in good working order and I had it set up and running within 30 minutes.(The biggest problem was unhooking and moving the old one!) The picture is everything I could have imagined it would be - far better than anything I saw in the store.The crystal clear picture and crisp, well defined images make this simply the best picture I have ever seen on a TV.I saw a bit of a NASCAR race on this unit and the motion was unbelievably smooth - no after images at all.
I debated a bit on giving this unit a five-star rating.I felt like the picture quality so outrated the sound that I had to bump it up a bit.But if sound is an issue you may want to consider this to be a "four-star" unit.While the TV has a built in equalizer function (with some presets based on your listening preferences) I found the sound, even in the best adjustment leaves a lot to be desired.It has a tinny sound much like you would expect from an old transitor radio.I would suggest investing in a good pair of external speakers to enhance this unit.(If you already have a home theatre set-up sound is not an issue anyway...)
So far I'm glad I made this purchase.If Samsung can improve the speakers on this TV they will have the perfect TV!
*****
UPDATE:
OK....Now that I've owned this thing a few months I'll tell you how it's going:
First, it was pointed out to me in a post that the contrast ratio on 27- and 32-inch TV's was 15,000:1 instead of 30,000:1 as I incorrectly surmissed from the somewhat unclear (to me) product update.I have edited the initial review to reflect the correct information.I'm sorry for any confusion it may have caused.(If you want the higher ratio and have the room, you could consider going with a larger screen size.15,000: is still a pretty amazing ratio though...)
Overall I am happy to report that I am just as satisfied today as I was the day I first turned it on.I did purchase a set of Creative GigaWorks T40 Premium 2.0 Speakers (available at Amazon.com) for around $125 - and this dramatically improved my viewing experience.(I'm sure the best option would be to use a home theatre set-up - but this unit is in my bedroom...)
I still recommend this TV - just don't expect too much out of the sound - without a little help.
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Samsung LN32A550 32 Inch 1080p LCD HDTVProduct Description: 32" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1920 x 1080 pixels *
Buy cheap Samsung LN32A550 32 Inch 1080p LCD HDTV now
I live in a "fringe" area for OTA reception in a densely wooded neighborhood 30 miles from the cities and have a rooftop antenna with a pre-amplifier system.I currently own Hitachi, Sony and Olevia TVs with built in ATSC tuners and find the Toshiba 19AV500U has the most trouble maintaining good reception from several of the HD channels.I've tried hooking it up to the other antenna leads in the house and results were the same so I've concluded the tuner sensitivity is not as good as my other TVs.However, when locked-in to an HD channel the picture quality is excellent.The Toshiba is very attractive with the piano black bezel and adjustable stand.The interface is simple and intuitive, setup was a breeze.I found the "DynaLight" feature annoying as it seems to randomly change the overall brightness ever so slightly too often.At first I thought there was something wrong with the backlight because of this "flickering" effect.I discovered that DynaLight is enabled by default.When I turned it off in the Advanced Video menu the problem was resolved.Overall this is a very good budget priced LCD HDTV from one of the best names in the business.This is a darned tootin' fine TV.
