derekrader's Full Review: Samsung LN32B360 32 in. HDTV TV
This review is for the Samsung LN32B360 32 in HDTV LCD TV. This is my third Samsung HDTV review. This is a great TV for the price and one that is hard to beat.
The Review is organized into the following sections:
SECTION 1: OVERVIEW SECTION 2: EXPERIENCE USING PRODUCT SECTION 3: WHY I BOUGHT THE SAMSUNG LN32B360 LCD HDTV SECTION 4: LIKES & DISLIKES SECTION 5: FEATURES EXPLAINED SECTION 6: SPECIFICATIONS SECTION 7: CONCLUSION
Price: This is part of Samsungs "Series 3" line of LCD televisions. At around $536 at various stores you will be hard pressed to find a television with as many features for a similar price. While it does not have a 120 Hz option or 3 HDMI inputs, you will probably not miss it.
SECTION 3: Experience Using Product
I bought this TV on the day that it was released at Best Buy, and I am glad that I did, it has been a terrific TV. So far I have bought 3 HDTVs, two 50 inch and the new 32 inch Samsung mentioned. The Samsung was my primary TV when I was on travel and now it is used for our guest room at home, yes its very portable. It compares extremely well to our 1080p 120 Hz LCD TV, despite the fact that it only costs 1/4 the price. We have all been very impressed with the TV and it is a great addition either as a primary TV for a smaller room or as a second TV, it has even doubled as a game monitor for our computer and PS3. Because its a 32 inch TV its great from about 4-8 ft as the optimal viewing distance. This is perfect for bedrooms, guest rooms or small living rooms where space may be a constraint.
SECTION 3: WHY DID I BUY THIS PRODUCT
This was by far the best picture for the price. The consruction quality was far better than Sharp and some of the other brands that were in the equivalent price range. The sound is clear, but not loud and it had the minimum connections for what I intended to do. Hook up a HD receiver and a PS3. The television looked almost as good (it was very hard to tell the difference) as the 1080P HDTVs next to it, which cost almost twice as much. I would buy this product again without hesistation. SECTION 4: LIKES & DISLIKES
-LIKE: Very Fast Operation. Start up and shut down are very quick, even faster than my more expensive Samsung TV, but it is slightly older. -LIKE: Very Easy to Use. Menu's are much simpler than the old system and you can back up or go forward without having to completely exit what sub-menu you are in. The remote helps as there are less buttons than there used to be as well. -LIKE: Very Thin, only 3 and 1/2 inches deep. -LIKE: Very nicely designed. Pleasurable to look at, the appearance is very sleek and it has a nice reflective shiny black exterior. The buttons you need for operation are on the side and recessed so you don't see anything from the front. Many people have commented on its appearance. -LIKE: Very bright screen. The screen is bright, almost too bright. There is almost no possibility to wash out colors in a bright room, even turned down it is incredibly bright. -LIKE: Brilliant colors and contrast. The contrast ratio is a respectable 15000:1, which is more than adequate and clearly better than 8000:1, which may not render black correctly. The current salesmanship game is to advertise contrast ratios either beyond what the human eye can even see, I've even seen 1,000,000:1 its a gimmick at that point. Either way, the blacks are entirely black and white is completely that. There is no lack of color or saturation and I found this to be one of the best that I found at Circuit City and Best Buy for color rendition and brightness, under 1,000. If you move into 1080 and 120 Hz you will find a little bit better, but you're talking double the price for only a marginal improvement. Make sure the assitant at the store puts everything on the same picture so you have an even comparison, at that point, you'll see that this is a great value. -LIKE: Very Light Weight. At only 20 pounds it only takes 1 adult to move. It's 25 lbs with the base, which has to be heavy to keep the TV from falling over. The base also swivels and its great if you have it in a corner. The TV can swivel 20 degrees in either direction. -LIKE: User Programmable Modes. Create custom setups like, "PS3", "MOVIE", etc. and select them to have the ideal setup for the task at hand. -LIKE: Great viewing angle. Before you can't see the TV picture you'll be at such an odd angle that it would be difficult to watch the TV anyway due to the odd angle. -LIKE: Sound Reproduction is great for its size, but not terribly loud, and does lack base of course, which makes sense due to the small width of the TV. Even though the television is very slim the volume is very respectable, my kids listen to their music through the TV when no ones using it. Samsung does have an equalizer and different sound modes as well as the ability for the user to adjust the left and right balance as desired. -LIKE: Lots of connections. We have a PS3 and a laptop that we will use at various times in addition to a Canon EOS. There is a USB connection as well as a PC VGA style connector on the back. If your laptop doesn't have an HDMI connector you can still use VGA via the serial connector, which is a huge convenience. -Like: The TV has a very high contrast level and your digital images are spectacular. We use the television as a slide show for guests and family. We love the incredible quality and it really for great viewing of photos that you would never see at that size normally. The quality is so good that I actually use the screen to preview what prints I will want to make later! -Like: The TV is set up for a wall mount bracket and its very easy to use. The base of the TV can be installed or removed through 4 screws very quickly. -Like: The automatic detection of signals, both over the air and through the HD receiver were perfect. You can remove channels that are too weak and leave the rest, the process was fast and effective. It dropped most of the poor channels and found all the rest very quickly. -Like: We have several small children, and we appreciate that all the buttons are on the side. This was done for aesthetics, but it actually works for parents as well, because the little ones aren't tempted to turn the TV on or off or play with the settings. -Like: Software Upgrade is possible, so if Samsung updgrades the TVs firmware to address any issues you can update the Television to stay current. I haven't experienced any problems, but it is nice to know the feature exists. -BIGGEST LIKE OF ALL: The TV will operate at 1080P with my PS3, I'm not sure why it allows it, but it automatically switches. The TV itself was much better than the other 720P sets in Best Buy so I'm not sure if it is 1080P capable and downgraded by software to 720P or not.
-DISLIKE: The remote is not multi-function and for operating the TV only. There isn't a "dark" feature, which would illuminate buttons in the dark, and something I really like on my other remotes. At this price you can't expect everything. The remote is small, but the quality and feel are very high. -DISLIKE: Speakers are not very loud, this is to be expected, there are only two, and they are located on the bottom of the TV so it points in the opposite direction of the viewer, which is normal for LCDs. -DISLIKE: I would like two optical audio connections, but one is adequate for 99% of people. If you have a receiver with HDMI inputs then this is a non issue. -DISLIKE: The factory setup was a little to "bright" for me so I had to adjust the TV to something less extreme. This is easy to do, but it should be pre-set that way. -DISLIKE: I like the USB, Media Card, and DVI found on more expensive HDTVs, because they are convenient to display photos directly from your camera or connect computers quickly in full HD. This is not a huge disadvantage, because most HDTVs in this price range do not have these features (got to save money somwhere). This is not unique to Samsung.
SECTION 5: FEATURES EXPLAINED (From Samsung.com)
Some time should be taken here to explain what features are found in the Television. The major items are listed below. -Response Time: One of the most important features for an LCD panel is the pixel response time. Response time refers to the amount of time it takes a pixel to "refresh" itself to go from being active to being inactive, (ready to be re-activated). The lower the milliseconds, the faster the response time. A realtivey fast 8ms gives you smooth-motion action scenes, although there are faster times, I've not seen any blur in either video games or movies. -Built In Digital Tuner: All SAMSUNG LCD HDTVs have an integrated digital tuner. So, whether you’re watching over-the-air HD digital broadcasts or connecting to cable/satellite service, SAMSUNG has got you covered. You will not need to purchase a seperate digital to analog box to receive over the air broadcasts. -Wide Color Enhancer: Whereas blue and green shaded areas of the picture are washed out on conventional screens, wide color enhancer lets you experience more brilliant colors. -SRS TruSurround XT HD: SAMSUNG TVs are equipped with impressive audio technology. Our built-in speakers deliver an enhanced, virtual surround-sound listening experience that brings your HDTV experience to another level. -Energy Star Compliant: By being ENERGY STAR compliant you are assured that your Samsung model is helping the environment by using less energy while saving you money. ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy promoting energy efficiency. -Contrast Ratio: Contrast and brightness levels achieve new heights in this LCD TV. Watch movies and shows come to life with enhanced details in very dark or bright scenes. Enjoy a more realistic, sharper picture quality that’s sure to catch your eye. -Auto Volume: Automatically adjusts the sound from each channel so you don't have very loud or very quiet changes when switching channels. -Game Mode: When connecting to a game console such as Playstation or Xbox, you can enjoy a more realistic gaming expereience by selecting the game menu.
SECTION 6: SPECIFICATIONS
* Built-in HDTV tuner * Screen Size: 31-1/2" screen size measured diagonally * Widescreen 1366 x 768 pixel resolution * 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio * Contrast Ratio: (8000:1) * Speakers: 2 5W speakers with SRS TruSurround HD Sound system. * Ultraslim design: (3-1/5" deep) * HDMI input - Two * PC video input to connect your computer * Inputs: 2 HDMI, 1 component video, 1 composite A/V, 1 PC (VGA), & 1 2.5mm audio (standard headphone size). * Output: 1 optical audio and 1 headphone. * V-Chip parental control: Option of blocking undesirable material from children. * ENERGY STAR qualified * Additional features: Trilingual (English, French, Spanish) on-screen menus, game mode and sleep timer. * Warranty: Parts 1 year / Labor 1 year * Height 22-7/10" with stand (20-9/10" without) * Width 32-2/5" * Depth 9-9/10" with stand (3-3/10" without) * Weight 25.1 lbs. with stand (20.1 lbs. without) * Aspect Ratio: 16:9 * Maximum Resolution: 1366 x 768 * Contrast Ratio: 8000:1 * Media Card Slot: No * USB Slot: No * Screen Refresh Rate: 60Hz * Operating Temperature: 50-104 degrees F * Operating Humidity: 10-80%
SECTION 7: CONCLUSION
While it is not 1080p you will probably not see any difference on a TV this size anyway; however, this TV does go up to 1080P with certain equipment (PS3) and it looks significantly better than anyother TV I have seen its size, except for models costing over twice as much, and they only looked "marginally" better. Its light, attractive, sounds good and it priced incredibly. The quality is terrific and you'll see that its solid out of the box. I would buy one again!
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