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Toshiba 32BV700B
by Huomenna
We bought ourselves this TV last year when the 'View Sonic' we had in the living room was really on its way out (you'd change channels and the screen would just stay black so you'd have to turn it off and on again, plus the screen had an inexplicable dark mark down the middle).
We wanted to stay at the same size (32") but ... upgrade to full high definition, on a purely superficial level I also wanted a TV with a black surround rather than silver and we wanted a half decent brand. I'd been getting some Argos vouchers through work so that somewhat restricted our choice, as did our budget of £300 and the tendancy of Argos not to keep in stock half the things they advertise. In the end there was only one television that matched all our criteria and that was the Toshiba 32BV700B (catchy name huh?)
Appearance:
The surround is a couple of inches thick around 3 sides and approximately 4 inches at the base - the finish is glossy which does attract fingerprints. The TV stands on a wide black base that is sturdy and unobtrustive. A small branding of 'Toshiba' is written in white text in the middle of the base and in the bottom right hand corner are a number of touch screen buttons - standby, volume, channel and source. All real push buttons are concealed around the back.
I think it's quite an attractive television that will fit in with virtually all decorative tastes - the simplicity of the design also means that it will look modern for longer and not age as quickly as clothes fashions do!
Ease of use:
Personally I found the TV easy to set up - it was as simple as any TV I've had before, in that you just plug in the appropriate leads and scan for channels (like pretty much all TV's now it does have built in freeview).
In these energy concious times, the power button in particular, is poorly placed and you have to keep groping around to find it - as a consequence you do tend to get into the bad habit of just hitting stand by.
The remote is also self explanatory and I find EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) particularly useful. The remote itself is very big so you are unlikely to lose it too much and the buttons are all large so it would be good for anyone with poor eyesight.
Picture and sound quality:
I have been very impressed with the picture quality from the television - I find the colours to be accurate, with good contrast, sharpness and brightness as standard. I've never felt the need to fiddle with any of these settings as the factory ones are good enough for me - maybe I'm just impressed because it's the first full HD television I've had.
The sound is also crisp and clear, with good volume control. If I had to be picky I'd say that the speakers lack depth, in the sense that you get no real bass to whatever you're listening to - in circumstances where we want this, we tend to hook the TV up to our hifi system, the speakers of which sit on either side of the TV.
Everything else:
One thing that does annoy me a bit about this television is that when turning the TV on via the remote there is a substancial delay before the TV jumps into life and sometimes you're not sure if it has registered that you've even pressed the button. This is similar with changing channels - not a huge delay, but a good 2 or 3 seconds before the screen goes from black to displaying the channel correctly.
Overall:
I'd have to say I'm pretty happy with this television - apart from a couple of little issues (mentioned above) it is very good and there are certainly more plus points than negatives, especially considering the £300 price tag that I picked it up for. In the year or so that we've owned it for it has never presented any issues or caused us any problems and I hope that it will provide us with many more years of trouble free television watching!
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Samsung LE-32A558
by rhys6154
This was the first TV that I owned in my room, and it is great, the picture quality is better than I expected for the price. The picture is very clear. The TV is easy to use, with great interactions, easy to set up, easy to add channels to favourites, easy to find those favourites. Its also easy to customize it to your liking, with ... removing channels you don't watch. It's also great and easy to use for gaming, with a HDMI port, which is great for an amazing gaming experience. It also has some great sound quality. The remote is also easy to use, with clear buttons, and a long battery life.
The only difficulty I've had with this was finding a TV bracket that was easy to set up and would stay there well.
I would definitely recommend this TV to a friend, or anyone, for whatever they need it for, DVDs, TV programmes, and gaming, because it is overall excellent, I have had no problems at all with it, nothing has broken, and it is easy to set up.
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LG 42LK530T
by ashashash23
I recently purchased the LG 42LK530Twith the intention of using it as a PC monitor, I am a self employed recruitment agent and have been using a white board to organise my staff. However I have now decided that I will go electronic, the TV was mounted on my wall and connected to a PC, this is done by HDMI connection, this allows me to ... organise my staff using an online program and view the information at a glance. The quality of the TV is much better than I had originally expected, I was looking to save a few quid so went for a cheaper option, however I have been pleasantly surprised. The image is crystal clear, there appears to be no delays, even when I use it to stream videos or view complex websites and programs. It looks good too, I can't imagine returning to an unsightly white board, this TV has certainly improved my office appearance and quite possibly my companies' appearance, for the sake of a few hundred quid I have now created the impression that my company is larger than it is. For those of you purchasing this item purely for TV use, I have also used it to watch a few movies that I streamed from my PC, the quality is brilliant, crisp and clear and provides a wonderfully bright picture.
I think the only slightly negative thing that I have to say about the LG 42LK530T is that it is a dust magnet!! I am having to wipe it over at least twice a day to remove unsightly dust. Definitely an A - in my eyes and a bargain.
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