LG...Lucky Goldstar or Looks Good? (LG 32LC2D)

Member Name: NinjaBaz

Product:	LG 32LC2D
Date:	03/03/09 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value 2nd hand set, Ideal for those on a budget, Good HD picture

Disadvantages: Slightly poor blacks, Not enough HDMI sockets, Iffy SD picture, Discontinued

I bought this TV around two and a half years ago from Currys online. The purchase price was £575 although it's now discontinued so would be available 2nd hand for between £200-£250 most probably. I received heavy discount at the time through 10% staff discount and also by using another online code. This brought the price down from £799, which was also the in-store price.

This was my first LCD TV after upgrading from a 28" CRT and initially it seemed huge, it was like being at the cinema in comparison to our old set! As always, the TV soon started to look too small and now leaves me wanting a 37" LCD! The slimline nature of LCD and plasma TVs means they can be positioned further back than a bulky CRT set and this can help create more distance between the screen and your seating position. Another design feature I liked was the speaker set below the screen as opposed to one at each side. This makes the TV look more compact and stylish, and may mean it will fit into your room better than the wider sets.

The TV itself comes in a couple of guises, the LC2D and the LC2DB. The only difference being the colour of the front speaker bezel. I believe the LC2D has a dark silver bezel, with my TV, the LC2DB having a lighter silver bezel. The different product codes were also a way, and still are, of different stores avoiding having to do price matches on the technicality that it was a 'different model'. This series of LG was also available in 37" and 42" variations.

Now, the main spec is included within the discription so I won't regurgitate all of that, but I'll just draw your attention to a couple of details to bear in mind if you were thinking of purchasing a 2nd hand set.

Firstly, as this set has been superceded several times since release, the spec is not really comparable to the newest sets available now. This TV only has 1 HDMI connection for example. This is the connection you would use to connect your TV to several HD sources/devices such as Sky HD, Playstation 3, XBox 360, upscaling DVD player or Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player. As you can see, 1 HDMI port isn't going to be enough to futureproof you, but the solution I use is to attach an HDMI switch box or splitter which allows several HDMI devices to share the TV's 1 connection. These range in price from as little as £10 upwards depending on the quality and number of ports you require. Some also come with their own remote controls to switch device but mine just has a simple push button on the front.

I've had a couple of small issues with mine since purchase, but both are relatively minor. Firstly I have a couple of individual pixels stuck at certain colours. The only time I can notice these is when on a dark coloured background with my face pressed against the screen, so not a biggy! The other issue is every so often when I turn on the TV, it will either not do anything or go to a black screen but with the standby light on green (as if the TV was actually on). This is quite rare and is solved by simply switching off and on again.

The TV set also disappointingly doesn't have an actual 'off' switch, therefore it can only be turned into standby or switched off at the wall socket, which is a bit of a hassle every night.

Overall I'd recommend this TV as a 2nd hand set for use in a playroom or as a 2nd TV in the house. Ideal to hook up to a games console and a DVD player. The blacks are not brilliant on SD viewing but I was impressed with the HD quality from Sky HD and the PS3. I could go on about various connectors and features this TV has but as it's not a new model I'll leave it at that, suffice to say it has the usual collection of PC, scart and audio connections that the average user would require.

Summary: Still happy with it 2+ years on

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