It was a couple of years ago now that, whilst still at college and working hard at my part time job I decided to spend my wages on a treat in the form of a new television. I had a look around and eventually decided to play it safe and go to Argos. I knew I wanted and 1080p television and I wanted it to be 32 inches but other than that I just wanted something to look good. I decided upon the LG 32 LD 550 which fitted what I wanted and being a brand name I trusted I knew I couldn't be going that wrong. At the time the tele cost about £350 however it has since come down in price and is now about £270.


On getting the TV out of the box I was pleased with how it looked, it was easy to set up, just a get it out the box and plug it in job. The surround of the tele is black gloss which looks very smart and sleek; it's about 3 inches wide which in my opinion is just the right size for it to be, although now it's becoming popular to have no surround at all. There's a silver trim at the bottom of the tele with a downwards curve where the on/off switch is, this switch isn't actually a button but a touch sensor and to use you just swipe your hand past. I really like this feature as it's a bit different and gives it a bit more of a modern feel. The television base is again, black gloss but it can be mounted onto the wall with a bracket. The remote it functional but looks a little bit old fashioned when compared to the TV but obviously this isn't a major issue.


When turning the TV on I was pleased with the picture quality, it's very crisp and clear and a lot better than my previous TV. There's freeview built in which is always useful as it saves having an extra box on the TV stand as well as extra cables, the picture was good as I said before but I couldn't test the HD quality. There's two scart input points and two HDMI input points, I never used to need this many but since getting Sky I'm glad it's available. The HD channels on Sky look great on the screen and although the picture was good anyway with the HD upscaling it's better still. We also have a PS3 which can be used with a HDMI cable; this is where the two sockets come in as we don't have to mess around with cables when changing from TV to gaming.


For the price I'd say this television is more than good enough for the average television watcher or gamer. The screen is big enough for us, although with all the new technology coming in we're hoping to buy a 3D TV before Christmas and this model will be moved into the bedroom. The TV looks good switched off but it looks even better when switched on, the picture's great and for under £300 you can't go wrong.