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LG 42LD490
by Starlight81
We managed to buy this TV just in time to watch Frozen Planet, which has been very fortunate as the picture quality could almost be described as breath-taking, especially when projecting a stunning arctic landscape directly into our living room. For some reason we viewed the TV as more of a necessity than a new sofa, and so are still sat ... every evening on a rather hard, coverless futon, which gets less and less padded by the day, watching our brand spanking new TV. We have interesting priorities.
I'll begin, then, with the technical details, though I'll try to keep this section as brief and as interesting as possible. The LG 42" LCD TV is backlit, which apparently makes it ideal for watching fast-action movies and sports. I don't watch much of either, but I can tell you that animations look fantastic on it. A nice feature running alongside this is that you can adjust the energy settings, so if you're watching something that doesn't require such impressive visuals, like the news or a quiz show (must be careful not to mention my addiction to Eggheads here) then you can just down the light levels and thus save some energy. What do you know- a giant, flat screen, eco-friendly TV. Well, let's face it, no 42" LCD TV is going to be particularly eco-friendly, but at least if you're going to buy one anyway then this is a good start. According to the information we were given in-store, the average LCD uses 30% less energy than an LCD or a plasma TV anyway.
You also get a freeview tuner with this model, meaning you can get all those extra digital channels and radio stations free, and there's a USB port for plugging in a memory stick to watch your photos as a slideshow on the big screen.
In fact you can also, according to the manual, pick up wireless, though we haven't tried this yet. We really should though, because with our Lovefilm subscription that would mean we could watch films via live streaming as well as being posted DVDs and Blu-rays, but without having to hunch in front of a laptop.
The one major disadvantage of this TV, in my view, is the sound quality. It just doesn't match up in any way with the picture quality, and in fact once you turn the volume up to about 20, it seems to remain the same from there onwards. You can turn the volume all the way up to 40 or more and it will still sound quite quiet, especially when people are speaking. It isn't that the sound is tinny or muffled in any way, however. It sounds quite sharp and clear, but somehow just never quite loud enough. I suppose the answer to that is to buy a home cinema system to go with it, or at least a set of speakers, but that's quite a commitment when you'll already have forked out around £600 for the TV itself. The home cinema systems are about another £200 on top of that.
Having said that, I'm not sure it's only LG that has this problem with sound quality. My parents have a Panasonic TV which is like ours, 42" with great picture quality, but again, the volume just isn't really there. Perhaps it just isn't possible to make a slim, sleek-looking TV with decent enough speakers to give the sound the volume it really needs. If I wanted to be really cynical about it I might even suggest this was a deliberate ploy to get people spending the extra £200. The logic, after all, is that if you've spent £600 on the TV, what's an extra £200 to get all the benefits of it? Not a logic we'll be following just yet, mind you. I think the sofa may actually need to be the next purchase on the list.
The only other thing I can say about this TV is that it was very easy to set up. You'll need an HDMI cable if you want to plug it into a blu-ray player, but the instruction manual is very clear and easy to understand and there isn't a lot that needs plugging in to get it working anyway. It's also easy to tune, as instructions are given on screen.
We've been very happy with our purchase so far and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a new, very good quality TV. Don't be put off by my comments on the sound quality either- the actual quality is good, but some people may prefer a higher volume than this TV can offer without speakers but, as I said, I think this may be something that's common to all wide, flat screen televisions.
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LG 42LD490
by J_Colly
I used to think that having a big TV wasn't that important, and it was unnecessary and basically just a waste of money for something that didn't really make that much of difference. Although it's true that you don't really need a big TV, I can now see how much of an improvement it is, and how it makes watching your favourite programmes ... or films such a great experience.
-ooo- The Product -ooo-
This is a 42-inch TV, which sounds enormous, but is something that you quickly get used to. It is widescreen and full HD, which you can really appreciate on a screen of this size. It has built-in Freeview as well. First of all, I suppose it's the look of the TV that makes the first impression. It's not only big but also very slim - it's only an inch or so deep and it's amazing that so much fits in so little space. You can put it on a wall, but it's important to note that you really need speakers for this, as they are on the back and will sound muffled against a wall.
The TV has the usual connections for games consoles and USBs etc. It is designed in gloss black and looks really smooth and sleek and simple - basically, a typical modern TV, although I do like the thin transparent edge around it, which makes it stand out quite nicely.
-ooo- Would I Recommend? -ooo-
There are so many things I like about this TV. The picture quality is great - the colours are so sharp and movement is super-smooth. On both blu-ray and normal DVD, everything looks cinema quality, and even normal programmes are made to look so much better. I heard that it wasn't so good for fast moving action, but sport also looks really good here, I think.
The menus are well designed and easy to navigate, and you don't need to spend lots of time to get the hang of the systems. I like the inclusion of an energy-saving system which lets you easily dim the TV down when you don't need it to be so bright. Everything looks really well designed, and a lot of thought has gone into the navigation of the menus.
Physically, the TV is very strong and secure, with a good wide base that keeps it steady. It feels well made, and doesn't seem like it would break easily.
If there's one negative, I would say that the sound isn't as good as the rest of the TV. It's okay, but not as impressive as the other elements, and often needs turning up quite a lot. Still, I'm happy with it - and I think this is a brilliant TV for £500. It has just about everything, and it's made watching TV so enjoyable!
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LG 32LD550
by graceyyxx
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.
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