| Product: |
Orion TV-32RN10D |
| Date: |
28.01.08 (353 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Nearly everything, definately a TV worth buying.
Disadvantages: Low contrast ratio may put some off as might the 88 degree viewing angle.
The Orion 32RN10D is an interesting television (to me, at least). I think that going back to how I discovered it would be appropriate before I begin this review, so here I go:
Having not receiving a full pay check this month I decided to go and look for a TV regardless. Having resigned myself to the idea that a 26" would have to do I was somewhat dismayed to find that many of the 26 inchers on offer were, actually, pretty rubbish. I looked all over and all I found were minimum SCART & HDMI inputs, low contrast ratios and screens that were smaller than I remembered 26 inches being.
Feeling let down and close to heading home empty handed I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the Orion 32RN10D as I was leaving the store (I didn't literally stumble upon it, fortunately). Declaring that it was not only better than all the other televisions I had looked at that day, but bigger too, I decided I would grab it while I had the chance!
Anyway, on to the review:
This TV was remarkably light once out of the box and only took a matter of minutes to set up. I plugged it in, switched it on and the set up screen popped up. Selecting auto-tune I proceeded to wait a few minutes while it went about it's business. That done, I checked the channels and, as expected, all was in order.
Except channels 3 and 4 were in the wrong places. Oh no!
Happily, this was easily adjusted by popping over to the menu and choosing the "channel switching" option, where I swapped the two channels around and all was right with the world!
So, all the channels worked. Freeview worked fine and dandy. Now for the real test, to try it out with my Xbox 360!
Except I didn't have the correct cables yet :(
So, I hooked the Xbox up via scart, regardless, and was pleased to see that the quality was higher than that of my old SDTV, but not really that great. Off to the shops I went!
Setting the TV up with component cables was as easy as pie. Everything is neatly tucked away and labeled well on the back of the TV itself and it only took me 20 seconds before I was back up and running, and what a sight it was! I'd had my reservations up until this point that such a cheap TV would have a pretty poor picture quality, how wrong I was. The default setting of 480p looked good enough but, no, that is not enough, I'm afraid. Changing it to 720p ups the picture even more to that of the quality you'd expect to see on an in-store display set. Personally, I can't see why you'd need or want anything more from your picture clarity.
Next up, sound control. Once again, I was unsure of what to expect when it came to the sound quality of this set, but once again I was happily surprised! The sound is brilliantly clear at low volume and stays so as it gets higher, never distorting one bit (at least not at the sort of levels you'll be taking it to at home). While there are no problems with the sound, I'd suggest a slight boost to the bass setting, as it's great.
The TV does feature what can only be described as "fake surround sound". I'm not entirely sure how or why it works but after turning it on I did get a slight sensation of surround sound. Nothing amazing, though. You definately wont want to rely on it over a proper surround set-up.
So far, so good and haven't even had to use the manual yet!
What more to say, really? The remote isn't exactly "pretty" but if you care about that then you'll probably want to go spend your money on a new Apple Mac instead of a nice TV. It's eficient and easy to use. I've had no problems with the set so far but haven't really had it long enough to comment on that. All that's left is the specs:
Avg Price: £399.99
Size: 32"
Contrast Ratio: 1200:1
Digital: Yes
HDMI: 2
SCART: 2
Component: Yes
HD Ready: 720p, 1080i
PC Monitor Input: Yes
Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels
Sleep Timer: Yes
Speakers: 2 x 10 Watts
Viewing angle: 88 degrees
Wall mountable: Yes
Weight: 16kg
Overall: All I'll say about this TV is that it's absolutely brilliant. Great value for money but I fear that a lot of people will be but off by a low contrast ratio, viewing angle and price tag. These really should not put you off buying this TV. If you have the money but don't want to spend extortionate prices, go for it. If not, try to anyway.
Summary: Brilliant television. Get one or lose out.
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