A reliable, multi-purpose 32inch LCD TV. (Samsung LE-32R87BD)

Member Name: Calendula

Product:	Samsung LE-32R87BD
Date:	20/06/09 (207 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Special remote control, and lots of TV features and modes.

Disadvantages: Picture quality could improve a little.

I purchased the Samsung LCD TV LE32R878D approx. 2-3 years ago and there has been no faults occur to date.
It is inoffensive to look at and can be wall mounted, using a specific wall mount kit (LE40R8), sold separately. The dimensions excluding the stand are 800mm by 79mm by 541mm; including the stand 800mm by 252mm by 581mm. The weight is 13kg (including the stand), and the screen will swivel up 20 degrees in either direction. The television has an integral digital receiver so you don't need a separate set top box to receive freeview digital channels. It can operate as an analogue or digital TV. The TV is HD ready, although I cannot comment on this aspect as I have yet to use it in HD.
The set up is relatively easy when you first plug it in, with 'Plug & Play' which helps you set up the digital TV channels, language required, date and time.

The Owner's Instruction Manual is comprehensive with 60 pages of operating instructions for the many features of this TV. These include a child lock which allows you to select video and audio to be muted out on the selected channel. The lock is controlled by the remote control so this must kept out of reach of the children. There are many ways of altering sound and volume, colour, picture size, picture quality, fine tuning reception. You can freeze the current picture, view Picture In Picture (PIP), and connect headphones. You can set and display the time, although if the power cord is disconnected it will lose the time and have to be reset. It has a sleep timer and a facility to set the TV to switch on and off automatically. There is a game mode, blue screen mode and home theatre PC mode. Energy saving mode adjusts the brightness of the screen which saves power but is also useful when watching TV at night as it cuts the 'dazzle' down. When in digital mode you can display the Electronic Programme Guide and information about individual programmes.
There is a parental lock facility; this feature allows you to prevent unauthorized users, eg children, from watching unsuitable programmes by a 4-digit pin code, defined by the user.
Teletext and fastext is available aswell as being able to use Anynet+ devices with the TV. It is possible to use the TV as a monitor for your computer/laptop.
The remote control is impressive as it has a number of features itself. There are Braille points (for the visually impaired) on the Power, channel, stop, play/pause and volume buttons. Also, press the 'lightbulb' button and the volume, channel and device selection buttons all light up for a few seconds which comes in useful at night or in a dark room. Another smart feature of the remote is that it has the capacity to work with DVD players, cable and set-top boxes and VCR aswell as operate the TV. After setting up the individual pieces of equipment using the control codes in the manual; all you have to do is press one button to switch from one device to another. There are many different devices listed with control codes in the manual, although the remote control may not be compatible with all DVD, VCR, cable boxes and set-top boxes.

When I first purchased this TV I was satisfied; but a few months later friends and relatives purchased LG TV's. The LG's were a better price and dramatically better picture quality. No matter how I adjust the screen or picture quality settings I cannot get as good a picture as the LG's.
Another annoyance is the miniscule control buttons on the edge of the screen. I often swivel the screen one way or another to get a better view of the screen from different areas of my sitting room. Most times I do this, I accidentally touch the control buttons and alter the channel, volume. So, if you never move/touch the TV this won't be a problem for you.
Apart from the two issues above I have no complaints about this TV. There are so many features on this TV, I would guess the average person will not need or use all of them.

Summary: All considered, a good quality LCD TV suitable for families or single people.

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