This review is for Samsung LA32A450 series 4 LCD T.V. This is not listed in MS so the review is here.
One of the reason I went to buy this T.V was because my old Onida 25" T.V. started giving too much trouble. Ofcourse it was a 7 years old T.V. and it served well all through these years. Probably it would have lasted another couple of years if I had got it serviced but then just to have a look at some of the new T.V’s visited various showrooms from Sony, Philips, LG, Samsung etc. I even waited for 6 months before investing in this LCD T.V. I also saw lot of flat panel CRT TV’s but somehow got impressed with the LCD technology for their clear picture and great looks.
I decided that I should buy a 32 inch LCD T.V which would be apt for my living room. As mentioned above I went to many T.V showrooms and looked at many models of LCD T.V’s. After looking at all LCD T.V’s Sony and Samsung attracted me most. My first choice would have been Sony but somehow I never liked their service since one of the Sony TV that my brother bought did not work properly and it took him 3 months to get it serviced and that too in a city like Chennai.
Having this in the back of my mind I decided to go for Samsung 32 inch T.V. It was really a stunner with sleek look and performance on par with Sony. I will not go into lot of technical details since you can find that in the Samsung website. I have now been using this for one month and I shall write what is good and what is bad in this T.V.
First thing if you are not going to install DTH service or if you do not have Set top box please do not go for any LCD T.V. as it would be useless to watch LCD T.V in ordinary cable transmission. I was offered TATA SKY free along with this T.V. Since I already had a SCV set top box from the local cable T.V as Chennai falls under conditional access system I did not go for TATA SKY. The dealer reduced Rs.1200 on the price of the LCD since I did not take TATA SKY(then how come they are saying it is free?).
The pros of this LCD T.V
Clear reception when connected to Set Top Box.
Sleek looks even when you switch off the T.V.
Gives aesthetic looks in the place it is kept.
Awesome pictures and colors so natural and lifelike.
The Cons of this T.V are
Flat sound output even though it has a built in equalizer and many modes of sound system.
The remote is too big like a 1 foot ruler.
Attracts dust and needs to be wiped too often since it has a glossy finish.
Having said about the pros and cons I tested the T.V. with the Sony DVD player connected to Denon 5.1 home theatre system and played Hollowman DVD. The picture was awesome and it is to be seen to be beleived. One good option in this T.V is you can mute the sound completly from the T.V if you are having an external sound output. Since I had connected it to a 5.1 home theatre the sound along with the picture gave an awesome experience. This T.V. also has an output for connecting your Laptop or Home P.C. I connected my Laptop and checked and it worked without any problem though initial tweaks are needed for the correct resolution. For those who are interested in gaming I am sorry since I have still not checked this option as I am trying to borrow a Xbox from my friend to check this as I am not a vivid gamer.
Now for some technical details. It has 10000:1 contrast ratio and supports HD transmission. It has got a response time of 6ms. It also has 3 HDMI inputs, S-Video input, Composite(A/V) and Component(Y/Pb/Pr). It also comes with a Swivel stand where it can be adjusted from left to right for viewing angle. There are many other enhancements which can be better seen in the Samsung website.
The Samsung service person visited the next day of purchase for a demo and also told that there is an option for wall mounting but as I did not have space for wall mounting I did not go for it. I think it would sure look good when wall mounted. The pruchase price of this T.V was Rs.41, 000/-. This was series 4 LCD T.V from Samsung.
All in all this is one of the best Samsung LCD T.V in this class.