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(More customer reviews)After doing exhaustive research (online, offline, magazines, etc.) for the better part of 1 1/2 years, I finally decided it was the right time to upgrade our main TV and purchase the LNT3242 32" LCD TV from Samsung.
This model is from 2007 but has recently come down in price several hundred dollars already, I'm assuming because there are always new models and new technologies right around the corner. I wouldn't blame you buying this TV directly from Amazon, but if you want to pick it up in person (and be able to return it in person if you run into any troubles out of the box) you could look at Circuit City who has recently been running a sale on it every few weeks the last month or so for $300 off the original price of $1099. You can do even better if you're a AAA member and go to AAA's website to get a coupon emailed to you for an additional 10% off the sale price. Which would bring your TV price to $720!!! (not including tax).
So, let's get right down to it. Even before I turned the TV on, I was impressed by the sleak all black frame and the sturdy yet lightweight construction. For typical living room viewing I think the 32" widescreen is a perfect size. I can't really understand the practical need for a 50-60" screen in your living room unless you don't see particularly well or have fold up seats and sell popcorn out of your kitchen. The picture on the Samsung rivals the Sony's without rivaling their cost. And it makes sense as the Samsung TV's are produced in the same factory as the Sony's. I guess you're paying a little more for those 4 little letters printed on the front as I guess you do for any designer label in the clothing world. With the contrast ratio at 7000:1 you can clearly see the upgraded contrast at work here vs. LCD's of a few years ago. This set also comes with 3, count 'em, 3 HDMI inputs. I would highly recommend purchasing a few of the cheaper (under $5!), and well rated HDMI cables for sale on Amazon to go with this new TV. Not only does it simplify your wiring connections, but the picture quality will blow you away. Both my digital cable signal and dvd player look as good as one could wish for.
The TV comes with 3 pre-set viewing settings (dynamic, standard, and movie). But you can tweak any of them to your liking. The dynamic setting looked great only on HD channels and the movie setting looks dimmer and yellowish, but did look great on a particular episode of LOST that I tried it out on. Even analog channels look excellent, as this is one area that I was worried about as the stores only ever have their looping HD feeds on their sets on the sales floor, and I had heard that sometimes analog channels can look worse on an LCD than a standard tube tv. I'm sure that the imperfections would be magnified on a larger set, but at 32" the picture still looks great. Also standard programming (non-HD) is not formatted to fit the widescreen picture, but the TV has several options to make the picture larger or fill the screen without stretching it out of proportion.
If you're a sports or nature fan, this is two areas that HD programming is already shining in its infancy. ESPN in HD makes everything look ridiculously beautiful. As does Discovery HD theater with a constant mix of terrific programming that will make your jaw drop and bring a tear to your eye. It's that pretty!
Enough rambling, in short, this is a wonderful TV that would look great in any setting, is now at a very attractive price point and I really don't have one single complaint about. One more thing, the audio issue
that others have noted in some reviews, I have not experienced. In fact, I don't have any kind of speaker system setup and I'm only hearing the audio out of the TV speakers and it has great natural surround sound built in to the system. Get this TV now and you won't be sorry, especially with football season just around the corner. One more note, the only differrence between this TV and the slightly newer and slightly more expensive Samsung LNT3251 that I could tell is the contrast ratio is 8000:1 where this is 7000:1 (I couldn't tell the difference) and the blue glowing light at the bottom of the screen on the LNT3251, which seemed like it would be more distracting than anything (you can turn it off however).
Once again, put this TV in your home and you won't be sorry. It will change the way you think about TV viewing.
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Samsung LNT3242H 32-Inch LCD HDTVFor anyone looking for a great value on a 720p HDTV, Samsung's 2007 model LNT3242H 32-inch flat-panel LCD is an excellent choice. As Samsung's entry level 40-inch LCD, it offers a 7000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, a 170-degree viewing angle, an 8ms response time panel, 3 HDMI inputs, and SRS TruSurroundXT from two side speakers. Between the design update, the aditional connections, and improved contrast ratio this model represents a distinct improvement on the popular comperable 32-inch Samsung from 2006 (LNS3241D).
The Samsung Digital Natural Image engine (DNIe) Video Enhancer refines all analog NTSC and wideband video inputs for an overall improvement in picture quality. DNIe improves contrast, white level, picture detail and incorporates digital noise reduction to improve lower quality video inputs. The 3D Y/C digital comb filter constantly analyzes the three dimensions of picture height, picture width, and picture changes-over-time to dramatically reduce edge image artifacts while improving transition detail.
High-quality virtual surround sound can be experienced with just the speakers built into the TV. SRS TruSurround XT technology delivers an amazing, simulated 3D effect with clear dialog and powerful bass through hidden side speakers. TruSurround XT audio adds three audio enhancement technologies to produce an amazingly immersive sound experience.
Dialog Clarity brings movie dialog into Focus during the playback of any surround-encoded material to make speech much clearer and crisper.
TruBass creates incredible deep rich bass allowing a person to perceive significantly deeper, richer low bass tones that are far beyond the physical low frequency capabilities of the speaker itself.
The SRS WOW feature widens the soundstage by processing standard two-channel stereo material as well as multi-channel encoded material for a dramatic improvement in the playback of any stereo audio over a two-speaker system.
Connections:
HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) 3
RF in 1
Component (Y/Pb/Pr) in 2
S-Video input 2(1 side/1 rear)
A/V input 2(1 side/1 rear)
PC input 1
Headphone jack 1
What's in the box: Samsung LNT3242H LCD TV, remote control, 2 AAA batteries, Power Cord, stand, cleaning cloth, owners manual, warranty card.
Buy cheap Samsung LNT3242H 32-Inch LCD HDTV now.
