Customer Reviews

LG 42LG50 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I own a Panasonic 50 inch plasma TV - just can't rave about that TV. So, when I needed a 42 inch TV to attach to a PS3 - I was wavering between a plasma (yet again) and LCD tv (the first try). I know Panasonic Plasmas rock - but then again getting PC connectivity was very important consideration, Panasonic Plasma's didn't have a PC port (s-video ports are poor substitute for pc connectivity as picture quality is very very bad). For PC connectivity - you can't beat LCDs.

Made my mind to buy Toshiba Regza 42 inch lcd TV based on Reviews- Looked TVs at Circuit City, then again looked at Best Buy with my family. This LG set seemed to beat Toshiba both in clarity, and picture details in every one's opinion. Panasonic 42 inch (and 50 inch) 1080P plasma's (picture and) sound quality will blow any thing in 42-50 inch TVs and there is no doubt about it. This LG TV looks great - picture with PS3 in 1080P are stunningly beautiful, the set looks very nice and sound quality is good (and crisp) (but volume doesn't go very high as I would have liked too and is only about half of comparable Panasonic's 42 inch plasma set.). The sound output could have been a bit better for a 1200 dollar set - not so here. Overall, this is a good set for bedrooms, basements and for playing games and watching Blueray movies. After having the set for two weeks, I can say that HDTV reception is awesome and unbelievably good, and as good as it gets on any thing. The SD TV reception (via comcast box) is quite good - but a notch below than my Panasonic plasma TV's SD picture where picture has more feel and warmth and colors are much sharper (that is more to do with LCD versus Plasma than this particular set's weekness in my opinion). If you buy this set- you won't regret it. This set looks very good and performs very well. I would very much recommend it. Here is short summary:

HD Picture Quality - 5***** Superb, Fantastic
SD Picture Quality - 4**** Very Good but not as sharp as equivalent Panasonic Plsama's
Sound Quality - 4**** Sound Quality is Good, and Crisp, Bass is a bit lacking when compared to Pany Plasma.
Sound Volume - 4*** (More than enough for daily use, but not loud enough for occasional Party blasts of music Videos. I would recommend external speaker or a home theater system. ).
TV Set look and Feel - 5***** Excellent, Beautiful

Connectivity: Has 3 HDMI ports. One more HDMI would have been good as every thing is moving in that direction. Plenty of other ports. RGB port and USB Port for laptop connectivity. Audio (optical/ coax, streao) output for home theater conenctions.

I've had this TV for a week. Hooked it up to a Comcast HD/DVR via HDMI. HD channels are spectacular as you would expect. Seems to do a good job with SD channels. Black levels seem perfectly fine to me. Overall design is very attractive with hidden speakers and a simple thin chrome strip across the bottom and a light that glows red when in standby and blue when on. Sound quality is very good for a TV. Picture quality was pretty good out of the box. I did reduce the backlighting and red a bit. Liked that it has both a USB and VGA input in this price range. Got it for $1215. Photo viewing is good. Can play background music and slide shows from folders on the USB drive. The remote says its universal, but I cannot get it to work with the Comcast box or my Toshiba DVD. Did get my Comcast remote to work with the TV so not really a problem. No regrets. Would buy this again.

I just purchased this TV from Circuit City on sale yesterday for $1099. Right out of the box, the picture was fantastic. I did tweak it a little--brought the brightness up a bit and the color down at bit, and it looks really good now. I have Time-Warner HD service connected via an HDMI cable--it's awesome. The black levels seem very good to me, and the clarity of the picture is excellent. The non-HD channels are very clear too, but obviously not as good as HD. I have the audio runnning via a digital optical cable to my Sony receiver. I did test the speakers on the TV itself--OK sound--not gonna rumble your living room, but that doesn't matter to me because I will never use them.
So, in conclusion, LG has a fine product here--look at this one compared to Sony or Samsung--it is just as good or maybe even better in my opinion, because you'll save yourself $300-$500 over the price of those models.

I stepped up to this TV from a first generation RCA 720p 26". While that TV wasn't bad for it's time, this TV is simply amazing and the difference between them is night and day. I have a Comcast HD DVR hooked up by HDMI and the HD channels look amazing. A small drawback, watching standard channels on this TV you will notice the grainy picture. Lucky for me there is usually enough on the HD channels or the DVR to keep me busy.

I have my Xbox 360 also hooked up by HDMI and again the picture is simply amazing. Playing split screen with four people before was a chore but now everyone can actually see what is going on. Playing online with 42 inches to yourself will allow you to see every tiny detail in perfect clarity. I have also hooked up a PS3 to it using an HDMI cable. Blue Ray movies look jaw dropping good.

Preset picture modes are decent and I am content to stay with the standard one, looks great. One other minor negative I've noticed is I am unable to locate a sleep timer. Since when do TV's not have sleep timers? My parent's old school console TV from way back when had a sleep timer. I have not looked through all the product documentation yet so maybe the feature is available and I have just overlooked it.

The piano black finish is nice and stylish but shows dust very quickly. The TV is quite slim both depth wise and with the edges around the picture. The TV can swivel about 90 degrees, this is a very handy feature both for adjusting the viewing angle or for easy access to connections.


I haven't yet had to deal with LG customer support which is a great thing but does not allow me to share an experience with them.

All in all, this television is an excellent buy. I had been planning on buying a Sharp Aquos for a long time, probably a D64 series but when I saw this girl on the wall it looked equal to or better than the Sharp TV for less money.

ADDITION: I have been using the intelligent sensor and it works very well. Whenever the lighting in the room changes it displays the little logo at the bottom and auto adjusts.

I bought this TV 13 days ago at an HHGREGG for $899 plus tax. I had done a lot of internet research and it sounded like a good TV and had everything I wanted. We got it home and were very pleased with the picture. For me, HD channels look best on the Cinema setting. The volume has to be turned nearly all the way up to hear it normally which is fine b/c I usually play it through an audio receiver anyway. I ordered very inexpensive 1.3 HDMI cables and a wall mount here on Amazon.com that work very well.

Now for the problem. About a week after buying it, I had it on one day and couldn't turn it off with the remote - none of the remote buttons worked. Put in fresh batteries, still didn't work. Walked to the set and pressed the power button, still wouldn't turn off and none of the other buttons on the set worked. Had to unplug it for it to work normally again. Did the same thing the next day. Did some searching, found out that some LGs have bad diodes or a bad motherboard causing this problem. Called LG 24/7 support and they put me in touch with a local repair shop to come and service it in home. The local shop said this was a common problem with LCDs and they would order the new motherboard. Meanwhile at BrandSmart, a salesman told me this model is discontinued. Looked at my receipt and HHGREGG has a 10 day return policy! So I'm stuck with getting it fixed under warranty. The motherboard is backordered, not in stock, and the local shop said that since it's discontinued, I may have to get a replacement TV if they can't get the board in a timely manner.

Lastly, the remote doesn't have a "display" button like many others. So I can't see which resolution a certain channel is broadcasting in - unless I just haven't figured that out yet. Still looking.

If not for the motherboard problem, I would've given it 5 stars.

Update 4/14/09:
- Today I was watching this TV and the video went completely out, but I could still get audio. No "lost signal" msg or anything, just a screen with a dk blue background. As before, no remote or TV buttons would work and I had to flip my surge protector to get it working again. I called LG to have this latest issue added to my case. The rep said that this TV is not discontinued and that the salesman gave me incorrect info. I'm still awaiting word on when the motherboard will arrive and if it will also fix this latest issue. Still a great picture and it seems to me that I don't have to turn it up as loud as I did at first. But I'm frustrated that I'm having problems and can't return it. Will keep you posted!

Update 8/7/09:
- I should have come back sooner to update this, sorry! After they switched out the motherboard, I haven't had any more issues with this TV. The picture is absolutely awesome. I still wish the sound was louder and I wish the display would show what resolution you're viewing, but other than that I have no complaints! Tried changing my rating to 4.5 stars, but it won't let me.

The HD color and picture are absolutely awesome. The sound is not very loud. I would suggest that you purchase speakers. My biggest regret about this television is that I started to hear a resounding popping sound in the speakers whenever I'd it on a HD station. I immediately contacted Amazon regarding this problem and they agreed to send me another television set. The customer service at Amazon was very good. Hopefully, my new LG television will not have this annoying problem.

We have this TV & liked it so much that we got the 32" in this model for our bedroom. We use the TV for gaming, television & watching DVD & Blu-Rays. The picture is great but the volume could be better. The volume goes from 1-100 & most of the time we have it up to about 70 or so & you'd think it would be pretty loud at that # but it's not. There are times we want it louder but are afraid we're going to blow the speakers or something. Even at 100 it would not be loud enough sometimes. The speakers are in the back of this TV so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it but if you have surround sound you'll probably be fine but if not be advise that the volume may seem a bit lower than you're expecting. The design of this TV is great. It's a nice TV to look at.

My only other complaint would be that it's not as fast to change channels or to go from cable to game mode very fast. It would be nice to be able to assign one button to switch back & forth between just those two (or whatever your needs are).

Setup was fast and easy.

I would recommend this TV. We like it quite a bit.

Bought this TV for my new apartment about a month ago! I absolutely LOVE it! It has a wonderful picture and the sound is great! My parents have the same one but an older model and I would always LOVE going over to their house so I could watch it. Even going as far as saying I don't feel too great so I'd have to go lay down (it is in their bedroom). ;-) It's very attractive. My friends ooh and ah over it every time they come over. Great price for a great TV!

We purchased this TV about a month ago and I am very satisfied. The picture is awesome to say the least. I love the LG brand because their product seems to be top of the line. This TV pretty much has it all. I only have one complaint and it is with LCD TV's in general. The sound is good but it doesn't get very loud. Most of the time we have to keep the volume almost maxed out because it isn't very loud. Like I said though this is a drawback of all LCD TV's because there isn't much room fit larger speakers in it because of how slim it is.

Pro's

Stylish Design

1080p Resolution

3 HDMI Inputs

Invisible Speaker System

15,000:1 Dynamic contrast ratio

Can be wall mounted or on a stand

Lightweight for moving

Con's

Sound isn't very lound

I recently purchased this and am very satisfied with this TV. The color, detail and contrast is excellent with Blu-ray and HDTV. Very crisp image. Lots of adjustments, and actually out of the box is quite good. Needs some minor tweaking though, but not as much as some TV's. Viewing angle is good for LCD, as are black levels. Well designed menu system too.