Customer Reviews

LG LHB953 1000-Watt Blu-ray Disc Home Theater In a Box

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This system is great. What I was most concerned with in buying this system was the convergence of the Web, television and music in our family room. This system seemed to meet all my requirements on paper and I was satisfied when I received the box.

Setup was simple and everything you need is in the box except for one thing: it needs to be near your router so that you can network it. My router is upstairs so I got around that through powerline networking which allows you to send your network through your power outlets. Works like a charm.

The bottom line is that I get my Netflix movies directly through the BluRay player...no waiting for the mailman for most movies. I also get FM radio and Pandora as well as my cable TV.

Great product. I recommend it.

This is a great system. The menus are very user friendly. I love how it has Pandora. The only reason I would consider Samsung after having 5 defective blue ray systems is because I liked the Pandora feature with samsung blue ray players. Well I no longer need to purchase any more Samsung blue ray players!!

Picture quality and sound is amazing for an all in one system. The price is right and you get more than you pay for. GREAT JOB LG!

I bought this system 2 weeks ago. I wasn't able to find a BR player with Pandora, Netflix and YouTube, so I picked this one with just Netflix and Pandora. When I set it up, I ran an update and to my surprise YouTube was available!

Netflix: I've watched some movies, it works great.
Pandora: Great too.
iPod connection: seamless.
YouTube: works fine.

For now I am very happy with the purchase, the only thing I didn't like that much is that the internet connection is not wireless, so you need one free ethernet connection.

the base on this system will definately rock your house, you can change the db level on each speaker individually though, firmware was recently updated and the player now offers Bluray Movies, Pics & Music via USB, Netflix streaming movies, cinemanow, pandora internet radio, & youtube. only downfall to this system (may just be mine) but you have to manually turn it on won't respond to remote if off. Aside from that though i am extremely happy with this product. Would suggest a little extra speaker cable (comes with approx 30 ft on the rear speakers) and some speaker mounts

I've had this beauty for 5 mon now and it is beyond my expectations. Sound is crispy clear and detail oriented. base is more than enough (max is 6 dB but I'm good with 2 dB) I listen to Pandora almost everyday and not to mention blurays. The only flaw I noticed is that it doesn't support wi-fi but it's not a big deal. Finally I mounted speakers on the wall yesterday after a long wait(it took me and my friend 3 hours to install all the plates and to connect all the wires behind the wall. They are so beautiful and it sounds even better). Speaker stands are not removable from the bottom. It's built in so when you mount speakers on the wall they look a little weird first time but they don't catch my eyes anymore. If you're looking for a decent HTIB with blu ray player and wouldn't want to spend over $1000 for HIGH HIGH end home theater systems, get this or at least give it a try!!!

I've had this unit for several weeks now.

Installation:
It was installed with no issues. All the speaker wires are color coded and the ports are well labeled. I was able to connect it to my router and it picked up an IP address with no problems. The Netflix and Pandora accounts were easy to set up with the on-screen keyboard. The I-pod interface is easy and very intuitive, the remote works to control the I-pod when it's docked. The on-screen menus were very intuitive and easy to figure out. I didn't have to open the manual at all to work my way around the system.

Extra connectivity:
It doesn't charge the I-pod while docked which can be annoying but is a minor complaint, I don't like to keep the I-pod connected to a charger all the time anyway just to preserve the battery. The other minor issue with the I-pod is that the movies won't play on my TV through the HDMI cable you have to connect the component cables. I haven't used the AUX input yet because I haven't found a need to do so. The USB port is great, I plug my thumb drive to it and it picks up music and pictures easily. I've put my USB portable drive to it as well and was able to listen to all my music saved there as well.
It streams Pandora, Netflix and Youtube with no issues. I love the ability to expand my music base by listening to Pandora. Watching a streamed Netflix movie on my TV is much better than watching it on my laptop or desktop. With this device I am planning on canceling my cable account.
When I have time I plan to connect my PC's sound card to the AUX port and stream Hulu and other sources through the unit for sound.

Sound and Video:
The sound quality of the movies and CD is excellent, very full and rich for a home theater in a box. Don't compare it with a McIntosh or Krell but it's more than I expect from a htib system. The base thrums from the subwoofer and balances the excellent midrange speakers nicely. Adjusting the balance for the surround is done on screen and walks you through it so even a child can find the room's sweet spot with little effort. There are a good amount of preconfigured

Suggestions:
There are few improvements I'd suggest to LG. Include 1 HDMI input jack, none of the blu-ray HTIB has this. Since the unit runs a version of Linux just add a full browser and an optional keyboard and this would be a full media center for my living room. Since my router is in my stereo cabinet I ran a wire between the LG and the router. Not everyone has that available though and I'm not sure what wireless options are offered by LG.

I got my unit here from Amazon, the delivery and service was excellent as one would expect from them. For the price the performance can't be beaten.

While shopping for a home theater system, I came across this beauty. It does everything and does it well. We have had it for a few weeks and have watched 50 or so Netflix online vids. The Pandora radio keeps us rocking whenever we are not watching movies. This system is the perfect companion to the limited basic cable. I would like to see an enter button for tv area on the remote. Changing aspect on the tv still requires separate remote. It has good sound and features that integrate several technologies. Go try one for yourself.

Easy to use and OK for a startup Home Theater Audio system in a box.
Value for Money. Great features esp Blu-ray with Youtube, Netflix, Pandora.

For Video playback, I miss 1080p support!! But as such video quality is good.

What kills is lack of good audio capabilities...
a.1) Plays MP3/other Audio only from 1 folder @ a time.
a.2) Stops playing Music if you move to other menus even to explore something.
a.3) Finer/Better control over audio settings

Overall meets number of needs but still leaves alot to be desired!!

My LG HB954 worked for about 9 months before it became unable to play a number of recent blue ray discs. Firmware updates are no longer being posted to the LG site for this model. The problem has become persistent enough that I've switched my Netflix account from Blue Ray back to DVD, which of course completely defeats having a Blue Ray player, but couldn't stand the aggravation. The Netflix streaming works well and is a very nice feature.

Player works fine but now that its discontinued, there are no updates made to the firmware. This means newer discs will not work. They will play for 2 seconds, then freeze. Called LG to figure out whats going on and they recommended sending it to be repaired. Will not buy LG again.