Customer Reviews

Panasonic VIERA TC-L32E3 32-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LED HDTV

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have bought more than 20 flat screen tvs, from plasma to lcd to led over the past ten years. Every brand included. Just got this one because it fit perfectly into a 35 1/2" wide cabinet. I understand the frustration of the others with the misinformation about the wireless. So beware if you intend to stream wirelessly. However, this tv produces a beautiful picture. The preset calibrations (vivid, standard, etc.) are not of much use. Go with vivid, reduce all settings 10-15% except for hue, which you will want to increase into the green range (Apologies to the videofiles out there). Might want to change setting from cool to normal, but not big difference Picture excellent and as good as my LG 5500 led, Sony w4100 lcd, Samsung 630 lcd (model numbers not exact, recalling from memory). The reviewer reporting terrible picture likely either has it miscalibrated or has a bad input signal. I have LAN hard wired to my router, works great. Very happy with this purchase. Arrived in 3 days even with free budget shipping.

Outstanding HDTV for the money! Before getting this one, I tried a top-of-the-line 37" HDTV that cost over a grand but this one is just as good for my uses (TV, BR, Xbox/Wii, Netflix streaming) and cost about half.

I wanted a backlit remote control with my new TV. So I did some research and found that you can buy replacement parts for Panasonic TV's very easily. You can even get them directly from Panasonic! Google panasonic parts and accessories to see the details. Anyways, a backlit remote that works great for this TV is part number N2QAYB000486. Cost me about 20 bucks.

A few of my favorite features that may not be easy to find:
Physical power/input/channel/volume buttons on side of TV (Not those stupid touch buttons that you can't see or feel where they are)
Netflix works great! I'm not sure the actual resolution but it looks like 720p

Pros:
EXCELLENT viewing angles from both sides and top
Not the fanciest design but it's the most functional. Solid, well balanced, no annoying lights
Great picture (I'm not an expert but it looks just as good as my plasma and better than almost all LCD tv's I've seen)
HDMI USB and SD card inputs on left side (in addition to the ports on the back)
Generates almost no heat

Cons: (I'm stretching to really find very many of them)
Power cord is permanently attached
It's relatively heavy, especially with the base (which is pretty heavy compared to other TV's)
No backlit remote out of the box
It doesn't brew beer!

If you value functionality over marketing gimmicks, this TV is the best bang for the buck!

I researched all the flatscreen TVs in the 37-40" size category due to cabinet space requirements. Bought a Sony 40" and had to return it because my wife wouldn't let me take the doors of the furniture... Looked at Vizio due to price, performance, cabinet size, and having owned one. Did not find a model that met all the criteria. Found the outgoing Panasonic 37" model that came before this new model but it was getting hard to find at the firesale prices. I saw that the new TC-L37E3 was being release soon and put it in my basket and waited for release.

I liked that it had an ISP (In-Plane Switching panel) and the reviews of the previous model were favorable. The cabinet width was perfect at 35.1 inches. The fact that it was wi-fi ready did not matter to me since I already had an Apple Airport Express for the entertainment system and could feed a CAT5 cable directly to the TV. Have watched Netflix, Amazon VOD, listened to Pandora, all works great. The picture colors, sharpness, contrast, blacks, and viewing angle are fantastic and my wife and college age daughters have given positive comments. I only had to tweak a couple settings to get it matched to the room lighting with windows/blinds to the rear. Since it was a new model the first week out in release, my Logitech Harmony One remote did not have the canned codes available. A little training and the fact that the channels and volume are usually changed through the Cable/DVR and the A/V receiver result in no impact. I also like the optical digital out for playing internet music out to the stereo.

I am getting used the the small delays in the HDMI handshaking going on between the Motorola DVR, NAD T747 Receiver, and the TC-L37E3. Bottom line is that now that they are all hooked and set-up, they are working fine together.

Very Happy with the purchase!

Things I like:
The picture/color are good. Like the 1080p for bluray. Menu screens are decent. Physical appearance is attractive. Seems fairly well made.

Meh things:
My unit has some serious light leaks around the top and bottom. I do notice it while watching the TV in dark scenes sometimes. It's annoying, but I'm living with it.

Sound on this TV is typical of any flatscreen. Sound comes out of the bottom of the unit so it's a little muffled and not great. I've gotten used to this over time though.

The specs on this TV say it's 1.7" without the stand. This simply isn't true! I'm not sure how they get away with this. They don't show you a profile picture of the TV, but the bottom actually protrudes at the bottom and it actually 2.75" at its widest point. I have my unit mounted on an articulated arm so it doesn't matter for me, but this should be noted if someone else thinks this thing will sit 1.7" from their wall because it won't. Very misleading IMO.

Power cord is permanently mounted to back of TV so you can't attach a longer one directly. This was bad for me because I have mine wall-mounted with the cord fed down inside the wall. I had to use an extension cord which is attached halfway down the wall. This isn't ideal. I would have preferred to buy a 10' power cable from monoprice to run the whole distance.

Overall it's a fine TV. I found it hard to find decent 37" TVs out there. It seems like it's a weird size that there aren't a ton of models of. If you get this one, hopefully yours doesn't have light leaking as bad as mine. Good luck!

I purchased this television for our bedroom, and we're quite happy with it. I highly recommend using a calibration DVD (I used Avia) to set the picture settings, as the ones from the factory are indeed crap! (like almost all modern TVs. Why is that?) The "standard" setting is way too low contrast / washed out, and the "vivid" setting has contrast so high that the shadow details are completely lost. I found that the "Game" setting tuned to [Contrast +90] [Brightness +57] and [Color +40] was about perfect, now that I have it calibrated the picture is even better than I anticipated.

Pros:
Incredible picture!
Embedded Pandora & Netflix players work fine
Lots of HDMI inputs
It's SO LIGHT AND THIN!

So/so:
Sound - decent but not stellar. About what you'd expect from embedded speakers

Cons:
No embedded WiFi (works with external adapter, purchased separately)

I diligently researched for a 32" LED LCD, 1080 HDTV with DLNA and WiFi or a LAN port and the ability to utilize the Audio Return Channel via HDMI with my new network-connected AV receiver. My searching revealed this 2011 Panasonic with a LAN port and the ability to purchase a WiFi adapter made by Panasonic. I have been very happy with this TV right out of the box and even more happy once I worked my way through the TV settings and set up the multi-device remote that came with it. The picture is crisp and bright with dark blacks and a wide viewing angle, and the tuner draws in top-quality local TV audio and video even over my amplified indoor antenna. This TV will get 5 stars from me, though, only if Panasonic adds VIERA Connect, something I would expect to find on all 2011 Panasonic IPTVs to allow a more robust internet experience and allow the use of the iPhone and iPod Touch VIERA Remote app. Perhaps VIERA Connect will be included on a future firmware update?

The Panasonic HD TVs receive very good reviews both here on Amazon and on other sites. I am not going to go into all the details that are already in the other reviews since I don't find redundancy useful. I purchased this model after viewing the 32 $ 37 inch versions in local stores. I couldn't find the 42 inch model locally so I ordered from Amazon at what I consider a fair price along with the free return policy. The set is performing flawlessly after a month and a half. Both my wife and I are very happy with the picture and over all performance. We added a Blu Ray player and 1080p discs look excellent. I don't have a negative thing to report at this time. I haven't upgraded to a home theater system yet so I can't comment either way on external audio system compatibility.

As most of us do, I researched "wi-fi" ready TV's and chose this particular Panasonic for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that it is advertised as "wi-fi" ready. I already have a Roku hooked up to another TV but didn't want to deal with yet another electronic box. Well, I found out what Panasonic means by "wi-fi ready" when I powered up the TV, did the initial set-up and clicked on the wi-fi option. The TV immediately displayed a message telling me that there was no wi-fi adapter in place and instructed me to BUY one in order to take advantage of the TV's wi-fi capability. Huh? So suddenly and unexpectedly my TV costs $90 more. Not a nice surprise. False advertising? Bait and switch? You decide. Anyhow, the adapter has been ordered; I'll update this review when it arrives and IF "wi-fi" is then truly ready and the TV works as promised.

One pro: A terrific, easy to use remote. I like it a lot with its many control options and appreciate that it connects to my Viera-capable Panasonic Blu-Ray DVD player.

Three cons: First: the picture quality doesn't begin to match my more than 2-year-old Sony Bravia 32" LCD TV, neither the color nor the sharpness. Second: I'm having a devil of a time coming up with a pleasing color/brightness balance, a challenge I never faced with my Sony. Three: at this point, the Panasonic codes don't work with my DirecTV remote. I spent an hour on the phone with a DirecTV technician without success.

So that's my story. I'm both disappointed and annoyed with Panasonic, a usually reliable and customer-friendly company. But I'll give the new TV a fair chance before I make a final decision. And thanks to Amazon for the very useful TV evaluation period.

I meant to purchase an LCD TV that has 120Hz scanning ratio with an LED back lighting. For some obscure reason, I thought that the L42E3 has it! :( Since the TV was meant for my bedroom, and until I uncrated it I did not realize that I was wrong, I decided to to give the TV a try. To my surprise, the picture was much better than I expected, even with fast moving objects on the screen. While one can see some blur in the fast moving objects, they are much less noticeable than in my older LCD (4 years old) that I replaced. In slow moving or static screens, the picture rivals my LG with 120Hz scanning that is in my living room, and it has better black level retention than the LG. I would have given the set 5*, except for the lack of 120Hz scanning ability. Recommended.

I have been looking for a 37" TV to fit into a particular piece of furniture for over 2 years. Everything has been too tall by 1/2" or more. This is a newly announced TV that is packaged perfectly. It has great features and a great picture. If you are hooking it up to a wired internet connection and are using a hub in addition to the router, you cannot connect the TV to a hub port. It has to be on one of the router ports. It took a long time with Panasonic support to figure this out. That said, the support line was great and appeared to be US based.

My only real negative was that Amazon did not ship the set when they said they would. It was in stock but my order got screwed up twice.