Customer Reviews

Samsung LN-R3228W 32-Inch HD-Ready LCD TV

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I decided to get a 32" LCD set because I wanted a slightly larger picture than my 30 Philips HD tube set. But, I also wanted to get rid of the bulk and size of the Philips. This set weighs 39 pounds! At 3 inches deep, it takes up very little room. Originally, I started by buying a no-name Walmart discount LCD tv. I'm glad I did that, because it showed me how a mediocre LCD tv performs. Washed out dark scenes, so so clarity, absolutely horrific off-center picture, ect. I popped in Dark City in the no-name unit and had to laugh. Unwatchable. Just indistinguishable sheets of dark grey. Well, I took it back and got this Samsung unit. Right out of the box it was much better. Actual black color on the screen, gradations of black level. I played some of the same dvds that I played in the no-name unit and dark scenes had better contrast. You could actually determine what was going on. At first, the digitalization of the picture worried me a bit. But, I got into the menu and turned OFF the Digital Noise Reduction. That did it. BIG improvement. Much more natural looking picture. No pixelation, no noisy edges. This set has many great features. Automatic brightness sensor that adjusts the brightness based on the ambient lighting in your room. Full control over the color aspects of the set. Several temperature settings to choose from, ect. I'm very impressed with this set so far. It cost me $1100 more than the no-name brand, but i can SEE where that $1100 went to! I have a very acceptable black level, Great clarity. Very advanced features. Plenty of imputs. A respectable screen size for a small living room area. I can highly recommend this set! It's definitely at the top of the LCD heap.

Since this is my first widescreen LCD TV (or HDTV) I'm anxious to give this a 5 star rating since I worried a lot about changing from a regular old CRT (was also a Samsung) with curved glass picture tube to what I considered might be something like my notebook and desktop computer LCD screens. Using the VGA input and a 10' cable connected to the VGA output of my notebook (DELL Inspiron 8200) I was amazed at the clear and colorful image, even though the original screen resolution was being stretched in Wide mode. Makes my notebook LCD look pitiful when both are showing at the same time.

I don't have HD Cable yet, or HD receiver, so Cable (which is STD in menu) is fed through my Samsung DVD-VR325 recorder/VCR combo on either HDMI cable or bypassed (when DVD-R/VCR is off) using just coax cable. This being the case I see the picture typically ghosts a little, but varies in quality going from channel to channel.

Default picture and sound settings needed changes to suit me.

The color was like looking at neon signs and I prefer muted colors, but heck it was already at 50 (0 or 1? to 100) so I chose 39 and its still colorful.

Sound wasn't stereo or surround so I set it to use that. I also turned auto leveling on. Again, like the color, volume is very loud. I keep it down to 5 or 6 and it remains loud and clear. I tried 30 momentarily just to see if it kept a good quality at higher levels-- which it did-- but quickly lowered it. I don't even know how high it will go. I think Samsung got the speaker design right, because I noticed it isn't so loud (at 5 or 6) once I leave the room but is extremely clear and full otherwise. The sound types Music, Movie, Speech might be useful. Not sure what a 3D Mono setting is in the surround sound setting (SRS TSTX), other choices are Off and Stereo (only stereo sounds 'right' to me) but it sure is different. Took me a while to get the PIP sound set to Sub for when I have the PC as Source and want to see and hear TV. A case of not reading the manual.

Something I should point out about the Amazon description is that My Color is said to have 6 possible color changes. Well, apparently generic meant for similar models. It actually mentions the LN-R328W instead. Only 3 colors are changeable in the LN-R3228W, and those are Pink, Green and Blue. The White, Red and Yellow aren't available at all.

Next thing to tell about... Dynamic Contrast. I don't care much for it. Makes darker parts of the picture go black, losing some of the picture. It might help with DVD's, but I'm not seeing anything good from it for standard Cable TV.

Picture modes... Wide works best for me, even if it does squash everything in the vertical direction. Panorama is fun but can be disorienting when looking at the sides. Zoom makes for a nice big picture but I see plenty of checkerboard effects occuring in fast-paced parts. And 4:3 is too ordinary.

Overall, a good TV so I'm happy with the move from CRT to LCD. I definitely believe price is a factor, too, so if I had paid more than the $1498 (shipping included) I might have been a little disappointed about this new TV. The size and weight changes alone is a plus.

Another point... I got this bottom speaker design so it would fit in my fairly new entertainment center, which has an opening only 31 inches. I thought it would have room to stand in front of that opening, being such a thin depth TV. Well, thanks to the delivery/installer guys because they put it in at an angle to slip past the edge moldings where its actually 32" or more inside there. I still kept it nearer the front than back though, due to the heat this TV manages to put out the top.

If anything occurs within the next few months to make me want to wish I had rated this lower I'll edit my review to state any problems. I just felt that it deserved 5 stars not 4.

I bought the Samsung 32" because that's all my TV cabinet would hold, but also because of the excellent reviews this model has received. This is a sleek, light unit. It's been years since I've bought a TV, so this was a nice surprise.

The picture is looonng, instead of squarish, which took some getting used to. But it didn't seem to make things out of proportion or odd. We were very impressed with the clarity of picture, the great color, and the big sound.

We're not much into lots of techy stuff, so this plug & play TV was a real treat.

I purchased this LCD TV about a month ago and so far I'm very satisfied. I got an HDMI cable to connect it to my DVR/HD receiver and the sharpness of the image is truly outstanding, especially with the HD channels. The regular channels look all right, but it all depends on what you're watching. My DVD is connected to this TV with a monster cable (component video), and I'm amazed by the quality of the image, but again, it depends on what movie you're watching. I find the automatic video setting of MOVIE to be the best for DVDs (but I did change it to Cool 2, didn't like the WARM setting). For the HD channels I have it set to Dynamic, and I'm glad the TV remembers what INPUT setting to keep, I'd hate to have to change it back and forth.

I highly recommend this TV set, it's also very easy to set up, and it has multiple connection inputs. I also have an XBox connected to it, and games look really great too. Probably in a year or so, I'll get the larger model, since this one has been so great so far.

I purchased a Samsung 32" HDTV based on the experience with a larger Samsung HDTV which I still have. I was amazed as the clarity and ease of operation of this unit. I would highly recommend this TV both for its performance and for its price.It was as easy as opening the package and plugging it in. Samsung is tops in HDTV.

Met all my expectations. Best value I was able to find. Only drawback is picture in picture requires an outside tuner. I was not able to get the vcr to serve as tuner.

Bought this over priced fair performing LCD.

I needed a better interface for my Crestron Adagio system, the Samsungs had a horrible interface for IR control.

Jumped to the SHARP for its serial control.
The Aquos is Great LCD, better price...

After four months of use, a thin green line appeared on the screen. Repair shop says whole screen has to be replaced. Now waiting for new screen to arrive from Samsung. Without tv for two weeks. Covered by warranty, but I am very disappointed to say the least.

Stunning pictures, easy to setup. Connects well with Cable HDTV, DVD, VCR, PC, Home Theater and Camcorder.

Only catch is that this lacks a tuner. So, we won't get free HD channels over the air.

Great with my new Sony DVD Player. Excellent picture quality and sound. Very easy to mount on wall.HD broadcasts are great too! I will recommend this as a great buy