Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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87 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sleeper to watch out for!!, June 2, 2007
I have been researching TV's for quite awhile trying to determine the best one for me. I have watched the technology continually improve and am amazed by the progress. I finally decided to take the plunge and purchase a television and was certain I was going to purchase a DLP set. I made one of my many trips to the local electronics store to do more comparisons of certain models I had picked out and had not even considered an LCD TV, let alone an LG television. I was walking along the displays when my girlfrined actually pointed out the TV to me. I took a brief look and didn't see anything special and it was only upon closer inspection that I discovered what an awesome TV the LG 42LB5D is.
First, I set all of the neighboring 42" Televisions to the same HDTV signal (which anyone can do- just select the input on the tv's until they all show the same signal). I was never a fan of LCD TV's due to the pixelation in fast scenes-usually sports. This TV did the best job of displaying fast-moving sequences with very little pixelation, even better than the nearby Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, and Sharp models. My curiosity was piqued. I don't know if it is because of the proprietary software they use to render the image or if it is because the LCD panel has a 5ms response time. In case you don't know, a 5ms response time for an LCD panel is very, very fast. Alot of the other manufacturers have an 8ms response time. The faster the response time of the panel, the better it is able to render fast changing images.
Next, I switched the channels to a standard definition signal. Since most of what is on cable and satellite is broadcast in SDTV, it would be a good idea to pick a TV that does a good job of displaying that signal without making it look so bad. This television does an amazing job of displaying SDTV signals. Of course, it'll never be as good as a plain old CRT TV, but it does one heckuva job! Now I was getting really impressed.
The colors were bright and looked as good as the brand new Samsung LNT-4265, though the Samsung had a little deeper blacks. I don't think the extra few hundred dollars I would have had to pay would be worth that. Especially considering the better pixelation performace I noticed on the LG. (Pixelation annoys the heck out of me, by the way.)
I started checking out the specs. It has a clear QAM tuner that allows you to receive digital cable signals without the cable box. That usually means you can get all of the local network (ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, PBS) hi-def and secondary digital channels for free over your cable line (as long as you're not using a cable box connected to your TV). After I took it home, I found I had all of those channels. It has 3 HDMI inputs. It accepts 1080p via HDMI, Component, and VGA inputs. The VGA input was especially important to me because I have the XBOX 360 HD-DVD player and the only way to view movies in 1080p is via the VGA output from the 360. If not for that, I'd only be able to view my HDDVD's in 720p or 1080i.
I am incredibly pleased with this purchase and I gotta thank my girlfriend for noticing it or it would have slipped right past me. I know to take a review from a website with a grain of salt because you never really know who is writing it. The only thing I can tell you is to find a store that has one on display and do exactly what I did. I guarantee you'll see what I'm talking about.
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84 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a good TV. No, really!!, August 3, 2007
Buying a new TV is akin to spending half your weekend buying a new car. Its exhausting. After a lot of studying of consumer Reports and visiting a half dozen retailers, and fighting off the geeko sales people who know little, we settled on the LG. I was nervous about buying a piece of equipment from a manufacturer I've only heard of but have never had the pleasure of letting them into my house. LG equipment tends to be a bit better in cost and I think I've figured out at least one reason why. It has nothing to do with quality or ease of use either. Your first clue is after you open the box up and see whats inside. Nothing except the set, some packing and the small accessories box which contains bare bones essentials, just what you need, not what you don't. The power cord for the set (gotta have that), the remote (more about that in a minute) and an operators manual. Thats it. Have a nice day. The manual is a shortened version of the big 100 plus page version that you can download off the LG website which is by the way, easy to navigate. I recommend you get that. Its got some info thats helpful, plus if HD is a bit too wild west for you, it helps you understand what all the buzz words are about. The manual that comes with the set tends to be a bit too brief in places. The power cord is somthing you may want to consider replacing at the outset. Yes, I'm sure it meets all the UL requirements and whatnot but I have a problem with electrical cords that shine like they came from a kids toy. It didnt seem to have that "heavy duty" look and feel to it. You'll need some cables too if you haven't got them already. Component Video types are the way to go and you may as well cough up some bucks and get the HDMI cable as well. About 75-90 bucks. Don't go cheap on this piece of wire. Its all digital and it needs to be quality. Digital signals have no tolerance for just an "ok" connection. 1080P is all but here and thats where that cable will be used. The monster brand is overpriced but they do build a damn good cable. LG Tech support. Great! I had some setup questions (mostly around the remote) that I needed to get answered so I gave them a call. A couple of prompts later and you get a real voice. Speaks English and lives in Alabama and not a foreign country where they change their names to sound hip and American... Very polite, professional, patient (thats a biggie with me) and didn't have to keep putting me on hold to go ask his supervisor a question about my question. I gave him the model number and bam-bam he knew everything about that set like he owned one himself.. Perfect. Thats the way to keep a customer. One of the reasons I wont buy a Toshiba anything ever again. They lost the help-the-customer-be-happy" formula a few years ago. Also a reason that Toshiba products are slowly disappearing from retailer shelves..but I digress.
Ok so what about the "experience". Excellent picture. After you do a few tweaks from the on screen menu ( piece of cake) its ready to rock. First class picture quality all the way. AND, just like it looked in the showroom. If you're going to go with the on-board audio, its "ok". It won't blow your eardrums out but it's passable. LG is a company thats been slowly getting it right and I hope they dont mess it all up with deteriorating quality and bad customer service like some others TV manufacturers. I prefer doing business with tech companies that dont make me mad and slam the phone down. Service after the sale is what keeps me coming back to any manufacturer and if LG keeps it together and doesn't implode like some other brands have done that we all know about, then they're going to be around awhile.
***UPDATE***
I've had this unit a bit over a year now and everything is still A-OK.
No problems. None. The picture is still as crisp as the day I brought it home and the settings stay put where there suppose to, and don't drift and need tweaking and retweaking like some other models do.I still reccomend this system as a superior TV for the medium to medium large living room. Tip: Like any electronics, keep it clean. Dust and home entertainment systems are best buddys. If you ask any service tech what causes failures and generates service calls, its more often than not dirt-caused.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great picture on HD and SD channels, couldn't be happier, October 16, 2007
I researched a lot of HDTVS and even took one back before I settled on the LG, and I've had it six months. The picture was fantastic, due to the 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio and the "engine" that converts even SD signals into near HD picture. I have Dish's HD package and the picture is great for both HD and SD, and I also use the OTA tuner and the picture from OTA HD signals is also fantastic - using an inexpensive radio shack OTA antenna. What sold me on this TV was the great picture, first and foremost, that it was 1080p, that it had 3 HDMI inputs and a PC connections. The TV is easy to configure, and the remote is great as well. I have no complaints at all. The sound is also pretty good -- I unhooked my home theater system to use the LG's speakers, which IMHO seemed better.
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