Invite suggestions for a 32 inch LCD...

[manu79]

Folks i need suggestion's for a 32 inch LCD, will be predominantly used to watch soap operas and cricket matches by my in laws.

Now here's the tricky part, being a plasma user i would have definitely asked them to choose a plasma over an LCD or pseudo LED TV's but their size requirement (max 32 inch) and budget constraint will not allow a Plasma set. They too went to the showroom and got the typical load of bullshit served by the showroom agents about LED TV with 3D and what not, now the task of choosing a set is on me ...

So here we go:

Price : Max 30k (they are in a stage of upgrading everything in their house this month, so max budget allocated for TV is 30k)

3d : Not required

100 hz : ( Preferably yes, though they wont know shit about 100 hz)

Ability to Play Divx, MKV, AVI ( Preferably Yes)

Wide Viewing Angle ( Very important considering the layout of their seating arrangement , they wont change the seating plan. Ideally i know that only a plasma can solve this but will a IPS panel help here ?


My choice as of now will be something within Panasonic or LG range considering their IPS panel, will love to hear from you folks

 

[Lord Nemesis]

Samsung LA32D550 should suit your needs perfectly (i.e If you are not hell bent on LG and Panasonic for the sake of IPS Panel). I was quoted 30.5k for this Full HD display at Samsung Plaza.

While the IPS Panel have the best IQ and viewing angles, the Samsung's are not far off in both aspects. In fact having only used an S-IPS Monitor with my PC and having always disliked the TN Panel displays that flooded the PC Monitor market, I still liked the Samsung LCD TV's and their MVA/PVA panels. Advertised viewing angles are same as for IPS (178/178) and the Displays do seem to to deliver on the viewing angle front.

 

[indiglo]

viewing angle is garbage on lcd & primarily returned my samsung lcd 40c530(Amva panel) for that after 1.5 months of use & currently thinking of getting a plasma....i think as u already know panny or lg ips lcd mayb better on that, but also do know that lg also does panel lottery for lower end models with spva instead of ips which has worse v.a,...so i think u should honestly stick with panny ips lcd tv(ips gauranteed) or else look at higher end lgs!

 

[sridhar-v]

Hi!

I am using a 32" ful HD LED LG LE5500 for a month now & I can confidently say that full HD is worth it. 100 Hz. is a must for pq - particularly in otion scenes.

As you are on a budget look at the following models
1. LH LH60 - good sound.(700W pmpo - 5.1 virtual & 100hz.) Some pieces available with LG stores if you search. Bargain hard as model has been stopped.


2.LG LD 550/650. Model is nearing its life run - so you will see some good clearance sales. LD 550 should be @ 30,000.

3. LG LE 5500 - full HD LED backlight (not edgelight) - again model is at the last part of its life run. Excellent PQ. You will get a good bargain in clearance sales. Estimate around 40-42 K. U may need to increase ur budget but it is worth it.

regards

Sridhar V

 

[manu79]

Thank you guys for the suggestions, we finally picked the Samsung LA32D481G4 since priorities shifted once they reached showroom

But here's what transpired:

Went to Croma first, as usual Croma is slow to stock new models they are still happy selling you 2010 models, at-least we dint see anything very interesting in 32 inch LCD's. Saw a Samsung led for 35k but it failed to impress anyone. I saw the Panny X20 which was selling for about 34k and thought we can haggle, but the buyer felt the size was too much


We went to Reliance Digital next and showed them the benefits of the IPS panel, i do feel there are some advantages in the IPS panel but most IPS based models were slightly old and had limited movie playing ability over USB. This was the turning point , suddenly the priorities shifted and they wanted a TV which can play most formats over USB. Considering the fact that the folks i went with don't even know what a media player is and will question my senses if i may suggest something extra like a Asus O Play mini i kept quiet. We saw the LA32D481G4 there and its lower end version without the woofer n extra speaker setup, both seemed to fit their requirements. The one without the Giga sound setup was 2k lesser for about 29000 was apt sans the bass of LA32D481G4 but they didnt have it in ready stock. So we thought of trying in ezone which was close by.....


ezone ... well well well, i dunno what to say, i went there posed as a complete noob, the moment i said lcd 32 inch the only thing which is still ringing in my ears are SONY ..... I thought what heck let me give it a shot. I had to go through the usual jumbo mumbo Saar Sony has the best picture quality saaar, its a one time investment (wth does that ever mean in electronics ?)

The picture quality on the KLV-32BX320 when compared to the Samsung was brighter and looked crisp, but luckily they were playing Nat Geo and i could feel that the lighting looked so artificial as if the entire bollywood set landed in Africa to shoot, frankly speaking the Samsung had natural colors , the sales guy was pitching hard for Sony and he even mentioned that the Sony can play additional format, he took out his pendrive which even had folder like Sony ,Samsung etc ... .. He played formats like Mov ..etc then he said sir if u wanna play m2ts and other handy cam based format Sony is the best bet. The last time i played an Mov file was in 2003 or something..any ways i asked him abt the Samsung LA32D481G4

I could see the chap was disappointed upon mentioning Samsung, i was also informed that the LA32D481G4 with Giga sound was stopped because it emits a jarring sound. Now i am surprised that when i check in the Samsung website its a 2011 model which it currently sells,any ways they said they cant deliver the LA32D481G4 equivalent without Giga sound until next day so we left.

We entered the Samsung showroom opposite to ezone erstwhile Pai, they were not willing to bargain and were adamant on offering the dish tv package. When asked if they can deliver the same day, the chap played smart saying that they can confirm only after the deal is done, if they continue with this attitude they better gather some luck to remain in business for long. Also price were not at all competitive and the manager was almost challenging that prices cant be lower elsewhere, that's it we wer being called liars indirectly. We left the place with the lame British parting words "Thankyou"

We returned to Reliance digital and completed the deal for LA32D481G4 at 30,900 as the buyers were adamant on taking home the set that night we got about 900 bucks off..... Only gripe being we were told that there is a swivel stand but when installed at home it make hardly a radius of 10 degrees. But its not much of an issue. Also a very important point which i almost missed out, during the demo i found that while the 2011 Sony plays more formats than Samsung, the videos were without the audio in the Sony for 2 out of three files i had in my pendrive while the Samsung played them without any issue. I think Sony has trouble with audio playback of the AC3 encoded files which Samsung played back without any issue.


About the LA32D481G4 : Being a Plasma user its hard to be unbiased but this model kind of fits all the requirements practically and does have a better sounding bass, although i would have gone for a Panny lcd with additional media player if it was to be a 32 inch set, IMHO people looking for a HDTV set in 33-35k range should look at the X20 or better still increase the budget by some couple of grands and get the X30 considering that its plays now more formats over USB and power consumption figures have come down.


God i love my Plasma