I bought this TV after reading alot of reviews and a few visits to store to compare different 32" size TVs offered by Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic. This was among the best and top of the line Samsung 'LCD' 1080p HDTV model in 32 inch series. Finally I narrowed down my search to Sony's Bravia 32" KDL32EX400 and Samsung's LNC530 and LNC550.
All 3 HDTVs have a lot of things in common like 1080p res, 60Hz refresh rate, CCFL LCD Panel, HDMI/USB ports, Picture-in-Picture support etc, but there are also some diffs among these three. Samsung LNC550 stood out from the former (Sony KDL32EX400) in the following features.
--USB Media Player. The USB Media Player on Samsung is way ahead than any of its competitors. This things plays a wide variety of video/audio codecs (avi,mkv,mp4,H264,DivX, Xvid,MPEG1,MPEG2). You name it and they have it. It also supports the 5.1 audio (DTS Core, A52/AC3) and subtitle (.srt) files. Ofcourse, USB Media player functions faster and easily when u browse media using USB Hard Drive.
--DLNA 'All Share' Network Streaming. This is something really important for me in a TV since I have most of my media files on PC. The same USB Media Player in this TV also plays 'flawlessly' a number of audio/video (720p HD) streams directly from your PC. All you need is, connect your TV to your Wireless router (wired connection) and then share your media files via the home WiFi network. You can use either Samsung's PC Share Manager software or Windows 7 Media Player to share your PC media contents. (Both LNC530 and KDL32EX400 lack this)
--Supports an affordable Samsung LinkStick Wireless adapter which connects your TV to broadband router wirelessly.
--Connectivity Options (2 USB 2.0 ports, since more USB ports means you can connect more USB devices)
--Intuitive Samsungs Remote controls
--Intuitive OnScreen Menu Navigation
--Easy to reach touch buttons on front panel.
--Better Quality and material used in frame.
--Aesthetic, Clean Design and Looks. Samsung LN32C550 32-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
I knew I wanted a samsung HDTV because I have heard great things from friends who know more about technology than I do. I have not been disappointed in the least with my purchase. The tv has great sound and picture quality both in dark/dim lighting as well as in a sun drenched room. The tv is in a bedroom which it is a perfect size for. It was easy set up, I did it alone. The box does say to have two people work on it but definitely possible to do alone if no one is around and you are impatient. For set up you will need a Phillips head screw driver. The only downside which has nothing to do with the tv directly was that fedex left the package on my front stoop when I was not home and it comes in a factory box with a picture of the tv on the box, just something to be cautious of if you order this product.
The TV was great while it worked. However it went to "black" the first week and we called Samsung, who had us UPS the new TV to them for repair. I spent a lot of money on a TV to not be able to watch it! We did get the TV back from Samsung, and it now works fine. I am suspicious that it is a "refurbished" unit as the TV had a "R" behind the serial number when I bought it from Amazon and I could not take it to a local shop, but had to mail it back to Samsung. At any rate I am happy with it as it is now.
This was my first adventure into HDTV and LCD TV's, but I'm a technology buff, so advanced tech doesn't scare me (I actually enjoy it). My first impressions with this TV were the great resolution while watching Blu-ray movies (what I really think these screens are good for) and that the comments about HD shows and their "flawed" personalities was right on (ha!) I've connected the TV to a cable box and Sony Blue Ray player - so now I have three big remotes that all do different things. I'm considering a universal remote to solve this problem. I don't understand why the TV plays a tune when turning on and off and I can't find in the manual how to stop this from happening. The internet options look interesting, though I've only tried YouTube so far. YouTube videos play, but they look really poor because of the compression put on them and they don't have the same controls that are available on the web site. Standard cable TV doesn't look very good either because of the quality of the signal. Those old channels were much clearer on my old "tube" TV than with this new one. I mostly stay in the HD channels because of it. Most of these complaints have nothing to do with the Samsung TV and that's why I gave it 5 stars anyway. I just want any new HDTV folks to not be surprised by the quality of standard programming.
I am nothing but pleased with this TV. It's sharp, clear, bright, and really good looking to boot.
I have it hooked up to a Mac Mini and setup and connection between the two was very easy.
This TV was listed locally for $650. The Amazon.com sale price ($499) could not be beat at the time.
I highly recommend this TV. - 32 Inch - 1080p Lcd Hdtv - 120hz - Samsung Lcd'
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