I think this is a great TV. I was torn between C350, C530 and this. I ultimately went for this because it was the sweetspot for me between price/performance.
Pros - The picture is excellent, my friends have Vizios from 2008 ranging between 26" up to 46" and in comparison, they look dim and unsaturated compared to this model from Samsung. 720p/1080i or downcoverted 1080p looks excellent, the picture quality at 1366x768 looks sharper, brighter and more colorful than other budget 32 inch 1080p models I seen. You can only notice stairstepping/pixels if you sit less than 2 feet away. Which with a TV this size would be way too close. I sit 6 feet away and edges are smooth (I have 20/20 vision.) OTA HD with bunny ears/loop antenna looks flawless. Upconverted 480p content looks great for it's format. The amount of options to play with are great. But, even so, this TV looked excellent on it's factory default settings. This TV also has multiple sound settings such as Movie and Clear voice modes. By the way, the speakers are hidden and loud, I have it set to 5-6 volume (out of 50) when using the PS3, 8-10 when watching TV, with very good sound quality for it's wattage.
Cons- 8ms refresh rate, many might not notice but, going from a CRT (SD) to an LCD (HD), it was expected. In games it's not really noticeable but, news tickers and other scrolling text it's noticeable, but, this could be related to the TV being 60hz. Another thing is that it's not true 1080p. 1080p content looks excellent however, it's being displayed at 1366x768. This is a subjective thing, at 6 feet away, 1080p and 1080i/720p look the same on a 32". But, if you want to future proof yourself, get the C530/C550. The stand is fine but, you may have to tighten the screws down until the they stop turning to make it stable. 480i non converted SD channels/inputs look so-so.
Synopsis - Besides 480i (SD), excellent picture quality for it's class, even better than comparable 1080p sets from other brands. LCD refresh rate will take a few days to get used to if this is your first HDTV.
With Prime, this came the next day for a few bucks more, thanks Amazon. Samsung LN32C450 32-Inch 720p 60 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
It was easy to set up and plays cable and DVD's beautifully.
Relatively compact size.
It has a very special feature for those that are hard of hearing: there is a sound setting called "clear voice".
It appears to raise the treble information relative to midrange and bass, and also, makes the distinctions between sounds much sharper. For those hard of hearing, who usually have good bass/midrange hearing but rolled off treble, this will be a revelation. No more annoying your neighbors because you have to blast the TV in order to understand the voices. Also the TV does seem to play closed captions about as well as it can.
My aunt is using closed captions on cable TV and standard DVD playback and it works great. We had trouble using CC on a new upscaling DVD player using HDMI but that turns out to be a problem with the HDMI specification; HDMI relies on the source to decode CC and put the words on the screen, whereas older cable formats and resolutions like composite carry the CC signal distinct from the picture to the TV for decoding. This appears to be a major step back but it's not the fault of the TV. If you Google "cc dvd hdmi" you will find a LOT of conversation on the net about this problem. No one seems to have a solution.
This is a great, very nice looking HD LCD TV for a very good price. I originally bought the 27 inch Samsung 1080p at Costco, but found it a little small for the space. I was a little hesitant because of the 720p, but I found that this TV actually has a better picture quality than the 27inch 1080p, and its the same price as I payed at Costco (once you factor in taxes and state fees that you do not have to pay at Amazon). The size is perfect, the picture is great (with an HDMI cable) and the sound is also much sharper on this TV than the one I returned to Costco. I even linked my Roku to pandora and am playing it through this tv...sounds great! My one and only complaint is that the remote control is unnecessarily large. Otherwise...this is a great TV for a great price.
I bought this as a gift for my mom but I now watch it also. I only run standard cable to it but the picture is still rich and clear. My mom doesn't see the benefit of a HD signal but I think she'll come around when I partner it with an HDTV cable box. As good as the picture is what I was even more impressed with was the clarity of the audio. It really makes it enjoyable to watch a movie or show. Kudos to Samsung for including such good sound with their TV's. I had to return a Hitachi 47" LCD because the sound was so weak and tinny. 25% Volume is quite sufficent with this model. If someone has optimal picture settings for this model, please reply. Settings for my Panasonic 50"G10 transformed it.
Update-4/28/2010. I played music from a flash drive and it was great. Great speakers once again. Next up-Avatar
I bought this TV in October of 2008. About a month ago the TV started turning off and then back on after I turned it on. Suddenly it stopped turning on altogether. After a little research I found this is not uncommon. Samsung knows about the problem but doesn't care since it's just out of warranty. There is no recall. Big bummer. Do I pay $200-$300 for repair or just buy a new one for $400-$500? Stay away or buy an extended warranty.
I did a lot of research before buying my Samsung LN32C450 32-Inch LCD HDTV. Samsung is clearly top-ranked in the LCD TV market. My new TV met my high expectations, and so did the seller's service ... delivery time was excellent and exactly as promised. Hook-ups to cable, satellite receiver, and DVD player were easy. Picture and sound are outstanding. Overall, A+++ for both product and service. - Lcd Hdtv - 720p - Samsung - Samsung Lcd'
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