Samsung LE32R87BD for a newbie?

[admin_exported]

Hi,I'm looking to purchase my first LCD TV, I say first I did buy an LG 32LC46 which was awful and was promptly returned to the shop. Anyway, I've pretty much made up my mind to get the Samsung LE32R87BD I've read and heard good things about it, including your own review, but with my bad experience with the LG I want to be sure this is the best TV for me. I'll be using it in my "games" room for mostly gaming on the Xbox 360, but also watching DVDs and the TV through a Sky box. I’m also thinking of getting the HD-DVD drive for the 360 and wondered if the set would make the most of this? The things which disappointed me most about the LG were the black levels and the poor picture quality when watching TV, there was a quite a bit of pixelation and fuzziness especially around moving objects. One of my colleagues keeps telling me to go bigger and get a set which is 100Hz but the room is too small for a bigger set and I'm unfortunately on a budget of around £500. Any help and advice would be appreciated as I try to navigate the LCD minefield.

 

[Clare Newsome]

If that's your budget, the Samsung is the best buy. However, don't expect jet blacks and rock-solid motion tracking with the most demanding scenes - even the very best LCDs can struggle with such things, let alone sub-£500 sets. Having said that, the Samsung is better than many (even some pricier rivals) at using picture processing to overcome these flaws.

I also wouldn't get the HD DVD drive for your X-box - it's pretty poor, and you'd be better off with a standalone player (especially as HD player prices are plummetting).

If you did buy an HD source, the Samsung isn't able to take a native 1080p feed, and there could be some juddering - however, if you set the output of the player accordingly, you'd be OK (it's not like you're not going to see a picture or anything...).

Superior flatscreens with a better spec would be a more HD-friendly bet. But then they cost several hundred pounds more....

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply... hhmm just gives me things to ponder now. Organising more cash being the main one...