Samsung LE32R74BDX Review

The 32″ Samsung LE32R74BDX Widescreen HD Ready with built-in Freeview tuner was a recent purchase of mine - my first High Definition LCD TV. As you may have guessed from the various Xbox 360 and High Definition TV subjects I’ve been posting (anyone with a new toy likes to talk about it!)

I read quite a lot of review sites and forums before finally choosing this brilliant Samsung LE32R74BDX High Definition LCD TV. I was mainly concerned that with it being LCD, there could be issues with ghosting on fast moving images (which I’ve had problems with in the past on computer monitors) and a possibility of “dead pixels“, thankfully Microsoft seems to have a made a good choice in using Samsung LCDs on their demo stands since this neither of these things were a problem at all, either for gaming on the Xbox 360, TV or DVDs.

When I received my new Samsung LE32R74BDX High Definition TV I found it had arrived very well packaged, it was very easy and clear how to set up and once turned on, went off programming itself using the built-in Freeview tuner - which seems to give a good picture itself, although I don’t have much use for this having Sky, but good to have for a backup.

The actual picture the Samsung LE32R74BDX produces is great and I’ve seen some others (different brands) in action which haven’t come close to this - The styling of the exterior of this range of Samsung TVs means that it even looks great when turned off due to it’s great, cool looking design! - Although that said, it will show up dust very easily, so it’s high maintenance in that sense!

It’s got plenty of connections for most people’s setups, I currently have it connected up to Sky+ (RGB Scart), DVD Player (Sky+ RGB Scart passthrough), Xbox 360 (Component) and a HTPC (VGA) which leaves the HDMI socket free for a future Sky Hi-Def box further down the line when the prices are dropped.

The only real weakness that it has is that the sound that it produces isn’t that good (however for day to day tv viewing it would be fine), for me this isn’t a problem since I use a separate surround sound system as I’m sure a lot of people will who would buy this.

Obviously if you’re buying a smart new LCD High Definition TV like this one, you need an appropriate stand to put it on, to buy decent ones will normally set you back around £75 from most high street retailers, however I found one here at eBuyer for just £22.99 + delivery - it’s good quality, sturdy and looks very good too - a true bargain!

Therefore, in summary, if you’re in the market for a new High Definition TV, I’d suggest taking a serious look at the Samsung LCD TVs of whichever size you’re in the market for - a quality product at a great price, you won’t regret it!