I'd just like to start off by thanking each reviewer of this item prior to me, as you all really gave me the nudge to buy the item. Much more honest than the "Oh, of course, I have one of these at home myself" speech from a sales person in a store. I was looking for customer's opinions on the item......boy did I find them. When I bought mine in March this year, it must have been the most favoured TV on Amazon.co.uk.
I probably spent more than six months eyeing up different TVs. This would have been my first LCD, and I was intending to get the best possible for my money. Not knowing anything about HD, and not wanting to, I just basically wanted to get a nicely sized TV with the best picture quality I could find, and plug a DVD player into it. That's it, no ifs, ands, or buts. I specifically noticed that many reviewers informed that the set is easy to get going, and that it literally is a no-brainer with regards to the picture quality and reliability.
After visiting local stores to gawp at the vibrant colours that all the Bravias offered, stand in amazement at the incredibly shiny piano black Samsungs, and vomit uncontrollably at just how god awful Phillips efforts were, I just couldn't find anything that I didn't like about the Bravias. I was of course, drawn to the 32S3000 due to the reviews on Amazon.co.uk. I'm naturally one of those people that has to make sure that the item has exactly what I want before purchasing. If you spend as much time watching DVDs as I do, you really need to make sure you will be satisfied.
After some more investigations, I found a bundle price that I just couldn't pass up. The bundle contained the 32S3000, one majorly sexy glass stand, and the miracle-worker Sony DVP-NS78 DVD player with upscaling to 1080p. Within minutes of seeing this offer, the items were in the boot of my car on their way to a new home.
As the other reviews say, this TV is an absolute wonder to set up. It takes literally a couple of minutes to get past the initial start up, and from then on you're pretty much sorted. Seeing as I'm in Ireland, I can't receive any freeview channels, so unfortunately, I'm unable to comment on this feature. Regardless, I never watch TV, so even if I had freeview it probably would go unused. Okay, off goes the TV again, better sort out my DVD player.
Once I mopped up all the drool, and plugged in my wondrous DVP-NS78, in went "Touching The Void". The picture settings were set as "Vivid" by default, and let me tell you, they were vivid as vivid can be. There are a lot of moving shots in "Touching The Void", panning slowly across the mountains was so clear it made me dizzy. The motion of these shots was very smooth, regardless of the fact that this TV doesn't have 100hz. After watching lots of different DVDs on this set, I noticed that the "Vivid" setting, although very impressive, was not great with regards to darker areas. For example, if you watch "American History X", all the black and white sections are a little off. The whites are too white and the darks are too dark.
Of course, like anything, you adjust and adjust until you eventually get that sweet spot. I've found the perfect settings for me, and I'm sure everybody else that owns this TV has as well, as there is so much tweaking available that you can really just get what you need from it.
I was absolutely blown away by this TV, it simply astonished me as to how clear the picture is, and how amazing the colours are. I apologise for the lack of comments on games consoles and Blu-Ray/HD DVD, but I have no interest in gaming, and I absolutely despise the idea of my 300 strong DVD collection becoming redundant in a few years when Blu-Ray/HD DVD fully take over. (Although they practically have already). |