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Panasonic VIERA TC-L32E3 32-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LED HDTV Reviews

I really wanted to update my two antiquated CRTs, but I had to start with my bedroom for a number of reasons. I researched for months on the web, spent countless hours looking at different Flat Screens at local B&Ms, and I finally came to the decision to purchase this tv for my bedroom. That was sort of the easy part. After deciding to buy from BB, for easy return, I watched for sales online and instore. I finally caught a break, when this specific model went on sale for less than $450 at BB for about a week. By the time I learned of the sale, almost all BB in the country were sold out of this model. A BB, 3 1/2hrs away, shipped their last one to my local store for pickup. But when it finally came in 3 weeks later, the screen was demolished. At this point the sale was over and this tv was back to its regular sale price of $649.99, but they honored the previous sale price when I made a special order through the store to get this backordered item.

Two months later I finally got my 37″ LED tv home. This is a considerable steal for the price I got it for, but my spirits were a bit dimmed when I unboxed the tv and found a QA issue right off the bat. The chassis was not put together correctly, so I spent the first 20mins taking apart the chassis and re-assembling the darn thing. Other than that and a bit of light leakage from the top and bottom, I really can’t complain for the price I paid. The small light leak is only noticeable with top & bottom black bars, and is more likely another result of the less than pristine assembly. I plan to take the chassis apart again and fix the gasket or add more, if this becomes bothersome.

The one thing that did surprise me the most was the speaker sound quality, especially after hearing numerous general reports about horrible sound quality from new flat screen tvs. Without ever being able to hear the sound on this tv, as the instore demo was setup with a external system, I was all set on purchasing a soundbar and maybe a subwoofer to replace the sound on this tv, but I really don’t think it’s even necessary for my bedroom. For reference, I’m usually not satisfied with mediocre speakers and I already have a full sound system with towers in my living room set-up.

4 1/4 Stars
Pro:
Terrific Picture
Easy Set-up
Pretty decent speaker sound for a small room
Dirt Cheap (Bought mine for $450 New)
Lots of connections, including VGA (plug & play w/ computer)
Completely synced w/ Panny Blu-ray player out of the box
37″ is more than enough TV for my bedroom
Very light (Replaced heavy 20″ CRT)
Sleep Timer included

Con:
Poor QA (Not even put together completely right)
Bright Red Power LED on the front
Onscreen Volume Notification (Can’t be disabled)
No tilt or movement with stand (But already had a stand (from Skymall) for dresser, so no real issue.)
Small amount of light leak

Summary: At $450 I’m more than impressed with this upgrade (welcome to the 21st Century), but with QA issues and some light leak, I have a hard time recommending this item at $600+. For that reason, I will probably be buying a backlit Samsung LED for my Living Room upgrade.

Prior to making this decision, I researched all its info to the nth degree, so I knew what inputs it had, how it performed, the reviews/warnings from online, and the fact that it is only Wireless Ready not Wireless enabled. For those that are disappointed by a non-QA or manufacturing defect, you can only blame yourself for not being a well informed consumer.

Update: My slight OCD got the better of me. I took the whole tv frame apart a few times and added Electrical Tape around the perimeter of the screen. Only a couple of centimeters of tape actually went on to the viewing screen, and it is the part that is already being covered by the frame. No tape was visible after the frame was placed back on, and now I have a hard time seeing any light leak at all. If you plan to do this, I suggest extreme caution with both your fingers and disassembling (chassis is extremely sharp). I submitted a picture of applying the tape to the frame.

I also covered the Red Power Light LED on the front with a very small piece of electrical tape last night. I could have disconnected it while I was inside the tv, but thought better of it.

Canon EOS 60D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera Reviews

Seriously fast. Excellent picture quality. Well weighted, feels great in your hands. Menus and user interface intuitive.

Cons:
Issue with built-in flash being permanently disabled after using an external flash. It doesn’t matter if you remove the external flash or not, the built-in will not function. This is a known issue and can be fixed by Canon.

I upgraded from a Canon Rebel XTi to this camera. The difference, obviously, is major. I really wanted to move up to a 5D Mk II, however, the price just wasn’t justifiable to me. The 7D did not seem to have any additional features that I required so I made the decision on the 60D.

I am absolutely satisfied with my purchase and would highly recommend this camera to just about anyone. Beginners keep in mind there will be a learning curve associated with this camera, however, it isn’t any more than any other product on the market.

The only thing I can complain about is the plastic body. I would’ve really liked to see it with a magnesium body like the 50. Other than that its a beautiful camera. I use it primarily for filming, and for photo recreational use. I love the video on this camera. The swivel screen, as small a detail as it seems, is actually very useful. I didn’t think how much of a difference it would make until I started to shoot narratives and documentaries with it. And the depth of field and the color on it is fantastic. For one of the cheaper DSLRs, it packs a really great punch.

Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera Reviews

I primarily shoot on a Nikon D700, but I wanted something smaller for casual shots. I also wanted to experiment with video.

The most appealing thing about this camera, to me at least, is raw processing so I can tune exposure, white balance, color calibration, and noise-reduction myself. I rather not fidget with scene modes and such. Also, the sensor is quite a bit bigger than most normal point and shoots. It also has decent video, which is one of the main reasons i picked this up. f/2 is nice as well.

The s95 works similar to a DSLR, with Av, Tv, and M modes and spinning dials for adjusting things like aperture, iso, shutter speed, and even manual focus. I really liked that. As an aside, beware that AUTO mode is only in JPG, so even if your settings say RAW it will shoot jpg. I’ve just learned to avoid Auto.

For video, the s95 shoots 720p / 24fps. Focus cannot be changed once you start recording. But, the exposure and white balance will shift according to the scene. You can fix both white balance and exposure before recording however. I like to apply some software stabilization in post, which results in a slightly cropped video. For that reason, the competing s100 (which shoots at 1080p) might be better. Also, I believe the s100 can autofocus during video. Either way, focusing isn’t a big issue sinse the depth of field on these point and shoots are so deep anyways.

The S100 is out now, so you might consider getting that too. I got an s95 though since the image quality is about the same with the s100. Early reports on dpreview.com even indicate the s95 has better image quality than the s100. The fact is, if you are serious about imagery, you should just get a micro 4/3rd like the Panasonic GF3, NEX, or just go for a Nikon D7100 or something similar. Currently, the S100 is about 50% pricier than the S95… so you have to ask yourself if that’s worth the slight improvement in image to you. For me, I’m recognizing that I’ve made a decision here to lose IQ for pocketability. And when I really want good IQ, I’ll use a bigger camera. So to me, it wasn’t worth it to pay a 50% premium for minimally better IQ with the s100. Still, either way, you can’t really go wrong.

VIZIO M221NV 22-Inch LCD TV Inexpensive, but quality display

Excellent lightweight and mobile display if you need it for that extra room or just to supplement whatever it is you have going on. Bright and crisp display don’t disappoint. I got it for the small and light package because of the extra HDMI inputs and quality audio output. I use it in a small room I have on location and I couldn’t be happier.

This great LCD TV Black Friday is just perfect! The wifi is inmediately connected after entering your wifi account information. Crystal clear image and easy navigation. Thank you Vizio! Better than I expected!

I really like this LCD TV Black Friday! It is everything I need it to be for a bedroom LCD TV Black Friday. It was really easy to set up and even though the remote sucks I could go buy a different one if it bothered me that much. Definitely am happy with it!

I have had this LCD TV Black Friday for over a year and absolutely love it, I was suprised to see the model still selling and not a newer one. I use it as a secondary monitor and LCD TV Black Friday sometimes. Picture quality is great and its very light

LG Infinia 55LW5600 55-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV with Smart TV (Included: Four Pairs of 3D Glasses) (Electronics)

I wasn’t even in the market for a 3D TV, but when my Sony HDTV blew yet another bulb, I decided it was time for something new.

Initially, I planned on getting one of the new Sharp 60″ Quattron models, and headed to a nearby big box store to check out the selection. Picture quality was most important to me, where I was willing to accept a plasma if it blew me away, but I was definitely siding towards LCD or LED. I wasn’t too shocked to find that while plasmas were nice, they weren’t “that” nice, and settled in to the Sharp.

On my way out, I thought I’d check a couple of the 3D displays, just to be 100% sure I wasn’t making a purchase I’d regret as soon as 3D content became more widespread. I looked at a couple of Panasonic models with active shutter glasses, and found that the 3D looked acceptable, but the glasses weren’t comfortable on my head or to my eyes. A DirecTV rep all but insisted that I look at a high-end Samsung model connected to a DirecTV receiver, and I immediately noticed that getting the thing to display 3D apparently required messing with the DirecTV remote, the Samsung remote, and continually re-syncing the active glasses. “No, thanks.” I thought.

Then I noticed an unloved LG display, with a bucket (yes, an actual bucket) of scratched passive glasses. No way was this going to look good, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have a few minutes to spare.

I was absolutely blown away. By far, the best 3D experience I’ve seen. Standing about six feet from the screen, there was a scene from an IMAX documentary where a fish seriously looked like it came out about halfway between where I was standing, and where the TV was. And I could see parasitic fish on the nose of that fish, moving around. It was incredible, clear, and I knew it had to be pretty expensive. Much to my surprise, it was in the same league as the Panasonic models. I had to have it.

Doing more research online, I saw that Amazon’s price was even better (better, in fact, than a national warehouse club sells the non-3D version of this TV for). I ordered on a Monday, and scheduled my (free) shipping for Thursday afternoon. The delivery people came 15 minutes from the start of my four-hour delivery window, with no hassle at all.

Out of the box, the picture quality on this TV is pretty awesome. Better than I remembered it being in the store, for sure. But, I did notice that motion seemed really… weird. I wasn’t sure if it was my satellite receiver, or the TV, but things just didn’t seem to move naturally. After spending some time adjusting the dejudder and deblur settings, I was able to make the motion normal. But then, I figured, I might as well calibrate everything. Using a combination of the calibration feature on the Life Blu-Ray and recommended settings on various forums, I was able to achieve an absolutely stunning picture. Seriously, this thing looks like it cost hundreds upon hundreds more when it’s calibrated.

1080i / 1080p content looked absolutely brilliant. SDTV, on the other hand, isn’t the best I’ve seen. It’s certainly acceptable, and arguably on the better side of what’s commonly found on LCD / LED models, but I’d probably consider getting something different if most of your viewing is going to be sub-DVD quality content.

Then it was time to break out the 3D. I snagged a copy of Tron: Legacy (Four-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy) and spent most of the movie sitting with a dumb smile on my face. The picture quality and depth were outstanding. Don’t fall for the “active / passive” hype. Watching 3D content with the LG’s passive glasses is certain to please anybody who can see. And going back to my memory of the Samsung set, when the LG detects 3D, a box pops up that tells you to put your glasses on. That’s it. No messing around endlessly with modes to get it working.

I then decided to play with the 2D-to-3D function on some HD channels and standard Blu-Ray discs, and was actually pretty surprised. More often than not, the TV seems to process the image as you’d expect to see 3D. It’s not something I’d want to do all the time, but I have to say, watching Moulin Rouge! [Blu-ray] with 2D-to-3D was actually pretty awesome.

The built-in applications were kind of a mixed bag. Getting the TV on my WPA2 wireless network was pretty simple, and the Wii-inspired remote worked better than I had expected. The Netflix and Amazon On Demand apps were both very solid — arguably better than what you’d find on a Roku, and miles ahead of the ones built in to my Sony Blu-Ray player. The other apps were less than impressive. Bringing up the weather app is more time consuming than just tuning to the Weather Channel, for example. The included web browser is fine for “Hey, look what my TV can do” showing off, but you’re probably not going to want to fire it up to look at IMDB in the middle of a show.

All things considered, this is probably the best value around. While I lost 5″ of screen real estate over what I planned on buying originally, the difference in picture quality alone was a decent tradeoff. Getting 3D was gravy, to say the least. Unless this thing sets my house on fire, I’d be hard pressed to recommend anything else within a couple hundred dollars.

Panasonic VIERA TC-L32E3 32-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LED HDTV Reviews

Canon EOS 60D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera Reviews

Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera Reviews

VIZIO M221NV 22-Inch LCD TV Inexpensive, but quality display

LG Infinia 55LW5600 55-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV with Smart TV (Included: Four Pairs of 3D Glasses) (Electronics)

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Panasonic VIERA TC-L32E3 32-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LED HDTV Reviews

Canon EOS 60D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera Reviews

Canon PowerShot S95 10 MP Digital Camera Reviews

VIZIO M221NV 22-Inch LCD TV Inexpensive, but quality display

LG Infinia 55LW5600 55-Inch Cinema 3D 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV with Smart TV (Included: Four Pairs of 3D Glasses) (Electronics)

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