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"Awesome TV" on by midenton
Pros: Built in DVR, Picture Quality, Brightness
Cons: None so far
Summary: I'm a little amazed reading the cnet editor review on this tv. First, they say they couldn't test the cable card but they "heard" rumors that there were problems with it???? How about sticking to giving a review on what you can test and not what you hear. Second, they say that the dvr is unable to record more than one show at a time with HD. That may be true but it works perfectly for regular digital cable recording two shows at a time. This is what a majority of people are watching since HD is still a ways off of becoming standard for more than just a few channels.
Now, to my review, I bought this TV from best buy on sale for $1599.99 which a deal. I was looking around between plasmas and lcd's for about 3 months. I happen to come across this one sitting next to a sharp and sony lcd on display. Picture quality on this one was superb compared to the sharp and sony. Then I saw that it had a built-in dvr and cable card slot and was sold. The idea of getting rid of the cable box and dvr appealed to me since I hate clutter.
Right now, I'm in a corporate apartment waiting on my new home to be built so I don't have any of my surround sound or dvd equipment. I have mine hooked up to a old xbox so I can watch dvd's. The quality of the picture is awesome and the sound is great. I can't wait to get my surround sound equipment hooked up in the new house. I can only imagine how good it will sound then.
All in all, I'm extremely happy with this tv and would recommend it to anyone. For the price, it is the best out there. -
"Just love it-- GREAT full-featured LCD HDTV" on by caseybea
Pros: TONS of features, attractively priced, great PQ
Cons: Viewing angle like all other LCD's - little limited
Summary: (Repost of a review I did over in AVSFORUM...)
Well, I got mine last night. I initially started with a 37LC2DU, but returned it because it just didn't have the features I realized I really wanted after all - most notably, the tv guide on screen. My prior set, an older (circa 2000) RCA 27" analog set, had the "Guide+" feature that I found I use-- a lot. So does my wife.
Anyway.... while the 37LC2DU unit is really a very good set (especially in its price point), it falls a little short in "features". No cinema zoom, no guide, only one HDMI (but you get 2xHDMI if you find the "older" 37LC2DU-UD units..). So, back it went. Also, there's a lot of people having bleeding and mura issues with those sets.
On to my review:
PQ: As I had with my prior LG unit, my opinion is that the picture quality is really very good. HD broadcasts are well, STUNNING. SD broadcasts also show up really quite well. I never get the feeling that I'm watching a "fuzzy" image at all. I am still fiddling with the various color adjustments (contrast, brightness, and so on). The "presets" they have ("Daytime", "Normal", and so on) seem to do quite well. I'm actually pretty pleased with "normal" most of the time. My customized "User1" and "User2" settings will take some time to play with.
Yes, this is an LCD unit, and the "blacks" are really "dark grey" and so on-- that's a limitation I can live with-- if you're super fussy about that you may want to look into a plasma unit. My personal opinion is, for an LCD picture, it looks great as far as I am concerned.
One of the niftiest bonuses the 42LB1DR has in this area is the "APM" feature. With "APM", you press a button and the screen is divided into four quadrants, so for whatever show or movie you're watching, you can see four different screen settings (Daytime, Normal, Night, and User1/User2) all AT ONCE. This helps provide a real cool side-by-side comparison. The 37-inch units do not have this feature.
SOUND: Again, very good. And as with the pic, there's several presets to choose from (Normal, Theater, Stadium, News, etc)-- here for whatever reason I thought the 37-inch unit's presets were better. The "Theater" setting on this unit sounds a bit hollow, but that's not a big issue. Lots of presets to choose from, and I found that some of the presets (as well as one of the user settings I fiddled with) sounded really great. Absolutely no complaints here. The speakers on this unit are on the SIDE as opposed to the bottom, so you get some nice stereo here.
GUIDE: This I just love. Same as the RCA/Gemstar "Guide+" I had before, but even more so. I have yet to do all of the channel editing, so that I only see the channels I want, have them in the order I want and so on. Takes getting used to, since the TVGOS screen is certainly "busier" than the Guide+ was. It's certainly colorful!! I first plugged in my television late last night, by this morning all of the guide information was there. (Note locale: Milwaukee, WI). Reminder: I'm using nothing more than an OTA antenna. My antenna is a typical "roof" antenna, but it's actually IN my house, in the attic. I used "antennaweb.com" to help me aim it properly.
TUNING: This is a bit different than the 37 inch unit. The EZ-Scan categories are "antenna" or "cable" only. EZ-Scan on the 37LC2D unit actually broke the scan into multiple chunks, showing me each of the scan progresses for DTV (digital), TV (analog), and so on. EZ-Scan on this unit only showed the primary channel numbers, which was a little odd. However, once scanned, the channel EDITING is the same-- and I am able to distinguish between DTV, TV, CATV, whatever. The Digital signal strength meter on this set shows a better signal than the 37-inch little brother. It *appears* the tuner in this unit is a bit better? Anyway, no complaints. It found ALL my OTA channels.
BONUSES: By this point, I have ended up with exactly the television I wanted. Specifically, a really nice LCD with good pic quality, tons of image and sound adjustments so I can make it just right for my room, two HDMI ports for the future [my current DVD recorder/player only has component out-- but works and looks great!]. It's got RGB if I ever move a computer up to the family room, and certainly has enough component inputs and even A/V out.
But, it gets better. What I did not know until I was doing research on this unit is it has a built-in DVR. While that sounds a little cheesy, it actually works QUITE well. And, it integrates with the TG Guide. Hit "guide"... scroll to the tv program I want to record... Hit "REC" button, nice red dot shows up next to the program listing-- voila. To see the recordings, Scrolling to find your shows is pretty easy-- and each recording even has a little icon showing the first second of the show - kinda cool. You can also rearrange your recordings into sub-folders ("Dad", "Mom", and so on). You can also create recordings manually too, if you one of those unfortunate enough to have DirecTV or some other situation where the TV Guide On Screen doesn't work or get programming data.
The other really cool thing that's related to the DVR is timeshifting. When I played with this, it worked REALLY well. Timeshifting needs to be enabled in the setup menu first. I just leave it on. So, you're watching tv, and want to rewind a few minutes to see that really cool scene again, or whatever. Just hit the rewind button, and play. Little icon pops up showing you you're watching under a "DELAY", and you're all set. Then, when you later get to a commercial or something, you can "fast forward" up to the point where you're watching "LIVE TV" again. I think this feature has great potential especially if the phone rings or something. The DVR "reserves" an hour off of the hard drive for this feature - which is more than sufficient for my needs.
Another bonus is PIP-- which (AGAIN) the 37-inch unit is missing. This isn't nearly as useful to me, but is one of those "kinda cool" things to have. There's a few different PIP modes, so while you're watching a show, you can "pip" in another source (analog tv), and even "surf" the other source if there's multiple channels. The second PIP mode "surfs" for you, showing three different screens on the right side.
LIMITATIONS: As with all technology and feature sets, there's some limitations. The biggest limitation I can see with all of the above is that there is only one digital tuner. For a unit that has a built-in DVR, that's something that's a shame. What this means is that when you're recording a digital signal, you cannot also watch ANOTHER digital channel at the same time. This may or may not be a huge issue for some; it's not for me, since most of the things I want to record, I do so because I'm not home. The same limitation applies to PIP: The PIP is designed to bring in another SOURCE. What these both translate to is: If you want to record something or use PIP to surf other channels, you can do so now--- courtesy of analog broadcasts. So, I could certainly record NBC *digital* tv, and watch or PIP-surf NBC *analog* at the same time. So, I really get some nifty things. But---- that's only going to last for two more years (Feb 2009) when Analog is shut off. At that point I suppose I could hook up a cheap HDTV tuner to the cable RF port, and then I'd be all set. By then, HDTV standalone tuners will be cheap and plentiful, to help all those folks who have to keep their old analog set running.........
Anyway: For a $400 price differential above the 37LC2DU, I am QUITE pleased. I would have spent $250+ on a Sony DVR anyway. Now I don't have to. See my prior post regarding the hard drive: I am very convinced this is upgradeable to a bigger drive. But I'll wait until the warranty expires before I try that. (Comparitive shopping note- paid $1599 for this unit at BB 1/22/2007.)
MISC: I cannot comment regarding the other issues people have identified with this unit, mostly because I don't have a cablecard. Issues people have reported are either a) Weird problems with spontaneous power-on or power-off [supposedly fixed by firmware update and a board--- contact LG service...], or b) No TV Guide On-screen. (TVGOS is often limited by various cable companies..!). But-- as I indicated earlier, I'm using this set for OTA broadcasts, and in that regard I am **EXTREMELY** happy- it works exactly as I want, with the quality I like. Oh, and one final thing: This unit just LOOKS pretty. Black glossy frame in front that just looks very cool. Oh yeah-- the pedestal allows the TV to *turn* left and right. Yet another nifty bonus.
Anyway-- if you're eyeing up one of these, I most certainly and wholeheartedly give it a "two thumbs up". Enjoy.
I gave this unit an 8 rating (instead of 10) for the following reasons: a) It's LCD-- and as such, has "typical" viewing angle limitations. *NO* lcd unit has a "178 degree" viewing angle, despite what the manufaturer tells you. b) The DVR only has a 160gb hard drive. c) Because it only has a single tuner, that somewhat limits DVR/PIP functionality. -
"Awesome TV!" on by xCybergypsyx
Pros: DVR is awesome !
Cons: Some channels are a little to dark
Summary: After reading all reviews I bought a open box for 1700.00 and glad i did, Goodbye Tivo, Hello DVR..Picture is amazing, and I have had some of the best tv's around, so glad i bought it
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"Awesome TV when it actually works" on by nosoupforyou
Pros: Excellent picture quality, sound is top notch, controls are fairly intuitive, attractive design, built-in DVR (no subscription required)
Cons: Signal issues with cablecard (required for DVR), decides what channels you should watch, DVR doesn't record when TV is off, constant unplugging and plugging back in, poor customer support from LG
Summary: This seemed like the perfect TV. Exceptional picture and sound quality, built-in DVR with no hidden costs, and a relatively low price. As it turns out this TV has been a major lemon and a nightmare to live with.
This TV does not play nice with cablecards, which is REQUIRED if you want to use the DVR. The TV guide service is unreliable and resets every other day, which it then requires another day to download the guide data. During that time the guide is pretty useless when every channel has "no listing" for program listings. The picture quality is pixelated and becomes progressively worse the longer you watch it until the TV displays "no signal". So basically the TV decides what you should watch. Some channels won't have any problems until after you watch them for a while or not until the next day. Some simply don't work at all. And no, this is not an issue with the cable company. My neighbors do not have this problem and, as it turns out, this is not an unusual problem for this TV or LG TVs in general (see below).
Every morning the TV shuts down, as in it is impossible to turn the TV on using the remote. You are required to unplug the TV from the back, wait 10 seconds, plug it back in, and then wait for it to power on. EVERY morning. Sometimes during the middle of the day it will exhibit this odd behavior. The DVR won't work with the TV on standby because it will shut itself off without recording any of your shows.
Sometimes for no particular reason, the TV will default to channel 1 when you turn it on and will not display channels above 100. Those that are within range are extremely distorted or complete static. The problem usually goes away within a minute or two, but still irritating nonetheless.
You'd think the TV manufacturer would understand the frustration that comes with battling a poorly designed TV for two straight months, but apparently LG does not. I have jumped through every hoop LG has dosed out, but instead I am rewarded with unreturned phone calls, ridiculous excuses, and constant delays. They insist on replacing miscellaneous boards in the TV that so far have only made the symptoms worse. LG has required me to replace Cox's cablecard at least 5 times and have at least 3 visits from their contracted repair company. As you can imagine it's a lot of fun to have to take time off of work so a repair man can come into your house and tinker with a brand new TV that is so obviously beyond repair.
Don't believe me? Check out the following links for responses from other owners of the 42LB1DR.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=667907
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/2/176786.html
My other TVs are made by Sharp, which is exactly what will be replacing this $3000 hunk of plastic. My advice to you is to do yourself a favor and avoid this TV and AVOID LG! -
"1 star absolutely no loyalty to lg customers" on by bg992
Pros: i was sold with the dual split viewing to shows or games at once
Cons: not durable even after being loyal to Zenith for20yrs i will never invest in any Lg product
Summary: I made an investment base on my long loyal relationship with Zenith after they merge with LG knowing the true facts about how me and another million folks feel about LG products definitely plan to just do business elsewhere
:(
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