Give your TV a new home from IKEA
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Quality and features are well worth the price, despite minor quirks"
Pros: Lots of inputs (including a D-sub15 for PCs), fantastic picture quality, convenient composite/S-video inputs on side panel, HDMI support
Cons: DNIe features cannot be disabled, 8ms response time may cause minor "ghosting" effects, awkward remote
Summary: The biggest selling points for me were the amazing picture quality and the PC input (1360x768 native resolution). I did a side-by-side comparison at my local Fry's Electronics of the LN-S3241D and similar models, and this had the widest viewing angle and the brightest overall picture of any of the 32" LCDs, even besting the mighty Sony models in my eyes. With a relatively fast response time of 8ms, "ghosting" effects are minimized but may still be noticeable in fast-moving scenes. A pair of HDMI inputs, one set of component inputs, and the ability to do everything up to 720p and 1080i completes an already outstanding package.
The DNIe picture enhancement engine does a great job of making the output look great, but on occasion it can overdo picture contrast and create odd visual artifacts with noisy source images like the season 1 DVDs of the television show "24". It would be nice to have an option to disable the DNIe and dynamic picture features on demand, but only a few of these options can be tweaked and only by accessing the factory service menus. (Of course that's not recommended for most users and may result in permanent damage to your set if you change the wrong settings in the service menus.)
The overall look and feel of the set is nice and sleek with only a power button visible on the front panel and all other standard controls on the lower right side of the set. There were no stuck pixels or setup problems with my set--everything worked perfectly out of the box. The remote feels a bit awkward and really needs separate buttons for each input instead of the single toggle button. Samsung has supposedly rectified this with remotes bundled with its newer LCD models.
I had originally planned on purchasing a more budget-friendly set from Westinghouse or Olevia, but after seeing the difference in picture quality on the shelves, I don't regret at all spending the extra cash for the LN-S3241D. Despite a few minor quirks, this is a perfect example of "you get what you paid for."
