Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program After requesting this product for an Amazon Vine review, I read the other existing reviews, most of which were ambivalent or even negative. I was scared that the TV was going to turn out a piece of junk.
Well, after using it for a month, I'm pleased to report that I was mostly happy with it. I don't think it quite deserved the harsh reviews and will offer a contrarily positive one.
Color:
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Maybe I just got lucky with a different batch, maybe our settings were different, or maybe I'm just not as sensitive as the other reviewer when it comes to colors, but they looked absolutely fine to me. I'm an amateur graphic designer and photographer, and while I wasn't able to afford a colorimeter to quantitatively test the TV's color quality, the colors looked just fine to my naked eye through its month of use, even compared to two highly-rated IPS monitors and the Nexus 10 tablet, all of which I bought for their display quality. With my Nexus tablet connected to the TV in mirror mode, I adjusted the TV's display settings and got about a 90% match in color, more than fine enough for movies, picture slideshows, etc.
Other display qualities:
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The contrast and saturation were set a bit strong and the brightness/backlight a bit weak when I got it, but a little bit of fiddling got it looking better. The factory default settings didn't look "bad", per se, just overemphasized for "pop" (I prefer a more neutral look). It may not be immediately clear, but the TV offers different viewing modes such as EnergyStar, Cinema, Game, etc., but also advanced settings and a User mode that lets you tailor everything more specifically (if you're so inclined). Again, the picture from the factory was OK to begin with and in fact people who use this primarily for movies might even prefer the exaggerated color and contrast.
The backlight was bright and even, and the viewing angles were great, not mediocre -I could walk from all the way to its left to all the way to its right and still see everything fine. No real-world situation is going to have the couches spread that far to its sides, anyway.
Overall I rather like the picture quality of this TV. The glossy coat makes the colors pop even more and isn't too distracting. With the backlight on high enough, it's even possible to watch this near a window in full sun.
Screen size:
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Definitely a 32". Its viewable area was 31.75", so it doesn't get any bigger than that without jumping into another size class altogether. Perhaps the other reviewer measured horizontally instead of diagonally? Not really sure what happened there, but my unit was every bit as big as it ought to be.
Tuner/Inputs:
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Admittedly I didn't get to try this, but I did try the TV with a Roku, a computer, and a Nexus 10 tablet (all via HDMI). All looked fine and the TV also handled downscaling from 1080p well.
Audio:
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It is unfortunate, as another reviewer remarked, that there is no audio out. This can be annoying if you have a home audio system you want to hook it up to (or even just listen with headphones late at night), but the sound from the TV itself was fine to my ears. Nothing spectacular, but nothing obviously missing either.
Miscellaneous:
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The remote is ergonomic and well-designed. The on-unit controls, however, were hidden behind the screen and not easy to access. The stand is steady but non-adjustable.
Value:
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It seems in line, price-wise, with the other 720p 32" TVs. I'm disappointed that it didn't have internet connectivity, but it seems that other TVs in its price class don't either. The one thing that did bug me quite a bit was the 720p. For maybe $60 more, you can get 40% more resolution with a 1080p display, which makes text sharper and little details in movies more visible.
Conclusion:
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I feel compelled to give the TV 4/5 because it does everything it needs to do, but it doesn't stand out in any particular way. In my opinion, for something as commoditized as TVs, you have to REALLY stand out to get a 5/5. But I certainly feel that this model does its job just fine, and that I wouldn't regret it if I paid full price for it (note: Vine reviewers do not pay for their reviewed products).
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