Samsung LN32A550 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

I got this TV about a month ago & so far I'm very happy with Samsung. I have to admit this is my 1st LCD purchase and don't know exactly what to look for in LCD except that compare to my dad's Sony Bravia 32" 720p, picture seems lot more crisp and clearer. Only thing that bother me about this TV is the sound quality. Even when volume is turned on high I can't really hear voices clearly. Otherwise, it's a great purchase under 1k.

I've been wanting a new flat-panel TV for some time and, though I do make a lot of purchases on-line, I felt like I actually needed to look at a TV in person. My wife and I were looking at the TV's in Wal-mart when another customer pointed out that the better TVs had a higher contrast ratio and he thought that was the most important factor. Sure enough, the one we thought had the best picture was the one with the highest contrast ratio - it was 3200:1, the best 32-inch in the store. (I really wanted something with 1080p resolution, but they only had 720p in the 32" size TVs. We decided to get that one, since we had seen it and felt like we could enjoy it - but they didn't have one in stock...

I came home and began to research. It turns out that there are only a very few 1080p TVs in the 32" model, this being one of them. In looking at the contrast ratio I found that this one was rated at 15,000:1 - almost 5 times better than the best one at Walmart. (High contrast ratio seems to give you darker darks and whiter whites - lower contrast ratios have a milky looking gray where it's supposed to be black...) My research combined with what I saw in the store gave me the confidence to purchase a TV on-line. I settled on the Samsung LN32A550.

The TV arrived in good working order and I had it set up and running within 30 minutes. (The biggest problem was unhooking and moving the old one!) The picture is everything I could have imagined it would be - far better than anything I saw in the store. The crystal clear picture and crisp, well defined images make this simply the best picture I have ever seen on a TV. I saw a bit of a NASCAR race on this unit and the motion was unbelievably smooth - no after images at all.

I debated a bit on giving this unit a five-star rating. I felt like the picture quality so outrated the sound that I had to bump it up a bit. But if sound is an issue you may want to consider this to be a "four-star" unit. While the TV has a built in equalizer function (with some presets based on your listening preferences) I found the sound, even in the best adjustment leaves a lot to be desired. It has a tinny sound much like you would expect from an old transitor radio. I would suggest investing in a good pair of external speakers to enhance this unit. (If you already have a home theatre set-up sound is not an issue anyway...)

So far I'm glad I made this purchase. If Samsung can improve the speakers on this TV they will have the perfect TV!

*****
UPDATE:

OK.... Now that I've owned this thing a few months I'll tell you how it's going:

First, it was pointed out to me in a post that the contrast ratio on 27- and 32-inch TV's was 15,000:1 instead of 30,000:1 as I incorrectly surmissed from the somewhat unclear (to me) product update. I have edited the initial review to reflect the correct information. I'm sorry for any confusion it may have caused. (If you want the higher ratio and have the room, you could consider going with a larger screen size. 15,000: is still a pretty amazing ratio though...)

Overall I am happy to report that I am just as satisfied today as I was the day I first turned it on. I did purchase a set of Creative GigaWorks T40 Premium 2.0 Speakers (available at Amazon.com) for around $125 - and this dramatically improved my viewing experience. (I'm sure the best option would be to use a home theatre set-up - but this unit is in my bedroom...)

I still recommend this TV - just don't expect too much out of the sound - without a little help.

I traded in my 32 720p sharp for this 1080p set and I am very pleased. the picture quality is much better with 1080p for using this as a pc monitor and for my blueray/gaming. I do notice a difference aside from the better contrast and it is worth it to me. A lot of people say they cant tell much difference from 720p to 1080p and especially on a 32" set but I am not one of them and a lot of those people cant tell the difference between 480p and 720p so to each his own. The sound kind of sucks from this but doesnt bother me muuch since I usually use headphones plugged into the set. The set is also kind of flimsy and fragile feeling when mounted compared to my old sharp which was much more solid feeling but the piture is so nice on this sammy I am not going back!

I got this TV few days ago, its a good TV and monitor for small room.

Negative
> PIP is only for TV tuner/cable and other source, no can do on PC source and HDMI at the same time, and between HDMI's (ie HDMI1 and HDMI2, HDMI1 and HDMI3, etc)
> Samsung put a 10w speaker, the same as my 40 inch Samsung 1080P TV/Monitor, while its a good speaker, well, its better than 5w, BUT it doesnt have the deflective/curvish bottom the deflect sound wave into the frount of the TV
> Power button is on the side, I'd prefer the front power button
> Only 3 HDMI, was expecting 4.

Positive
> Wise.Link, while my previous Samsung TV has USB port, its only used for servicing the TV (repair). Wise.link now read files, like sound files and photos, it can also be used to update firmwares.
> Good black, this TV has the best blacks I have seen on TV, its really dark. Colors is good too.
> P&P, 2 source split together side by side
> headphone port, (yup, I'm a egghead).
> Auto-adjustment feature
> Since this is a Full HD 1080P, this is a good monitor, more pixel, primarily I use it as my main monitor for my PC. It has a good picture on Blu-Ray movies and on PS3 games, at least viewed 4-5 feet away.
> remote has now backlight, tho I prefer the old remote 'cuz it has more buttons, with the new remote, you have to dig down to the menu to activate stuff like PIP and sleep/timer features (I read this new remote now has short-cut buttons but I have not use it yet).
> If you have previous Samsung LCD TV, they kinda put a really bright blue light/LED infront of the TV, with this TV, they replace it with dim-ish light and the sound they used on powering up/off is a bit soft now.

I bought this last week, and so far, its exceeded all my expectations except in one regard (below). The picture is fantastic, and each input is customizable so you can use one video setting for each device you have plugged in. This is especially handy as it doubles as a PC monitor for me. Some people say you can't tell 1080p quality on a 32" screen. Well I'm here to tell you their wrong. The difference is noticeable, both when using it for my PC and when lying back in bed watching movies. The interface is user-friendly, the remote well laid out, and setup was easy. This brings me to the one flaw in the system: the on-board speakers are tin-y and low-quality. Get a set of external speakers ASAP if you by this set. If you've got a home theatre system already, then this isn't an issue, but be warned, this is one of the worst sounding TV I've ever had. Still, for a picture this good, its worth it.