Actually, the Magnavox 42MF439B really only has ONE flaw, but I’ll talk about that in a minute.  For right now, suffice it to say that the “mostly great” part really does apply.

The Magnavox 42MF439B is a forty two inch 1080p LCD television with two speakers, one component video input, one digital audio output, one composite video input , two S-Video inputs, two HDMI inputs and, in what may well be the biggest twist of all, a built in Blu-ray player.

This is, I believe, the first television I’ve encountered with the built in Blu-ray player, so in terms of sheer efficiency, this sucker gets extra points.  Of course, it also helps that it’s got great sound and a decent picture that DOES sport some artifacts up close, but as long as you keep a fair distance back you shouldn’t have too much trouble adapting.

And considering that you can get one of these for about seven hundred bucks on Amazon, that’s a pretty good price.  Make no mistake, the Magnavox 42MF439B is a pretty good television, so calling it mostly great with some flaws is just about right.

It’s been a week packed with surprises for me, folks, as I discover yet another brand I hadn’t seen very many entries from, Vizio, make an out of nowhere play with a deeply surprising, high quality entry, the Vizio VW37L.

The Vizio VW37L is a thirty seven inch 720p LCD television that includesa component input, a composite input, an S-video input, a PC input, and two HDMI inputs.

I’ll be honest with you, folks, I was just plain old amazed by this television.  It had a great picture and sound to match, with simple to use controls.  In fact, about the only downside to this television is that it’s somewhat limited in its ability to be a fully featured home theater setup television.   it just doesn’t have the ports for it, you understand–two is somewhat minimal without some juggling around.  But still, there’s more than enough to like here, and the price, five hundred bucks on Amazon (though if you’re willing to go used I’ve seen it hit much, much less.) isn’t too bad for what you get here.

The Vizio VW37L is a solid entrant, if not exactly top of the line.

Special thanks goes out to alert reader Alex, who made a comment on my earlier–back in September earlier–review of the Emerson LC320EMX television.  You’ll all remember that that’s a thirty two inch 720p LCD television with plenty of bells and whistles that I called a good buy at three hundred and forty eight bucks.

Well, Alex got word, and I just spotted it myself in a Walmart Black Friday ad, that they’re going to be knocking down the price on the Emerson LC320EMX from three hundred forty eight bucks to TWO hundred forty eight bucks.

Now, folks, this was a good buy back at three hundred forty eight.  This is nothing short of a GREAT buy at a hundred dollars less.  Even I’m planning to get out for this one and under normal circumstances NOTHING would peel me out of my turkey coma. So if you’re looking for a fantastic bargain that day, Walmart might be your first stop.

After spending some time with the literally out of nowhere Westinghouse television, I began to wonder if things could get any stranger in terms of what I was going to find next.  Well, along comes a television from none other than APEX to prove that things can always get weirder.  And worse yet, this is actually better than a lot of Sonys and Samsungs I’ve seen.

Today we’re talking about the Apex LD 4008, a forty inch 1080p LCD television with two composite inputs, two component inputs, three HDMI inputs, one S-video input and one PC input.

There aren’t a whole lot of proprietary bells and whistles with this television, but rather, what there IS is a fantastic picture, fantastic sound, and a fantastically easy to work with control setup.  I’m downright stunned by the quality on this no-name from South Nowhere.  This was the first time I could even remember SEEING an Apex in the last several months, and here’s a model that’s easily top of the line.

And considering you can get one of these for six hundred bucks, well, it’s hard NOT to recommend it.

There is a new top dog as far as LCD sales are concerned and that happens to be Samsung Electronics. Samsung has passed Vizio which took the limelight earlier this year based on their market shares. It seems that Samsung’s LED backlighting technology was the main reason for the boost, accounting for 16.8% of total U.S. sales. Vizio garnered only 15.7% not bad considering they are both well off from other companies such as LG, Toshiba and Sony. But these are only number based up to the third quarter of the year. With the Holidays coming up, expect some dramatic changes in LCD TV purchases but from the looks of it, these two, Samsung and Vizio are the only ones who will be competing on who will be the king of LCD TV sales for 2009.

(Source) Crunchgear

You know, I didn’t think that Westinghouse actually made televisions any more.  Frankly, I didn’t think Westinghouse made ANYTHING any more.  But one thing is abundantly clear–they do.  And you’ll be glad they did.

Today we’re talking about the Westinghouse 42F810G, a forty two inch 1080p LCD with two component inputs, two composite inputs, a PC input, three HDMI inputs, and an optical digital audio output.

I was definitely surprised to get my hands on this one, and I was even more surprised when I discovered that this was a really high quality setup.  The picture was great, the sound equally so, and the only possible low point I could spot on this one was that the controls were sort of oddly set up.  They’re rear-mounted, making them a little strangely placed.  But it’s really a very small quibble on an overall solid system.

The Westinghouse 42F810G is a surprisingly high quality system that surpasses pretty much all of the expectations I had for this one.

Hyundai has revealed two new LCD monitors for the European market with the launch of the 22” W220S and the 24” W240S. These two new LCD monitors come with polarized glasses for 3D viewing and feature a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 2 3W speakers, a D-sub, DVI and HDMI port. The W220S offers a 1680×1050 pixel resolution while the W240S comes in at 1940×1200 pixels resolution. The W220S will retail for about 748 EUROS while the W240S costs about 2,095 EUROS.

(Source) Slippery Brick

I don’t say the above lightly, folks.  If you’ve been reading my review pieces here for any length of time you know from experience that I usually only have one problem with Samsung, and that’s its preposterous control scheme by which you press touch-sensitive sections of the television’s front panel that aren’t labeled very clearly at all–so not clearly, in fact, that for a while I was convinced they didn’t exist at all.  But the Samsung LN40B630 has a whole lot more problem than most any other Samsung I’ve encountered.

The Samsung LN40B630 is a forty inch 1080p LCD television with picture in picture, game mode, and a variety of inputs including four HDMI inputs, two component inputs, one composite input, one PC input, two USB ports, one Ethernet port, and one optical digital audio output.

And it sounds great, until you discover like I did that the picture is intolerably fuzzy for something that purports to be 1080p, the sound quality is merely fair and once again the controls are horrendous.  There’s actually very little good about this model, and frankly, I’m amazed.  Did I just get the dog in the bunch?  Or is this model really as bad as it seems?

But regardless, that’s the experience I had with the Samsung LN40B630, and on the strength of that, I can’t recommend this one.

I say possibly, of course, because it isn’t like this is the first time Netflix managed to link up with a device provider to make their streaming video a bit easier to deal with.  Samsung, a host of Blu-ray players, lots more.  So now Sony’s Bravia television becomes one more brick in Netflix’s wall of streaming video.

All you’ll need is an internet capable Bravia, and the latest software upgrades, and you’ll be able to stream from Netflix’s pretty well massive library of at last count over a thousand titles.

This is, of course, awesome.  But as far as I can see it’s like polishing the brass on the Titanic.  There’s still a huge portion of the populace that can’t use this service, or can only use it in vastly reduced quantities because they plain old don’t have the bandwidth.  It’s great that the number of devices that can access this service increases almost with every passing week, but until that basic hurdle is overcome, there’s just no way it’ll get as far as it can.

Most of Sony’s line of televisions seems to be a good addition for anyone’s home theater setup, so it probably won’t surprise you when I tell you that the Sony KDL32XBR9 is just as good an addition.

The Sony KDL32XBR9 is a thirty two inch 1080p LCD television with Advanced Contrast Enhancer technology, as well as four HDMI slots, two component inputs and a PC input.

Seven inputs is no small amount–it’s more than I usually see–so that by itself would make this a pretty formidable model to discuss.  Of course, it’s not the only card in its hand.  It’s got a beautiful picture, great sound and simple controls. Plus, it’s even got a solid value, as you can get all of this for seven hundred bucks on Amazon, which is a whole lot of television for a comparatively small amount of money.  Sure, you could get bigger for less–and that’s an important distinction to make–but if you do go this route, you likely won’t be disappointed.

The Sony KDL32XBR9 is a fantastic system that will provide plenty of value for you if you’re in the market for a new television.

Panasonic is not a brand I run into very much, for some reason.  Maybe I just plain old haven’t gotten to it yet, but amid the flood of Sonys, Samsungs and LGs, there’s Panasonic, like the mousy girl next door no one talks to who actually has a lot to offer if someone would just pay attention to her.

I know, a little oblique in the metaphor department, but it works.  Today’s model, the Panasonic TCL 37S1 is a thirty seven inch 1080p LCD television with Viera link, Viera image viewer, three HDMI inputs and a PC input.

First off, the picture on this is pure 1080p fantastic, and looks like one of the better setups I’ve seen.  The sound is also really solid quality and the controls are plenty easy to handle.  And when you consider that, with careful shopping, you can get one of these for about five hundred thirty bucks, it’s a solid value, too.

The Panasonic TCL 37S1 has plenty to offer if you’re willing to take the time to discover it.

Samsung has unveiled another display solution with the release of the Samsung SyncMaster P2770HD in Korea. The P2770HD is a PC monitor that comes with a built-in TV tuner and HDMI inputs. It boasts of a full 1080p resolution and a dynamic contrast ratio of 50,000:1. It even comes with a pair of 3-watt stereo speakers and a 5.1 simulated surround sound. Expected to be available internationally as well, the Samsung SyncMaster P2770HD retails for $473 in Korea for now.

(Source) Slippery Brick

Bang & Olufsen has added another large screen to its BeoVision 7 series with the Beovision 7 55” LCD screens. It features superior signal processing and includes a double frame rate technology with motion compensation and progressive scanning backlight. These new enhancements reduce the issues of blurriness especially for fast motion videos on screen. With BeoVision 7-55 the picture is clear and sharp even during fast-moving scenes. It is also paired off with Active Loudspeaker Technology which should provide the best quality audio without distortions even at high volume levels.

The BeoVision 7 55” will be available at all Bang & Olufsen retailers by mid November. It will retails for about $18,700 which includes a floor stand and a center speaker.

(Source) Press

No, really…so far, I love LG. In fact, I’m hard pressed to remember the last time I wasn’t satisfied with an LG model’s performance that I tried out.  This is why, of course, I was extra happy to tackle the LG 47LH40.

The LG 47LH40 is a forty seven inch 1080p LCD television with all the great LG proprietary features like the invisible speaker system and the Clear Voice II system and the Intelligent Sensor Mode to keep the power usage down.  It also comes with plenty of ports, including four HDMI ports, USB and PC inputs.

As appears to be generally the case with LG systems, this has a fantastic picture and excellent sound quality matched with easy to use controls.  They manage to pack so much value into these things that it’s not even funny.  And considering that you can get these for about a thousand bucks on Amazon, you’re definitely getting a prime value in the making.

Most of the time, whenever I review a Samsung, I wind up sighing and shaking my head because I have a pretty good idea going in how the end review will end up.  I know I’ll probably be happy about the clear picture and the great sound, but hate the controls.  And today’s review target, the Samsung LN37B530, will prove to be no exception.

The Samsung LN37B530 is a thirty seven inch 1080p LCD television with two ten watt speakers, three HDMI inputs, one Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) input, and one PC input.

And the worst part is, exactly what I expected came to pass.  The picture and sound on this one really are great.  They compare nicely and favorably to the similar LN37B550. And yes, I still hate that ridiculous subcutaneous control scheme on most every Samsung that comes down the pike.  It annoys me to no end.

But, especially considering that the Samsung LN37B530 is available for just over six hundred bucks on Amazon (always, depending on where you shop), it’s a flaw that’s easily overlooked in favor of a great value.

Okay, experts in the audience, I’m sorry, because by now you’ve probably already made this decision so I”m not giving you anything new.  This one’s for the new folks in the audience.  But I’d appreciate it if you went down to the comments section and kicked in for their sake!

All right, if you haven’t already bought a projector yet, you might be puzzling over the lists of available models and wondering, just what exactly do I need?  I’m going to try and help you with that by explaining some of the ups and downs of each type of projector to help you make that decision.

In general, LCD projectors are commonly believed to offer “richer colors”, and are said ot have “excellent contrast” which in turn makes dark scenes show better details, as well as making outdoor scenes look brighter.  Plus, LCD projectors tend to operate cooler and have quieter fans, giving you possibly a longer life span (less risk of overheat) as well as a quieter experience in which to watch your movies.

Sounds good, I know, but DLP projectors love to talk about their “rich and deep contrast levels” that will actually make pretty awesome looking images even in a brightly lit room.  And, there’s less clipping involved in fast-paced action scenes.  Perhaps the strongest point in their favor is that they can be built without air filters, meaning that dust is less of an issue and maintenance is simpler, less often required, and less problematic when it is.

Based on that, an easy rule of thumb would be, if you watch mostly horror flicks, go LCD.  There’s better detail in the dark, and brighter outdoor scenes, and that’s where most horror takes place–in the dark, outdoors.  DLP users should be action buffs, especially martial arts action fans, because they can keep up with all the flips and jumps and wire-fu.

So hopefully, that’ll help give you an idea of what to buy as far as projectors go.

This might sound like a Black Friday deal to you, but I assure you it is not, as far as I know.  What would you say if I told you you could get a fantastic LCD television from LG for right around eight hundred bucks?  That’s exactly what you’ll be getting with the LG 47LH30.

The LG 47LH30 is a forty seven inch 1080p LCD television with three HDMI inputs, a component input, a PC input, a combination input, invisible speakers, and a whole host of proprietary LG features like Clear Voice II and 24p Cinema Mode.

And it really shows, frankly–the picture and sound on the LG 47LH30 are clear, beautiful and crisp as mountain stream water in fall flavored with peppermint.  That sounds like hyperbole, I know, but it’s really not that far off.  The whole experience is beautiful.  And when you consider you can get your hands on it for, like I said above, eight hundred bucks at Amazon and it’s not even Black Friday, well, this is definitely one to keep your eye on!

Mitsubishi Electronics announces its latest addition to its LCD TV MXW series with the LCD-40MXW300 Full HD LCD TV. The LCD-40MXW300 features a 40” screen with a resolution of 1920×1080, a digital TV tuner, 2 x 10W loudspeakers and the usual A/V connections. But the real eye-catcher here is that this LCD TV can reportedly consume 147 kWh annually. It also boasts of Diamond VI (High Resolution images) and DIATONE technologies (quality audio) for better entertainment. Lastly, an eco meter module is also present to advise you when to switch to a certain picture mode for economical energy consumption.

The Mitsubishi LCD-40MXW300 will retail for about 160 000 Yens or 1195 EUROS.

(Source) Akihabara News

I knew, when I went over to Amazon to refresh my memory on the tech specs on this one, that I was in for a bit of trouble when I noted that their asking prices for the Olevia 537H had been cut from around twelve hundred bucks to…around half that.

And if I were willing to buy one used, they’d knock another three hundred bucks off the price.

Let this be a lesson, folks–sometimes the deepest discounts are on the stuff they want to get rid of the fasted.

The Olevia 537H is a thirty seven inch 720p LCD television with a VGA Input, two S-video inputs, a coaxial input, an optical input, one HDMI input, two composite inputs and three component inputs.

I had a horrible time with this model–the picture was washed out like a bad laundry service and the audio was merely fair.  The controls, however, were plenty easy to handle.  I don’t know if I got a bad model or what, but this was just sad, really.  It was like watching a television in the last few minutes before it announces it has colon cancer and dies.

I really can’t recommend this, no matter how little they charge.

LG, folks…it’s rapidly climbing to the top of my list when it comes to good buys in television.  And today’s model of choice, the LG 42LH90, is a prime model at or at least near the heavily cluttered top of LG’s phenomenal food chain.

The LG 42LH90 is a forty two inch 1080p LCD television with LED backlighting, as well as a host of other accessories like an intelligent system for reacting to ambient light levels in the room and, in turn, generating the correct amount of light for the best viewing experience possible.  Plus, it also features four HDMI ports and SRS TruSurround technology.

It’s a fantastic television, let’s be thoroughly honest here.  It has a fantastic picture and equally fantastic sound, along with profoundly simple buttons for controls that anyone can find right out of the box.  I resent virtually any move to hide controls that doesn’t involve a sliding panel of some sort, so this sort of thing is definitely welcome.

But considering that they’re asking fully eighteen hundred dollars for one of these, depending on where you shop, it had better be good.  Thankfully, the LG 42LH90 does deliver in terms of quality, though on terms of value, I’m not so sure.