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| Brand: Samsung
Category: CE
Buy New: $999.99
New (1) from $999.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  175 reviews
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries: 2
Batteries Included: Yes
Display Size: 32
Shipping Weight (lbs): 23.8
Dimensions (in): 3.6 x 31.5 x 21.3
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: LNT3253H
Model: LNT3253H
UPC: 036725232532
EAN: 0036725232532
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Best Bang For Your Buck June 12, 2007
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
For a 32" LCD HDTV in this price range, i can't justify getting anything else. the TV is an absolute blast to use, the quality is amazing, it seems to be built well, and i'm immensely happy with it so far.
SD Quality - like almost every LCD HDTV out there, the SD quality on this unit leaves much to be desired. it may be the poor cabling in my apartment for my cable channels, but they look pretty bad. i'm guessing that if you had a good quality cable line run to the TV, it would look better, because the digital SD channels from my cable box look pretty good. also, it's not the fact that it's SD that is the problem... because SD DVDs and 480i digital over-the-air look great. it's just cable, and presumably analog over-the-air as well. so make sure you have a good quality cable line run to your TV/cable box and maybe even an amplifier.
HD Quality - outstanding. 1080i looks indistinguishable from 720p, as this is a 720p TV with a good 1080i deinterlacer. i don't know why someone tagged this as 1080p, since it clearly doesn't support it. but the quality is amazing, especially with the contrast as high as it is. I have not tried anything over HDMI, since i don't have any HDMI devices. but analog component looks great.
Contrast - i have found some of the "Dynamic" settings can be a bit extreme... i actually had to tone down the contrast a little, and i turned the dynamic contrast to Low. Also, this is a very BRIGHT TV, but luckily you can adjust the backlight. on the backlight adjustment that goes to 10, i have mine set at 7, and it's still very bright.
Games - i have a Nintendo Wii hooked up via component and it looks great. it's also nice since it supports 480p and 16:9 mode, so in the games, such as Wii Sports, you can have vertical split screen that is actually useful. There is also a "game mode" to enhance how games look on the screen, but i have not yet used this.
Over-the-air - This TV does include an OTA tuner for HD and SD digital. I hooked up a cheap little unpowered antenna and i was able to pick up in-town 480i digital stations fine, and they looked AMAZING compared to their cable counterparts. I wasn't able to get any HD channels without a powered antenna, since all the broadcast towers are out of town, but i'd imagine you'd get a much better quality (assuming you can get a good signal) than from digital cable, which suffers from severe compression artifacts in my area.
Inputs and Outputs - there are PLENTY to go around, but considering i have 6 component devices, it would be nice to have more component inputs. there are 3 HDMI inputs, one on the side, and two component sets. In addition there are 2 composite inputs for SD, one on the side, and a PC input. DVI is supported in the HDMI port with an adapter.
Remote - the remote is easy to use and comfortable. There is a handy P.Size button at the bottom (blue button) that allows you to change between 16:9 stretched, Zoom 1 (cropped), Zoom 2 (i think an even tighter crop), and 4:3 pillarboxed for SD programs, which is very handy. For example, when a widescreen letterboxed program comes on an SD channel, you can go to Zoom 1 with a push of a button and it completely fills the screen, unletterboxed and unstretched. The volume and channel controls are also backlit with the touch of a button.
Sound - the sound is a good and bad thing about this TV. it has a cool virtual surround feature that actually sounds pretty neat, especially while watching concerts and programs that make good use of stereo sound, and it has optical output to run to a 5.1 unit for audio from OTA HD or HDMI. The downside is that bass is lacking, but considering how thin the TV is, this is not surprising, and i'd posit that the sound on ths TV is better than other LCD HDTVs i've heard in stores. There is an equalizer as well to fine tune your sound. Another cool feature is that the speakers are under the TV, so the bezel is significantly smaller than other competing units.
Appearance - the unit is a piano black, plastic finish, and there is a glowing blue LED at the bottom. the LED is not distracting at all, and you can program it to be on when the TV is on or off, whichever you prefer. The whole unit is very customizable, you can adjust many tiny details of the image quality, sound quality, channels, and settings for the TV. The controls on the TV itself are touch sensitive and on the side of the unit. The only downside is you can't really see what they are unless you're in a brightly lit room, so i end up relying on the remote more than the controls on the unit. The upside of this is that you wouldn't know they're there upon looking at it, and it makes the bezel very attractive.
Excellent product but be careful that the "look" is right for you. June 20, 2007
22 out of 29 found this review helpful
The technical performance of this TV seems very good. The features clearly make this a very versatile product and the price is right. But be certain to carefully look at a photo of the product before ordering. The design is quite "mod" and I found that the shiny plastic enclosure detracts from the viewing experience; while the picture is great, the black frame reflects any light source that's in the room. I guess from years of having Sony products I was expecting a more subtle enclosure. My fault for not looking more carefully. So if you have a modern house or apartment this set might be perfect. But you might choose differently if you are in a more traditional environment or might be bothered by reflections from the frame.
 TV tuner works poorly June 15, 2007
16 out of 22 found this review helpful
The TV tuner on this thing doesn't work correctly. I called Samsung to ask for help in scanning and saving TV channels to memory. It will not save any channels from my cable signal. They say I should use a cable box tuner, or VCR tuner, and bypass the TV tuner. They have no fix available. It sounds like a defect to me.
Also, changing channels on the TV tuner takes 2.5 seconds to go from channel 2 to channel 3. That makes surfing the channels impossible, and makes the need for storing your favorites necessary (but storing to memory doesn't work, so I am out of luck).
Picture quality is quite good.
 Great TV But Had An Audio Problem June 13, 2007
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
I bought the Samsung LNT3253 on Monday. I bought an HDMI cable yesterday. It didn't take long for the audio to cut out and start stuttering. I'm not talking about a split second but cutting in and out continuously. I also have digital audio running into my stereo receiver and switched to that and it was fine. So the problem in that case was isolated to the HDMI source. I had to unplug the TV and let it reset to get the sound back to normal. Then the audio was fine. I must say that kind of thing only happened once so far. Since, there have been very short sound and picture dropouts but they might have just been some kind of digital glitch from the cable company. I called up Samsung and they sent me a firmware update via email link. It turns out its the same as whats already on the TV. They could have saved me the effort by telling me how to check the firmware and confirmed that way it was already up to date. From what I read a new motherboard with its soundboard as part of it should solve the problem so I called Samsung and they setup up an appointment with an independent service center not Samsung to come work on the TV in a few days. The manager at the service center said they will replace the motherboard. The service manager said he's already changed six boards. For the gentleman with the wobbly stand. Try screwing the stand to the screen and that should solve your wobble. If you just drop it on and don't screw it yes it will wobble and list to the side if its unbalanced. A great picture, beautiful styling and great features, hopefully the sound problem was not a reoccurring problem and the board change will fix if it is was anyway. Well the service company came and changed the board and I watched the ballgame last night using the straight HDMI input and the sound was cutting out constantly. I'll watch TV again tonight on a different channel and see if the problem continues. If so I will return the TV and unfortunately have to purchase a Sony equivalent at a much higher price.
Great bang for the buck, but beware of problems. August 8, 2007
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
***EDIT: Please read, as this is quite important new information***
I wrote a review about a week ago praising the set. However, I came to notice a major issue. While displaying video over component or HDMI, most commonly in progressive scan resolutions (480p, 720p), my set has a "tearing" issue. This is a small horizontal line that moves up the screen from the bottom. It happens randomly. I did some research and found on the AVS forums that half the posters reported to have this problem with their set. Luckily, it can be fixed. You must call Samsung support, tell them you have the "tearing" issue and that you want the newest firmware, which remedies the problem. They will either send you a USB thumb drive in the mail with the firmware or they will provide you with a download link. This problem was quite bad for me when playing Xbox 360 in 720p over component video.
So, to get the best performance, be sure to get this updated firmware, version 1020. You can read about this problem by searching "tearing" in Samsung's FAQ for the LN-T3253H.
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I've had my Samsung for about 2 weeks now and am throughly satisfied. I did an enormous amount of research before purchasing this, and consider myself to be very knowledgeable regarding technology. I was also considering the 32" Sharp Aquos 1080p model and the Sony Bravia 32" model. I ended up choosing the Samsung because the Sharp was significantly more expensive (due to its 1080p capability) and because the Sony didn't look good enough to justify its higher price tag. I use this set in my dorm room.
It's hard to judge any LCD, however, in the store because they generally turn the brightness and contrast to their maximum values to make the TVs stand out. I learned a very valuable lesson: calibrating your television truly does bring out the best picture. Even if you don't buy a calibration DVD (like Avia or DVE), look up CNET's picture settings for this model. While it won't look as "good" at first, your eyes adjust to it and notice more detail and a more lifelike picture.
After calibration, my Samsung set produces a stunning image. I have an Xbox 360 (Component), a Playstation 3 (HDMI), broadcast TV, and my Macbook Pro (VGA) all hooked up. Picture from all sources is amazing. What really surprised me, though, is how great my Mac looks on this TV. It acts as a 1333x768 LCD monitor and the image is superb. I used to have a 42" DLP with my Mac connected via a DVI -> HDMI cable and the picture was just OK. Now with the LCD, I plan on browsing the internet from my couch.
Both DVDs and Blu-Rays look wonderful. The speakers are underpowered and inadqueate. If you're spending this much on a TV, it's only logical to get great sound as well. Right now, I have audio sent to 2.1 channel Logitech THX speakers which sound leaps and bounds better than the built in ones. (I'll be upgrading to 5.1 channel surround soon) The stand is not wobbly like other reviews have said, perhaps they just overlooked something. There is a ziploc of screws that comes in the box. Be sure to screw them into the back of the set after you snap the stand on, it makes it much more secure.
Bottom line, if you're in the market for a 32" LCD, you've found it. The image is excellent and it is truly the best deal.
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