| | |  | LCD TVs | Home » » » » » » Samsung LNS3241D 32-Inch LCD HDTV | | | | | | | Description: | | Samsung's LN-S3241D is for the technophile who demands the highest quality - and value - in a wide screen HDTV LCD. Its 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, HD-grade resolution and advanced technology deliver a remarkably crisp picture in vivid color. The slim, black frame incorporates side speakers that deliver SRS TruSurround XT sound; two HDMI inputs allow connectivity to a wide range of digital devices, including MP3s, digital cameras, camcorders, PCs, DVD players and more. The 32" size is perfect for bedrooms and kids' playrooms. | | | Features: | |
• Powerful entry-level 32-inch LCD TV with integrated HDTV tuner; measures 35.1 x 24.2 x 9.8 inches (WxHxD) with included stand
• 3D Y/C digital comb filter for improved transition detail; picture-in-picture (PIP) capability
• 1366 x 768-pixel resolution, 500 cd/m2 brightness, super-fast 8ms response time, 3000:1 contrast ratio, 178-degree viewing angle
• Connections: 2 composite A/V (1 side), 2 S-Video (1 side), 1 component (Y/Pb/Pr), 2 HDMI, 2 RF, 1 USB, 1 RS232
• Two stereo speakers, 10 watts apiece (20 watts total); SRS TruSurround XT virtual surround
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 35.1 inches | | Product Width:
| 3.2 inches | | Product Height:
| 21.4 inches | | Product Weight:
| 30.0 pounds | | Package Length:
| 39.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 28.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 8.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 39.8 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 92 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 92 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
91 of 93 found the following review helpful:
 Great TV. Very impressed with Samsung so far.Apr 30, 2006
By matteo
I went into my local Circuit City recently intending to look at the Sharp Aquos LC-32D40U. I had heard so much abou the Aquos TVs and how good they were. Since it was on sale I came close to buying it. But the Samsung LNS3241D was sitting right next to the Sharp on the rack and I immediately noticed that the Samsung's picture just looked a whole lot better. Compared to the Samsung, I couldn't believe how washed out the blacks were on the Sharp. I even played with the controls on the Sharp to make sure it's settings weren't messed up. It became very clear that the Samsung has a way better contrast ratio...in fact it pretty much looked the best out of all the other 32" TVs on display except for maybe the Sony XBR which is twice the price. So I picked up the Samsung and have loved it ever since. Mine didn't have a single burnt pixel out of the box. The built in speakers are pretty respectable. When having friends over to watch movies...they have asked if all that sound was coming from the TV's speakers. The picture quality is great with Comcast HD and with DVDs. It's awesome to have an LCD with such deep, rich blacks, but my only complaint is that sometimes the darks are a bit too dark. It may just be a setting issue. I haven't tried seriously to fix it because it doesn't bother me that much. I was also blown away by the quality I was able to get hooking up my laptop computer to the TV. since the PC connector is just VGA and not DVI, I thought "this is going to look like crap" but it looks great...extreamly crisp and clear. The TV. could very well be used as a computer monitor too. All in all, I'm a very happy camper...except for the fact that Amazon's price is now cheaper than Circuit City's sale price! aarrgh. Oh well. It's a great TV.
66 of 70 found the following review helpful:
Good Things Come to Those Who WaitMay 08, 2006
By Beres
This is my first HDTV. I've been waiting a several years for prices to go down and my preferences were Sony, Sharp, or Samsung. Sonys are still too expensive. The Sharp Aquos' picture was poor in comparison to either the Sony or Samsung. I was surprised since Sharps have good buzz. I originally wanted last year's model--329D, but oddly that model was more expensive. Initial consumer reviews were good about the 324 and the price was right. There were cheaper prices on the Internet but the store names were not familar to me and I didn't want to lose my money. As I was checking out, a popup offered a free trial to Amazon Prime. I got it shipped overnight for $3--sweet. Arrived in perfect condition, beaucoup connection ports, great picture, and I don't even have HDTV yet. The pic tends to be dark but that can be changed in the settings. As someone mentioned, it's so minor it's not worth bothering with unless you're a perfectionist. Would definitely recommend to anyone.
20 of 20 found the following review helpful:
A lightweight LCD with a powerful pictureMay 26, 2006
By Tyson CN Becker
Recieved this Samsung LCD two days ago and I have to say for the price, this TV is hard to beat. I knew I was buying a 32 inch LCD for about 2 months and researched the Sharp Aquos model, the Sony XBR, and this one. After much research and comparing of pictures I felt the Samsung was the best combination of price and picture. The Sony XBR will give you a better picture, no doubt, but it is not such a jump that is justifies spending the $900 more to buy it. I also thought the Sharp Aquos's picture looked a little washed out compared to this Samsung.
I've been told that seeing TV's on display at Best Buy and Circuit City is a bad way to go about this because store managers tend to turn up the contrast or brightness on the TV's. I never have understood this theory, I mean maybe they are trying to get rid of some inventory or something of that nature but has anyone tried playing with their brightness and/or contrast balance on thier TV's? It helps but it doesn't make a crappy picture brilliant or vice versa. Therefore when I went to Best Buy and saw the picture on the Samsung compared to the Sharp it was a no brainer for me which TV had the better picture.
Anyways back to the actual TV. I have Brighthouse Cable TV and run an HDMI cord from my Scientific Atlanta HD DVR to the TV and the picture is brilliant. The HD picture is amazing, the first thing I turned to was HBO HD and Spiderman 2 was playing. I watched the last half of it in amazment because the picture was that good. My father in law and my father both have the 32 inch Sony XBR and although I did not have them side to side I felt the Samsung's HD picture was just as colorful and vibrant as the Sony XBR.
The biggest differance I noticed between the XBR and this Samsung was how they handled SD TV. The Sony is in my opinion is significantly better at handling SD TV than this Samsung (although the Samsung is also good). Not only can it decode it better, it also has a screen streach called Wide Zoom (i think that's the name) that can actually put SD TV at 16:9 ratio and make it look very good. The Samsung cannot do that and either can my cable box. I can fill the screen but it becomes stretched beyond the border and look odd. So I just watch SD in regular 4:3, which looks good, and let the HD shine when I turn it to my HD channels.
I also ran my iBook G4 through the TV via the 15 pin VGA connector. Looks amazing. I've tried to run my iBook through other LCD before and it has never looked nearly as good as it does on this TV. A great bonus because it wasn't really a factor in my buying decision.
Last but not least I have my audio running from my cable box to my reciever so I have not really tested the speakers on this TV. Sorry!
Anyways in conclusion. Great HD picture. Two HDMI hookups which will give you a little bit of futureproof (Sony XBR only has 1)! Very lightweight (I was very, very surprised at how light the actually TV is, you could carry it with one hand!) Easy to put the stand on and very easy to get working. A great TV that is impossible to beat at the price Amazon is offering it for. Go for it!
PS I would give this TV 4.5 stars if possible for the simple fact that the Sony XBR plays SD better. However like I said earlier in my review it's not worth an extra $900.
18 of 18 found the following review helpful:
FabulousNov 10, 2006
By Rajeev Bhavsar
"TVAddict"
This is a great HDTV. Around the same time that I got this, a friend of mine bought the Sceptre LCD from Costco. The Sceptre was about 400$ cheaper...and boy did it show. He was actually quite happy with his purchase, until he came to my house one day. He was stunned by the picture quality for both DVDs and HDTVs. He ended up returning the Sceptre and buying this.
I did a log of research before going for the Samsung. The three good ones were Sony, Panasonic and Samsung. Sony easily wins overall, especially because of sound quality. Panasonic is only slightly better than the Samsung as far as dark colors go. However with Price/Performance ratio in mind, this is by FAR the winner.
I was a little wary about the shipping from Amazon, based on what some of the other reviewers have said. Mine was shipped through someone called Eagle GL. They called me to setup a time to deliver, they also called me the day of the shipping to make sure I was around. I really did not have any trouble with them.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Fantastic LCD TV from SamsungDec 19, 2006
By Voltron00x
"Elias"
I was able to score a great deal on this TV - online, for $800 on Thanksgiving. It took me four weeks to actually have it show up at my house (note that this wasn't ordered from Amazon.com), but its been worth the wait. Out of the box, the TV is very sleek and attractive. I have it hooked up to my DVR Cable Box via HDMI, which looks fantastic. The HD channels are absolutely amazing to watch - I've watched NFL games, NBA, Dexter on Showtime, etc and they all look great. Non-HD channels vary in quality - some are pretty ugly. It helps to actually turn down the brightness / sharpness when watching regular TV. Unless you're very close to the TV, thoguh, its not like its unwatchable.
I also have a Sony Up-converting DVD Player hooked up through the second HDMI. So far, I've used this to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2, and Cars. I watch Pirates first - the menu screen was awfully ugly, as was the movie itself. For a few minutes, I was getting terribly disappointed - but its all a matter of playing around with settings. Once I had the TV and DVD player set up correctly (which took about 10 minutes of trial and error) I found the right settings, and WOW. Pirates looked absolutely INCREDIBLE. You'd never know it was a regular DVD and not HD programing. Ditto for Cars - so just a heads up, you DEFINITELY need to play with the settings on both the TV and whatever is outputting to the screen to make sure you have the right display settings. I hooked the DVD player to my Sony surround system using a Digital Optical cable - the sound is great.
Attached to the surround system are a PS2 and Nintendo Gamecube. The surround system is hooked up to the regular A/V on the TV. Playing videogames on this TV, even "last gen" games, is not a problem at all. The graphics still look great - really it depends on the game's resolution more than anything. A second digital optical cord runs from the TV to the Surround system, so any sound coming from the TV is muted and sent to the surround. This is great, as it means everything I have hooked up will always play out of my surround speakers (cable TV, videogames, DVDs, etc).
Finally, I have an Xbox 360 hooked up via the Component cables. One of the reasons I wanted this TV is that Gamestop uses Samsung LCD monitors in their stores, and the 360s running there looked fantastic. This TV has a "Game Mode" - and its awesome. I was already playing Gears of War every day - now I can hardly put it down. To say the graphics are incredible is an understatement. To anyone who felt the 360 wasn't really "next-gen" enough, you need to play the games on an HD screen to really appreciate it. The 360 also has a $199.99 HD-DVD add-on, which I couldn't pass up once I got the tv. It comes with King Kong, which I thought was so-so as a film. The HD-DVD itself is a great player, but I wasn't as "Wowed" by the video quality as I expected. I need to try it again with a movie I like more, I suppose - V for Vendetta, Batman Begins, Superman Returns, and Serenity are all available for HD-DVD and I expect they'll look awesome. I have to say though, if you pick up this TV, definitely pick up an up-converting HD-DVD player - I strongly recommend a Sony with HDMI capability, because it looks incredible and only set me back $100.
I couldn't be happier with this TV. In a few years, once 1080p TVs are cheaper, I'll upgrade and mount this one on a wall - this TV is very light by the way. As its LCD, its relatively hassle-free - no worrying about burn-out or break-in periods.
However, I have two small disappointments with this TV, both of which I expected due to the LCD format. The viewing angles on this TV, compared to my old 32" Flatscreen TV by Toshiba, are definitely not as good. Don't get me wrong - they're not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but just not as good as my old "regular" TV was. In addition, this TV definitely won't display dark, "rich" Black like a Plasma TV can. When watching a Widescreen DVD, the "black" bars aren't quite as Black as I'm used to. Its an issue with the LCD format, unfortunately - that's the price you pay for being able to leave your TV paused all day without concern.
All told, I'm VERY happy with this purchase. When doing my initial set-up, I had some issues getting the TV to detect my cable - just a heads-up, this TV can be a little cranky at times when it comes to detecting inputs if its already turned on. Just turn it off and turn it on again if you've plugged or unplugged anything, and it'll catch them. I called Samsung and didn't have to wait at all for customer service - they were great.
If you're looking to pick up a mid-size, quality LCD HD TV, I can't recommend this thing enough. Just be prepared to spend a little extra dough on HDMI cables and an up-converting DVD player.
See all 92 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
