If you’ve read the HDTV reviews anywhere you should know by now that the real competition between the HD ready TV’s is between the Sony Bravia and the Samsung HDTV’s. This particular Samsung however, would be seen of by almost any SONY Bravia without much of a fight. It does however have several major good points and if you are not searching for the impossible nirvana of TV perfection read on…..

The Samsung LE32R87BD is not a 1080p HD TV but with that in mind, it still beats 7 out of 10 (non SONY Bravia) HD ready TV’s hands down. No contest (of course we are excluding the 100Hz TV’s from that cheer leading statement). With the Samsung LE32R87BD coupled with the Samsung DVD HD-Upscaler player you really shouldn’t want a better picture and if you do you need to seek medical help or failing that, go to the cinema.

The drawback to all this drooling is that if you do not use a HDMI cable the picture quality is not all that (meaning skewed and distorted). Your really need to be using a HD source (Sky HD, HD DVD, Blu-Ray etc.) to get the best out of this TV. The Samsung LE32R87BD HDTV can also come unstuck with fast moving scenes (races, chases and quick movements) in that the picture can become pixilated and that’s a big turn off after spending £400 + on a so called state of the art machine for your viewing pleasure.

You will also need to spend more time fiddling with the Samsung LE32R87BD than you would with the SONY KDL32S3000 for example rather than plug-n-play straight out of the box. The vibrancy of the colours may be a tad too vibrant for some which means tweaking the numerous colour and contrast options to get the pitch that suites you (although some may love the intensity of the default settings).

The 3 HDMI ports are a definite plus as this makes the Samsung LE32R87BD relatively future proof as more and more manufactures move to onto the HD platform and require HDMI ports in order for the consumer to get the best out of their products. By the end of the year, I’ll be surprised if all new DVD players are not HD and Blue-Ray ready.

This leads us on to the ‘game-mode’ which for those of us with xBox 360′s or ps3′s (smug grin) is a fantastic little addition that takes using your console with the Samsung LE32R87BD via HDMI a treat.

Another niggle (or a massive flaw depending on how important it is to you) of the Samsung LE32R87BD is the sound. Turn up the volume too loudly and the sound quality rapidly deteriorates. You’ll do well to invest in a surround sound speaker set up to compliment the TV if you want the best experience.

Now if you think back to 2004, a TV of this calibre would have cost about £2000 for a bargain and the Samsung LE32R87BD is one of the biggest selling TV’s on-line right now (no doubt because it’s a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than some high street prices). With Amazon selling the Samsung LE32R87BD for about £400 you’re definitely getting a good price and the criticisms I’ve mentioned are really for the picture purists amongst us but I would advise that you also look at other similar priced HD ready TV’s before you part with your cash, you can browse through our HDTV Shop for some great prices.