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Monday, June 24, 2013

Dad's Review - LG 42LA6130 Cinema 3D TV

Our entertainment room is under construction and hopefully it will be completed in less than 2 weeks. Being a Dad, this room falls under my responsibility hence from paint color to lighting, my decision outweighs those of the wife, if I may say so, lol.

While scanning for an appropriate flat screen for our entertainment room in our favorite SM Appliance Center, our attention was caught by Samsung smart TV with motion sensor. By waving your hands you can perform several functions like the O plus smartphone. However, according to the sales staff, this function is only available in larger screen which is way beyond my budget. What the smaller Smart TV mainly offers is the WIFI function; it also acts like an ordinary PC monitor minus the mouse and keyboard. I just can't imagine how difficult it would be to use the remote control as mouse and keyboard. I remember the Emirates Airlines video controller which has a built-in mouse function, it was an arduous task just to move the pointer or cursor to your desired location. Due to these reasons, we opted for an affordable 3D TV.

A Samsung sales staff offers their model with active 3D glass. It was definitely a no-no for us mainly due to bulky and heavier 3D glass which requires battery to operate. Not to mention that we need to purchase expensive active 3D glass for each member of the family.

Unboxing the LG Cinema 3D TV

Next on our list is the LG 42LA6130 (passive 3D) on display and on-sale. The LG sales staff knowing that he was facing a technical and inquisitive Dad made a different approach to make a sale. Presently, a 42 inch full HD LCD TV with LED back light and 3D function that requires a simple but comfy passive 3D glass costing 39,990 pesos is obviously not only eye-catching but attention grabber as well. Due to attractive price, the sales staff was able to convince me, my wife and youngest kid to test the demo 3D TV. As usual, he played the demo video and naturally any Dad would be impressed by the realistic 3D demo video that made the image seemed coming out from the screen; I tried to control myself from deflecting the image that looked so real and near.

I asked him to play a normal movie and apply the 3D function. He complied and inserted a USB drive with Avatar movie in MP4 format. The movie was quite crisp and clear when viewed on 2D. Upon enabling the 3D function I was amazed to note the depth introduced to the film while maintaining its digital clarity. I was caught unprepared for this kind of TV technology leaving me breathless while watching the movie for few minutes. I can't believe that I can enjoy this technology inside the comfort of my home.


4 + 4 3D glasses
The sales guy added that the discounted price would last until end of June only. The original price of this TV was around 44,000 pesos, if I remember it correctly. Definitely this guy knew his trade but as a Dad I still have some aces on my sleeve, I can bring home the TV for 12 months installment with zero percent interest. Yes, by using my BPI credit card, I just need to pay 3,332 pesos per month for one year. Aside from that, I can also avail BPI's buy now pay later promo which means that I would start paying for this TV after 60 days. Whoa! What more can a Dad asks for especially when he is running low on funds due to construction of his entertainment room. By the way, aside from the usual 4 pieces 3D glasses, the sales staff added another 4 pieces 3D glasses and wall mount frame for free. The unit comes with a 2 year warranty for labor, parts and panel. This unit is also built with a thick panel protection unlike the conventional flat screen.


Our new LG 3D TV, at the back is a 32 inch borderless TCL LED TV
Since I would be leaving for work after one week, I brought the entire family the following day to close the deal at SM North Appliance Center through the same sales staff. My kids were super excited after watching the 3D demo video at the showroom. They were disappointed with the same size smart TV due to lack of motion detector. To add, they were not that eager to surf the web using a 42' flat screen unless they would want me and their mom to see or monitor their activities while in a chatroom.

After the deal has been closed, we received a bundle of BPI raffle coupons that would entitle us to join the raffle for Nissan Navarra pick-up. I am crossing my fingers.

After 2 days of testing, I realized that this unit fared poorly when connected to analog inputs such as our Digi-box. Our cable antenna is connected to this Digi-box which has a composite audio/video outputs connected to the 3D TV. My wife complained that our local TV channels on our new LG 42 inch 3D TV were not as clear as on our 32 inch TCL borderless LED TV.

I agreed with her and I noticed that when in motion or during panning the image tends to pixelate before stabilizing. Aside from that, the resolution was not as clear with our 32 inch TCL flat screen as well. Upon checking the specs I learned that this TV has less resolution when viewing analog inputs such as composite audio/video (AV1/AV2). However, when viewing digital inputs such as MP4, DivX or HDMI input like what they have in showroom, you will definitely appreciate its huge screen due to its clear image and higher resolution.

I tried connecting the cable TV antenna direct to my LG 3D TV, the image pixelation disappeared and there was an improvement in video clarity. I can conclude that there was signal loss when Digi-box is connected between the flat screen and cable antenna. Nevertheless, for other digital format cable channels such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon Channel the image is fairly acceptable.

Regarding the 3D function, I have watched "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Rorouni Kenshin (Samurai X)" from my 500 GB USB HDD connected to USB input of this flat screen and I can say that the 3D function performed well though I am not sure whether files from 1 TB external USB HDD can be accessed by this TV; my 32" TCL can accessed files up to 500 GB HDD only. Anyhow, I was impressed by the depth of the image while maintaining its digital clarity. Using a passive and comfortable 3D glass was an added treat since I felt I was simply watching a 3D movie in cinema.

I tried the 3D function on cable (analog) channels too. Though the result was not that impressive, I must admit that there was a degree of depth introduced to the screen image albeit having maximum 3D depth setting. However, for cable (digital) channels, the 3D function works well though not as stunning with digital inputs.

To add, I like its classy (flat screen) stand and the "knock screen protection" since I know how fragile an LCD panel is. Dead pixels can occur if the panel has been exposed to accidental pressure or force. So for this model, I can confidently hold the panel and even tap it without fear of damaging it. Hence, it is pretty convenient to mount this borderless flat screen on the wall since I have larger grip area. More so, I won't be hysterical even if my wife cleans this flat screen the same way she cleans the washing machine, lol.

Currently, our new 3D TV is undergoing "burn-in test" in our bedroom. Once our entertainment room at the third floor has been completed, hopefully in coming days, I would transfer this and mount it on the wall. Once transferred, my kids are ready for their own test using their Playstation and other video gadgets. I have noticed also that both antenna and audio/video connections are installed horizontally at the back portion making it pretty difficult to connect the AV cables when this TV is wall-mounted unlike our 32 inch TCL flat screen where all connections were installed vertically downward. Furthermore, if the wall bracket is thin then there is a possibility that the antenna cable will be pressed against the wall.

By the way, I have no qualms regarding the audio or sound reproduction. I can honestly say that this model outperforms my TCL 32 inch LED TV in audio aspect.

More feedback will be added later as we continue using this 3D TV. One thing I noticed when using a brand new LCD TV with LED back light. The image tends to be a bit darker and blotted initially. After some time, the image improves. Just my two cents.

Finally, I would be claiming later a family pan pizza from Pizza Hut after using my BPI credit card to purchase this TV. Another credit card promo that any Dad would surely love. It would be better if the pizza comes with free beers.

02 July 2013

After cable installation for our new entertainment room, the cable TV technicians realized that the signal inside our house was degraded due to poor connectors. After the technicians have replaced the different connectors inside our house there was an improvement on the cable TV signal reception especially after I have mounted this 3D TV inside our entertainment room. Furthermore, the pixelation that occurred when the Digi-box was connected to TV was due to technical problem from the cable company and presently being corrected on their side according to them. Hence, they installed a loop-antenna on our Digi-Box so that when pixelation occurs we would simply revert the TV source from AV1 to antenna mode. In short, that was the reason for the pixelation on our new LG 3D when Digi-box is connected otherwise the image is quite clear and acceptable.

The LG 3D TV is now connected to cable antenna and the image has improved since the first time we used it. Likewise, the wall mount frame is a bit wider thus I could connect the antenna and AV cables conveniently even if the connectors are mounted horizontally.

When my youngest kid played his MP3 collections from his USB thumb drive a screen saver would automatically run after several minutes. More so, he loved to play Kingdom Hearts PlayStation game on 3D.

From my point of view, if you are using a digital source formats such as HDMI and DivX then you will definitely enjoy this flat screen. Whereas if you intend to play analog or composite source then you have to bear with the limitation of this flat screen though I could say that it is actually subjective.

Nevertheless, what more can a Dad asks for if he has a great source of digital format films from the net that can be watched on 3D while the audio is connected to a Yamaha decoder with Mordaunt Short speakers at the comfort of his home with chilled beer at hand.

25 August 2013

During our weekend family day, we spent our day at SM North EDSA. We paid a visit to SM Appliance Center near the food court to check the latest gadgets and appliances on display. We were surprised to observe that this LG model wasn't on display anymore.

05 April 2014

In preparation for the coming Holy Week I purchased a "Mad Drive" since life in the Metro stops during the Lenten Season. Not to mention that regular TV shows are suspended starting Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday. With more than 800 HD films on a single 1 TB HDD the family won't be bored during the entire Holy Week. See my post about this awesome drive: The Mad Drive

Mad Drive connected with my LG 3D flat screen.

My LG Cinema 3D works perfectly with my "Mad Drive." 3D effect is quite superb since all the pre-loaded films are in HD format. Even without 3D effect the HD films look great and play without any lag or delay.

By the way, you might be tempted to consider TCL flat screen due to its attractive price. You may check my post about our TCL dilemma: Planning to buy a TCL flat screen? Think twice!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and Dad's review maybe different from trendy kids' expectations. 


56 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review!!!

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  2. i think buy it

    would u recommend it?

    its cheaper here in thailand then samsungs, bigger and got more features..

    any good ?

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  3. Basing on price, 3D & other features plus extra 3d glasses n wall frame, panel protection and 2 yrs warranty, I highly recommend this TV.

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  4. Great review!! i also bought the same model of LG 3D CINEMA yesterday for only 2,699aed cash here in Lulu Al Wahda Mall UAE. I got the free six LG 3D Glasses, 1 LG Blueray player, wall bracket & free delivery & free wall mount installation.. it's a perfect buy for me & i highly recommend it! & it's still on sale here until July31 only so grab 1 now! thanks! :)

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  5. WOW! Lucky for you! Basing on present exchange rate, you bought it cheaper by around 8 k pesos plus bluray player. Enjoy!

    I used to buy also appliances at UAE when I was working at Gasco Bu hasa. So, Al Wahda Mall is now open. My old flat at Defence road is near to that mall.

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  6. Hi! Seeing that you bought this unit last June, I was wondering if you've noticed any backlight bleeding by now. I believe it can only be seen clearly while on a blank or "scrambled" channel of Skycable. (since it only shows a black screen with the Skycable notice in the middle of the screen) This is among my options as a replacement for my current LED. I would appreciate it very much if you could do a comprehensive report regarding the backlight bleeding, in general. Thanks a lot!

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  7. I am at dubai lounge now and will arrive at home tomorrow. I will try to check this bleeding if i have time tomorrow.

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    1. Thank you so much, sir! I am looking forward to it! :) For replacement kasi ang unit ko (Skyworth 42E38) dahil sa backlight bleeding. I can have it replaced with same brand/model or another brand/model. Your unit is what I am really considering. Everything else is ok naman sa unit ko. Masyado lang siguro akong metikuloso sa bleeding.

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    2. I tried checking the "backlight bleeding," it seemed there was very minimal bleeding. However, when viewed from other angle the bleeding disappeared. What I suggest is you try to check it by visiting any LG showroom kasi I have poor eyesight and I wasn't very particular regarding this matter. Remember, this is LG brand and as I believe, LG is producing some of the best flat screens out there.

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  8. Thanks a lot for checking, sir! Bihirang-bihira kasi ang display ng 42la6130 sa mga malls na napuntahan ko. Aside from that, very few ang nakikita kong reviews about this unit. Kaya nga natuwa ako nung nakita ko 'tong blog mo! Very informative ang review nyo, thanks! I will probably look for some more appliance stores here.

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  9. Hi,
    I just bought this TV myself yesterday. And after owning 2 other LG tvs abroad (42 & 60") i can say that this too is a darn good tv especially for the price. My wife and i watched a 3D Bluray on it last night via PS3 and the passive 3d glasses did quiet well. So if your thinking of purchasing id say go ahead! Picked it up for 34k Cash (abensons), however can be had for 29.5k on Sulit if in Manila. Being from Albay i couldnt wait and the shipping fee would almost equal Abenson Electrical price.

    Only con is because its in my room its a little too close to the bed (2meters), and watching in 3D mode sometimes creates some of the images to appear double vision. Not really the TVs fault but just saying.

    9/10

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    1. That is the main drawback for any passive 3D TV, You need to have a minimum distance between the TV and viewers to fully enjoy its 3D function. Fortunately, my entertainment room is spacious enough to satisfy this minimum distance.

      Furthermore, be careful in buying super cheap flat screen from some shops. There were instances where the distributor refused to honor the warranty given by these shops. For your info, all units sold by the distributor are registered on their database and in case your unit is not included on their database then your unit can be considered "fake" or "imitation." Units with international warranty is a different story but even so, most probably, basing on my experience, you will be charged higher fee when it comes to spare parts.

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  10. hi sir! great review for this tv. ask ko lang if have you tried using NMT's on this tv? thanks! :)

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    1. well, I am not very particular about the NMT since we are using only NTSC format in Philippines but I have tested this TV on different formats as well such as MP4, composite, JPEG pics and HDMI at the showroom. I am very satisfied in all of those formats but you need to live with the limitations in case you are using an older type of system such as composite or AV.

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  11. Did have built on Wi-Fi?? And can you use the Skype without a camera?
    Because I want to buy new smart tv and I have 2 TV-s in final, this LG42LA6130 and the Panasonic TX-L42E6E. Your opinion?? Tnx

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  12. I will ask you one thing, if you don't want other people to have an idea on what you're doing online then smart TV is not for you. The LG 3D TV can be a smart TV by connecting your laptop to it.

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  13. I plan to buy this tv on monday thank you for the review its help me a lot to decide to buy that model thank you

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  14. I was really worried on which to buy - Samsung or LG - Thanks to your review i decided on LG ( I myself am a dad to sweet naughty boy & girl aged 6 & 2years) so i think based on your review they are going to luv it
    thanks a lot

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    1. You're welcome. Kids would really prefer a 3D TV rather than a smart TV.

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  15. Thank you for the review sir... We are planning to buy this TV via installment.. You should use HDMI in your digibox so that you will be able to obtain clear and good image quality.. Thank you so much po...

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    1. Unfortunately, our 2 Digi boxes have no HDMI connection, only composite out.

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  16. i just bought lg la6130 4n inch tv and it turns off automatically with a logo LG life is good. it is so annoying because i cant watch programs without interruptions. I checked the sleep mode and timer - both of them are turned off. I dont know what is wrong. I just cant figure out, why even the remote is not working properly- i cant turn on and off my tv. it seems like it has his own capacity to control itself... it is such a pain.. I contacted LG support and I hope they can help me.... anyone has an idea why im experiencing this? pls help - thanks in advance

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    1. I hope the LG support can help you. I have no idea as well regarding your problem with your new LG. I would appreciate if you can share to us the steps that LG support would implement in order to solve the problem.

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    2. same case tayo sir. bought mine dec 2013 pro late jan 2014 it strted to on and off with the lg logo. sent it to the service center here in uae and they all just did ia recable it so after a few months balik ulit problem. binalik ko ulit but did not use it kc diretso sa cargo na. according to the sales staff, he had the same case and they replaced the whole power supply.

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  17. Does anyone know how this tv handles gaming form a console source or from the computer?

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    1. My kids simply connect the composite video/audio signals from their playstation to this TV then they set the TV on 3D.

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  18. Nice review, however I'm trying to make sense on your review about the backlight of this model, are you suggesting that this is an LCD 3D TV instead of LED?

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    1. Yes, this is an LCD TV with LED back light as I understand. Gone are the fluorescent backlight.

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  19. Thanks for this review! :) It helped me decide to get this wonderful unit last January 12, 2014. One thing I noticed in LG LCD/LED TV's is that you can't apply zoom or cinema zoom while viewing movies through USB's. So if you have movies in 720p format, you can't fill the whole screen (widescreen look) that has black bars at top and bottom. You can only change to original. But if your movies are in 1080p format then nothing to worry about, it fills the whole screen just fine.

    I also considered 42LA6200 but the price difference is heaven and earth for the Smart TV functionality so I ended up getting this model. What I hate most with Smart TV's today are the lack of keyboards and mouse that will ease the browsing. I can't imaging typing this comment without an actual keyboard.

    When I checked for media players in the market today that has internet connectivity features and I found this http://www.minix.com.hk/Products/MINIX-NEOX5.html very good deal (4k). It's based on android so you get to enjoy android stuff and you can plug your wireless mouse and keyboards or bluetooth devices. I ended up buying it today and I liked it so far.

    It also address my viewing pleasure with 720p format movies since it utilizes the whole screen.

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  20. Hi, Sir! Just wondering if you've ever encountered lags when playing movies from external HDD. I just tried my newly purchased LG 42LA6130 TV and it's a little frustrating to see those annoying lags. Any idea how to fix this problem? Thanks!

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    1. I haven't encountered this kind of problem. I used a 500 GB Seagate HDD. During the demo at the showroom the sales guy used a thumb drive and there wasn't any lag problem as well. I am not sure if you can used a 1TB HDD because my other flat screen can't read higher than 500 GB HDD. However, if your HDD is 500 GB or below the problem could be the format of the movie, is it in mp4 format?

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  21. What is the maximum power consumption of this tv, in terms of watts?

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    1. I forgot but you can simply check the rating at the back of the flat screen. My other 2 flat screens were below 100 watts each. Much lower wattage than the CRT TV.

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  22. I saw somewhere that this tv consumes 95.6W. When I checked my meter it only registered 0.048 kwh (only this tv in use). For comparison, I have a 21" CRT TV which consumes 110W.
    Also my 2Tb Western Digital ext. HD can be read by this tv.

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    1. For a 42" LCD, 95 watts is fairly acceptable. It is good to know that this TV can read a 2TB HDD. Now, I can upgrade my external HDD knowing that my LG TV can still read my downloaded movies. Thanks for the info.

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  23. Have you tried the dual play feature of this TV? How's your experience with it? Is it recommendable? Do you know the best 3D settings for this TV?

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    1. I haven't tried its dual play feature yet but I am enjoying its 3D. The 3D setting depends on your source. I always applied the max depth when watching analog cable channels while a minimum depth is enough for digital format sources such as USB and DVD.

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  24. It's a great review ,it helps me in buying a similar t.v.

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  25. Hi Sir!First of all Thank You for this reviews. I bought the same unit and its my 3rd day using it. I connected it to my laptop using HDMI cable to watch online movies but the screen ratio/resolution cant change into full screen. In the screen ratio under PICTURE setting panel,the "full screen" option is disabled and it cannot be changed.Do u have any idea on this?

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  26. Hi sir
    how much GB supported LG 3D TV pls confirm me once (pen-drive) and any hard disk support or not

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  27. Hi Sir
    how much GB supported in USB, I have 500GB extranal Hard disk this Disk is supported or not pls tell me once

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    1. No problem with 500GB HDD. I didn't encounter any problem when I watched movies from my 500 GB HDD.

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  28. i just bought 42la6130 at anson cash n carry for 27k,,included are 4pcs 3d glass and wall bracket..actually ang gusto ko talaga la6200,,kaya lang im planning to buy it cash..kaya ipon mode ang ginagawa ko,,im not rich,ang ginawa ko bawas sa lahat ng gastos..the lowest price i saw for la6200 is 34k..then my last visit at a mall,i notice that they full out the lg la series and only display the new 2014 model..medyo late na ko sa 3dtv..our last one is a 32 regza toshiba lcd
    na 2years 4monhts na and wala naman kming naging problema,kaya gusto ko talaga mas malaki and 3d ang susunod kong bibilin..kaya nung tinanong ko sa abenson,phase out na daw la6130,kaya nag hanap ako and nakakita ako sa anson..actually 2 na lang daw stock nila kaya tuwang tuwa ako at umabot pa ko,saka sakto pera ko.

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  29. Tnkz for ur great review ..
    I already booked this one and tomorrow i will collect it.

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  30. Thanks for your review and the link to Mad Drive. I'm scouting for a LED TV to replace my old LCD TV and this is one of the models that I'm considering. Your blog enabled me to make up my mind.

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  31. My Lg 32" smart 3d Tv looks amazing in the first 5 months or 6 months but suddenly while we are watching it turned off the whole tv becomes black but the power is just there but we cannot turn on the tv for viewing that's the main problem. There was no cracked or anything that might be the reason why the Tv had suddnely turned off. So what we did we carefully packed the Tv to its original packaging and brought it the store where we had bought but the store refuse to accept the item but the salesman had check the item and packed it back. So what they did they refer to us to the LJ Electronics Service Center (service center of the LG TV) to fix the problem. In short the the LJ representative told us "this is very easy and nothing much to worry we can fix it for 3 days it's just a fuse" so we are happy and looking forward to their promise being a customer. So we waited for 3 days then and the LJ representative had finally called us guess what? she said ma'am there is a dead pixel in your screen or panel and we had refer this to our main office but they refuse to change the material that should be change, its because aside from the dead pixel it has also a little cracked inside the LCD panel not the outer glass of the TV but the cracked was inside the LCD panel.pano nangyari yun? walang kahit anong gasgas sa glass sa labas ng tv but nagkaroon ng basag sa loob? the question is, sinong nag open at nag fix ng tv ? kami ba? diba sila? sino ngayun ang nakabasag sa loob? So we had argument that the main problem why the tv should be repaired because of the power not the dead pixel or cracked we just wondered why that after 3 days in the LJ Electronics Service Center the problem become worst and told us to pay 10,000 pesos so that the Tv will be fix to its original and the warranty will be functional again so meaning in this case we cannot avail the warranty upon the purchase because of that problem which is not our fault why the unit had been broken. So they did not fix the Tv because we refuse to pay that amount. The worst things here they blame us of the broken panel at alam naman nilang hindi yon ang problema namin sa Tv so we conclude na sila ang nakasira sa unit o nakabasag kaso hindi nila inamin dahil daw malaki babayaran nila. If nabasag ang loob ng tv, how much kaya ang basag sa labas di ba? Inireklamo namin ito sa kanilang management sabi ng Manager na tumawg in behalf po sa amin baka magrelamo ang customer natin ngunit ang sabi niya "Papuntahin kahit saang korte gusto nila dahil haharapin natin" ganyan mag response ang LG sa customer nila. Ngayon sira na talaga ang Tv namin as in totally damage na after 3 weeks mula nang ito'y nag power off. Is that fair................it's up to you kung bibili pa kayo ng LG basta kami never to LG!

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    1. Your case is different since you opted to re-pack and bring your TV personally back to the place where you bought it. Normally the service company will send somebody to your house and access the damage like what happened on my TCL flat screen and in case they need to pull-out the unit it will be their responsibility and in some cases they provide temporary unit as replacement. Even the water heater I bought from SM was serviced by a third party technician in my house when I complained to the salesman that it stopped working after a few weeks.

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  32. i want to buy this and use it with my laptop, play games, watch movies etc is it this unit good for it? ofc compare with price. and which hdmi cabel i should buy for it?

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  33. We have one but the price is less 10k, thus we brought it with the price of 29, 990 and 8 3D glasses same as you have.

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  34. Gr8 blog.. I just bought this 42inch LG cinema 3d and went through similar experiences. Just wanted to check if it is ok to play 3d content from a hdmi DVD player to avoid the video zooming issue of USB play.

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  35. hanks for the detailed review sir. Planning to replace our crt tv (with a tight budget) but im not really sure what to buy since there are lots of brands with diff functionality which im not familiar to. Would like to ask if u know skyworth?would u recommend buying it?thanks in advance :)

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