Solid LCD TV for me

Excellent picture. Better than at least 80% of the LCD pictures I compared it to. Very bright. Very consistent. The only negative I might note is that the deepest blacks tend to be flat. But I'm ok with that because of the brightness, rich color, and viewing angles it allows. There is no glossy screen protector so reflection is not an issue. It looks just as good in a well-lit room as it does in the dark.

I've had this television for about nine months now and have had no issues. It was purchased at Wal Mart for $750.00. Even with the ongoing drop in LCD HD TV tech, that's an excellent price point for a 32" LCD even today. I took a chance on it knowing that it was a "self-branded" product. But then, folks who purchase the Insignia branded products from Best Buy are doing the exact same thing- and at a higher cost.

The TV itself offers a 1366x768 native resolution. However, I have a PS3 hooked up to it and have run Blu Ray movies to this LCD TV via HDMI cable and every time it tells me that it's accepting a 1080p signal. Now, that might be my TV lying to me, but Blu Ray looks spectacular on this television, as do games. Regular television is excellent. Even regular DVD movies and TV series look better on this TV than a similar-sized SD television in our house.

Like all LCD HDTV's, it does take some tweaking to bring out the best but if you've got a keen eye for such things, the setup is easy. I wouldn't suggest that anyone run audio to the television directly. The speakers are a bit weak and don't allow for much base. However, if you've got a surround sound system to help out, that shouldn't be an issue.

The inputs are solid. There's one HDMI input and multiple S-Video inputs (7 inputs total). I'm currently running video in from my PS3 via HDMI (brilliant picture) and a regular DVD player via S-Video. It will also accept component cables from an HD satellite receiver.

I'd like an additional HDMI port just for "future proofing" but considering that most folks will want to use a surround sound system with (at least) multiple HDMI passthrough inputs, that's not a real issue. And I haven't yet found an LCD television that produces sound comparable with a good surround sound system.

I haven't yet found a universal remote/remote code that will work with this set, however. That's a gripe, but considering the cost savings associated with this set, it's not a big deal for me. There's a remote that will work. Somewhere. Allegedly. If you do enough research. I think.

The TV is rather light (@40 lbs) and comes with a swivel base (very nice). The speakers are positioned forward at the bottom of the unit, so the side-to-side profile is as compressed as any unit on the market. That's excellent for folks who don't want to hang it on the wall and don't have a lot of room. It's a good-looking unit that doesn't take up a lot of space. That's not the reason I purchased it, but it's a good "to-have".

All that being said, I've heard the horror stories about ILO customer support. That does leave me a bit worried about the future, but I'm also hoping that my set will continue to work as well as it has. If it does, it's a better value than anything else on the market.

Update 07/26/2007: My ILO 32" LCD TV is still working well. No picture or screen issues. No breakdowns of any kind. In my initial review, I did note that I hadn't found a universal remote to work with this TV, so I've been real real gentle with my original remote- which is a major battery hog (3 Volt lithium). I've FINALLY found the solution from an unlikely source via a little known Universal Gamer learning remote (model UR7-G2) from Universal Remote Control, Inc. There's no ILO code included, but the Universal Gamer remote can learn every button from the original ILO remote. The best part is that the UG remote was originally priced at $49.99, but was marked down to only $5.00 at my local K-Mart. While I don't want this update to sound like a review on this great remote, it does clear one of my "Cons" and I felt that others looking for a universal remote solution at a reasonable cost might appreciate hearing about my find.