The sharpest picture of all the 19" sets in the store. White lettering does not "bloom out" like most cheap sets do. The 4 video presets are far more than hype. A/V jacks.

None at this price.

These days, finding a decent basic 19" set is nearly impossible. This is a market where the sets are truly disposable items... the makers are focusing more on low cost than good focus. Defects are very common, plus many of these sets are simply 13" sets with a larger CRT.. most of them looked better in their 13" size! Indeed my search for a basic 19" set found far more duds with terrible pictures than sets worth spending any sum of money on.

So what is a person to do when they want a basic 19" set? First I ruled out some of the brands with poor track records for reliability (mainly Philips) as well as the true cheapies like Funai and Konka. What I did was search for "the best of the bad lot" - and found a couple gems.

One was a Toshiba (which I understand 19" Toshibas are made by Samsung) and this Samsung. Here is where this Samsung really fit the bill. The video quality is clearly the best of the lot - surpassing some higher priced 20" sets in the store. Most notable is the lack of "bloom" with white text, only a Toshiba set (mentioned above) could complete.

Features are good as well. Samsung's OSD menus are sharp and show-off the sets detail, and this set does not fail in this respect. The inclusion of a clock for a timer function is a bonus (most 19" sets lack this) and having A/V inputs on the back as well as the front is a definite plus.

I expected the 4 video presets to be hype, but they aren't. The presets work around 3 primary brightness levels with tweaks to contrast, color saturation and color temperature at each step - plus your own custom settings are there too. Since a button on the remote is dedicated to switching these, you can set the picture for a dark room or bright daylight instantly.

Overall I am quite pleased. If you want a television for the long haul, you do need to head up-market, however if you are looking for a basic set in the spare bedroom or for the kids - give this set a good look. Any extra money you have to spend over some of the true budgets sets is clearly worth it! I am giving this set a high rating keeping it's low price and competition in mind.

Similar Products Used:

Better Sony models and Toshiba. A similar priced Sanyo which was DOA.