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150 of 154 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent system for the price.
By DeAd MiKe
Updated January 2011.At the time of my current purchase (yes, current purchase - I'll explain that later), the unit was $420 and is worth every penny (it's almost $100 less now, so there's really no excuse for anyone to not pick it up). For that price, you get a very good Blu-ray player, decent speakers (I'll get to that later too), and the ability to do all kinds of streaming to the device using either an Ethernet cable or the device's built in Wireless N certified antenna. The main reason I wanted this particular unit was two-fold. One, it is the only decent Home Theater System that has built-in DivX HD support, which means that it has the ability to play pretty much all types of media (MKV, AVI, DivX, MP4, MPG, etc...) off of a USB or from your home server. This was crucial. This Blu-ray home theater system also just so happened to match the design of my LG 42LH40 1080p 120hz LCD HDTV (seen here: http://www.amazon.com/LG-42LH40-42-Inch-1080p-120Hz/dp/B001VJHWTQ - AMAZING television as soon as you turn off the 'TruMotion' feature). So, this Home Theater System matched my needs.This was my first Blu-ray player, but I didn't even really get it for that. I mainly wanted to be able to stream all kinds of media to something in my living room that could also playback my DVDs and eventual Blu-rays. My Xbox 360 can handle all of my media, but that's in the bedroom. I needed something decent for the living room, and something to take advantage of my beautiful TV. So, after getting this system, I tried some Blu-rays out - and WOW! I've since bought almost 50 titles on Blu-ray. The picture and sound is amazing - but I'll get to that later!I've mentioned "current purchase" and "first purchase" in this review so let me explain that. This device originally had a manufacturing defect which caused a loud high pitch whistle sound (sounded like a tea kettle) to emit from the front right, rear right, and sometimes the center speaker. I was the first to document this online, and I did it on the Amazon message board on this very page. I also replied to several reviewers on this and the page for the LG LHB335 device. Others mentioned this problem on various websites (I'm not going to plug them here in my review), so trust me, this was a big problem. On top of that, I was in constant contact with the head of LG's Quality Assurance team. After talking to him about the issue, he admitted it existed and promised to find a fix. I grew impatient and saw the price for this device drop (around $80 from what I originally purchased it for) so I decided to return it and thought I would re-buy it at a cheaper price once he assured me a fix was found. Well, a fix was found. I re-purchased the device and it's working flawlessly. The fixed ones are manufactured June 2010 and later. If you purchase it and the manufacturing date is before June 2010, you will have the whistle sound.So, back to the review. There have been some firmware updates lately that added some new features (DivX TV - which is awesome, MLB TV, and Napster), so make sure the first thing you do when you get the device is to update the firmware. It's also good to do a factory reset the first time you do that just in case (me and at least one other person have noticed a bug that was solved when we did that - but it's possible that the bug would have been fixed with the firmware update that was released a few days after that - I don't know). It's also a good idea to go into the speaker settings and adjust the speaker distance (the amount of feet between each speaker and your usual listening position). Now, this device came with rather short speaker wires (probably the shortest out of any Home Theater System I've ever purchased). This was solved with less than $10 and a quick trip to Radio Shack. I'm glad the speaker connections aren't proprietary like some other manufacturer's models out there. Let's get to the sound.The sound is pretty impressive. It's possible that the people complaining about the sound are doing it for two reasons. For one, maybe they used the short speaker wires and thus, their speakers are too close together. Mine are pretty far apart from each other, so I have no sound problems. For two, it's possible that they left the default 2-channel sound output set to Natural (or was it Natural Plus?). For two-channel stereo audio, I didn't like this very much. Changing it to 'PL II Movie' made two-channel stereo audio sound NICE. I have 0 complaints about regular stereo audio anymore. By default, the receiver is properly set to output 5.1 channel audio with the 'Bypass' setting. This means that the receiver does no artificial mixing of 5.1 channel sound. It outputs it exactly as it is given it. This is the right way to do it. The receiver will also remember your settings for 5.1 channel and 2 channel, so don't worry about having to manually switch it to Bypass for 5.1 and to PL II Movie for 2 channel. Go to something that is 2 channel (like the FM radio, or a DVD menu), change the sound output to PL II Movie once, and never worry about adjusting the sound output again (unless you are strictly listening to CDs or MP3s and then you will have various different music outputs to choose from). So, due to changing the stereo output and having the speakers at a nice distance, I really love the sound output of this system. I did notice that the bass was a little low by default so I increased the sub-woofer volume to 3 and it sounded really good. I tried changing it to 6 at first but that was WAY too much bass for me. 3 was a perfect level.Hooking the system up to my Wireless N network was a breeze. To make matters easier, I set my SSID to 'broadcast' so the Wireless N device inside the device would pick up my network, I put in the password once, and it was a go. I then disabled the broadcast of my SSID, turned the unit off, turned it back on, and it automatically re-connected without a problem. It remembers your password and automatically logs you in to your network so you never have to worry about that again. Good. Clicking on Homelink, I was greeted to my wireless network. I saw the CIFS network login for the PC, and the one for my Windows 7 Homegroup (which is the one I wanted to use). Before it would connect to my PC via the Windows Media Player server (the Windows 7 Homegroup), I had to go into the Homegroup settings in my Windows 7 PC, click on 'All Networks,' and make sure the device (which is listed as 'Unknown Device') was set to ALLOW. Once done, I was inside my PC's video library. 14GB 1080p MKV files streamed flawlessly over my wireless connection where my device was 50 feet from my router. The only time I would run in to a problem was when I would try to fast-forward a large file. I'm not sure if this is because of the device, or my wireless network, so I won't blame the device. However, fast-forwarding a file when played on a USB (and naturally, off of a Blu-ray disc and a DVD) worked fine. So the issue was definitely wireless related. It's probably too much to ask to be able to fast-forward such a large file over WiFi, but I don't care as long as it PLAYS the file fine. It does. You can pause it all you want and it will resume instantly as soon as you press play. This was all I wanted. In addition, since fast-forwarding large files doesn't work, I've noticed that you can press 'Info' and skip directly to the time that you want, which works just as well if not better than fast-forwarding.The player had no problem playing files off of each of my USB sticks, but there was one thing I noticed. If the USB external hard drive was formatted to NTFS, I could just plug it in and the device would pick it up right away. If the USB flash drive was formatted to FAT32, I would have to turn the device off and turn it back on for it to recognize it. It may be because of my particular USB flash drive, or it may be because it is FAT32 and not NTFS. Either way, not really a big deal. As long as I can play all file types off of FAT32 and NTFS, I'm happy.YouTube, Pandora, VuDu, Netflix - all worked fine. As of now, you can't search via Netflix - you can only access things from your Instant Queue or look at some recommendations. Not really a problem, but worth mentioning. If you open up VuDu, make sure to go into the options and check out the overscan settings and make sure it is appropriate to your HDTV so nothing is cut off (unless your HDTV is set to 1:1 pixel mapping - which it definitely should be if you want the sharpest and most accurate picture - then you won't ever have to worry about overscan). YouTube works well, it seems to stream videos at whatever their default resolution is (whether it is 360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p). You can log in to your YouTube account so I'm sure that if you have your account to display HD video by default, that it would do that on this device. I don't really care to find out since I have a PC for YouTube. I just wanted to see if it worked. It does. It will store your YouTube history and not present you with an option to clear it, though. Doing a factory restore will clear your history (among other things) in the event that you reaaaaaaaally need to clear your history.Let's talk Blu-ray. When I first got the device, I had a little problem with some movies when playing them at 24 frames per second (which you will want to enable as long as you have a 120hz/240hz LCD, or Plasma HDTV) but that was promptly fixed with a firmware update a week after I e-mailed LG about the problem (apparently, their whole line of this year's Blu-ray players were affected so I'm sure I was not the only one contacting them about it) and I have not had a problem since. If you don't know why you would want to set it to 24hz instead of 60hz - to make a long story short, it will play the movie at the proper framerate because film is recorded at 24 frames per second. Don't worry, it WILL know when you are playing something that should be in 24 frames per second (Blu-ray) or 29.97 (DVD) and play things at the proper frame rate as long as you have 24hz selected. If you have 60hz selected, everything will play at 60hz. So, once again, do 24hz if your HDTV is above 60hz (like 120hz or 240hz). If not, don't worry about it.Upscaling of non-HD movies (DVDs & movies off of the USB) is pretty good. Don't expect Oppo-player type of quality as they uses a far more advanced scaler than any other manufacturer on the market, but it's still damn good. There were a couple of DVDs and 1400mb AVI files that I would have sworn were Blu-rays if I didn't know any better. I have no complaints about the upscaling - and of course, Blu-rays look perfect. I don't have a single complaint about how they look. They do give you the ability to customize how movies look (for instance: brightness, contrast, sharpness, digital noise reduction) and they have some custom settings like 'Vivid' and 'Movie.' If your HDTV is properly calibrated, you shouldn't ever need to take it off of 'Standard.'DVDs (and movies off of the USB) load instantly. Blu-rays can take anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds to load, depending on the movie. This seems to be normal. Apparently certain discs are very Java-extensive (like 'The Dark Knight' which may take 15 seconds) so they take a little longer than regular discs (like 'The Fifth Element which only takes around 5 seconds). Playing a movie off of my home network takes about 5 seconds to load, no matter the file size.I noticed some people describing the menus as sluggish. While this was true of the old firmware, it's definitely not true of the current one. The menus move just as fast as any menu.Also, since I have an LG HDTV, hooking this device up to it via HDMI eliminates the need for my HDTV's remote (it has since gone into a drawer). The remote that came with this device (which is very nice, comfortable, and offers lots of buttons for all kinds of different things) can turn on the TV, change inputs if you need, and do some other things. It can't do everything, so make sure your LG HDTV is set up properly, then hide the remote once you get this since you won't really need it again.This device has TWO HDMI inputs and one output. This is more than enough for me. I have the cable box as one input, and since it has a built in Blu-ray player, the HDMI output handles that since the receiver doesn't need another HDMI input to handle Blu-ray. I tested out my Xbox 360 in the second HDMI input and that works just perfectly too. The device will remember your last input, so if you leave it on HDMI 1 and power it off, it will return to HDMI 1 when you power it back on. This is how it should be (some other manufacturers don't do this for some bizarre reason).It's very easy to work, especially when everything is working properly. I haven't tested out the iPod dock yet (since I don't own an iPod or an iPhone), but it plays MP3s off of my phone and standalone MP3 player just fine. The FM (and AM) radio work fine as well. The system can be pretty loud. I normally keep it on 10 for regular cable viewing (15 if it's a movie where I want to really enjoy the loud sound). So, don't worry about the system not being loud enough. The speakers sometimes pop when watching cable. This only happens when certain networks switch to and from commercials. It doesn't seem to have it on every network, which is weird. It happens more on the E! network than anything else. It doesn't really bother me that much because it never happens during a TV show or movie, only when switching to commercials. If it happened during the actual show, or with movies from a USB or disc, I wouldn't tolerate it. Since it only happens when commercials start on certain networks, I'll excuse it simply because the other great features of this product far outweigh that slight pop sound (it's not LOUD, it's just noticeable). Toward the end of December 2010, the popping sound had been greatly reduced with a firmware update. It's much better now.All in all, this was a very buggy product at first, but NOW it is working properly, so I will give it a 4. It would be a solid 5 if those problems never existed in the first place. I would have given it a 3 or less if I were still running in to some problems. But, everything is working as expected, so I really have no complaints other than my time being wasted in the past with researching the whistle sound and sending it in to LG for repair, or back to Amazon for a replacement, and everything else. I would also like to point out that Amazon was very generous to me in regards to replacing and returning this item several times. I'm up and running now with no problems and my movies look and sound perfect, so I'm willing to forgive LG for the bugs and wasted time.
60 of 62 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent if you need an all-in-one.
By Caryn Best
Pros: - Easy to setup - Easy to use & navigate - Finds wireless network automatically - Finds DLNA servers automatically (mine running on XP in another room) - Runs you tube well enough to be entertained. - Entertainment renting is smooth and effortless. - Blu Ray disks run well with no skipping - Streams Xvid and Divx flawlessly - Receives speaker wire rather than proprietary connectors - Speakers are decent and never break up at loud volume - Instant DVD/BRay startup and eject/open tray - iPod works in both onscreen mode and iPod interface - your choice. - Good speaker/theater presets - Excellent support with a phone number on unit!Cons: - Interface is slow and clunky - Can't eject a dvd/BRay without disturbing what you are watching - No option to change resolution in YouTube - No direct input links on remote - must scroll to get to desired input - Has some trouble deciphering High-Def Directv at times from HDMI input - Remote not universal - weak - Speakers are mediocre in sound quality - only decent at low volumes - iPod door feels flimsy but never broke - Hard to navigate interface w/out remote - Rewinding and forwarding a DLNA stream slow and unreliableTraining: - Took 15 minutes to train 12 year old son. - Too 1 hour total to train wifeBuild Quality: - Light and plasticy - Decent weight - middle of the road - iPod door feels it will break off one day - Volume know tough and precise - Disk tray thin - vulnerable - Speakers OK - not to light - Remote solid with nice sheen - not the normal matte black - Well packaged and documentation goodOverall Recommendation: - Compare's well to dedicated components - If you need an all-in-one Receiver/Disk/iPod unit its a go. - Get the lesser model if you don't need wireless or 2 HDMI ports. - For the price I could not build a Media PC to do all this does. - Good for those who like the rental streams*** I give it a 8 out of 10 for the Package/Price
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Great features and the sound quality is good if you can't hear the ultrasonic noise
By Rouslan Dimitrov
After reading the other reviews I was very skeptical about this particular HTIB, so I went to a store determined to get a good set for about $500. Here I focus mostly on the sound quality because that is what matters most to me. I compared:Onkyo 5300 $500Yamaha 593BL $500LG LHB535 $400 + Bluray, wifi and all the other high-tech pluses.and they perform in that order. The Onkyo sounds very clear and is a winner. This Yamaha comes with the plastic speakers (unlike the 693) and it sounds just a bit better than the LG, but both have a somewhat flat and resonating sound at mid-frequencies. The reason why I picked the LG is very simple - it sounds just a bit worse, but it's quite feature rich and modern. (Pandora on wifi is a real plus!)Electronically, the whole unit is efficient due to its impulse driven power supply and power amplifiers. It has USB and LAN connections and is a third the size of the others I mentioned. I just feel glad I bought a piece of modern technology, really. The Onkyo and the Yamaha come with classical class AB amplifiers and normal 50Hz transformers and thus are heavy and output a lot of heat. I know that is meaningless to most people, but everyone is idiosyncratic in a way :)Update: I saw many complaints about the high pitched sound coming out of the center and right speakers. Yes, it is there in the January 2010 built and though subtle (ie cannot be heard in a store), it is noticeable in between songs. I returned mine and got one made in June 2010. It works flawlessly so far.
See all 53 customer reviews...
computer fine, service not good
Stay away from this!
