CD-R King 32 inch LED TV REVIEW

After 11 years of service I finally decided to retire my old Philips 29″ CRT TV. I was looking for an LCD or LED TV and since it was just going to be used by my kids to watch cartoons and the maids to watch their telenovelas. I just wanted a cheap one. The cheapest “brand name” LCD TV I found was a Sanyo for about 19k. I remembered that CD-R KING had an LCD tv so when I went there I was amazed that the 32″ LCD TV was 11.5K and the LED TV was 12.5k. For a 1k difference, I’m sure you would choose the LED, too. I figured I’ll take the risk and buy it. My old Philips cost 29k and took 2 people to lift the box. This LED TV was about 55% cheaper and I carried it out with one hand. Spec wise, some highlights that stood out were the 3 HDMI ports, Full HD 1080p and, a USB port for photos and videos (more on this later).

 Sometimes buying from CD-R King can be hit or miss, so spending this much money can be quite a risk especially when the box says in big letters “with REMOTE CONTROL”. Gee, I thought to myself, “it better have a remote coz I can’t remember when was the last time a TV was sold without one”. Anyway, after the unboxing and setup I already encountered a design flaw with the position of the ports, (as you can see from the photos) there is a ledge that hinders easy access to the ports. Still not a deal breaker. Playing a 1080p video from my media player video quality was quite good. Admittedly, a Samsung LED TV still has deeper blacks and richer color, but again for the price and intended use…not bad.

Full specs are on the box!

Some ports are not easy to access!

If you are wondering, since it has a USB port, can it be used as a media player? Well, the answer is, “sort of”. It recognized my 500GB external powered HDD and was able to play jpeg, avi and wmv files with out any problems. But it will not recognize mkv files. So you will still need a media player if you want HD video. As for the sound quality, well lets just say… it’s terrible. I’m guessing the small speakers just don’t have enough power and base to produce decent sound. To be fair, most flat screen TVs are ment to be connected to a home theater or sound bar (which by the way they also sell at CD-R King).

Media player does preview but no MKV files for you!

All in all, only time will tell if this is a good buy. It does come with a 2 week replacement and a 1 year service warranty. For the price, I dare you to find a cheaper 32″ LED TV. Now, if only CD-R King were also in the business of making cars…

The Good:

- 3 HDMI Ports

- USB Port

- Price!

The Bad:

- Access to ports

- Poor Sound Quality

- MKV files not supported

- Untested reputation

Note: A reader was right to point out that the resolution is only 1366x768 which means it is only 720p not 1080. I can't believe I overlooked this. It will accept 1080 but will resize it to a lower resolution. I wish manufacturers would stop putting 1080HD to avoid misleading consumers.