Samsung LN32B360

Audio Quality (5.25)

The speaker built into the LNB360 are decent, but unspectacular. Rated at 5 watts, we found that they produced average sound, with clear bass and sharp trebles. But neither end of the range really leapt out and grabbed us; in our test sequence of a clip from monster movie Cloverfield, the monster sounded more like a small, angry dog than a hideous visitation of evil from the stygian depths. SRS TruSurround XT HD virtual surround is also available, but this had only a slight impact, producing a slightly wider sound field, but not making us worried that we were about to be crushed by the monster. The built-in speakers would be fine for watching the news, but  if you really want the whole monster growling, rocket launching and New York stomping experience of movies like Cloverfield, buy a separate surround sound system and put the speakers around you.

Menu Interface (8.0)

The LN32B360 uses the same tabbed approach to the on-screen menu as most TVs, dividing the features up into a number of categories that you navigate using the direction keys and OK button on the remote. The menu button opens the menu, and the return button is used to navigate back up the menu structure. At any time you can exit it completely with the exit button. The menu is broken down into tabs for picture, sound, setup, inputs and support. Each one of these can contain several screens worth of options and sub-screens, so changing some settings can involve a lot of button pressing. If you want to enable the game mode (where the display turns off any processing that could cause a lag that might mean death in a game), you have to press the menu button, select setup, press OK, scroll down, press OK again and then set the mode to on.

The main menu of the LN32B360

One nice feature is the Plug & Play option, which sets the TV to a standard group of settings with just a few button presses; ideal if you aren't the sort of person that wants to fiddle with settings.

The Advanced Settings menu

Manual (6.75)

The LN32B360 comes with a printed manual that is adequate for what's needed. It's easy enough to read and cvovers the basics (such as how to plug the TV in, connect it up, etcetera), but it doesn't go into a lot of depth on the configuration of the manual or what some features do.