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  • Introduction

  • Overall Design

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Stand/Mount

  • Controls

  • Remote Control

  • In the Box

  • Black Level

  • Peak Brightness

  • Contrast

  • Tunnel Contrast

  • White Falloff

  • Uniformity

  • Greyscale Gamma

  • Color Temperature

  • RGB Curves

  • Motion Performance

  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

  • Resolution Scaling

  • Formats

  • Viewing Angle

  • Reflectance

  • Video Processing

  • Calibration

  • Video Modes

  • Ergonomics & Durability

  • Button Layout & Use

  • Programming & Flexibility

  • Connectivity

  • Placement

  • Audio Quality

  • Menu Interface

  • Instruction Manual

  • Internet Features

  • Local Media Playback

  • Other Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Conclusion

  • Model Series Comparison

  • Photo Gallery

  • Ratings & Specs

  • Introduction
  • Overall Design
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Stand/Mount
  • Controls
  • Remote Control
  • In the Box
  • Black Level
  • Peak Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Tunnel Contrast
  • White Falloff
  • Uniformity
  • Greyscale Gamma
  • Color Temperature
  • RGB Curves
  • Motion Performance
  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps
  • Resolution Scaling
  • Formats
  • Viewing Angle
  • Reflectance
  • Video Processing
  • Calibration
  • Video Modes
  • Ergonomics & Durability
  • Button Layout & Use
  • Programming & Flexibility
  • Connectivity
  • Placement
  • Audio Quality
  • Menu Interface
  • Instruction Manual
  • Internet Features
  • Local Media Playback
  • Other Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Conclusion
  • Model Series Comparison
  • Photo Gallery
  • Ratings & Specs

Introduction

Overall Design

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The Samsung LN32C350 is as nondescript as TVs come. The plastic has a slightly translucent, piano black gloss. There's no fancy silkscreen patterns or crazy colors. The bezel is neither excessively thick or thin. It's certainly not going to catch any admiring stares, but it won't get any jeers either.

Front

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The Samsung LN32C350 is an inexpensive (cheap?) TV, and you can tell as much by looking at it up close. The plastic is thin and lightweight, some might say flimsy. The whole unit could easily be lifted out the box with one hand. But then, how much of a beating do you need a TV to take? It's not like these are routinely strapped to the bed of a pickup truck like some mobile drive-in theater. Huh, that actually sounds kind of fun.

Along the bottom of the front panel are the onboard controls – a series of touch sensitive areas for basic functionality.

Back

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The back of the Samsung LN32C350 has a series of ridges on the back, like a giant Ruffles potato chip. The inexplicable design is... there, we just said it... 'inexplicable.' All the ports are located in the lower corner.

Sides

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Notice that there are no ports on the sides of the Samsung LN32C350. They're all located on the back. Because the TV does not turn on its base, this makes it a little harder to plug cables in. There are also no onboard controls on the sides; these are located on the front.

Stand/Mount

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The base feels quite flimsy, but the TV is so light, we suppose there's not too much cause for concern. The TV cannot swivel on this base, which is always frustrating when you're trying to service a wide room or access the ports in the back. However, the TV is light enough that you can probably just lift and turn it if necessary.

Controls

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The onboard controls for the Samsung LN32C350 are located below the screen on the front. Each is a touch-sensitive area rather than a hard button, which means you won't get any tactile response when you push it. This can often make for cumbersome handling. It also means that you're leaving fingerprints in a conspicuous spot every time you push a button.

Remote Control

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The remote control that ships with the Samsung LN32C350 is shorter than most Samsung remotes, but bears a similar design. It's not a bad design, overall, with all the buttons clearly labeled and smartly grouped. Read more in the Remote Control section of this review.

In the Box

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The Samsung LN32C350 ships with the stand, the remote control, batteries, an instruction manual, and a tether to attach the TV to a wall, which prevents tipping in earthquakes and such. This should not be mistaken for a wall mounting system, which is relatively expensive and never ships with a TV.

The TV is very easy to put together, thanks to its light weight. You can easily lift it out, flip it over, attach the stand, then flip it back and place it on your table or entertainment center.

Black Level

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The black level of the Samsung LN32C350 proved to be very good, according to our lab tests. It outscored every other TV in its class, as you can see from the chart below, sometimes by a little and sometimes by a lot. This is not really a surprise, as Samsung has cultivated shown consistently good-to-great performance throughout its entire line-up, even the cheapies. More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

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The Samsung LN32C350 has no trouble producing a sufficiently bright white. Few LCDs fail this test. We typically see more problems with plasma displays. The chart below indicates that all the TVs in this grouping did fairly well, though none approached the 400 cd/m2 mark or above, which we would consider 'very bright.' More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

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The Samsung LN32C350 showed a good contrast ratio, thanks to a deep black level and a relatively bright white. It fared better than any of the TVs in our comparison pool. Keep in mind, however, that the competing TVs are all 2009 models, so there's a chance that those companies could gain some ground in 2010.

There's one note that we'd like to make about the Samsung LN32C350's performance. Although the lab scores here are very good, and it was just as evident to the eye, there was one performance issue that we don't have a lab test for. The TV looks oversharpened. Even when we turned the sharpness all the way down to 'zero,' there were still hints of oversharpening. TVs do things like this all the time. Engineers assume that viewers want a certain level of color saturation, or sharpening, or auto contrast altering, even if we say we don't. So they just make those features a permanent part of the baseline processing. You can't turn it down below a certain threshold. The Samsung LN32C350 is just one of the unfortunate cases where it's quite obvious that the baseline is too high. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

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The Samsung LN32C350 passed the tunnel contrast test, but only by a hair. This test measures how well a TV can maintain consistent black levels, even when that little patch of black is surrounded by bright white. The chart below, ideally, should be an even, horizontal line, not the sloping mess you see. Samsung, you get a D+. Study harder next time. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

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On the opposite end of that test is the white falloff, which measures how well the TV can maintain consistent whites. The Samsung LN32C350 did just fine here, as most LCD displays do. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

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The greyscale gamma chart tells us how well the Samsung LN32C350 handles shadow, midtones, and highlights. The lower left tail of that line indicates that the TV has hard time with shadow details. Ideally, it would be a constant slope upward. However, the rest of the curve was smooth, if a little steep. Overall, it was a satisfactory performance. Just don't expect too much in the very darkest parts of the screen during a horror movie. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

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The Samsung LN32C350 is excellent at maintaining a consistent color temperature. As you can see from the chart below, the white levels errors almost never strayed into the area of humor perceptibility. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

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The Samsung LN32C350 showed surprisingly smooth color curves for a TV this cheap. Each of those lines below represents the red, green, and blue channels that all TVs display in. Sure, there are some small bumps, which would indicate instances of color banding, but the lines seem to move in tandem with each other. Overall we were quite happy with the results. More on how we test RGB curves.

The strips below are digitally recreated performances based on the information in the chart above, then compared with competing TVs.

Motion Performance

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The Samsung LN32C350 showed a great, smooth motion. We were able to see plenty of fine detail retention when objects were in motion. Unusually, the LN32C350 has no motion smoothing processing features of any kind. These are almost always found on modern HDTVs, though it's a little less likely with entry-level models. We're therefore doubly pleased that the TV can produce a good performance in this test without any additional features.

As good as the motion smoothness test was, we saw plenty of motion artifacting. Most pointedly, lines that should have been perfectly vertical turned into slanted diagonals when they moved back and forth across the screen. The problem: laggy processing. We've seen this occasionally in other TVs, and it's never pretty. We suppose you just can't expect every element of performance to be outstanding in TVs this cheap.

Fortunately, some of the other common artifacting issues were not too pronounced. There were only minor instances of strobing and false coloration. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

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The Samsung LN32C350 has the ability to process native 24fps footage. However, it doesn't do the best job. In slow panning shots, the stuttering is obvious. More expensive TVs frequently make use of motion smoothing features in cases like this, but the Samsung LN32C350 doesn't have any. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

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The Samsung LN32C350 is a native 720p display, but plenty of the content you throw at it will be of a lower resolution. It's the TV's job to take that data and upscale it for the screen. Unfortunately, the TV is only moderately successful at this task. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

Footage in the 480p resolution lost 2% of the top and bottom, and 3% of the sides due to the Samsung LN32C350 overscanning. However, we saw few other problems.

720p

Video in the 1080p format lost only 1% on all sides to overscan, but showed significant scaling problems. Areas of high frequency detail were heavy with Moire patterns.

1080i

Sadly, video footage in the 1080i format was probably the worst of the bunch, and 1080i is the most common HD video format you'll get with cable/satellite TV. There was no overscan loss, but the Moire patterns were impossible to ignore.

We're wondering if the Samsung LN32C350's heavy use of oversharpening is the culprit here. As we mentioned elsewhere in the review, we saw far more sharpening artifacts than usual, and there was no way to lower it beyond a certain threshold. Sharpening is commonly used to increase the perceived resolution of an image by darkening contrasting borders. It's a standard practice of most video processing, but there's simply too much in this TV.

Formats

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The Samsung LN32C350 is a native 720p television, but it has the ability to process all standard NTSC signals.

Viewing Angle

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The Samsung LN32C350 showed a superior viewing angle to the other TVs in this comparison pool, as you can see from the chart below. In total, it could display out to 60 degrees (30 degrees from center in either direction) before losing a significant amount of content. This performance still pales compared to plasma TVs, but it's good for an LCD.

Reflectance

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The Samsung LN32C350 does not have a great ability deflect and minimize incoming light. If you have a bright light somewhere in the room facing the screen, you're probably going to see the reflection. Many TVs feature a screen element that allows light to deflect in a certain pattern, thereby minimizing glare. On the Samsung LN32C350, even i fa light some in at an angle, it appears as a diffused glow.

Video Processing

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There are lots of options for video processing that you can turn on, off, or tweak. Surprisingly, there are no options for motion smoothing.

Calibration

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The Samsung LN32C350 was easy to calibrate, thanks to a good menu system and an inherently good picture quality. Below are the final settings we used for our performance testing.

[

All of our calibration is done in conjunction with the DisplayMate software.

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Video Modes

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There are only three video modes.

Ergonomics & Durability

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The remote control that comes with the Samsung LN32C350 is smaller than we've seen with most Samsung TVs. However, it carries over the same great feel and functionality. It's certainly not discreet, with all those colors, but this should only make it easier to find the buttons you need.

The remote is sturdy, too. You can drop this a lot, we expect, before it gives up the ghost.

Button Layout & Use

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The buttons are grouped smartly, according to function. The numeric buttons are at the top and the menu navigation buttons are towards the bottom. The most frequently used buttons – the channel up/down and remote up/down – are smack in the center. These buttons are large and comfortable.

Programming & Flexibility

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The remote control is not programmable for use with other devices.

Connectivity

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All the ports on the Samsung LN32C350 are located on the back of TV. There's not much to see here, as it's an entry level TV. Samsung, apparently, does not expect you to make this your hub for a high-end entertainment system. So not only are there no ports on the side; the stand does not swivel, adding to the frustration of accessing the ports. Fortunately, the TV is light enough that most people will just be able to lift and turn it, if necessary.

Ports in the back include just two HDMIs, along with one shared composite / component AV. Talk about minimalism.

There are two output ports on the Samsung LN32C350, an analog audio out and a digital audio out. This is standard for most HDTVs.

The Samsung LN32C350 has no other ports, except for the USB port on the back, used to play back photos and music through USB thumb drives.

Placement

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The port placement on the Samsung LN32C350 is less than ideal, because all the ports are on the back and the stand doesn't swivel.

Audio Quality

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The Samsung LN32C350 does a decent job of faking surround sound, which is something that all HDTVs offer, but only some do well. The bass response is completely absent, though, which hurts the overall cinematic experience. If you're looking for speaker quality that merely 'gets the job done,' that the built-ins on the Samsung LN32C350 will suffice. But if you're looking for a more immersive experience, you need a surround sound system or a different TV altogether. The speakers sound particularly anemic if you're playing back music.

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The menu interface on the Samsung LN32C350 is, as expected, simple and straightforward. It's difficult to get lost, even if you're a neophyte to electronics. The remote control buttons used to navigate the remote are matched with an intuitive feel, though it may be a while before you can use remote without looking down at it.

Instruction Manual

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The instruction manual has at least some description of every feature, but not necessarily the level of detail you'd like. We're glad to see that the writer was kind enough to put an index in the back. You can find the Samsung LN32C350's manual online here.

A manual for so many TV models, they have to be further categorized by type.

Internet Features

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The Samsung LN32C350 does not have any internet features or an ability to download streaming content.

Local Media Playback

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The Samsung LN32C350 can ply back photos using the USB port. Simply load your photos onto a thumb drive and plug it straight into the TV. We noticed that it had trouble displaying some of the JPEGs, but mostly it was fine. If you like, you can create slideshows from customized photos.

The Samsung LN32C350 plays music clips from the USB port, but there is no support for movie clips. The songs are arranged in a simple list. You can create playlists by placing a check next to each song you want. For whatever reason, the audio submenu is not available when in this mode, so you can't change the dynamics of the sound.

Other Media

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The Samsung LN32C350 does not support any other types of media.

Power Consumption

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The Samsung LN32C350 turned out to be quite the efficient little TV, requiring less power than all the other TVs in this comparison pool (if only by a few cents a year) Because these are all small LCD displays, none of them are real power hogs.

The chart below shows what the Samsung LN32C350 and its competitors cost to run each year, on average.

Value Comparison

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The Samsung LN32C350 is probably a better buy than the Sony KDL-32L500, based on superior performance. The Sony can top it with port selections, but it doesn't have much else that isn't at least matched by Samsung. There's also the fact that the Sony is a year older, and might be found at a steep discount if you look hard enough.

Blacks & Whites

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The Samsung LN32C350 was a tough one to beat in this set of tests. As you can see from the charts below, it scored deeper black levels and had a wider contrast ratio than any of the other TVs, including the Sony KDL-32L5000.

Color Accuracy

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The Samsung LN32C350 also beat the Sony KDL-32L5000 in the color tests, but not by as wide a margin. Yes, the gap in the color temperature tests was rather wide, but we can see from the charts that the Sony only strays into the perceptibility range a little more often than the Samsung.

The RGB color curve tests were much closer. Both TVs showed very smooth color curves with little color banding issues throughout the intensity range.

Motion

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The Samsung LN32C350 showed smoother motion than the Sony KDL-32L5000, but both suffered from bad motion artifacting. While the Samsung showed laggy processing that created diagonals out of straight lines, the Sony showed strobing and a lot of false coloration trailing.

Viewing Effects

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The Samsung LN32C350 proved to have a wider viewing angle than the Sony by about 4 degrees. Practically speaking, you won't see too much of a difference between the two.

Connectivity

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The Sony has ports on both the back and sides, making access a little easier. It also has more ports: an additional HDMI, two separate sets of component and composite (the Samsung only has one set of shared ports). The Sony also has an S-Video port that Samsung lacks.

Value Comparison

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The LG 32LG70 is not a bad TV at all, but it's tough to beat as strong a performer as the Samsung LN32C350. The only real benefits in favor of the LG is the better selection of ports and potentially lower price, due to it being a year older.

Blacks & Whites

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The Samsung LN32C350 definitely outperformed the LG 32LG70 in the black & white tests, offering better black levels and a wider contrast ratio. The LG did manage to beat it on peak brightness, but not by enough to affect the contrast ratio significantly.

Color Accuracy

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The Samsung LN32C350 has a slightly less consistent color temperature, but was much stronger in the RGB color curves test. In that test, we saw the LG peaking much too early, meaning you can't expect to see much detail in the highlights.

Motion

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The LG 32LG70 outmatched the Samsung LN32C350 in motion performance, thanks largely its ability not to choke up with artifacts like the Samsung did.

Viewing Effects

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The LG 32LG70 had the worst viewing angle by far, extending out only 24 degrees (12 degrees from center in either direction) before losing a significant portion of the contrast. The Samsung was over twice that, at 60 degrees.

Connectivity

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The LG 32LG70, along with most TVs, beats out the Samsung LN32C350 in its selection of ports, as you can see from the chart below.

Value Comparison

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The Vizio VW32L is not as pretty as the Samsung LN32C350, nor does it perform as well. But it's not without its own merits, including a lower price and a better port selection. That said, the Vizio is only a 720p resolution, so you're missing out on some core specs if you choose it over the Samsung.

Blacks & Whites

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The Vizio choked on the black level test, resulting in a much narrower contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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Despite its shortcomings in the black & white test, the Vizio VW32L performed decently in the color tests, nearly matching the Samsung LN32C350.

Motion

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The motion test performance was the one definite area where the Samsung LN32C350 was outmatched by the Vizio VW32L. The Vizio showed far less artifacting issues, which was a problem area for the Samsung.

Viewing Effects

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The Samsung LN32C350 showed a minor improvement over the Vizio when it came to viewing angle: about 50 degrees versus 60 degrees in total viewing angle.

Connectivity

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All the TVs in this comparison pool beat the Samsung LN32C350, including the Vizio VW32L. The details are below.

Conclusion

The Samsung LN32C350 is an exemplar of what we should want from a cheap, entry-level TV. Its performances in our test results were quite strong, and we loved the simplicity of the menus and overall operation. No, it's certainly not perfect. The motion tests revealed a laggy processing that caused vertical lines to turn diagonal when moving across the screen. There was also a pervasive oversharpening that we just couldn't get rid of.

There are few frills on the Samsung LN32C350, but what it offers, it does well. With online retailers already knocking a considerable amount off the $499 MSRP, this is definitely an entry-level TV you should check out.

Model Series Comparison

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There are only two models in the C350 series, a 22-inch and the 32-inch we reviewed here. Don't expect much in terms of fancy features.

{{photo_gallery "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo"}}

Ratings & Specs

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Meet the tester

David Kender

David Kender

Editor in Chief

@davekender

David Kender oversees content at Reviewed as the Editor in Chief. He served as managing editor and editor in chief of Reviewed's ancestor, CamcorderInfo.com, helping to grow the company from a tiny staff to one of the most influential online review resources. In his time at Reviewed, David has helped to launch over 100 product categories and written too many articles to count.

See all of David Kender's reviews

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