LG LHB536 1100W 3D Price Review

(March 2011)
Internet Ready Devices

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of five stars Happy so FAR, April 1, 2011
By Stinkbug See all my reviews This review is from: LG LHB536 1100W 3D Blu ray Home Theater System with Smart TV Integrated Wi Fi (Electronics) LG LHB536 is a in general a good system for the price. Price will most likely come down. If you may be able to wait to purchase, keep an eye on the price. Sound is good and there aren’t wireless speakers but speakers are easy to hook up. The wireless connection is great for streaming video from Netflix. I love this feature. If you have cable set top box you connect the HDMI output from the box to an HDMI input on the LG system. Then you connect the HDMI out from the LG to an HDMI input on your TV. You don’t need a digital optical out cable if you connect using HDMI. The information that come with the system to set it up Stink but you may be able to get good support by calling their support line.
PROS: Price, sound, picture, wifi with streaming video if you subscribe to Netflix, Vudu, cinemax etc., I POD connect, Bluray DVD. Good telephone support
Cons: The remote isn’t a learning remote, so it’ll not turn power on for your TV or cablebox. Manual is missing details

Update to my review on april 18, 2011. LG updated the software on this system to include VOD and extra premium applications. I networked the Lg to my mac computer and I can listen to my music files and view my pictures on my TV. NICE! now has the best price on this system under $400.00. Purchase it!

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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars many of bang for the buck, April 23, 2011
By D. Goolsby (Sacramento, CA United States) See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) This review is from: LG LHB536 1100W 3D Blu ray Home Theater System with Smart TV Integrated Wi Fi (Electronics) I usually could ponied up for a real AV receiver and speaker setup, but my major issue was that I did not have the room to fit a big Onkyo receiver. And in the small room I am in, the little 5.1 system I had now was good, so I decided to look around and see what I could get that was smaller in size.

Pretty much all of my alternatives had Blu Ray players with them, which I did not really need because I had a PS3, but I decided what the hell. I am primarily purchasing this to have a 5.1 system that does HDMI, my old setup used optical cables. Plus the newer DD and DTS modes is an upgrade for me and in general this is cheaper than purchasing a real AV receiver + speakers.

I’m pretty impressed with this system, it is got many of bang for the buck. For starters, this will be my default BD player now just because turning it on and starting up a movie is many faster than going through the PS3. Coupled with a HDMI switch, I have a total of five devices plugged into it, my DVR, a PS3, Xbox 360, a HTPC, and a HD DVD player.

If you do not already have many kind of HTPC or box for playing back video files or streaming, this device will take care of your needs. It plays MKVs and AVIs good from a network or USB device, plays music files good, has an app for online radio streaming that I love, and in an update last week, they added Instant Video playback, which is great for my free Prime videos. , I will still use my HTPC for my video playing because it gives me more features and alternatives, but this is good as a backup and I will still use it for my main online streaming playback. The online source it is missing though is Hulu. It does have Netflix, Vudu, and Amazon. (among others)

I have not tried out the fitted radio tuner since what stations I’d listen to I can listen through the online streaming app, but this unit has an AM tuner unlike most of the other units out there, if you want that for your sports radio/news/talk stations, you have that access.

I’ve been impressed with the LG SW updates too, there was an update already when I pulled the unit out of the box two or three weeks ago and an update last week that added many features, so they keep improving things.

It comes with an iPod/iPhone dock, I have not tried my iPod but I have tested my iPhone four and it plays back ok. Unfortunately all playback is controlled from the player itself, not the LG. You will want to fiddle with the sound modes because the Natural Plus that I use with TV (which combinations two channel audio into the center speaker) does not sound good with music.

About the only negative I have, which I did not score against it because it is not it is problem, it is my remote’s, is that there are not any native codes for my Harmony One remote now, I had to have the remote learn them. But that is not a big deal, it is learned the codes so my remote works with it. The thing it is missing is a direct code to switch between the HDMI ports, but that is not a big deal either because my HDMI switch has a remote with codes in the Harmony system, so all of my most used devices are on the switch.

Ok, I take it back, there was one thing I’d like to change, which is the speakers. I’d favor to have speakers that had many kind of protection over cones. That is just me, these do look nice and I have seen units from other vendors have the same kind of lack of protection, so it is not a rare thing. The 535 cones had protection, but from I hear, the 536 pretty much fixes any faults the 535 had, so I will not complain too much.

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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Better than projected, and negative reviews are uninformed, June 26, 2011
By NJ_Mark See all my reviews () This review is from: LG LHB536 1100W 3D Blu ray Home Theater System with Smart TV Integrated Wi Fi (Electronics) I do not usually do written reviews, only star ratings, but I had to put my 2 into the conversation. 1st of all, like many others I totally agree that it’s ridiculous to expect a wireless speaker system if you know anything about systems at all, wireless or otherwise. The description is pretty clear in that the wireless term mentions the internet connection only. Nevertheless I 1st bought an inexpensive RCA HTS, and could have been content except that the system was made faulty from the factory (which I realized only after seeing reviews after I purchased dumb not to research before I bought, I know). In disgust and in a hurry to attempt out the 3D on my new TV, I ordered this system and waited for it to arrive before returning the faulty RCA system, and when I went from the old to the new, I could not believe the difference in the sound!! OMG, totally worth every penny spent on this LG system.

But, I do have a complaint. When changing inputs on the remote, the button descriptor is poor at best. I could figure it out, but my wife rolled her eyes when I tried to explain how to navigate through the new remote (so I know when I’m traveling I’ll get the, “how do I put it on.” call). I has been surprised that on the $160 RCA HTS, the system had five HDMI inputs and the remote had a button to go with each input. The LG remote has one input selector called “Radio/Input” which each press scrolls through all the choices which can not be re named. They’re HMDI 1, HDM1 2, AUX, etc. Attempt explaining that to a non tech savvy spouse.

Back to the good points. The sound quality is what you want out of a system: thumpin’ bass, crisp voice and good high end. I connected via LAN, and took benefit of many of the trial memberships in the 1st not many days. Netflix online only sucks, as the selection is restricted to older releases. I quit Netflix a while back because of this, and thought they could figured it out but had not. I canceled the trial membership the same night because I could not find anything we wanted to watch. Vudu was new to me, but this is the one for me. I watched an HD (1080p), 3D movie (streaming)with no hiccups AT ALL, and the picture quality was as if I had a 3D blu ray in the player amazing!

Bottom line: money invested, and bringing our family together in one room to take pleasure in the new 3D TV/HTS system. Daughter now has the cool house, so we just have to keep the fridge stocked for all the teenage appetites! Now considering a cover charge to walk through our door.

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