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Is the HP SLC3760N the best LCD TV to buy?

(Reviewed 9/25/06)The HP SLC3760N LCD TV— Is it today’s LCD TV to buy?—it’s the first to combine a network media player with a 37-inch flat-panel LCD TV. The result of many years of slapping VCRs or DVDs or sometimes both onto television sets.

This is the fully functional HDTV that can stream and play back audio, video (that includes high-def, of course), and photo content from any networked PC or storage device.

Sure it’s true that the same TV without the networking features and other network media devices (Acoustic Research Digital MediaBridge and D-Link DSM-520) can pretty much do the same thing. But hey, if you’re looking for a well-designed, tightly integrated multimedia solution that works and looks nice, then the HP SLC3760N LCD TV is the LCD TV to buy. It’s certainly a lot easier to just hit the TV’s media button to access your digital media than to fire up a separate box!

The HP SLC3760N LCD TV probably looks like a standard LCD TV from the front; but take a closer look, and you’ll notice that this LCD TV actually has a design that is quite attractive. Its matte-black finish increases the perceived contrast ratio of the on-screen image more than any color would (like silver, for example), and the speakers located below the set cuts down on its overall width.

The MediaSmart element is attached to the back of the TV, adding a bit of depth to the set; and two optional wireless antennas sticking out the back can be pivoted horizontally for a cleaner, more polished look. When I look for a LCD TV to buy it has to have an excellent remote. The HP SLC3760N LCD TV’s remote fits easily in the hand and is user-friendly and can control a set-top box, a DVD player, and an A/V receiver. Its media button brings up the GUI used to control HP SLC3760N LCD TV’s network media capabilities: photos, videos, music, and services (services bring up Internet-related content).

Another consideration when looking for the right LCD TV to buy is its feature set. The HP SLC3760N LCD TV comes with a lot of pretty nice features. With its MediaSmart element, you can stream photos, music, and movies from networked PCs and storage devices. Photo file compatibility is solid, supporting JPG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, and GIF files; and since they are upscaled to the TV’s native resolution for display, they look pretty sharp.

With this LCD TV you can even play music while you watch as well as access photos saved on HP SLC3760N’s photo-sharing Snapfish service. This LCD TV is able to stream DivX, DivX HD, Xvid, Xvid HD, WMV, and WMV HD from a PC. Audio file support covers the usual suspects (MP3, WAV, and WMA), but the TV’s MediaSmart can stream DRM-protected WMA files from services such as Napster and Rhapsody.

Talking about standard HDTV features, the HP SLC3760N has a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels. Typical for a flat-panel LCD, but it’s more than enough to resolve all the detail of 720p content. There are plenty of good reasons why the HP SLC3760 is the LCD TV to buy. You need to decide if you want to pay for its extra features or look for an inexpensive LVD TV to buy.

Conclusion: Nice deep blacks for an LCD TV with clean video processing and a very nice remote. It’s a TV that acts as an all in one media player. You can stream music, movies, and photos on your TV but the HP SLC3760N can’t change aspect ratio with HDTV. It lacks PIP and a PC input. It my opinion it might not be the best LCD TV to buy for most people because it’s expensive.