i always do way too much research before buying anything technology related, and this TV is no exception. Having spent 3 hours trying every 3D configuration there is (LG cinema vision, panasonic, samsung and sony shutter glasses) 3D really is not ready for prime time yet, there are too many compromises and expense in all but the LG case. as soon as i realised that 3d really wasnt something i needed, i then began to hunt out the best 40 or 42" set i could. Its remarkable how much cheaper non 3D sets are at the moment. The other big requirement was connectivity, and this set really doesnt let down in this area.
So whats good, the picture is amazing, seriously amazing, watching Coast on BBC HD demonstrates just how good the upscaling is on this set, its easily comparable with any native 1080p Blu Ray disc and utterly jaw dropping, as impressive is the performance with SD content (Normal non hd-tv) lets face it, a lot of viewing will be done using this resolution and again, the processing is outstanding, no smearing or pixelation, even with lots of action going on. Next up connectivity, this set offers most of the samsung smart tv features, it DOES NOT support timeshift - pause and replay live tv OR and sort of recording television, definitely a nice to have but not a deal breaker. It does an excellent job of playing content from USB hard drive (although you may need a long usb cable or somewhere to prop your drive due to the location of the connection) playing back videos from the drive is excellent, although DivX support is limited, mkv files play great bizarrely it plays everything my PS3 wont play, so im quite happy.
the biggest moment of surprise (having watched iplayer on a wii and ps3 for the last couple of years) is the iplayer app, at first look it seems a bit low res (the interface) but playback, as long as your internet connection can take it, is stunning, im not sure how they do it, but it seems flash has been taken out of the equation, my kids wanted to watch chuggington and when i queue it up and watched i stood there speechless for a while, outstanding quality.
all in all im very happy with the set, one word of warning, Edge lit LED tv screens are renowned for clouding (smudged patches on very bright scenes) this is fact of life on an LED set at the moment, my set is no different on bright white scenes there is a very slight smudged darker patch on the screen but you have to look hard to see it. It doesnt bother me at all and in some cases will settle with use. if this sort of thing bothers you then maybe look or something other than LED. Other than that i am a very happy customer i make this essential purchase if it fits your requirements (e.g. smart TV but no 3D)