The Evesham Alqemi 32 SX has recently had a price drop, and can now be bought direct from Evesham for £550. You'll struggle to find much credible 32-inch competition at this price point, and while it won't worry Sony and Panasonic that much, it does offer 720p high definition for a pretty good price.
Design
The Alqemi 32 SX has a simple design. Around the screen is a glossy piano-black bezel, while to the left and right are the speakers, which are finished in a more traditional matte grey. We found that the piano-black bezel reflected a lot of light back at us, so you can see distracting reflections while you are trying to enjoy programmes. This isn't ideal, and we didn't really think that gaffer-taping the screen would add to the aesthetics.
Below the screen is a large blue light that illuminates when the screen is on. When the TV is in standby there is another, smaller red LED that merrily glows away. Sadly, there is no easy-to-access power button on the unit, the master switch is round the back, by the power socket. This is pretty annoying because most people won't be inclined to mess about behind the TV to turn it off. In these days of an impending environmental catastrophe, it would be a good idea to provide a convenient power switch.
At the back of the set there are the usual inputs including HDMI, component, two RGB Scart sockets and a PC VGA input. To the side of the TV -- though still, technically at the back -- are composite and S-Video in. The single HDMI input is a little disappointing -- even on a 32-inch television we would expect a minimum of two.
The remote control is fairly generic-looking and it's also a little wasteful of space. There are two rings of buttons -- one allows you to navigate through the menus, the other adjusts the volume and allows you to change the channel. We would have thought merging these navigation keys would make sense, as you aren't likely to need to use both lots at once. The TV does, however, respond quickly to remote commands, which we are pleased to see as delays after pressing a button are infuriating.
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Carl Lamb 24 April 2007
Good: HD picture quality, lots of inputs, includes wall bracket, 3 yr warranty included, free delivery
Bad: 1 HDMI socket, 2 would have been nice
Comment: TV has worked flawlessly since day one. Out of the box the SD picture quality isn't great, dive into the menu and switch on noise reduction and 3D comb filter, and things improve vastly. It really depends on the SD source quality though. Hook up a Sony PS3 in 720p mode and gaming, Blu-ray movies and even standard DVDs look stunning thanks to the HDMI signal. I actually quite like the sound from this set, it can be tweaked with the equalizer to taste. Now a £100 cheaper and in my eyes matches models half its price again. Shame about the single HDMI input, though you can input HD signals through the component connection too.
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