Sceptre E420BV-F120 Pro Reviews

As a new TV, especially a first TV for a high-tech house with plenty of HD devices, the Sceptre E420BV-F120 42” LED-HDTV is a good set to have. It’s got enough ports for almost anything, excluding outputting digital surround audio. For HD content, video quality is decent and certainly good enough for a starter TV or as a step-up from an SD set. But if you’re looking to replace your current HDTV, still watch a lot of SD content, don’t necessarily want to wall mount (and have a safety issue) and want a good soundbar, then the F120 is one TV you should pass on. However, I have no doubt new buyers will be happy with the F120 even with its light bleed and average video quality because of its simplicity, many available ports, ease of use, and low price.

The Sceptre E420BV-F120 has a list price of $1299, but can be found around the Internet for about half that price, and it's not really a surprise as to why. This 42-inch 1080p LED HDTV is slim and simple, but it seriously falls short in the picture department. You can find some pluses—for example, this Sceptre generously offers five HDMI ports—but ultimately its picture quality leaves too much to be desired, from leaking light around the screen edges to extreme noisiness and graininess in the initial out-of-the-box setup.