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| Date Reviewed: 07/07/2006 |
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Strengths: - An extensive array of inputs to satisfy even the most demanding A/V Afficionado.
- Automatic Image adjustement depending on signal input
- MP3 & Photo Capabable and Firmware Upgradable via USB
Weaknesses: - None that I can think of
Summary: I bought this as a refurb at the Phillips Outlet once it came on sale (I bought a 30" LCD last year from there and had such a good experience I could not pass it up when the deal resurfaced.
Suffice to say IMO this is a big stepup from Phillips earlier 30"+ models. Not only is the styling better but the array of inputs is ridiculous for a set this size (2 HDMI, Cable Card Slot, + 2 Component), Firmware Upgradable and Multimedia Capable via a USB port AND with a built in ATSC Tuner. That's better than HDTVs 3x its price.
I have everything hooked up to this (XBOX 360, PS2, XBOX, Gamecube, Upconverting HDMI DVD Player, COMCAST DVR BOX, Comcast Cable Card, Panasonic DVR, and Computer) and it has handled everything with outstanding image quality.....and its a refurb and performs perfectly.
I have to say I have 4 other HDTVs (Mitsubishi 50", Toshiba 57", SONY 55", and another Phillips 30"), and granted this is the newest one.....Phillips (next to Toshiba) has offered the most bang for my buck.
After my excellent experiences with Phillips LCD HDTVs I will have to give alot of thought on my next big (57"+) purchase....they have been at the HDTV game as long as SAMSUNG but just don't seem to get the respect that they deserve.
 100% of People (4/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 11/20/2005 |
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Strengths: Picture quality, variety of inputs/outputs, physical appearance, ATSC and QAM tuners
Weaknesses: non-programmable remote control, menus are a little funky
Summary: I bought this HDTV after looking at a lot of alternative 32" LCDs. In particular I liked the feature set of this box: 2 HDMI inputs, USB port with ability to play MP3s and view JPEGs and especially the ATSC/QAM tuner and cable card slot. Also, unlike a number of similar sets, the bezel around the screen is flat black rather than glossy so there's no reflection. In addition the unit doesn't look as bulky because the speakers are silver color and basically disappear. Other sets with black speakers make the viewing screen seem smaller.
The picture quality is superb and I like a selectable feature which dynamically scales incoming pictures to fill the screen. So if you're watching an HD broadcast and an SD commercial comes on it automatically enlarges the commercial to full screen. Then when the HD returns it seamlessly shows it full screen. It's especially cool for letterboxed SD which it scales up to full screen.
The menu function on the box is a little funky. Others have described it as quirky and I have to agree. It does take getting used to but I wouldn't let it stop me from highly recommending this set.
95% of People (20/21) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 11/24/2005 |
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Strengths: Light weight, beautiful pictures, stereo sound, and beautiful design. Easy connection!
Weaknesses: Almost none
Summary: This TV is a beauty. I upgraded my Phillips 30" LCD TV to this 32" LCD TV and I am so happy with this new baby now. This TV makes life so much better. Why? The connection is much much easier than before since the connection is on the side. It is easy to access. It provides more inputs too. The picture quality is even better. One of the best on the market. Nice surround sound and this TV looks so beautiful. I enjoy every moment of watching it!
89% of People (8/9) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/01/2005 |
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Strengths: picture quality, plenty of inputs
Weaknesses: price, menu
Summary: After doing some research online about various LCD spec, we chose this one for the bedroom. We upgraded from a 32" CRT with curve surface and the picture quality improves so dramatically that we even ditch the TV downstair to watch this one in the bedroom. There are arrays of input options available including HDMI and USB. You can upgrade the firmware from Philips by using the USB port. The menu, like other mentioned, is kind of flunky. We are not a big fan of it but it's only a minor issue. The price is somewhat reasonable. However, if you are looking for an affordable entry-level LCD TV, try Westinghouse and Syntax Group. Their 32" models are below $1000.
88% of People (7/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 07/26/2006 |
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 Problems, Problems Strengths: Good picture and fair sound. Good selection of inputs and outputs.
Weaknesses: Software/Firmware, remote, menus, customer service......
Summary: After dealing with their less than pleasant customer "service" I was told that this model has a software problem. If you disable channels then turn the TV off for a while the disabled channels will reapear the next time you turn it on. Working your way back through the menus to turn off the channels you don't want is a real pain and has to be done every time you leave the set off overnight. This even applies to channels you "lock" out. The only fix offered was for me to try and find software version 1.0, not available anywhere the customer service agent knew about and, according to him, that would introduce another set of problems. They had no idea if and when this problem would be fixed.
The remote, which looks universal, is not. It should work with other Philips products but does not. I have a Philips DVD player and the remote will not work with it.
This LCD does not work well as a computer monitor. It only supports 3 resolutions and the overscan is so bad that you can not see the top and bottom, or sides for that matter, of your windows in full screen. The remote allows you to scroll around and see the whole screen but who wants that hassle?
I will say the picture is nice but the rest of the problems I'm not willing to deal with. If you don't mind having every channel turned on all the time, this might be a good choice. For me, this ones going back and I'll wait for the price to come down on a set with usable features.
83% of People (5/6) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 10/02/2006 |
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 Cable Card incompatabilities and poor customer support. Strengths: Take away that it is advertised with cable card compatibility, it is pretty good.
Weaknesses: Cable Card slot doesn't work with most cable cards.
Lack of customer support and commitment.
Summary: I purchased a 32” LCD television last month to hang on my wall in the bedroom and was excited since your 32PF7320A/37 product was advertised to support a cable card. I considered several other manufacturers, but chose Philips based on the fact that I could use this TV in the bedroom without a cable box.
I received the TV and hooked it up and the picture was great. I was very happy with my purchase and even told some friends how good the quality was.
I then had the cable company come out to install the cable card. The technician tried for about an hour to get the television to recognize the cable card to no avail. I figured we had a bad cable card and he would need to try another. I then remembered that the Samsung DLP TV I have in the family room accepts a cable card, so we tried it there and it worked fine. We then tried it again in the Philips TV and it still didn’t recognize the card. I told the cable company to take the card back since it looks like a problem with the TV. I did owe a $45 fee for the service call to install the cable card.
Next I called Philips to get the TV fixed. They had me try some things and nothing worked, so they gave me two service center phone numbers. I called the first one and they said Philips had so many problems with cable cards that they wouldn’t want to accept the TV until I made further progress with Philips. I then called the second company who said they wouldn’t know how to fix this problem and were going to call Philips for support. They called me back stating that Philips was aware of the problem, and only suggested using a cable box instead of the cable card. This was totally unacceptable since the whole reason I purchased the TV was for the cable card functionality.
I then called Philips tech support again to find that they knew about the problem and were not willing to do anything to fix it. They said I can wait to see if they ever come up with a firmware solution, but they were not even sure if the problem was actively being worked on. I thought this was horrible customer support and asked what other options I have. Would they swap the TV, refund my purchase price or pay for the cable company to attempt several cable cards in case one worked. The response was basically, that they scammed me and now I am stuck with this TV that I cannot use as advertised.
Basically the TV was marketed as supporting a cable card and there was no mention that the TV was incompatible with the largest manufacturer of these cable cards. Philips now takes a position that they know they have an incompatibility, but choose to continue to deceive customers and offer no support to customers that fall victim to this scam.
Luckily I was able to stop my friends from purchasing the Philip’s sets I recommended. I would hate to tarnish my reputation by recommending a faulty product with such poor customer support. I will continue to recommend against all Philips products in the future and am very disappointed in Philips stance in this matter. I hope Philips would reconsider doing the right thing and taking responsibility for their lack of information in the advertising material. At minimum, the product brochures should contain a note that not all cable cards are supported by this product and they should contact Philips for a list of known supported cable cards.
67% of People (2/3) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 08/02/2006 |
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Strengths: Sharp sleek look, Great picture, Auto picture stretch
Weaknesses: Lag time between changing stations, sound on HD stations
Summary: The picture on this set is amazing. When I first got it home I auto programmed it (Comcast Cable) and I got all my regular channels and then some. Music channels, HBO (not all the time), and other premium channels I'd never seen before, must have something to do with the QAM Tuner. I had Comcast install the Cablecard and I no longer get what I'm not supposed to :(, but I do get 6-7 HD stations which look great. The only little problem is the HD stations, 903,906,... the volume is about half of what the regular stations are, so you have to adjust when surfing between. The viewing angles are great, very little loss of blacks. On AVS forums I read all about the "Black Screen" problem some have experienced with this set. (Screen all of the sudden going black either temporarily or until unplugged,) I have been using this set for about a month now and have not had this happen to me. (manufacture date on my set: June/2006). If you're looking for a great TV for HD or wide screen DVD viewing I can't imagine doing better than this one. REMEMBER PEOPLE, most of the time your regular TV viewing will not be in HD or wide screen DVD. This means if you want the picture to be full 32", you will have to get used to a little picture stretch or zoom. (which this set can do automatically very well and almost undetectable after a short time.) Otherwise, you can set the picture for regular 4:3 and you'll get about a 27" picture.
50% of People (2/4) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/10/2005 |
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Strengths: Cable box installed
Weaknesses: Lacks channel labeling
Summary: I paid $2500 when this model first came out in Aug 2005 and I am not sorry. If your shopping for a 37" HDTV go no farther, this is it. It took a little time to get use to the set-up but it didn't take that long to master it. I am connected to a fiberoptic cable company so that makes a differtants also. The picture looks like a snap shot on HD channels and a tiny bit grainy on reguler channels. But nothing like that like the old tube sets. You have to sit about 4' from the screen, the farther the better anything around 5' or greater is just fine. The speaker system is great but I also purchased a receiver with speakers for surround sound, just like the movies. I did my home work before I purchased this unit for this kind of money, so enjoy this set you won't be sorry. The Dec. coumsmer guide has this one rated at # 4 but # 1 for 37" size.
38% of People (3/8) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 04/17/2007 |
- Mike_ARG
from TX
- Member Since:
Apr 2007
View Member's:
Reviews
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Philips 32PF7320a/37
Strengths: Flat Panel HDTV
Weaknesses: Reliability
Summary: TV crapped out after 13 months of lite usage. I did a search on the internet and found that the intermittent loss of picture, followed by popping sounds, followed by the picture returning followed by eventual failure and the Front Panel LED flashing 5 times repeatedly is a common failure for this TV (failed SSB Board). The other problem is using Philips recommended repair facilities. The one I am using in Plano Texas (Sartor TV) has the customer service skills of a rock. What they said was a few day turn around is going beyond 2 weeks. Best bet to get around poor engineering is to pay a few more $$'s and buy a Sony. Sorry Philips, I should have known.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/23/2006 |
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HD channels has PROBLEMS!!!
Strengths: Good quality Pictures
Weaknesses: Sound, HD channels usally freezes
Summary: I bought 2 of this HDTVs, and they both now has the same problem, which is that the HD channels now doesn't work, and the Tuner has malfunctioned, and needs replacement.Unfortunaletly I cant recommend this product, and I wont buy any Phillips TVs anymore!
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