Philips 30 in Progressive Scan Widescreen HDTV (30PW9110D/37)
Stay Away! Good picture; lousy lifespan and service.
This is a wakeup call for all who are looking to buy a new HDTV, be it Plasma, LCD, or Direct View... please, hear this: <br /> <br />I bought a Philips 30PW9110D, 30-inch HDTV from Wal-Mart in January, 2006. This was the result of one full year of deep research, looking for this features: <br />HDMI connectivity <br />Built-in ATSC and NTSC tuners <br />Widescreen -16:9 <br />Capable of both 720P and 1080i resolution <br /> <br />Above all, I looked for the best picture quality. Weight and size were NOT a factor.  <br /> <br />Well, the Philips did look great, but only when viewing DVD's through my Samsung HD941 using the HDMI cable. Regular cable looked fuzzy, with colors washed out. It was worse that the TV it was meant to replace; my old 27-inch Sony Trinitron (10-years and going...). <br /> <br />Bought it on January... went down in July after an electrical storm, even though I had it hooked to a Monster Surge Protector. <br /> <br />That's when my nightmare started... <br /> <br />I contacted Philips and they gave me the phone for one of their service centers. They in turn, said that they were backlogged on Philips TVs (hint??) and could not service my TV. Again I contacted Philips, which provided another alternate repair shop. <br /> <br />This second shop took my TV on a $35.00 deposit. Two days later, the repairman told me the TV is NOT serviceable; it would cost $850.00... but I paid $667.00 for it!!!  <br /> <br />I just gave up and left the piece of junk with them to dispose of it. <br /> <br />At least, I got some great inside shop info that will help me in the future, and I want to pass it on to all of you: They also told me discretely that Philips HDTV's are pilling up in the shop, as are a great deal of Plasma TVs, specially Polaroid, LG, and Proview. Most of these TVs failed before two years! Trust me; this is INSIDE INFORMATION. <br /> <br />So stick to the few reliable ones with dependable service: Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung, Sharp, Mitsubishi, and Dell. <br /> <br />Hope this works for you. <br /> <br />Manny55 <br />Orlando, Florida, Oct. 2006 <br />