Philips 32PF7320A 32-Inch Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Gorgeous picture, nice TV
I spent months comparing 32\\" flat-panel television sets. I went to stores where I could watch them side by side, watched prices fall, and knew that no matter what I bought, a month later I'd find something better or the same thing cheaper. For now, though, I'm happy.<br /><br />The Philips TV has, in my opinion, about as nice a picture as the Sony and Sharp sets of the same size. That's a subjective judgement - I slightly prefer the Aquos, my father the Philips, my wife and my mom can't tell the difference or don't care. The picture is sharp, the colors vivid, the blacks black. The picture is clear and bright from just about every angle possible in my living room. DVDs look beautiful on this TV. The sound is very good, though I intend eventually to run it through my sound system.<br /><br />Set up was easy; ports are well-marked and logically arranged. The stand goes on easily and is sturdy. The remote is nicely layed out, feels solid, and is responsive. The set includes an HDTV tuner, while most other sets in its size and price-range are only HDTV ready and require a box.<br /><br />I looked seriously at buying a Syntax Olevia; it gets some very good ratings on Amazon and the price is lower than the price for other 32\\" sets. I didn't think the Olevia's picture was as good as the Philips' when I looked at it in a store, and it didn't have the variety of ports available on the Philips. I played with an Olevia remote and hated it. What really decided me against it, though, was the large number of people who have complained about customer service at Syntax and their slowness to honor rebates. For the price, though, it's a tempting alternative to better known brands.<br /><br />My only complaints about the Philips are a poor hard-copy manual (bad even by the low standard I've come to expect from consumer electronics manufacturers; I hate the trend to putting manuals on CD or on-line) and the lag between hitting the \\"on\\" button and getting a picture. It's not much longer than the lag I've noticed on other flat-panel sets, but I do notice it. The stand doesn't turn as smoothly as I'd like; when I get to the end of its range of motion I don't feel it. I keep turning the thing and have left some rotation scuffs on the table it sits on. I'll have to put it on a piece of felt.<br /><br />Over all I'm very pleased with this TV. My parents have a very large Pioneer plasma display in their living room, and I think mine looks better when the signal isn't HD (partly a function of my set being smaller). My father has decided to go with a Philips LCD to replace the TV in their bedroom.<br /><br />P.S. I wrote this review about three months ago. Since then, my parents have bought the same TV and we're all happy with it. I've noticed a couple of small things that bother me - as you enter numbers onto the remote for another channel, they show up in very small green characters on the screen and are often difficult to read; also, as another reviewer noted, there's no volume indication on the screen when you change volume.<br /><br />On the plus side, I bought a Samsung DVD player with HDMI output. HDMI was no improvement on S-video output, and for other reasons I decided to stick with S-video. When my cat chewed through the cable, I bought component video cable on a whim. I was stunned by the improvement in the picture. It was beautiful before, but now it's breathtaking. I've read technical discussions of the limitations of HDMI and why it doesn't improve the DVD picture with some equipment, but the improvement with component video was a revelation. The cat earned himself some extra catnip for this one.other flat-panel sets, but I do notice it. The stand doesn't turn as smoothly as I'd like; when I get to the end of its range of motion I don't feel it. I keep turning the thing and have left some rotation scuffs on the table it sits on. I'll have to put it on a piece of felt.    Over all I'm very pleased with this TV. My parents have a very large Pioneer plasma display in their living room, and I think mine looks better when the signal isn't HD (partly a function of my set being smaller). My father has decided to go with a Philips LCD to replace the TV in their bedroom.     P.S. I wrote this review about three months ago. Since then, my parents have bought the same TV and we're all happy with it. I've noticed a couple of small things that bother me - as you enter numbers onto the remote for another channel, they show up in very small green characters on the screen and are often difficult to read; also, as another reviewer noted, there's no volume indication on the screen when you change volume.     On the plus side, I bought a Samsung DVD player with HDMI output. HDMI was no improvement on S-video output, and for other reasons I decided to stick with S-video. When my cat chewed through the cable, I bought component video cable on a whim. I was stunned by the improvement in the picture. It was beautiful before, but now it's breathtaking. I've read technical discussions of the limitations of HDMI and why it doesn't improve the DVD picture with some equipment, but the improvement with component video was a revelation. The cat earned himself some extra catnip for this one.