Philips 42" Class Full-HD 1080p LCD HDTV, 42PFL3603D/F7 4.6 5 173 199
Nice TV! This is a great TV so far, and I am very happy with it. The picture quality is AWESOME when using it as intended (1080p / Blu-Ray etc.). Warning! - If this is your first HDTV, don't be surprised if the picture looks awful when viewing non-HD content; all HDTVs are like that. The problem is the source/video, and not the TV. Regular cable only broadcasts about a 1/3 of the pixels required to fill the screen. Plus, the bigger the screen the more emphasis there is on each pixel - making it appear snowy. Be prepared to want Hi-Def from either your cable provider or satellite company when buying an HDTV. Another trick is to buy a DVD/Blu-ray player with an up-converter. This will make regular DVDs look much better. It does this by digitally converting their resolution up to 1080p by filling in the missing pixels, making for a much cleaner picture - simulated 1080p. The sound system is like most stereo TVs; the quality is good enough for everyday watching, but there is nothing mind blowing about it. But, no matter what TV you buy you will need a sound system to go with it if you want the full experience. The only thing I'm disappointed about are some of the on-screen programmable options. Probably the biggest thing is the channel info. It takes up half the screen when clicking though channels, and you apparently cannot disable it. Nothing major, I just rather see video content when I'm flipping through channels instead of channel info. This TV is also fully upgradable - meaning they can add new features or change settings with new software. Hint...hint....option to turn off channel info screen please! There is also 120hz (2ms) version of this TV for about $400 more. Not really worth it, unless you have money to burn. I have not seen any bleeding, ripping or tearing to warrant spending the extra cash on a reduction in response time. 5ms seems to be plenty fast enough when rendering pretty much any picture. 11/19/2008
Just Buy It I did extensive research for months. I saw every TV on the planet. I know all the tech stuff on LCDs and plasmas now.This TV, for the price, blew me away. The picture, if set up correctly at the store, looks as good as sony. There is nothing better for the price. If you see something for a little less, pay a bit more for this one.Philips measures their contrast ratio differently so you cannot compare that with other LCDs. However, that is the real difference. Black blacks and white whites. You can see it.I'm looking at it right now (DirecTV) and I am still, after 5 months, in awe of the picture quality. My friends all have LCDs but my house has become the place to be on Saturdays (for football and the TV, not me).Good sound, not great. Easy, easy setup (my 10 year old did it, I just watched and I didn't have to correct him once).Don't hesitate, buy it. 10/28/2008
Pillips 42 LCD Rocks!! My wife and I just bought this LCD for our living room and it is out of this world, even without HDMI hooked up yet, the picture is very good. We hooked it to our PS3 HDMI and it's mind-blowing, the games and Blue Ray movies feel like their coming out of the screen. We think it had a better picture than the Sony in the store. Walmart is selling alot of these, because we had to call 9 differnt store before we found one that wasn't sold out!We almost bought the Sylvania 42 and were looking at the RCA 42 for less money but we are so glad we spent alittle more money and got the Phillps, there is no comparison, 5ms response rate and 29000:1 contrast you can't go wrong! 10/20/2008
Love it! I was skeptical to buy this without any reviews. But a friend from work also suggested it without even knowing I was looking at it, so I went with it. Setting it up, from 1st opening the box to watching tv, maybe took 10 minutes. The hardest part? Deciding which picture quality I preferred. This tv was well worth the money and I'm so glad I bought it. Now I have something else to keep me from sleeping. If you want a perfect picture and perfect sound...here's your investment!The only downsides? When changing channels, the Info screen pops up for a few seconds. Just hit Info 2x, right above the Channel Up, and it's gone. Also I would like to see a clock with the channel info. Other than that--- NO COMPLAINTS! 10/13/2008
