Rating: 
Summary: This TV is Awesome !
Review: After looking at comparable Sony and Toshiba HDTV's, I decided this was the best value for the money. After setting it up all I can say is WOW !The built-in HDTV tuner works great. I am able to receive all over-the-air HD broadcasts 30 miles out from the Atlanta area transmitters using an indoor antenna. The picture quality is beautiful and the sound is amazing. Vivid color and flawless clarity. The user's manual could use some improvement. Other than that, I highly recommend this TV !!
Rating:
Summary: Love Free HDTV Broadcast
Review: Bought this over the holidays because of all the features, picture quality, and price. We do not subscribe to cable or satellite so the built-in HDTV tuner was a real plus. Nearly every local channel in Dayton has SD and HD channels broadcast over the air. The PBS station has 5 digital channels. All I needed was an amplified HDTV antenna. The quality is incredible. Also used the optical audio link as an input to our Koss DVD Home Theatre system so we can listen to the HDTV broadcasts in dolby digital. The progressive scan DVD input required a composite cable but the playback quality was worth the price. For the price, this is an incredible buy. Only dislikes are the slight delays when switching channels and the built-in speakers are just OK. Of course, we just turn on the home theater system to correct this. Manual was a bit complicated and hooking up to the DVD took a while (due more to the KOSS DVD player and me not reading the manual closely). All in all, this is an awesome system. Out of the box quality was great. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: There seems to be a problem with component video
Review: First let me say that I really wanted to like this TV, and there are a lot of things that I do like about it very much, but today I'm returning it to the local store where I bought it.
Mine has some serious problems- I believe it's the power supply- that cause it to overheat after it has been on for 4-5 hours. At that point I begin to hear a sparking sound inside and the picture blinks briefly. At first this happens only once every few minutes, but the longer you watch the more frequent this becomes until finally it is occuring every 2-3 seconds and becoming extremely annoying. By this time the remote control no longer functions, in fact none of the buttons on the front of the set work either, including the power button. I have to unplug it to turn it off- that is if it doesn't shut itself off first.
So I have a defective one, I can accept that and would be willing to simply repair it (under warranty) or exchange it for another. Instead I am going to exchange it for another brand because of a far worse problem. I have a very good Panasonic DVD player (actually a DVD recorder) with progressive scan and component video output. What I have found is that when I connect this DVD player to the Zenith using component video cables the picture quality is FAR worse than it is with either S-Video or even composite (RCA) cables. The picture is very grainy looking, particularly in dark scenes. This isn't the nitpicking of a videophile either- there is absolutely no doubt in the picture quality: component video is much worse than S-Video or RCA. I have tried setting the DVD output for both 480i and 480p, it doesn't matter. In fact, it isn't even just with a DVD movie that I see the difference; any signal coming through component video cables looks worse, even just watching a cable TV channel using the DVD's tuner. There is nothing to adjust or configure on the set either (confirmed by Zenith customer support), so that isn't the problem.
I have taken my DVD player to a friends Hitachi HD-ready set, and on his the component video signal is clearly better, so it's not my player or cables. I have also tried a different DVD player with my TV. Finally I went back to the store and asked the salesman to connect one of their own DVD players to their own floor demo Zenith using the various cables and they were as surprised as I was to see the obvious difference in picture quality. So this problem doesn't seem to be with my set alone, or have anything to do with the power supply issue (on mine) mentioned earlier.
I called Zenith customer support, and while they answered the phone promptly and were very friendly, they could offer no insight whatsoever as to the problem(s), and only gave me the number of a warranty service center. Given my luck so far however, and especially considering the similar behavior with a second set in the store, I don't have a lot of confidence in a repair (at least for the component video issue), and I really don't want to carry a replacement set home only to find it has the same problem. This is a big, heavy TV.
So sadly I am giving up on this and switching brands. As I said, I really wanted to like this set. The features it offers for the price are unmatched by anything else I could find, and I like the menus and general "feel" of this TV very much. It just seems like in order to squeeze everything in they may have skimped on the quality. I would recommend that anyone else with this model try comparing the various video inputs, and I would be very interested in reading their comments. One final comment: while it's nice that this model has both cable and HD tuners built in, virtually all cable and satellite providers use their own digital and HD tuner boxes with scrambled signals, thus the built-in tuners won't receive anything. So unless you are going to receive HD off the air (i.e. using an antenna, which unfortunately I can't where I live), I would not let this feature be the deciding reason for buying the TV (assuming you don't mind the component video problem).
Rating:
Summary: What a shame
Review: First, I really like this set for features, price, and wow! what a picture. It's everything I was looking for in terms of a great-for-now, great-for-the-future set. But I too got the ZAPPING-problem, just like the other reiviewer wrote about. Basically, the problem is limited to an audio "popping" noise that seems like a static-electric spike or something. This happens with both the TV speakers and when it's hooked into a home theater with the TV speakers turned off. The TV is plugged into the two hundred dollar Monster power "conditioner" which itself is grounded, so I am at a loss... The guys I spoke with at Best Buy have never heard of this problem so maybe it's rare. But the service person at Zenith didn't seem surprised when I decribed the problem (although, to be fair the guy I spoke with at Zenith mentioned he'd heard of this problem with a different set). I decided to return this set and exchange it for a Sony model. I made this decision with some regret. While the price and picture are fantastic, I wasn't sold on the quality of the manufacturing. Considering the cost, all I want is to plug it in and forget about it. But the electronics people who wanted to sell me an "extended warranty" succeeded in scaring me over how "fragile" HDTV components are. I figure that if the componentry is as fragile as they say, and the set shows signs of not working right, and other people seem to have reported the same problem - then I am better off paying a few extra bucks for the Sony model. Too bad! I was happy with the set otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: Great especially for the price
Review: I bought it a week ago and it is awesome. It comes with a built in HDTV tuner. I have the Zenith silver sensor indoor antenna hooked up and get all the channels except CBS. The picture quality on HDTV is awesome and DVD's are too. It was on sale at Bestbuy for 899. It has tons of connections. The PQ is as good or better than any other HDTV. Highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great features at a great price.
Review: I can't believe no one else has reviewed this TV. The C32V37 looks great sitting next to a Sony HDTV, with perhaps a little red shift. The case design is clearly a copy of Sony's. This set had all the features on my list including DVI inputs, 16:9 enhanced mode, a cool zoom feature that fills the screen by stretching 16:9 HD signals, and (of course) a built in hdtv tuner. We'll see whether the tuner proves to be of any use to cable subscribers. I have seen posts on other sites suggesting a few local hdtv channels were unscrambled and this TV could tune several digital channels in addition to the standard analog channels. This probably varies by provider. I purchased this TV yesterday and it will be delivered in a few days. I hope Zenith's spotty reputation for quality control doesn't prove to be true in my case.
Rating:
Summary: Our first HDTV - and we like it!
Review: I had been shopping for a new TV to replace our 10-year-old 27", and wanted to go with flat-screen, direct view, 16:9 switchable capability. HDTV is available by broadcast in our medium-market area on two stations so far; digital on 4 others. Of several 32-36" sets we looked at, the Zenith C32V37 was the only one found under $1000 with the HD receiver built in. No $400 add-on receiver needed!
After 2 weeks with it, we are very happy with the choice. We receive the HD signal with a small, amplified disc antenna (the stations are either already in the UHF band, or were translated to UHF), and the HD picture (broadcast at 720p by CBS and 1080i, I believe, by ABC) is all it's promoted to be. The TV is now integrated with an inexpensive, progressive-scan DVD player, and with a regular 2-channel sound system. They play together very well. DVDs have a great look in all aspect ratios, and the details are amazing - very crisp. Zenith touts the feature that the black borders above and below a 16:9 picture don't have any scan lines wasted on them, and that is not an insignificant thing: the full vertical resolution is packed into the viewing area.
The picture quality from DirecTV (not digital) is excellent - 'way better than any analog picture I've ever seen. The NFL playoff games on CBS last weekend convinced me that HD will be the real deal, as soon as the broadcasters can concentrate on the wide ratio without the need to compromise on picture composition for analog sets. And your camcorder and digital camera's pictures have never looked better.
The TV was easy to set up, its weight notwithstanding. Lots of wires (we're using S-video cable for all those peripherals); but the access points, including full AV ports under the front panel cover, are well labeled. The user has complete control of all set functions, including automatic and manual screen aspect ratio control, full audio options, inputs, channel scanning, surfing -- on and on. The remote is above the capacity of my wife, but she's catching on. So many features are available by remote, that it's a bit overwhelming.
Any downgrades I would give are only small observations: (1) the need to rather slowly scroll through all the input options when switching between over-the-air digital and HD channels and the DirecTV input; (2) the complexity of the remote -- some learning curve is necessary, though; and (3) small variation in picture settings among the various inputs.
Overall, a very good choice for value, picture quality, and functionality. A satisfying upgrade, and that's exactly what I set out for in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: Great HDTV for the money
Review: I just bought this TV 3 days ago and I have been very impressed with it. When I first saw this TV in Best Buy 5 weeks ago, I was real excited. Then I saw some of the reviews on this website and my excitement was dampered. But my desire for a TV like this pushed me to due my own research about the negatives mentioned. The February 18th review mentions a zapping and flickering in the TV picture after leaving the set on for an hour. I think this guy just got a bad TV---especially when you consider that TV stores leave their TV's on all day long. Kinda hard to sell a TV if it's flickering and zapping huh? I haven't seen it in the three C32V37's I've seen at Best Buy. The January 31st review mentioned a problem with the component video. Well, I brought a DVD to Best Buy and asked them to hook one of their DVD players up to the C32V37 as well as a Sony KV-32HS510. I couldn't tell a difference in the picture. On top of that, the TV I brought home has played DVD's beautifully. The purity of the picture for DVD's reminds of what I see at a movie theater. I also haven't noticed the overscanning mentioned in the Feb 24th review. I also looked in several Consumer Reports guides. While I could never find the C32V37's (not surprising since the TV just came out at the beginning of January 2004), I did find some interesting info on Zenith. The Consumer Reports 2004 Home Digitial Entertainment Buying Guide recommended three Zenith TV's (not their top recommendations but still on the top 3 in each category). They also mentioned that Zenith had the second highest number of customer compliants (RCA is number #1). So this told me that Zenith makes a high quality product that is more prone to having problems than other brands. Which isn't surprising giving the mix of mostly positive and a few negative reviews on this website. So I decided I would go ahead and get it expecting that there could be a very small chance I might have a problem. But that's what the manufacter's limited warranty is for! I really like this TV and definitely recommend it---especially because it has an HDTV tuner built in. The remote control is nice and regular TV (over cable) looks really good. My only real complaint would be about the instruction guide. It only covers all the features on the main menu. Granted that is 90% of the TV but I still had some more questions (like how do I decipher the symbols displayed when I hit the info button). Overall, though, it's a great deal to get an integrated HDTV with great picture quality for only $1000!
Rating:
Summary: Can't beat it for the price
Review: I made the mistake of buying another HDTV without really trying it out in the store. I quickly realized that there were several features that I really wanted that it didn't have. So, I returned it, did a bunch more shopping and HW and got the C32V37. This is the only HDTV in the price range that allows you to zoom into the center of the picture rather than just stretch a 16:9 to a 4:3 (I hate when the people get tall and skinny). This TV has just about every feature you could want and is pretty easy to use. Definately the best in the price class. Only complaint is that the colors can be a little tricky to tune in to where people don't look funky. But, stick with it and the rewards are worth it!
Rating:
Summary: Feature-rich, high-quality except for zapping
Review: I purchased this HDTV as a scratch-'n-dent display model. The 1" scratch appears to be not in the screen glass itself; rather, it seems to be a rip in a protective (anti-glare?) film on top of the glass. Otherwise: I have owned the C32V37 for 3 days and it is truly breath-taking. The unit has its own built-in HDTV tuner which decodes over-the-air signals even better than the Samsung T151 tuner that I already had. The C32V37's tuner reportedly decodes cable HDTV also, but I have only an outside antenna, no cable. I have run a couple of DVD players through the component-video and composite-video inputs; and a Dreamcast and a computer through the S-video inputs. All were displayed with suitable high quality except for the computer, but this is to be expected because the computer (running Windows XP) wants to output at least 800x600 whereas S-video only supports an interlaced 640x480. I plan to connect the computer into the C32V37's DVI input instead; this should result in a 1024x720 computer display, I think. I also tried running the output of the Samsung T151 HDTV tuner into the C32V37's component-video input. The result looks fine but certain capabilities are missing due to the functionality split between the 2 devices. My display model did not come with a remote, but my universal Philips PM335 remote operates the HDTV quite well--even the Picture-In-Picture and Surf List functions--using code 015. The C32V37's only shortcoming is the same one noticed by a couple other reviewers: occasional "zapping," rather like a momentary power drop or electric shock. I have not been able to establish a clear pattern for this, but it does occur. 4/19/04 update: The zapping turned out to be electrical arc-ing on the video output module (visible if one peers inside the unit's works). LG/Zenith Service visited, confirmed the problem, and ordered a new video output module. The next day, they called me back to suggest that perhaps merely reducing the internal brightness (essentially the gross amperage) will fix the problem. The day after, a repairperson visited and made this adjustment. The arc-ing is greatly reduced but not entirely gone. Moreover, the THX Optimode/Optimizer now indicates that for a correct picture, I must set the brightness level to 98%. The obvious danger is that after a few months of aging, the tube will no longer be able to reach a correct brightness level at all. So the repairperson will visit again this week, hopefully to replace the video output module as he first suggested. I would also point out that, in retrospect, this 4:3 set is worthwhile to me only because of the amazing scratch-'n'-dent price of $375. If I were going to pay full price, I would definitely buy a widescreen HDTV instead, because that's the way both movies and HDTV are going.
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