Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HDTV-Ready TV

Rating:
Summary: It's a steal at $599 ..... !
Review:
Positives:

Bought this HDTV Monitor at Costco last week..for a steal $599 after a $100 coupon.

I have been researching lots of HDTV's for some time now, and i havent seen any in this price range .. closest competitor is ranged around $800-$900 range. So i used that extra money to get a Progressive scan DVD+VCR combo from costco ($99.. another steal at that price..after a coupon this week.).. nice component cables (will need those to see best quality video).. And a stand..around $150 .. Surely Need that stand as this TV weighs a ton (125 lbs.).. Dont use wooden tv stands...coz u never know.

Works OK out of the box.. hooking up to regular cable.. You can improve video quality by selecting the "weak-signal" video option .. (one of the nice features in new TV's).

Digital cable looks much better..and HDTV Digital cable looks fantastic.. just like you see in showrooms. Has option to select 4:3, 14:9 , 16:9 , subtitle Zoom & wide screen ..for video. Audio is nice.. with auto vol. level.. for those loud Ads. in TV.

Negatives:

Manual is OK.. could be better... Remote says it is universal.. but not true.. only few models of dvd,vcr, cable box work with that remote.. Also keys are not positioned ideally for a Uni remote..

Its a 30" wide screen.. so it looks as big as a 27" regular unit only.. just a bit wider .. for someone who are comparing the units side by side. (So it will look smaller compared to a reg. 30" flat tv)

Remember..Its an HDTV monitor..! and not an hdtv tv .which means you will need extra equipment if you plan to use it with outdoor hdtv antenna. Most of the new cable & satellite tv provide HDTV cable boxes.. which dosent need any new equipments.. except some cables..!

It does not have any DVI inputs or any HD15 /VGA (Computer) inputs ..like some newer TV's.. but this should not cause problems to regular use. And most od the regular inputs (component, composite & S-Video ) are on the back of the unit , only one at the side.. causing some inconvinence to hook up Gaming units..

I havent heard any Humming or noise in speakers so far.. or any problems with colors (white looking like yellow tint).. Though, the tuning menu for picture & sound blocks the TV view if you are changing it while watching some live games.. Not like other units with the settings on the bottom of the screen, so as not to block the view..

Weighing in all these Pro & Cons ... i feel its a great buy at this time.

Rating:
Summary: trying to sell it
Review: extrememly dissapointed. bought the 30" phillips widescreen hdtv because it sounded like a good price. I won't buy for price vs. quality again. The whites are very yellow and it actually reminds me of an old tv where the tube is getting worn out. my old sony flat screen has better color actually and the phillips is very hard to adjust the tints. I'm selling it for a loss and will buy another hdtv from a different manufacturer.

Rating:
Summary: Yes!
Review: For the money...$778 at Wal Mart...I can't imagine a better set. Picture is good (with analog cable) and STUNNING with DVD...and, I hope, Digital Cable. I read the one review where he had trouble connecting to his a/v reviever..I can't imagine what the trouble was. I was up and running (with my new and still somewhat unfamiliar reciever) in about 10 minutes. Anyway...if you have about 800 to spend...GO GET IT!

Rating:
Summary: Great Bargain!
Review: Get this TV! It has excellent picture quality - you will not be disappointed. It is true that you cannot adjust the tint when in HDTV mode, but you really don't have to. The picture is sharp and crisp. We actually thought we had a problem initially as all of the HDTV signals came in looking green. However, our cable company gave us the wrong cables! Once we replaced them with the proper component cables, the picture was perfect. DVD's look great. You will definitely ask yourself how you ever "survived" with your old TV set...

Rating:
Summary: Good bargain with correct 75-ohm cables.
Review: I also bought the TV in costco last week($699+tax - $100coupon). It take me few steps to understand the HDTV in order to set up correctly. The most important two things are using 75-ohm cables for component video inputs and turn on the progressive scan from the DVD source. Then, the extra $20 spent on 75-ohm video cables (from circuit city) will make the vedio quality difference.

Rating:
Summary: A good widescreen HDTV for the price
Review: I bought the Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HD-Ready TV from Costco for $799 (a real bargain, especially with Costco's lifetime return policy.) I needed to replace a large older analog projection TV that was taking up too much space in my family room, and wanted to move to a smaller widescreen HDTV. The Philips Widescreen has not disappointed me. The digital picture from DirectTV is very crisp (I'm currently using s-video connection as I don't yet have an HD satellite receiver.) From a progressive scan DVD the picture is beautiful and near-HD as you would expect. The set has two component inputs and two s-video inputs (one in the back and one on the side.) My wife likes to watch the local channels, so I tried to prepare her for what I thought would be relatively poor picture quality on these over-the-air broadcasts. However, broadcast TV looks great on this set as well - apparently the "Eye-Fidelity" system helps upgrade the analog picture. There are no visible lines nor is there the grainy appearance I had expected to see. The widescreen formats are easy to switch between using the remote. The set is attractive and has a small footprint. If you are looking for a widescreen HD monitor that doesn't dominate a room and you want to stay under $1000 in price, this may well be the TV for you.

Rating:
Summary: A good widescreen HDTV for the price
Review: I bought the Philips 30PW850H 30" Widescreen HD-Ready TV from Costco for $799 (a real bargain, especially with Costco's lifetime return policy.) I needed to replace a large older analog projection TV that was taking up too much space in my family room, and wanted to move to a smaller widescreen HDTV. The Philips Widescreen has not disappointed me. The digital picture from DirectTV is very crisp (I'm currently using s-video connection as I don't yet have an HD satellite receiver.) From a progressive scan DVD the picture is beautiful and near-HD as you would expect. The set has two component inputs and two s-video inputs (one in the back and one on the side.) My wife likes to watch the local channels, so I tried to prepare her for what I thought would be relatively poor picture quality on these over-the-air broadcasts. However, broadcast TV looks great on this set as well - apparently the "Eye-Fidelity" system helps upgrade the analog picture. There are no visible lines nor is there the grainy appearance I had expected to see. The widescreen formats are easy to switch between using the remote. The set is attractive and has a small footprint. If you are looking for a widescreen HD monitor that doesn't dominate a room and you want to stay under $1000 in price, this may well be the TV for you.

Rating:
Summary: Great T.V For Price!
Review: I bought this t.v at best buy and let me tell you I'am glad I purchased it. The picture quality is amazing even without an HD tuner. I also have a progressive scan dvd player hooked up to it and the picture quality is better than I had thought it would be. It exceeded my expectations completely. I highly recommend this t.v!

Rating:
Summary: Good HDTV
Review: I bought this TV to be my first widescreen television.
Here is how this TV works:
The HDTV comes in fantastic, perfect images.
Unfortunately, if you want to watch a normal channel (1-13), the image is blurred somewhat.
This TV is great for you if all your going to do is watch HDTV. The settings for the TV are somewhat confusing, and the default picture options need to be adjusted.
For the price, this is a good TV, but it is missing some options (PIP,buttons on TV, )
If you have digital Cable like me, then it's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: a good buy while I'm waiting for the LCD's to come down in $
Review: I got mine at Costco for the rock bottom price of $699 and with no sales pitch for extended warrantys. The picture looks good, especially with a progressive scan DVD, but I disagree with the other reviewers about this being the best picture quality. I beat my market research to death, and I think the Toshiba is better quality, and Sony at the top. However, you'll pay more for those too. This TV for me is a holdover until the flat screens loose another $2K in price, at which point I'll still come out ahead and have a nice hammedown for my parents. The only real complaint I have is the delay in flipping between channels is too long, but I gather from other reviewers this is standard on this TV. But like I said, if you want five stars, then you'll have to pay extra for it.