Update My review of the Westinghouse 32" 720P hdtv!

[yoda313]

Yep I finally took the plung and bought a HDTV. I decided I didn't want to go through another madhouse experience with the Black Friday post Thanksgiving day sale blitz. I wanted it now and not later.

I used one of those ten percent off coupons Bestbuy mails out every few months. Here it is:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8256601&st=westinghouse&lp=6&type=produc...=1169512772303



I'll post the stats at the end of the thread. It does have an internal hdtv tuner which is a nice touch - no box needed.

Suffice it to say this was a very good set for the size. I would have considered going to 32" but the space I am using it in is only 21" high by 32" wide so that kind of limited the size of the set with the stand. But this tv is very good - nice and bright and with a clean crisp image.

I bought it last night and this morning I went back and bought a longer fiber optic cable and component cables for my PS2 and my Nintendo Wii. Zelda Twilight Princess looks great in widescreen and 480P!

I also bought the cheapest upconverting Insignia brand dvd player they had - It was fifty or sixty bucks so that wasn't two bad for a new player - no divx or usb support however, but I really don't fool around with compressed video much anyway more backups and the like. I bought the cheapest dynex hdmi cable for it. The tv has two hdmi inputs so i still have a port free. However at the moment I don't have another high def device to use with it.

My first impressions were highly favorable. Once I got it set up last night it was perfect. I set the dvd player to upconvert to 720p and the movies look outstanding. Nearly high def in fact. Even my widescreen season sets of Stargate look terrific.

I have analog cable at the moment - no box. I was pleasantly suprised that comcast in the southeastern Michigan market pipes the over-the-air digital channels for abc, fox, etc over the analog cable. That means I don't need to get an a-b switch since the set has just one rf input jack.

The clarity and brightness is very, very good. It also has a great side angle viewing plane. Even at an extreme angle the lcd tv holds up in sharpness and doesn't blur out.

Here are the stats:


16:9 widescreen aspect ratio delivers a cinema-style entertainment experience; 3-2 inverse pulldown for accurate reproduction of film-based sources


Digital 3D de-interlacing and video processing corrects vibration, stair-stepping, cutoff and other standard video-processing artifacts

Ultrafast 8ms response time

High brightness (400 cd/m²) and incredible contrast (800:1) for an arresting viewing experience

Wide 160° horizontal and 150° vertical viewing angles make every seat the best in the house

3D motion adaptive comb filter brings out fine picture detail and enhances color purity

Two front-firing 10W speakers deliver rich sound

Ultraslim LCD measures 5" deep; comes with table stand or can be mounted on a wall (with optional mounting kit, not included)

SpineDesign provides easy side access to connectors with organized waterfall cable management

Inputs: 1 S-video, 2 component, 2 HDMI with audio, 1 PC (RGB/VGA), 1 mini audio, 5 dual RCA audio and 1 antenna

Outputs: 1 dual audio RCA, 1 SPDIF audio

V-Chip parental controls keep children from being exposed to undesirable material

Other convenient features include input labeling, sleep timer and fanless design

What's in the box: 26" flat-panel LCD HDTV and table stand


1366 x 768 resolution

So far I am very pleased. I am considering upgrading to high def cable. I'm going to have to check out the packages available.

I FINALLY HAVE AN HDTV!!!!!!!! I can't wait for football!!!!!!


EDIT - I traded up to a 32" Westinghouse!!! Bestbuy had the 32" for just forty bucks more than what my post discount price was on the 26" set! It has the same features and inputs except the 32" has a 1200:1 contrast ratio so that is nice. I definitely love it. It is a 720p also but can display 1080i apparently. On cbs it says 1080i and that is a 1080i station. Much nicer size. The 26" now felt like a computer monitor compared to this

[Krispy Kritter]

I've been looking for a 32" HDTV LCD myself. I'll have to take a look at this one.

[rallynavvie]

I just bought a 24" Dell widescreen monitor with 1920x1200 res for less than that sale price. May not have a tuner but since all my TV runs through one computer or another (I counted 7 tuners on my computers recently) I don't need a tuner.

I did get a Westinghouse 1080p LCD "monitor" early this year at Best Buy for only $1200. I don't think they're carrying the 37" 1080p TV anymore. It doesn't have tuners either but again it goes through an HTPC. When not being used for video or gaming with the HTPC or PS3 it's my secondary monitor to the Dell 24". I hated it at first because of issues with HDCP and my PS3 when playing anything not 1080p but one of the PS3 updates fixed this issue and it's been working great for me since.

FWIW 1080p isn't really any better than a 720p set if you're just using it for gaming and video. However if you're using your TV as an additional monitor on your PC then the extra resolution of 1080p is definitely worth the extra $$$.