Lcd & Flat Panel Televisions

I bought this TV back in June, so I’ve had some good experience with it. Overall, I’m very happy with it.

I almost bought the prior model version - the 5060/5061 (depending on whether you bought it from Best Buy or anywhere else), but held off until the newer models were released, and what do you know - the price actually dropped! I don’t know how Pioneer did it, but kudos to you! I compared this set extensively to the Panasonic’s in the store and believed that these two units were the best among the plasma tv’s I could see. The Panasonic was actually lower in price, but what swayed me to the Pioneer was that it was a nice-looking black shiny bezel, whereas the Panasonic had a cheap looking silver bezel. Seems like a small feature, but it makes all the difference mounted on the wall.

Purchased this set as a replacement for a Sanyo model I had in the kitchen that was not HD compliant and had a horrible contrast ratio and narrow viewing angle.

This is a nice unit for the money, having a host of inputs, the requisite flat-panel styling and the necessary tuners to handle all the existing analog and digital stations.

Unit supports HDMI as well as VGA computer connections although I’ve tested neither. Unit will eventually be connected to satellite HD, but is currently using roof antenna to acquire OTA broadcasts. This unit cost me a few dollars more than the Sanyo it replaced, but it’s display is 19″ widescreen versus the 15 inch Sanyo 4:3 format. There are some smaller cheaper HD panels, but I opted to spend the extra fifty bucks or so to get more screen real estate.

I wanted my next HD TV to last for at least 10 years; well, they don’t come as cheap. So, I waited for one year to buy a 1080p (later on that) LCD TV. When I saw a 1080p labeled 47′ toshiba (yes lowercase) LCD TV in a show room, I thought that was it.

I wanted a very small 32″ LCD, and was having trouble finding anything under about 32 inches wide. Unfortunately for my budget, the first TV I encountered was the Samsung 32″ LCD, which is absolutely gorgeous, but costs twice as much as this ILO set. I’ve been selling electronics for wal-mart for a little over five years, but I’ve never encountered this TV in a store, so I could only base my decision on the TV’s specifications and a large amount of faith in Wal-Mart’s return policy. I had no intention to keep this TV if I didn’t like it. Enough backstory, though.

Probably the most important thing to note is that the dimensions on Wal-Mart’s website are incorrect. The actual dimensions are (without stand) 31″ W x 21.75″ H x 3.75″ D or (with stand) 31″ W x 25.25″ H x 9″ D.

Setting up the TV is relatively easy, and the jacks are accessible under one of two removable panels on the rear of the television. The panels help hide cabling and there is also a cutout on the rear of the TV for routing the cabling. For a dirt-cheap LCD, I was surprised to see “nice” touches like that.

The color on the TV is extremely vibrant, and it took me a while to get the picture adjusted satisfactorily. I was getting a little frustrated trying to remove just the right amount of saturation and still have a somewhat natural looking picture. I’m more than a bit picky, and I probably spent about 25 minutes playing with the picture (using my Xbox 360 as the source through component video cables @ 720p) before I was satisfied. The “natural” setting seems to be best for most situations if you care to use one of the picture presets.

The TV does not have a built-in HD tuner, but I rarely watch TV, and really needed a monitor for my Xbox 360. I did connect an antenna to the RF IN on the Ilo 3200 and ran a channel search. The sensitivity of the tuner was surprising. I honestly think that the overall reception is a lot better than my beloved Philips 27″ I’ve been using for the last few years. Even without an HD tuner, the TV reception is surprisingly good. The LCDs that we have on display at Wal-Mart have an immense number of artifacts when displaying a picture over the air or cable, and I won’t try to deceive you, it is a normal occurrence for an LCD, and it happens on the Ilo 3200 as well, but it is minimal compared to the other LCDs I’ve used.

The TV has a few different picture shapes. It can stretch a 4:3 image to fit the 16:9 screen, zoom in on a 4:3 image to fill the screen (due to the nature of this zooming, information is lost on the top and bottom of the picture), display a 4:3 image completely on the screen without filling it (results in “black bars” on the right and left of picture), or do a combination of the previous two (a little clipping and smaller black bars)

The audio quality on the TV was significantly better than I expected. The speakers actually have some bass response, and can put out a pretty good amount of sound. I wouldn’t recommend trying to impress your neighbors with your awesome new sound system, but as far as televisions go, it’s acceptable, and especially when compared to speakers on other LCD TVs, these are pretty good.

It’s not *all* good, however. The stand for the TV is a bit wobbly. It doesn’t feel unstable or that it’s likely to fall off, but the TV is simply too heavy to have such a small junction between the TV’s body and the stand. The stand itself is big enough, but the joint allows the TV to move a little if force is applied. After I stopped working with it, it didn’t wobble or slide or fall down, but I think that the stand could have been a little better. Another minor disappointment on the TV is the contrast. It’s definitely better than most of the LCD’s I’ve seen, but it has nothing on high-dollar panels like the aforementioned Samsung 32″, and at half the price, I’m quite pleased with my decision. The audio pops a bit when changing channels if the TV is connected to a Home Theater Reciever (or other audio device with RCA inputs), which is mildly obnoxious, but i found that after a few minutes I didn’t notice it as much. Also, the buttons on the TV aren’t spectacular, particularly the ON/OFF button. For that matter, the remote is a little on the cheap side, but it does have a reasonable assortment of functions, and it would be relatively easy to replace it with a more aesthetically pleasing learning remote if desired.

Currently, Wal-Mart doesn’t seem to have its website together, so that’s a little aggravating. I wish the dimensions on the TV were proper and that the listing of inputs was more detailed. For what it’s worth, the TV has one set of component inputs (480i/480p/720p/1080i), two sets of composite/S-Video inputs, one pair stereo RCA audio out, one pair of powered speaker outputs (which I have not yet tried), eighth-inch audio in (for PC), VGA in, and an HDMI input labeled HDMI/DVI.

Oh, and one last thing. The Warranty on this TV is 1 year parts/90 days labor, but Wal-Mart offers a 2-year service plan for $58.88. That *extends* the warranty by two years, covers annual cleanings, damage due to acts of God, and some other nice stuff. Gambling $1000 on a “cheap” LCD is a lot less of a gamble if you can get some sort of peace of mind, and as long as Wal-Mart holds up their end of the bargain (They just started offering them, and nobody’s manufacturer’s warranty has expired yet, so I can’t say how good they are at fixing stuff because nobody has had an opportunity to use the service yet), it would be tough to go wrong with this TV if you’re on a budget (and especially if you’re pressed for space. This is the smallest (width-wise) 32″ LCD I’ve found, and I can’t express how pleased I am that my assumption that Wal-Mart’s dimensions were wrong was right.

$986 - $98.60 (Associate Discount) MO Tax Shipping = 974.12, but without discount it’d be around $1075

This was my second digital/HDTV. I have a large rear-projection one in the living room. I am using this one for bedroom or kitchen duty (kitchen at the moment).

I have to say this right away: If you need a small HDTV set for over-the-air reception… the VX20L is the one to get!!!! The tuner in this thing is incredible! I live close to Baltimore. From here, you can normally pick up some of the stronger DC stations. But this Vizio picks up even the weakest DC stations! Even the analog tuner is great. Weak analog channels come in clearer than ANY TV I have ever used! I really wish other manufacturers paid attention to their tuners!

Vidikron has been one of the top names in video for quite some time, far before plasma technology had even evolved. Now in the forefront on video, plasma has quickly become one of the most sought after luxuries, and as we all know, they are not cheap! Vidikron has brought to market an absolutely incredible product, and it has done so because Runco bought the name and has brought to market what is clear destined to be a stellar success story.

Standard television is very good. My father has a Panasonic plasma, which is supposed to be one of the best for SDTV and this looks better than his. There is no ghosting or any artifacts. For those who say it looks bad, chances are you are too close, or the picture settings aren’t tuned right. Obviously no matter what there will be issues going from SDTV resolution to HDTV resolution, the pixels have to be filled in somehow.

HD televison blows me away. I sometimes find myself watching golf just because of how amazing it looks! While I can’t compare to any other tv’s, I can for sure say that being a quality freak, this is everything and more that I hoped for.

The menu system looks neat and I find it easy to navigate. If you need closed captions, you’ll go bonkers over this tv. I haven’t tried them, but there are plenty of settings. Font, color, background color, etc can all be changed. The remote isn’t the greatest though. I find myself having to use two hands quite often. Not a huge deal but I like remote s that you can use from almost any angle but this one is about 90 degrees limited. It has great range too.

Inputs aren’t the greatest. It has every type you will need but just not very many. Two of everything is what I like to see, but hey this isn’t an expensive tv.

Speakers-I don’t use them and if you really care about the audio you should already have external speakers.

Was a little disappointed when first opening and installing TV when I opened the back panel and saw there were no connection jacks. Here the DVD system that comes with it, is the hook up itself. Everything runs through this system and is connected through the TV with a computer like cord (for a monitor) After finishing with installation my disappointment was gone. The TV is great. Very easy to work with through the DVD system. Picture is excellent through DirecTV and with DVD’s you can up to 1080i from 480. The screen looks much larger than a 37 inch. Weight wise one person can move it from room to room with no problem. Stand is a very durable metal, no cheap plastic here. For the price of this set compared quality wise to others, contrast, resolution, features and others, this TV is far superior. Wal Mart’s shipping, which is the only place I could find the certain TV, is very high. $102 to be exact, plus they hammer you with tax so the nice $1,499 offer ends up to be around $1,700 total. Wal Mart makes a point of letting you know when they deliver this they will not bring it into your house or even to the porch. It is a curb-side drop. Luckily the delivery guy was nice and helped me bring it in the house and waited till I opened it to make sure it was in perfect condition. Would highly recommend this to anyone. Sound is fantastic. Havent had it above 40 so far and its way too loud for me.

I have been looking forward to buying an HGTV for a number of years. 5 years ago my place of work bought 6 plasma sets and I was amazed by the picture and price, at the time $10,000 a piece. So I had to wait until the price came down. As the price came down the sets got better and bigger. Looking at my room size the set was to go into 18’X13’, the big set size to get for that room size was a 50” screen. There were a number of sets and prices to go by so I had to do by homework. Dropping 3-7 grand for a set makes you think good and hard on this.

First thing to remember when buying plasma is price does make a difference. There picture quality is great for most sets, but you also have to look at features, brand quality, and how quiet the set is. These do make noise from the cooling fans. The newer set are pretty good in this area, but the cheaper sets get hotter and there fans are noisier.

I ruled out some sets right off. They all had great pictures and looked good. LG and Samsung mid to low price, new in the plasma field and unknown quality. Panasonic had some great reviews and were priced very well, but Panasonic sold lower end electronics and I have had bad past experience with the brand.

So with the money limit I set for myself ($5000) I looked at two sets Sony KDE-50XS955 and the Pioneer PDP5050HD. Both had an excellent picture, but the Pioneer had a lot more going for it.

1. Pioneer has been in the business of plasma sets longer than anyone. In fact starting in 2005 plasma screens is the only thing they are making.

2. Outboard control box, this unit allows you to make all connection in this central area and take only one cable to the set. This is a must if you are to hang the unit on the wall. All high end sets have this feature, but cost a lot more. Mine is sitting on the supplied base and the box made installation a breeze and the look is great. If you hang the set add about $500 to the cost. $250 for a good hanger and another $250 for the longer video input cord you will need, unless you can get the control box within 10 feet. Remember with other sets ever wire that has to plug into the set has to be long enough to make up the wall and installation is very difficult.

3. The set looks great. I preferred the black look over silver that the Sony has. Some say the gloss black finish gives a reflection in direct light, but this has not been an issue for me.

4. I like the remote. To me the layout is good and the buttons are easy to push without pushing the wrong one or two. It lights put in the dark for 5 seconds it needed.

5. Programming the set is easy and the manual is simple to read.

6. Viewing range is 160 degrees; you can’t get that with a projection set.

7. It is cable card ready. This means with a small card from the cable company (Still waiting for mine.) you get rid of any extra box needed to get digital or HDTV from the cable company. Only thing the set will not get with this option is pay per view and the on screen TV Guild. People I know that have the card in their set love them. If you have TIVo the cable card will not work for you yet. I read they will a TIVo cable card ready box out soon.

8. The $500 rebate I got from Pioneer (It must be an authorized dealer) made the set cheaper than the Sony.

Digital cable or satellite is a must. The set can do both if you choose to. Some areas do have over the air HDTV but most areas don’t. The set will do over the air with a HDTV antenna. The analog picture is good, but you can really see what the set can do with a digital picture. I have not got any HDTV channels yet, but I have heard it is fantastic. DVDS are excellent to watch on the set, clear and beautiful.

I bought my set from Monitor Outlet .com. They are an authorized dealer and had no pressure sales people; they do not work on commission. I tried 5 other dealer from Price Grabber that had a lower price listed, but if you don’t want the things they are trying to sell you, they will brush you off. I had a real bad experience at IBUYDIGITAL .com (Stay away from these con artists) The Monitor Outlet sold me the set for $4800.00 free 2 to 4 day shipping, which was excellent. Minus the $500 rebate I got, the set was $4300.00 no tax charged.

The last area to consider is a service contract on the set. I am not a big fan of these, but I did get on for this item. These sets are pricey and new to the market. They are rated of 20000 hours of prefect service, but are expensive to fix. Most experts recommend one. The Monitor outlet had one of the better ones at the best price. I Paid $249 for 3 year full in house service or they replace it free. I saw the same deal at other sites for $999, but if you do get on haggle on the price. They will come down fast. Also make sure you buy from an authorized dealer, VERY IMPORTANT with Pioneer. I read a number of bad reviews from people having trouble getting their set service because they got the set from an unauthorized dealer. I don’t see anything in the warranty from Pioneer about that, but it does say limited full warranty. It seem some places sell the set for to low of a price. I bet any bad review you have read about a bad tv, you will find the person bought the set this way. Another good reason to have a good extended warranty.

The only area that seemed to be an after thought is the sound. The speakers that came with the set do a good job, but could be better. I believe most people will have a home theater system hooked into the set. I do and it completes the package well.

i recently sold my 17inch BenQ monitor for 300 dollars to buy a 27inch lcd monitor/tv for my bedroom.

while shopping around the only lcd monitor that was in my price range was a generic looking norcent 27inch lcd tv and a viewsonic which ended up costing 899.99 each, canadian of course. so long story, i ended up having purchasing them both, but i won’t get into

in terms of picture quality both monitor seem similar, the norcent seems to have better blacks, but other than that that seem equal in terms of screen quality. but the norcent did have a superior menu system, think mac like icons. where as the viewsonic had a generic text based menu system.