Big Joel

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2650.00 from Electroline

Summary:
This has been the worst experience with any product I have purchased in my life. Let me start off with the troubles of this TV, and then I will move on to customer service. 1) Very, Very, poor black levels. So poor that when watching a letterbox movie, during dark screens, the letter box bars on the top and bottom actually wash away. Bothered me so much during horror movies, especially. It looked like some one was holding a flashlight behind the screen. 2) Small horizontal lines appeared while playing games using component cables on component inputs. 3) Would loose picture on RGB input (my PC) when I would switch from different inputs. I would have to turn off then on to regain a picture. Now customer service. I do not have the stamina to type my entire experience so I will make it short and sweet. Purchased the TV in June 04. Made my first complaint in June 04. After arguing about the issues, (non-issues according to LG), they finally agreed to pick up the TV in Dec 04. Tried to fix but could not. They actually said they did not know how to fix it so, they finally agreed to give back money in mid Dec 04. As of this posting, Feb25, 2005, I have yet to see my money. Every time I call it is 7 to 10 days before I get it. At least 7 different people have told me the same thing. I will never ever buy any Zenith or LG product for as long as I live. I will also never recommend, unless they are my enemy. Joel

Strengths:
Cabinet?

Weaknesses:
Everything else

Price Paid:  $4400.00

Summary:
I was looking for a 60" high def unit, but did not want to shell out $15,000 for comparable plasma units. I narrowed my choices to the Sony Grand Wega and this model. Both units offer a very small footprint and attractive styling. There is an extensive review of both models in Sterophile Guide to Home Theater, which claims the main drawback on both models was their inability to render true black. A problem inherent in current LCD technology. With this in mind, I found the Zenith offered a crisper, more detailed picture than the Sony Grand Wega (new XRB,which boasts 25% improvment in contrast ratio) and the colors were vibrant and crisp. I initially purchased the Sony and after two weeks of viewing returned it for the Zenith. When conected to High Definition programming, the picture quality was simply outstanding. DVD playback with my Yamaha player, equipped with Faroudja chip enhanced the picture and eliminated the "grey shadowing artifacting" I noticed on a sony player I initially hooked up to this TV. The remote control is one of the best I've seen offered with a TV. It is fully backlit and is a breeze to use. It also offers an on screen display, which allows for numerical settings on all video settings as opposed to simple bar graphs on the Sony Wega. Overall, I think this is a great 60" Widesreen TV with a picture that will rival most projection high def. TV's on the market,especially when you consider the price savings (over 60" plasma models) and a depth of only 3" on top and 15" at the bottom. I know many people (myself included)would be reluctant to spend this kind of money on a Zenith product, since they have not been at the forefront of high end video products, but this unit holds it's own with any comarable unit on the market.

Strengths:
Picture quality, size of cabinet, color, detail and styling. Also with LCD technology, there is no threat of image burn which can happen to plasma or projection TV's

Weaknesses:
Cannot generate true black-more like very dark grey. Like all projection TV's, the picture is affected during bright daylight conditions, however the video options includes a factory preset for daylight viewing.

Similar Products Used:
Sony Grand Wega