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Review 1 of 3
Price Paid:
$350.00
from Best Buy Summary:
First let me tell you, I am by no means a "Videophile". But I can tell the difference between a crappy picture and a pretty good one. I don't get hung up on very small things. I'm more into audio...I also seem to be one of the few hold outs. I find nothing wrong with tubes taken from spheres. The whole flat thing doesn't really intrigue me. I do see some benifits, but I still like my plain ol TV. :) HD is a different matter entirely, so please note that my comments are based on SD TV's.
That being said, I am TRUELY pleased with this TV. I had been looking for some time at 32"-36" TV's at all the local entry level stores, Best Buy, Circuit City, American, etc. To be honest, I was getting a little discouraged at what I was seeing. I was noticing that a lot of these TV's had very visable screens at moderate viewing distances. I think they are called Phosfor screens....anyway...That was one thing I knew I would have a problem with. The pictures on a lot of the TV's also seemed dull and lifeless.
Then I strolled into my local Best Buy one day and walked in front of this unit. I had just walked through the section with some of the SD Flat screens, and wasn't impressed. I saw this TV, and can honestly say it looked much better than its own 32" Pure Flat counterpart from Toshiba. I was amazed! The color was vibrant and it popped! I know a lot of this has to do with the source material, so I watched some other (higher cost) TV's on the same feed, and this puppy was still better! You also had to be about 1-2' away to see the phosfor screen. So that passed my test! :)
After watching about a dozen movies or so on it at home, I can say that this was a great purchase. The ONLY thing I have a small teeny tiny worry about, is every now and then, I get a shimmer in some of the wording on screens, and in the blacks. Now, I am using a Denon AV Reciever that has an up-convert feature (composit and s-video to component) and it seems that I only notice that when when I'm watching cable (composite up converted to component), so it could be that its just the conversion process creating some noise. Its not even that big of a concern to me, because I am farily certain its not the TV, I just wanted to mention it.
So overall, if you want a good value, great color, and a smooth pic, but don't necessarily have to have a "flat screen", then this is the Tube for you. You better hurry though, as I understand it, they have discontinued this unit, so they are going to be off the shelves soon. Strengths:
- Wonderful Picture!
- Easy to use
- The remote is pretty nice, but I have a Pronto, so I haven't really gotten into it.
- Plenty o' connections
- Almost any adjustment that you could want. Weaknesses:
- Weight! But what do you expect from a 32"CRT! lol
- It is VERY front heavy, and doesn't seem to have enough weight in the rear to balance it out. when put on a stand, it will seem like it wants to tip over quite easily. IT WON'T Tip over though, so don't worry! :) There is a lip the front that you can put something under if it would make you feel better. But i have moved it around getting all my stuff hooked up a number of times, and it is sturdy enough.
- The top of the TV is too small for most center channel speakers. I got lucky though...mine has a threaded rod that is designed to compensate for that. Similar Products Used:
TV's - Sharp (yuk), Toshiba, Samsung, Pioneer, Sony
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