Customer Reviews

Philips 23PF5320 23-Inch Flat Panel Widescreen LCD TV

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this TV primarily because it is lightweight which meant I could get a state of the art TV without having to pay more than twice the price of a cheaper analog tv for a piece of furniture sturdy enough for it to sit on. That being said, I already own a 17" Philips LCD TV that I use as a computer monitor/tv. I was confident I could expect the same quality when purchasing another Philips LCD TV and I was not disappointed. There are a few differences. For instance the 23" has surround sound and probably because of the enhanced sound features I can't use the satellite remote to change volume or turn the monitor off (Of course I did it myself without reading the manual so maybe there's a trick to it).

I have had no regrets about this purchase. The onscreen menus are easily accessible and rather intuitive for the programmer. Consequently, I had the Philips set up with in 15 minutes of taking it out of the box. The sound is so rich and resonant I find myself using the lower volume settings when I'm actually in the living room with the TV. The factory settings for picture quality have been great except for a minor change I made from cool to warm tones. Another plus, there are numerous connections for a/v equipment on the back of the TV. I connected a DVD player a few weeks later, also without having to use the manual.

This TV is not too big, and definitely not too small. This TV is similar in price to countless 20" TVs, with an added bonus of 3" and twice the resolution! The picture and sound are great! I did a lot of searching for an LCD TV around 20" for under $700.00 - this was the best value.

I purchased this tv because of price, Philips reputation, and other reviews listed. The previous reviews were right on the money. The pros: great resolution, lower price for a 23" tv than other competitors. The cons: small channel indicator on screen (its difficult to see); a one second delay as you move from channel to channel; we also noticed the lowest sound setting is still fairly loud. After I received the tv in the mail, I noticed a white hue around each edge of the screen when the background was dark. If you were on a totally black screen, the white hue was easily apparant. Unfortunately, it would bleed into darker colors when watching a dvd or tv. Not a lot, but enough to notice that it was a problem. I had to send the tv back to Philips ($20 via UPS), and they replaced some parts on it. When I received it tv back, the problem was still there, just not as noticable. I'm now going to contact Philips about getting a new replacement, or Amazon to get my money back. Hopefully this tv was a one off problem.

This is a great television for its size. The closed captioning is a bit difficult to read due to the font size. The remote control is a bit small. The colors associated with the predefined picture settings are not great, needs to be adjusted.
My original set was defective near the end of the first year under warranty. The customer support is terrible, spent on the average of 50 minutes on at least 3 occasions. The first set (Day 1 thru Day 20), Philips screwed up the address. The second set (Day 21 thru Day 40), FedEx delivered to the wrong address. The third set (Day 41 thru Day 50), was refurbished and defective (would not turn on, gone through troubleshooting with Customer Support). After the frustration and aggravation with Customer Support, my case was escalated to Consumer Relations. The individual in Consumer Relations stated that Philips will pick up the cost to ship the defective third set back to them and offered a buyback. Despite a satisfactory resolution and a great television, Philips Customer Support is disappointing, a customer will be told 15-20 days for a replacement set to be ordered and sent. Hopefully my experience with Customer Support was an isolated incident.

I am very happy with this 23" Philips TV. Even paying for shipping & buying a 2 year service contract, this was cheaper than me driving to CC (a well known brick & mortar electronic store) where the same TV was $100 more.

I also have a Philips Home Theatre, so together I have quite the system for my small apartment.

I will agree with previous reviews about button size on the remote and the small screen menu -- but hey, once you set things up, there is little need to go to the menu.

ALL IN ALL, I am a happy camper.
========= added a year later ==========
I really like this TV. I decided to run a computer thru it on top of it being just my TV - the picture-in-picture works great, I am computing and in the corner I can watch TV. It is clear crisy and bright as a computer monitor. On less appliance in my small apartment. Because I also have the "matching" home theatre - that remote has better buttons and you can control both thru it. TO top that off, I also ran a VCR thur it and it's tuner has less of a delay.... so it all works fab.

I love the zoom feature too. OK that's my update

The Flat LCD has bright color, decent sound, and many input options. I was dissapointed in the DVI input - I plugged my macbook pro in and found the image quite grainy. I was also dissapointed with the composite in - I pluged my video ipod in and the resulting image wasn't great either. All aside however, my xbox 360 going through the component looks fantastic. Even with games that have fast moving action, there is very little ghosting - the TV really keeps up. The graphics look very sharp. I played a DVD through the xbox and it looked very good as well. When I stopped thinking of this TV as a monitor I came to terms that the TV part is great, but it isn't a monitor. The DVI port is a bit missleading. There really should just be an HDMI port. Overall though - great TV for little money.

I knew ahead of time that regular analog tv signals would look blurry and pixelated once translated to the realm of the LCD, so be prepared for less than stellar image when viewing regular TV signals. However, with HD and DVD playback, this LCD TV really shines. Color, sharpness, contrast are excellent. I love the sleek, slim lines and the sound is decent. I could hear sound effects as if I had a basic surround sound system.

The small gripes I have is that the channel change is just one beat too slow and for some reason the remote is only responsive to extra-hard depression from the finger, but that is a small price to pay for excellent quality and a tremendous price for 23" of television real estate.

Overall, it's a good deal for what you get compared to what you spend. Although, the lowest volume is too high, the remote is way too small (can get frustrating), and the on screen channel display is way too small...but if you can overlook these minor infractions, then this is a good buy...makes a great 2nd tv for the kitchen, office, bedroom...probably not the best choice for the living room/great room...I purchased because it was the lowest priced flat panal that also served as a PC monitor and had a good image when viewing it in the store. I would probably purchase again...

I picked this model up over the weekend for $499, after researching for a good six months. We already own a 34" HD widescreen Panasonic that we use in the living room. Needed something smaller and less expensive for the bedroom.
My review is based on using the set over the weekend. I will update if warrented in a few weeks.
The set is a flat panel LCD, very attractive. Setup was fairly easy and intuitive. I have mine hooked up to an HD Cable box using component cables, and a standard set of audio cables. The manul does not make it clear, but the coax-in is located on a detachable cover on the rear side of the TV. I do not use the provided remote, as I programmed cablevision's remote to change channels & volume.
As for PQ, there are several pre-set modes and one "personal" mode. The "personal" mode lets you choose your desired PQ settings for bightness, color, contrast, and Tint. I find the presets to push way too much red, and way too bright. I used my own settings and will calibrate with my DVE disk down the road.
The audio is good, with adjustments available for bass and treble. HOWEVER, I cannot change the tint as it is grayed out on the screen. I called Phillips this morn, and they told me I have to disconnect the cable box to make the adjustments. Will try that tonight. All in all, I am happy with the set so far. Hope the tint issue can be resolved.

First and foremost I must concur with the 2 earlier reviewers..... beyond the initial distortion of the picture with regular cable signals that actually look better at a distance...the picture quality from HD sources is simply breathtaking. The colors and tones are very good and realistic. As far as the sound is concerned, a simple tweeking of the bass and treble levels should yield a better sounding result. The remote and onscreen display are very basic but otherwise serviceable. Other than that I'm very happy this product.