Customer Reviews

Philips 32PF5320 32-Inch Widescreen LCD HD-Ready TV

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, the Amazon description is wrong - this model does not have a Cable Card slot. Bought mine at Sam's Club. Out of the box, and set up in about 15 minutes - stand screws to the TV with 4 screws, very stable, clean look. Plugged in DVD via component video - MI2 looks great, great picture. Problem is when playing movie with sudden light bursts (lasers in Star Wars IV, T2). Screen goes black and does not recover for 1-3 seconds. Called Philips, they had me try hooking it through composite video, and it works fine. So their question was "is it the DVD player output or the TV input?" Well, since the DVD player worked fine through a CRT TV with component video before this, and I am using the same cables... I suspect it is probably the TV. I tried going through the CVI 2 also, using their supplied cable through the PC/CVI 2 connector, but the same problem. Since the input works fine for the rest of the movie, I am beginning to suspect that it is not a connector issue, but a processor issue in the TV. I even tried the Star Wars movie on a cheap portable DVD player, and it played fine, so it is not the disc. Philips told me they have no service center near Denver, so they could not send anyone to check it out in house, told me to try another DVD player or return it.

Other thing I noticed is that when receiving regular OTA channels (no HDTV tuner in TV), it takes a few seconds after changing channels for the TV to adjust colors, usually to darken them. I could live with that, since I suspect that hooking up HDTV tuner through the HDMI would cure that issue.

Color is rich, sound is very good from the side speakers. Nice looking unit. I like that the connectors are underneath, so cables don't stick out from behind the TV, but come up from below and are protected. Remote is small, easy to use and well laid out.

I bought this model because it works on US & European voltages and both PAL and NTSC signals which is a feature not many other models have.

The picture is very sharp on HD channels, but does show up the flaws on NTSC channels over my digital cable box (let's face it - there is a huge difference in picture quality between these two broadcasting standards)! I wouldn't recommend this TV for anyone who doesn't have a HD source.

PIP only works with certain inputs but this is no big deal.

PC-VGA input isn't fantastically sharp so also wouldn't recommend this as a primary monitor. Although 1024x768 is the official supported resolution for VGA input I set my PC input to 1366x768@60Hz and it works well.Note that there is some bleed over between HD component input and VGA output - when the VGA cable is plugged in it gave a little picture and sound interference when viewing the HD component source.

Speakers aren't very powerful and sadly not detachable. I use my surround sound amp instead.

The HD component input has a 'bug' which results in the screen going blank for half a second (with an error "unsupported resolution") whenever there's a bright flash on screen in a HD resolution. I bought a HDMI cable and this resolved the problem but this might be an issue if you don't have a HD source with HDMI output.

Overall, though, this is a great TV with excellent picture quality with HD input and a good price. And the multi-voltage support is useful if you might be taking it abroad sometime.

phillips made a great product. i bought it at sams club when they had it side by side with the sony 32in playing the incredibles and the phillips was brighter and cleaner. at first i connected my dvd player to the tv and the image seemed really crappy like it was a bootleg version of the dvd but i connected to the composite ports and it looked beautiful. i later found out that it was my dvd player because my ps2 only plugs into the rca ports and if i play the same dvd is looks almost as good. if your going to buy this i suggest buying a 1080p dvd player so you can really use the full potential of this tv.

I just got this TV two days ago and I must say that it is an awesome LCD for the price. In the store, it was next to a comparable Sony 32" LCD (which was nearly double the price) and I could not tell the difference!

The only problem I ran into was with cablevision. My box was not allowing me to change the resolution. So it always had grey bars on the sides of the picture for non-HD channels. After I gave them a call, they helped me fix it, and now it works great. HD picture is crystal clear. I also have it hooked up to an Xbox which also looks amazing. I highly recommend this TV especially if you are new to the HDTV market and want the best bang for your buck. I would definitely buy it again.

I bought this last week at Sam's, and am AMAZED at the picture, esp. the HD. After taking back a Vizio piece of crap, this is more like it. I installed it in my basement family room, and it doubles as the computer monitor. My ONLY regret is that they didnt have another one for our bedroom !!!

We bought this HDTV at Sam's Club. It had been previously purchased and returned sating it had bad sound. A local TV repair shop tested it out and nothing was found to be wrong. Sam's knocked $300.00 off thier price since it had been opened. I have tested this TV using every connection and found it to be an outstanding unit. I hooked up our Motorola cable top box to the HDMI input on the TV. The cable box (Charter Cable), has a DVI-D output, so I am using a DVI-D to HDMI converter cable. (Bought the cable at Wal-Mart for $43.00) It is a totally digital connection this way. The picture is fantastic even on non-HDTV signals.
I hooked up our DVD player using the Component video inputs and keep the DVD player on progressive scan, again a great picture.
I have not found any negatives except the remote which is small and hard to handle. I think they made it small/thin to go with the LCD thin TV design. My only complaint, which isn't really an issue for most, is that using composite or the HDMI input for the DVD doesn't allow selecting image formats. Some older DVDs use a native 16:9 display and are not widescreen enhanced, hence you get bars all the way around the image, much like a picture frame. However, most DVDs are widescreen enhanced so they fill the entire screen, or most of it. Also, when expanding an image, you would get less detail because it is "stretching" the video to fit the screen. BTW: Most HDTVs are not capable of changing formats when using anything but the RCA/SVHS hook-ups anyway.
I think most everyone would be happy with this HDTV!

I took advantage of the same deal as the previous reviewer and am sure glad I did! The picture on this set is amazing (seems clearer than my 42" Sony HDTV). The set is very stylish and lightweight. I have used it for almost two weeks now just looking for something to go wrong with it and haven't found a single flaw (You know how sometimes you feel like a deal is too good to be true). I do wish it had a cable card slot but for under $1000.00 (and a free Tivo) I can't complain. If you find a similar deal on this set don't pass it up.

I've had this TV since 10/27/06 in my bedroom and have used it everyday since then and I also have a 2009 Samsung HDTV in the living room I use every day as well. I have to say on everything except Blu-ray the TV has a better picture quality than the Samsung, and has been very reliable. The only things I have found annoying is that the stock speakers sometimes rattle the Casing when playing deep bass at high volume and sometimes the backlight does not kick on when the TV comes on "just turn it off, and back on again". I think my next living room TV will probably be a Philips, if i can't get an RCA for a similar price.

DO NOT BUY A PHILIPS LCD TV.. I HAD MY FOR 14 MONTHS AND THE PICTURE WENT OUT...DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND READ THE ONLINE COMPLAINTS ON THESE TV'S BEFORE BUYING...I WISH I HAD...NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT..AFTER THE 1 YEAR WARRENTY THEY WILL LET YOU BUY A REFURBISHED ONE AT A VERY HIGH PRICE...I WILL NEVER BUY A PHILIPS AGAIN.

After 10 months of perfect viewing, this tv developed bugs. First, upon start-up the image would be blk/wht and only cycling the power would return the color. Then 2.5 months later, right when warranty ended, no sound upon start-up, too-bright image, a glitch, then sound comes on but image is blk/wht. After 4 min, the image returns to normal.
Philips tv's have quality issues. Do a search on youtube or google and you'll find many other unhappy Philips consumers.