Customer Reviews

Philips 34PW850H 34" Digital Widescreen HD-Ready TV (Silver)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this TV set. I ordered it from amazon for $1300 with free shipping which was cheaper than anything that I could find on the net. I was thrilled by the features that this tv had. The most important was the 2 Component Video connections. This allowed me to hook up both the digital cable and a progressive scan DVD player. The picture was awesome, and it was nice that ALL my dvd could be watched in wide screen without those annoying bars. Basically, I'm really glad that I purchased this tv set.

PS- getting a home theater with this tv is also a nice touch.

3 weeks after we received our TV, it exploded (we heard a "pop", the screen went blank, and an acrid smell filled the room). And guess what? Amazon DOES NOT HANDLE RETURNS on televisions larger than 27 inches. Huh? Yup, you heard right. If you buy a TV larger than 27 inches from Amazon, they COMPLETELY WASH THEIR HANDS OF IT once it reaches your door. That's it. Done. Thanks for buying. Even if it EXPLODES IN YOUR LIVING ROOM, well, tough. The nice folks at Amazon will simply tell you to call Philips or "check your manual for troubleshooting tips" and, oh, thanks for calling. Where does it say this? It doesn't. You have to find and click the tiny little link that says, "Shipping rates and policies". Never mind that I've bought hundreds of items from Amazon over the past 7 years and that I've never had a problem returning any of them. They expect you to guess that their return policy might be completely different when it comes to televisions and to seek out the information on your own. No where during the entire sales cycle do they ever so much as hint that you can't return it and that they'll have nothing to do with it once it leaves their warehouse. Oh, and what did they do after I sent them a strongly worded letter calling them out on a very bad business practice? They sent me a form email saying that they're sorry I'm unhappy with my new TV but that they can't accept returns and that I check my user manual if I'm having problems. Are you kidding me??? To add insult to injury, the form email stated that I could respond to the email for further discussion on the matter. I did and 5 days later got a "return to sender" email telling me that my email had permanent fatal errors and could not be delivered. Wow. This might actually be the worst customer service experience I've ever had, with any company. Oh, and in case you're curious, Philips finally delivered us a new TV...4 MONTHS after we dropped it off at a "factory authorized" repair shop. Wow, Amazon and Philips - what a team!

I was just looking for a 28 - 32 in., analog, flat-screen set, , but in no time was I sold on a HDTV. After some research on the Web, etc, I rejected the large, flashy Rear Projection Televisions, which in my opinion are only adequate for "Sports Bars" and the likes (and fall short in the area of picture resolution). I was seduced by the Plasma, DLP projection and direct View LCD sets, but their prices are also very seductive. In the end, the CRT sets still give the best reproduction of color and compete favorably with these new technologies, while at much lower prices.

I eventually settled for the Philips 34PW850H HD, 34-inch, Flat Screen TV. The first thing I noticed was the elegant, Euro-design appearance of the TV. The sleek, silver lines of the set will enhance any room when turned off. Of course, when turned on, the crisp image displayed is quite remarkable. But the improvement of HDTV signals over analog ones is the overwhelming majority of the enhancement in our viewing experience, when compared to any additional gain due to other display technologies. I was a little apprehensive regarding the display of the standard analog channels, but there also, the quality of the images is outstanding.

Hooking up the Television. Inputs. 3 A/V inputs (2 in the back, 1 on the side), 1 S-Video, 2 Components. Output. 1 Monitor.

Picture modes. 7 screen viewing modes: Auto, 4:3, Zoom 14:9, Zoom 16:9, Subtitle zoom, Superwide, and Wide screen...

Picture enhancements: Autopicture (instantly optimized brightness, contrast, color, tint and sharpness settings with picture presets for Movies, Sports, Video games and weak signal reception), and a personal setting, the only option which can be changed.

Digital options. Choice between two different picture scanning modes: Progressive Scan and Interlaced (1050i)

Audio. 2 speakers, 20 watts

AudioSound. 3 factory-set control (Voice, Music, Theater,) and one adjustable control (Personal).

Surround sound. "Incredible Surround" simulates surround from two channels. At least, this is what the manufacturer tells you. "Incredible" in a sense of "bad" is more like what comes out of the speakers. It defies credulity that such a beautiful set, producing such a beautiful picture, could produce such awful sounds. I had to connect the audio output to a pair of hi fidelity speakers, via a small preamp/amp unit, to obtain the "Incredible Surround"".

There are a 3D Y/C digital comb filter and an invar shadow mask.

Clock, timers. As far as I am concerned, a bedroom is to be used for two activities, and watching television is not one of them. However, for those who enjoyed watching TV in bed, there are various controls, which allow one to go to sleep and wake up with the image/sound of the TV.

Remote control. The "universal" remote is easy enough to use and versatile: it even lights up in the dark. But "universal" it isn't. It can only handle the TV set, although some buttons and switches would indicate otherwise.

The price of this unit was average for its size when I bought it in December, and since the end of the year, its price has come down somewhat.

All in all, the 34pw850h is a beautiful set (once the sound is fixed), well crafted, and with the Philips reputation for quality to back it up (at least in Europe). But because of the mediocre sound system, I can only give it a 4-star rating.

Note added June 5, 2007. The TV still works as it did the first day I bought it. In the meantime, I found it to be more versatile in certain areas, such as the different formats of the displayed picture, than any of the latest LCD or plasma sets.
Note added June 6, 2008. Ditto.

I bought my Philips 34" 34PW850H at Sam's Club after many weeks of research and consideration. At first I thought it was the perfect television and for a great price, but then one night I discovered a technical problem. The room was dark, cable turned off, but the TV's power was still on. I saw "jail bars" (bars of light dark and dark dark) on 1/4 of the wide screen on the left side. They were heaviest on the far left and then faded as they went across. I turned off the television and didn't think anything of it.

Then the next night, my wife and I were watching a crime thriller movie on a cable channel. It was a very dark movie (by dark I mean a lot of night scenes and low lighting). Low and behold, I could see the jail bars!! I thought it might be a cable problem so I put in a DVD. During the opening credits of the film I could see those jail bars again! Now I must confess, even on darkly lit movies it is sometimes hard to see them if there is a lot of action going on. And on normal television with a lot of bright color, you can't see them at all. I still felt like I wanted it fixed because I'd never spent so much money on a television. I called Philips.

Flash forward several days and I have a Philips repairman at my house. It was harder for him to see the bars because it was daytime, but he eventually saw them on a dimly lit daytime soap opera scene. He didn't have any idea why it was doing it and kept saying he hadn't heard of this problem on the 34" wide screen before. I kept asking if it was a picture tube flaw and he said, "no." I told him that I probably had bought a "lemon" TV and I would take it back and get a new one (not an easy task when it weighs a ton and is so bulky!) and he thought that was a good idea. In the interim between taking the old one back and getting a new one, I did figure out a way to virtually eliminate the problem: set the "brightness" level to 43 or less (on a scale of 0 -100), but of course on darker movies and shows, you sometimes want to turn the level up closer to 50+.

I finally got the old one back to Sam's and got a new 34PW850H. I set it up and guess what?? The new TV had the same problem!! I compared the new serial number to the old one and they were only a couple digits apart. Maybe they came off the line at the same time. I really love the colorful picture quality of the 34PW850H and I really loved the price, but it looks like I'm taking the new one back, and starting all over on my television search. Hopefully it was just me who got the only two lemons in global distribution.

We just purchased this TV and love the crystal clarity and screen size options. We have cable and get 6 HDTV channels that are fantastic on our new tv. Also, we watch many DVD's in Wide screen format that appear crystal clear! We love our new TV!!

I bought this TV from Amazon for $1,2500, a superb price. It took a few weeks to ship, but the shipping company were excellent---they deliver and install (for free at the moment). I almost cancelled my order because of another customer's problems with shipping, but I decided to wait it out, and everything worked out. If your order hasn't shipped and you are getting frustrated, try emailing customer service---they are helpful.

The TV gives an outstanding picture when connected to a DVD player. I don't have HDTV cable, so our cable picture isn't as good (it took some playing with the options to get it sharp). Still, it looks great and I can't see why it wouldn't be outstanding if I invested in HDTV cable. The sound is excellent.

The remote is fine for controlling the TV but sucks otherwise; it is not universal.

This is my second HD set and was bought as a replacement for a 36" analog. The HD picture is excellent. Currently have 10 HD channels and the TV displays them in their full 1080i glory. DVD is excellent also. Another high point was the price. $1249 at Sam's club. I also purchased the matching stand online for $187.00 Looks great.

The low point was the remote. Very basic and hardly a "universal remote". It won't control my Motorola 6204 HD cable box, and can't work most DVD players or audio systems. There is no DVI input or picture in picture.

Since I bought this primarily for HD and DVD viewing I will give it an excellent rating, especially considering the price. You couldn't find a Direct View 34" HD TV for less than $2,000.00 a year ago. If you are looking for a lot of features then I suggest another TV.

We bought this TV for a 2003 family Xmas gift and just love it! It enhances standard broadcast pictures so that the colors are extremely bright, vivid, and sharp. When playing DVDs on a Progressive Scan player the 480p picture is superb! An execllent value for the money.

I purchased this from CompUSA in September of 2004. It has been in use every day ever since, almost. It has been a very good TV, over the years. It's pretty to look at, the picture quality is great, but the sound is what really has done it for me. I have no idea how many times I've turned to see who's coming from behind (despite having my back to the walls) as a result of the TV's "surround" sound. It's absolutely spectacular.

The only drawback I have found is that it's heavy, and without the manuals (I purchased a display model), it's sometimes difficult to figure out how to do things. The menus will help you with the basic things, but there are things that can be difficult to find (captioning, for example - I had it once, it was turned off, and I couldn't figure out how to turn it back on). On the other hand, it has preset menus for different sound-settings, movie, music, talking etc, and the same for picture quality. The remote control is beautiful, and the whole set is just pretty. I really like this TV

I purchased Philips 34PW850H 34" Digital Widescreen HD-Ready TV three weeks ago, and I have to tell you I am very impressed with the picture when watching a movie using a Denon 2200 progressive scan DVD player. To be honest I purchased the TV primarily to watch movies, and I have not been disappointed in the least. The picture is sharp, and without a doubt clear, very clear. I have only to watch the same movie on a friends regular TV to be reminded of its perfection.

AS for regular or digital cable, I cannot say I care for the stretched look on the screen, which is a by product of "all" widescreen TVs at this time (except when watching a true High Definition signal), but as I have chosen not to go with the High Definition signal for now, the strethed version on cable will have to be gotten used to, fortunately for me, I watch very little cable TV, and as the future is widescreen friendly, I know this will improve. I cannot therefore comment on the Philips viewing pleasure in High Definition, but seeing the DVD quality (clarity) in the picture, I have no problem admitting to myself it must be incredible. I would expect the picture to be better than movies on DVD, as DVD movies are in the 480 or so resolution range, and HD can be as high as 1000 or over resolution range.

I had considered the Sony and Toshiba 34" widescreen, but... Philips won out. The Philips was $1400 (CAN) less than the Sony, which I could not justify for a Sony. AS I see it, the only "real" sacrifice is not having a DVI plug on this TV, but having found new DVD movie releases near my home for only 99 cents, this drawback will quickly be forgotten. If you are like me, be prepared to accept some movies will still have a bar on the top and the bottom of the screen, but I can see myself forgiving even that (soon enough) as I get to enjoy more, and more this great picture, and viewing perfection. Good Luck in your shopping adventure. Glad mine has turned out to be such a success.