Customer Reviews

Philips 50PF9630A 50-Inch Widescreen Plasma HDTV

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

 

 

I have had this television for over a month. I was not able to access the "Menu" portion of the screen, thus I was not able to get digital cable. I ordered the television from the Philips online site, and their customer service in dealing with me has been absolutely terrible. I have had to fax my warranty to them 3 times - and each time they claimed they didn't recieve it, and then I emailed them my warranty twice. Don't deal with Philips, they don't know what they are doing.

Like the other reviewers - just 1 month after purchase this tv started turning off at will, the black plastic frame comes unglued and most infuriating, we get about a 4" wide pink stripe running vertically down the middle of the screen that comes and goes. After many calls and emails to try to get the "on site" repair, turns out we had to lug the tv to a local authorized repair center who kept it for about 6 weeks only to lug it back home and it was still broken. So we lug it back in and it's been at the repair center for 8 weeks and counting despite repeated calls to them and Philips. Philips is not standing behind their relationship w/the repair center nor have they sent the correct parts to fix it. They also won't give us a new tv or extend our warranty. DO NOT BUY THIS TV. Or if you really want one, buy mine.

The picture is good, but it has been nothing but problems. The TV constantly buzzes very loudly. The plastic trim always falls off as well. Best Buy has been out to repair twice, but they cant make it stop buzzing. Im going to return it for a panasonic this week.

I purchased this Television from Best Buy a few months back. The front black section that goes around the whole tv has seperated from the television I constantly have to press it back on especially if the tv is on for a while . My assumption is that the glue they used to make attach this part is heat sensitive and it melts everytime the tv heats up. Considering that heat generation is one of the problems with Plasma tv in general it seems as if Philips would have had a handle on this problem. This is unfortunate since this is not a cheap television therefore one would assume better quality products would be used. Unless you enjoy having the front of your television falling off like an old pair of pantyhose when your friends are over oohing and ahhing this probably isnt the tv for you.

This TV has easy an easy to use remote with beautiful, sharp, picture quality. With the Ambilight feature, I've gotten so used to watching the television with this feature I cannot watch without it - It's the BEST - No eyestrain in the darkness and it really puts you in the program. I own a HDMI up-converting DVD player which I hook to the television and it is nice to know there are 2 HDMI inputs so I can add additional peripherals when needed. Further, setting up the Cable Card feature was completely easy; I was new to this feature but my Cable Provider helped me every step of the way. Just a look at the features and you should be impressed. I was especially impressed with the contrast ratio. I'm sure most have seen those televisions where the blacks look gray; with this television the blacks look black and the brights are bright with beautiful in-betweens and bold color. It also might be impossible to use up all the inputs, but I am one for that challenge (with my collection of electronics). I've been a connoisseur of high quality electronics for ages, I still have a large laserdisc collection and the beautiful thing is when inputting the player through the s-video input it actually upgrades the picture! The side jacks are easy to access which makes it easy to plug-in my camcorder and... yes the occasional video game. I was so impressed we bought two of them! One for the family room the other for my personal office. It works and looks great both on the wall and resting on top of an entertainment center. I would recommend this TV over all. I have friends that have gone through a few other lesser known brand name televisions and within a few months they are no longer happy with the performance (especially after they see mine!) I have nothing bad to say. Great quality, great picture.

Had mine for about 6 months with no problems so far. Unlike the newer barebones plasmas and LCD's this TV has all kinds of extras like media card readers, cablecard, amplight, two USB's...

So far we have replaced the signal board 3 times too no avail. Picture gets continuously worse with every repair. Luckily I purchased with my Amex card and Amex credited the full amount back to my card until I am satisfied with the service. Don't buy Philips, horrible customer service. Will update later with results.

We took our tv out of the box a week ago, and today it died. The picture simply turned off. We tried to turn it back on, but to no avail. When we called Philips directly they said it would have to be sent in for repair or that we could just take it back to the store.

The store took it back no questions asked, which was nice, because on top of this problem, there were several others. For example, the tv seemed to put out a great deal of heat. There was also a steady buzzing noise coming from the speakers and an obnoxious thin stripe along the left hand edge of the screen. We exchanged it for the Panasonic and we are happy so far!

I had the 42" model for a year. After 8 service calls, Circuit City gave me a new one. This size was discontinued so I tried the 50" It started with the same problems on the first day: turns off and on at will, half the picture goes blank, I could go on. Progressive problems througout the year. Picture is good, ambilight is beautiful (that had a recal) but it the model is a lemon. Before you write a review here, live with the TV for a while.

Adding to some of the other comments -
I've had the picture go blank on a few occasions. Seems to "reset" and then comes back on. Takes 5-10 seconds. That's the only negative, although I've had other Philips products over the years and have had the displeasure of dealing with their Customer Service representatives. If you do buy one of their products - check the warranty or get an extended warranty. It's well worth it.
On the positive side it's an awesome picture. I also really like the ambilight feature, which I initially laughed at in the store.
I have none of the glare issues commonly written about plasmas, and it's a great picture even in bright daylight.
Potential service issues aside I can recommend this TV.