Customer Reviews

Westinghouse LTV-32W1 32 Inch Widescreen LCD TV LTV-32W1

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I spent several days looking at as many large screen TV's as I could find, mainly around the 25" - 40" size. I have had a Samsung 17" HDTV in the kitchen for some months and have a projector for watching movies, but wanted a good sized TV for the familly room. It was almost by chance that I came across the Westinghouse range of LCD TVs at Best Buy. Prices ranged from $1000 for 27" to $1700+ for 32". The range appears to have been introduced quite recently (early 2005?) and the clean, simple design was immediately appealing. The prices were all very keen - in most cases at least $2-300 less than comparable models from other manufacturers. The only manufacturer with noticeably better picture quality was Sharp. Their picture quality is superb!

My main requirement was for a good looking TV with the best possible picture quality for the price. I wasn't really interested in gimmicks like PIP (picture-in-picture / watching two video sources at the same time), and being able to feed in signals from multiple digital sources. (This model does support PIP as it happens, and also has a wide range of audio & video inputs, but it has only a single TV tuner) I DID want support for HDTV and connection to a PC.

I thought that the 27" model was outstanding value at just under $1000 from Best Buy, but the 32" LTV-32W1 struck me as much better value for $1400 from Electronics Express through Amazon. The picture quality is really good. I have seen many cheap flat-screen TV's that are just so fatiguing to watch. So far I have seen no strange blocky artifacts or other picture distortion. Personally, I found good quality LCD screens so much easier to watch than their plasma counterparts. The picture from LCDs seems clearer and less harsh than plasma. The internal cable-ready tuner is fine for basic low-res TV without the need for an additional cable box. One last point is that I was quite pleased with the sound from the built-in speakers. No, they are not hi-fi, but many of the models I auditionned sounded like tiny transistor radios from the 1970's!! The LTV-32W1
has - in my opinion - one the the better sound outputs from its built-in speakers, which was quite important for me as I did not want any more clutter and wires! I will probably add a small sub-woofer though to fill out the bottom-end.

All-in-all I am very pleased with this TV and would recommend it very highly.

Like the review above, I also first saw the Westinghouse 32" at Best Buy and also looked at several TVs in the range. I decided I didn't want a Plasma because of burn-in from news show text scrolls or video games. On the shelf in the store, the Westinghouse looked just as sharp as all the other TVs, but just small -- next to the 42 & 50" monsters next to it. In my living room, the TV looks huge, in place of the 20 CRT it replaced. I can't imagine having a 42" in that spot. The best part is that this TV is over $1000 less than similar LCD TVs.

The Westinghouse 32" LCD works great! The color is great, the menus are easy to use, but you could just plug it in and defaults are fine. The sound is good, too, but since the speakers are at the bottom, if you're sitting close, you don't get the left-right sound separation that you might if the speakers were on the sides, instead.

A couple quirks about this set. First, the manual talks about a blue LED power indicator. There's no LED. (I called Westinghouse about this and they discontinued the LED because it bothered people--being so bright and blue) This sucks because when you turn on the TV, it takes 5-10 seconds to come on, and without that LED, you can't tell if the TV actually turned on. Add to that, the remote is a little weak. No problem if you're directly in front and you like to press the buttons hard, but I often sit to the left a bit and often have to try a little harder to change the channels. (maybe I just need new batteries) Also, the remote conflicts with the super-cheap "KLM" DVD player I have. e.g. if I turn down the volume, it'll stop playing the DVD. Certain buttons on my DVD remote will mess up the TV, too. This probably won't be a problem if you spent more than $30 on your DVD player, though. My other beefs with the remote is that the "last channel" button isn't as intuitive and there's no SLEEP button on the remote. Have to use the menu for that. (but I can use a button on my DVD remote for it.)

The above review said that there is no PIP. There is. But, it's strange in that you can't PIP 2 TV channels. You can PIP the TV and a different video source. e.g. TV(cable) & DVI or AV (composite) and YPbPr (HDTV) But there is PIP and you can even select side by side.

Lastly, my cable is analog and I'm still waiting for HDTV cable, next month, but I can say that most analog channels look fine on this TV and I expect the future HDTV channels to look lovely, as they did in the store. Changing the aspect ratio is easy with the button on the remote.

Bottom line: This is just a great TV to watch and being $1,000-1,500 less than other LCDs is a bonus.

if it breaks, you have two locations to send it to under warranty. Keep your box or UPS charges $50 to pack it and depending on your proximity to the west or east coast service centers...$128 bucks to ship. Obviously I am eating sour grapes over the loss of use of my set whilst it is up in New York getting its powersupply replaced.

Having said that. I love the picture. Audio is good, but the remote control connection is absolutely appauling. I feel like Harry Potter waiving his wand trying to get the channel to change.

Would I buy again...Unfortunately no. Look for local warranty service when you are choosing a brand. Perhaps if Westinghouse had more than two facilities in the whole blessed country, I might speak better of them.

I also looked at numerous LCD systems before picking the Westinghouse. The picture quality and features are extremely good for the price. I am no technophile, but if you are upgrading from a CRT TV to an LCD TV you will not be disappointed. Why pay $1000.00 more for nearly the same quality (Sharp). My feedback was cancelled by mistake, so I will add an aside here. The vender with the best price (EE) shipped quickly (4 days to be exact). I bought a new system. Everything is fan-tas-tic. I am very pleased.

My LTV-32W1 broke 1 month out of warranty. It turns out that Westinghouse does not have authorized service centers. Several TV repair shops wouldn't even look at it because they can't get parts. One shop finally took it but returned it after a month, unable to get parts. Westinghouse themselves don't even sell parts, check their webite.

This is my first review to write for Amazon, but I liked this TV so much I thought I should share my experience. I ordered the TV via Amazon and have had it for nearly 4 months.

I initially set a budget of $1000 to purchase a new HD-Ready TV. After searching around I had decided on a Toshiba 30" CRT but then saw this model. I was a little skeptical at the price ($999 for 32" LCD?!?), but went ahead and took the plunge. Boy was I glad I did. This TV is awesome. HD broadcasts are amazing! SD is acceptable, about on par with a regular CRT TV. DVD's look pretty sweet using my $50 Philips player. The speakers are ok, but you really should use a home theater system to get the most out of this TV. PC hook up is very easy, too. I hook up my 12" Powerbook and play slideshows of vacations and family events, they all look great. Controller is also easy to use and the menu is very user friendly.

My only beef is that it doesn't have an HDMI port, however this is easily fixed by using a HDMI-DVI adapter. Other than that, I have not had one single problem with this TV. I couldn't be happier with this TV and it was definately money well spent.

*UPDATE* I have had this TV for over a year now and it sill looks great and impresses me everytime I watch it. We've hooked up my brother's Xbox 360 and it's unreal; so awesome. Even as more and more people are getting flat panel TV's, I still get compliments on how great the picture is on this one. I couldn't be happier!

My family's TV was in its death throes. We decided it was time to venture into the world of HDTV. We have an existing cabinet that we wanted the TV to fit into. This left us with the choice of a 30 CRT or an LCD. After a lot of research we were thoroughly confused and even considered re-purposing the cabinet and going with a 47" DLP which would really stretch our budget. Having noticed the Westinghouse LTV-32W early when researching we decided to give it one last look before making a final decision. Plenty of inputs, quick response time, good resolution and fair price; it fit in the cabinet so it won.
We are using the cable co. HD/DVR service. The picture is amazing. You know it is when you are watching shows you normally would just because they're in HD. The cats and dogs are now watching TV- no kidding- they sit and stare at the TV!
We hooked up my Powerbook to the VGA port- instant 32" monitor (stick to 60hz)! Very cool. Next purchase; a mac mini for permanent hookup. The Xbox is hooked to one of the two component input and it looks stunning!
We don't really have anything we are disappointed with at this point (2 weeks). If I had to say anything that wasn't positive I guess it would be that I would prefer a HDMI port instead of the DVI. Just to cut down on cord clutter. That said you can get a HDMI to DVI cord off ebay cheap if you have an HDMI component you need to hook up to the TV. I cant believe what they charge for those in stores!

I did almost a half a year of research on many high-definition ready televisions, and noticed that an LCD flat-panel display would be best for my needs, since I have a computer to hook into a TV, and that would NOT work on a plasma or CRT HDTV. Plus, I love that this features more than any other HD-Ready set that I've seen. I looked at Sharps, Samsungs, JVCs, Sonys, and Panasonics, and thought that those were a little pricey, yet, I was looking for a TV that had that same quality, and for a better price. For the same price that those big brands want for a small TV, Westinghouse had this 32" for under $1K. This is one TV that is worth more than the price tag, and really seems to pay off big time. Just wish that the remote would be a little more responsive, and have more features for the PIP, using the menu all the time can be a pain in the neck for bringing that split-screen into play. Also, there's no way to fill the whole TV with the split-screen, either, it's all letterboxed. Other than that, the quality and responsiveness is just as good as those big name TVs, if not better.

I've had this TV for a few weeks now... It's my first HDTV so I have little to compare it to, but regardless, I'm happy! I wanted a solid HDTV to use for a TV (standard cable) as well as for my three computers. The LTV-32W1 has inputs for VGA and DVI and viewing the output from my Mac is excellent! The resolution is 1360x768 or something like that... I can now relax on the couch while browsing the web or checking email! One note: the remote for this device is really bad -- the range is awful and it's really cheap. I use a Universal Remote so I simply programmed it off the original remote and dumped it back in the box. That seems to work well. On another review, someone mentioned that there's no "switch input to DVI" button on the remote that would allow you to select the DVI input without wading through the on-screen menus. However, hitting the "PC" button on the remote will first select the "VGA" input and a second press will select "DVI".

The quality is great on this TV... The case itself is solid, very pretty, and the built-in speakers are surprisingly good! There is some slight "white lines" with fast-moving video (this is pretty typical for any LCD I believe) and the unit I bought had a single dead pixel (near the bottom and not visible from a normal viewing distance).

It's a tad pricey currently, but when the price drops below the $1000 mark, this TV is a great buy!

Needing to replace a 27" Panasonic, I wasn't ready or willing to put $2,000 + into a new TV. Yet, with all the new technology and limited room space, I wanted more than a CRT.
Going below $1,800 seemed to offer some questionable choices.
I looked at a Phillips but the quality of picture didn't look good and the construction looked flimsy. Polaroid also offered low end models. Again the picture quality - even in store - didn't compare to the better stuff. Then I stumbled over reviews here at Amazon and at Epinions about the Westinghouse 32W1: no big negatives or complaints. When I shopped at BestBuy it was in the middle of a Toshiba and a Sony. And it more than held its own picture-wise. BestBuy was selling for $1299. The picture is great - construction is solid - easy to set up - easy menu. Yes, the remote is flimsy, but my cable company supplies a universal. So, that's not a big issue.
It may be worty to note: I was told buy BestBuy that LG bought out Westinghouse several months ago and the quality has gone up while keeping at an entry level price. That bit of information aided my decision. I highly recommed this 32" LCD for the budget conscious looking to enter the 21st Century.