Customer Reviews

Westinghouse TX-42F430S 42-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Summary:
I am extremely pleased with this LCD. The picture is bright and clear and the colors are excellent. I am completely satisfied with the purchase and recommend this device to anyone.

Expanded Review:
First, I defined my goals: From about 8 feet away I want to watch High Definition DVD's at 1080p, watch High Definition television including local channels, connect some gaming consoles, connect a PC, and connect my surround sound receiver.

I looked at different products for a year. I would compare the appearance between the different sets in the store, read online reviews, talked to friends, and read product specifications.

I decided on the following and intended to act before the end of summer: I would obtain a decent 42" LCD with all of the necessary connectors for under $1600, I would purchase a PS3 for Blu-ray as well as HD gaming with the bonus that it will upconvert my current DVD's, and upgrade my current cable service to HD for HD television viewing. I figured to spend about $2000-$2200.

When the PS3 price dropped to $500 it figured it was time to move. The contenders after my research included the Samsung, Sony, LG, and the Westinghouse LVM-42W2. Most were over the limit to what I was comfortable spending so it came down to the LVM-42w2. When I went to find it I discovered the TX-42F430S that had been recently introduced. Additionally it was available at a local yellow tagged electronics superstore for the best price advertised. I was able to view this unit side by side with the other available LCD's and it looked just as good, to me, as much more expensive models. I realized however that the signal being pumped into those devices on the wall was not a 1080p signal and that the picture at home might look different. At that point I figured it was bright, the colors were coming through, the menu system was functional, and it was the lowest priced 42" 1080p LCD available ($1299). I bought it with a matching of the online deal that threw in a Sony HT-DDW790 home theater system and a 60 day in house price match. The following Sunday 7/29 it went on sale for $1099. I got the price match ($200 back) and sold the HT system for $120. So, total for this system with PS3 was right about $1500 plus cables, controllers, Blu-ray Planet Earth, and a couple of games for the PS3. I feel good.

Results:
1. I have the PS3 connected to one of the four(!) HDMI connectors and it looks awesome. Motorstorm at 720p is excellent and Planet Earth at 1080p is unbelievable. I had to get the blue tooth remote for playing movies, you can do it with the controller but it's a pain. Most of the upconverted DVD's look incredible, much better than on standard def TV, this was much better than I expected and for someone not hypersensitive it would be hard to differentiate it from some native HD or Blu-ray DVD's.

2. HD Digital Cable content through the component connection looks very good. Standard Definition looks like garbage, but this is expected of all HD LCD's, the pixels on the LCD display the picture in all it's ugly glory. In all my research, I have not come across a way to watch standard def TV and it not look bad. It's functional, and viewable if you don't expand the screen and let it display in 4:3, but a step down when viewing most of the normal TV content. One can only hope that more and more channels come to HD format.

3. I have my PC, Wii, and PS2 (only for guitar hero) hooked up though the home theater receiver via S-video at the moment and it serves. I want to move the PC to the VGA connector (I need a new dual head video card), the Wii to the component connection, and the PS2 directly to the S-video in the future.

4. I have a digital optical cable running from the output on the LCD to the HT receiver and it sounds good. The interal LCD speakers can be turned off so that only the HT system is used.

So, I am very happy. I hope this helps some of you still looking. I relied heavily on comments about the products here and I wanted to return the favor.

The picture on this set is quite outstanding, sharp, snappy and capable of incredible detail. The on-screen menu is excellent as well. Connectivity is excellent. it has four HDMI connections!!!, 2 component video connections (YPbPr), a VGA connection, audio SPIDF out, S-Video, numerous analog audio ins/outs etc. The sound system is quite good with a built-in subwoofer.

The set has (had) a few flaws:
1. You will see some pixel-ating in very dark areas. The picture snaps back when the scene brightens up again. This improves somewhat as the set 'breaks-in'. After about 20 hours of use and adjusting the settings, now, it's a very minor issue for me. ALL LCDs are prone to this to some degree or another.

2. I first heard soft popping noises when listening to DVDs (only) with an HDMI connection. The noise would come and go intermittently. This issue went away completely after about 20 hours of use. (I can't explain it). Also, this can be worked around if you use a Home Theater Receiver.

You will find that ALL LCDs are going to have some bugs. The TX-42F430S gives you a superb picture at a low price. I recommend it.

We were looking for a lot of function for a little price. This true 1080p TV has multiple inputs for audiophiles and has a true 1080p pc connection. The set will automatically read the source and adjust itself appropriately... no having to "switch" from DVD, PC or cable... the TV does it for you!!!

Since we've only had it a month, the verdict is still out on the longevity factor, but the initial WOW factor of the picture quality and functionality has set this TV as a great alternative to the high priced famous brands. We paid about 1/2 the cost of the same 42" TV in the high end brands and feel we received a top notch product. We had the opportunity to see this TV in use against all the other brands (at the yellow price tag store) we were looking at and we absolutely loved the picture, the features and the look of the TV. Westinghouse went with a matt black finish which is different from everyone else, it looks stylish hanging on the wall and is very easy to keep clean. We are so impressed that we are considering the 47" to replace our perfectly good 32" livingroom TV.

Again, other than the question of how long will it last (which is why we are giving this only 4 stars and not 5 - I bought a coverage plan to protect myself and the price was still way below that of the high end famous brand name tvs) if it lasts 5 years it was worth it!!!

I'm using this as a computer monitor and it is amazing. It's clear, has AMAZING viewing angles, and is bright. It has plenty of pixels (1920x1080) for a basic computer monitor or TV, but not nearly as many as, say, a normal 30" monitor like the Apple Cinema Display. It dominates my desk. The speakers are clear and loud, about what you'd expect from a TV, and much better than any speakers I've ever seen built in a monitor. I'd say this is a great deal. No DVI, but plenty of HDMI and other connectors.

I had been sittting on the fence with this LCD purchase. I already own a 32 inch LCD westy that has been a good set even with its quirks being a two year old set. I read many reviews on this 42 inch Westy TX-42F430S and was scared of these people saying thae that the HDMI didn't work and couldn't be worked manually as this set has an automatic source feature others don't. Well I purchased this set and I'm glad I did. The source detection works great. It works on any new source that is turned on like the DVD on composite switched as soon as I turned it on. You can switch back to the HDMI source by pushing the HDMI button on the remote, push it again for the next HDMI source input and its that easy. The picture out of the box is way too bright just like the ones in the big box store. The default settings are not good like on most LCD sets purchased. The employees at the big box store are not good at setting them up. The set also needs to be set up on each source and then it retains the settings, my two year old set did not do that. the picture is stuning and the 4 HDMI inputs, 2 composite as well as the VGA input are all great features. I'm very satisfied with this purchase and would highly reccommend it to others. I hope this helps with your dicision to purchase.

This tv is worth every penny. Its suppose to be a budget tv, but it sure doesnt feel or look like one. The auto sensing inputs are a great feature and save you alot of remote troubles. It has all the quality benifits of the last model, and they fixed the issues. The built in upscaler in the TV is slightly week, but if you like me and have your boxes do all your uspcaling instead of the tv it looks awesome. Im also using it as a pc monitor. Nothing but praise here.

Overall I am happy with the price and quality of the TV. I would like to give it a 5 stars but currently I am having problem with DVD playback.

I have the TV for more than 2 weeks now and not until recently I tried to watch DVDs with it. The DVD player is few years old but works perfectly with my previous TV. I connected it using component cables to the TV. The problem is the screen kept flashing and said detect video source. Seems like it lost the DVD video source for a second and then got it again. At the beginning I thought it is the DVD (the one my kids watched) so I tried other DVDs and pretty much all of them have the same problem. I wonder anyone has similar problem with DVD player connected using component cables?

I tried to look on the Westinghouse web site but cannot find the tech support phone # to call or be able to submit online question.

So, I saw this TV at Best Buy recently for $989. How could I not ditch my 32" 720p and upgrade? My 32" ViewSonic 720p LCD was great and lasted for two years, but its lack of more than one HDMI and horrible menu functionality led me to this Westinghouse 42" HDTV.

The ViewSonic I had had one input of each type, and one button to scroll through each. This wasn't that bad, but the 10 second start up delay was. Universal remotes were near impossible to program (Harmony 520 was mine) due to delay's between startup and even input switching. The one HDMI port was a problem too. These were the main problems I was looking to address.

Firstly, it was $1200 even after tax and a 4 year warranty. Had to get the warranty, as Westinghouse has been known to have power related issues, banding, etc. So, for the price, it cannot be beat. Even Best Buy's "cheap priced" brand Insignia was one hundred bucks more for the same thing. I observed the picture clarity and color next to similar sized Sony/Samsung/etc. that looked like the color had been optimized, where as the Westinghouse had not. I have seen this scheme before, and knew that HDTV's never look the same in store, with a connection split a million ways, as it would at home. In store, the color looked washed out, but clear, compared to the others next to it. My friend has a 46" Westinghouse 720p LCD and was wonderful for the $1600 he paid a year ago, so I knew the brand had promise.

Secondly, no power issues: yet. Not saying it may not, but it hasn't. The color at home is perfect with the only thing to mention is that black's are not solid black. But! They do look well enough to justify the price difference. I have it set to 100% brightness in my room, where light shines thoroughly with no reflection. I have yet to tweak the colors, but I prefer not to and to do so with my systems.

Thirdly, the 4 HDMI ports is the best idea for a HDTV ever. Having 1 or 2 is a joke, more is always better than less. So, 1 for PS3, 1 for XBOX360, 1 for HD-upconvert DVD player and 1 open (DVR if I had one). The only downside is that there is only 1 remote button for HDMI, but autosource takes care of that....

Fourthly, the autosource detection is great. You turn something on connected to it, and it automatically switches. The only thing I've noticed is that if I use VGA, it won't allow switching to the proper HDMI source, but I was only testing the VGA from my computer, I don't use it anymore.

Fifthly, the LCD style is different than conventional. The pixels are not a single pixel, it is a tri-color pixel, where the blue, green and red are separated. My ViewSonic was a single style, but there is hardly a difference. This is just in case anyone wanted to know.

Sixthly, to contrast my ViewSonic's delays, there are NONE with this HDTV. The only delay is user-set, the start up. To save $25 a year, you can have the HDTV delay start up to conserve energy, but if you do not, the HDTV is pre-prepped to start and starts within a second. Channels are near instant, and inputs are slightly delayed, as expected with any TV.

Seventhly, I have a PS3, XBOX360 and upconverting HDMI DVD player connected through HDMI. All connect properly and look perfect on the TV. PS3 games, XBOX360 games, Blu-Ray through PS3 and HD-DVD through the XBOX360 HD-DVD Drive all look just like they should and most likely would on a more expensive HDTV. It is now easier to play multi-player games with a better resolution and split screen. Can't complain about anything.

Finally, there are other things to comment on, but these are the main concerns I was considering with this HDTV. I have yet to have any of the problems common with the brand, but the warranty will handle any that may occur. Hopefully this may answer or dismay any doubts you may have, but I would prefer to buy it in store, rather than dealing with any shipping costs, may they occur.

I may add more to the review later, but as for now this is it.

I purchased this set at a big box brick and mortar store for around $1,100. This allowed me to compare against other sets on a side-by-side basis, and the analysis I kept coming back to was this: was there any set on the wall that was markedly better than this picture? Figure the next 1080p set is priced at around $1,500 - $1,600, a 35% - 40% premium over this Westinghouse. I simply could not justify the price premium for name plate alone.

That said, I have a few quibbles. I find the sound output "auto-recognize" feature to be a little finnicky: if there's no video, the set won't output any sound. That said, the 4 HDMI inputs and multiple other imput options are a godsend; given my relatively layperson audio needs, I actually use the set as sort of an audio hub, outputting all sound via an optical cable to my home theater receiver (which is severely limited in its inputs).

All in all, I feel I've gotten tremendous value for the money. The picture is bright and wonderfully sharp, and when stations begin to broadcast in true 1080p (as opposed to 1080i at best), the set will continue to pay dividends.

Why on Earth would anyone pay hundreds and thousands more for another brand 42" TV when Westinghouse is cranking out TVs like this one? We bought ours a month ago and couldn't be happier with our purchase. Easy to use, great picture, lots of inputs, easy to hang on the wall. It's easily the best deal in name-brand LCD 42" TVs on the market. A friend of mind just paid close to $2000 for a same-spec Samsung LCD TV. I can't tell a difference in picture quality, but I can tell you whose TV is paid for!