The Set is Great, the Controls are Not.
Written: May 21 '01 (Updated Dec 10 '02)
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Pros: Image Quality! Appearance/Design! Nice Features. Component Hookups.
Cons: M-Link is Hard to figure out. May have ringing noise when new. Cluttered Remote.
The Bottom Line: It takes a book to figure it out the many advanced features. The Image quality is excellent, a beautiful set.
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| glennhanna's Full Review: Philips 27PT81S 27 inch TV |
So it’s time to buy a new television. I wanted a 27” Television to replace the 19” television that used to be in our living room. I narrowed the television community into three categories. There’s the HDTV’s, which are spendy, but are supposed to be the standard by 2006. There’s the standard television which is usually black, has a rounded screen, and is usually very affordable. Finally, we have silver televisions with a flat screen, which fall between the price of the previous television types. I went ahead and splurged for the best-looking Flat Screen television in the store; the Philips 27PT81S1. I spent about $700 for the television.
According to the salesman at the store, Philips is the manufacturer of all the flat tubes sold today. This is why Philips can offer their televisions at a lower price than other brand names. I like the flat tube television technology. It helps cut down on the glare and displays a quality picture that is not distorted like the round tubes of standard televisions. I believe that the photon guns are shot against a mirror that reflects the image onto the flat screen.
Picture Quality 5/5 points
The picture quality of this television played a major factor into the purchasing decision of this television. The picture quality was superior compared to the similar televisions. The image was the sharpest and the colors were right on. I wanted a television with superior picture to maximize the visual impact of DVD movies. The component hookups are a must when connecting a DVD player, which this television has. I could not be more satisfied with the picture quality; it’s gorgeous!
Sound Quality 3.5/5 points
Twin Speaker Stereo. For $700 you better have stereo. The quality won’t blow you away, but it is satisfactory for a television. I don’t know of any television that can satisfy my audio needs. I need a separate surround sound system to place me in heaven.
Here are some more audio features. The television lets you adjust the bass and treble of the audio output. The television has left and right audio outputs and hot wire output connections for surround sound speakers. This model also has a feature called “INCR. SOUND”. When you flip on the INCR, it fills up the room more with sound, the other mode is Stereo/Mono, which is more directional to the viewer. I prefer the Stereo/Mono mode.
The Remote 2/5 points
I do not like this remote at all. It is very cluttered and large. I can run the bridge of the Star Ship Enterprise with this thing. The only problem is that you need a manual to figure out how to operate the thing. The basic features are simple, with the standard channel up and down, Volume up and down, numeric pad, Picture in Picture controls, Sleep button, Mute, Menu controls, and VCR controls. The remote doesn’t get difficult until you want to run your other electronics with it.
It’s called M-Link. Instead of acting like a regular universal remote, where you need to program various codes to run your electronics, this remote system allows you to program your other equipment by use of the individual remote controls to program the M-Link. You have to set up the television to program a new M-Link entry, my DVD player for instance. There is an infrared receiver that is mounted to near the television and plugged into the back of the TV. You have to follow the onscreen instructions and shoot the requested controls of the DVD player remote into the receiver. You can’t be more than a foot away while programming each and every button. You are basically teaching M-Link the frequency transmitted by specific buttons. In theory, you can use one remote for all your electronics. Put the remote into DVD mode and point it at the mounted infrared receiver. The receiver will translate the frequency to the frequency needed to operate the DVD player. The M-Link will retransmit the signal through the room and off the walls, and hopefully the DVD player ends up with the signal. I think this whole process of program every single button is ridiculous. I’d rather use a universal remote to control my electronics. I guess the benefit of an M-Link is that you can program strange electronics that may not have a cataloged code, such as a stereo system.
I give the M-Link a big thumbs down. It might be nice if it worked, but I can’t get the silly thing to program all my equipment. It’s a big headache. I’ve entered my DVD controls three times, it takes 10 minutes each time. It doesn’t store the information. I did successfully store the VCR controls. There's a short delay in pressing the buttons on the remote to actually performing the command on the VCR. The signal is being bounced around too much, I don't like it. I’ll have to settle using 5 different remote controls. The remote actually has it’s own manual, Good Luck.
The buttons on this remote do light up if you press the light button. It lasts about seven seconds and then shuts off.
I really wanted a remote with a pager. I have this problem of losing the remote control. This remote control unfortunately does not include a paging device.
Don’t You Love High-Pitched Noise
There is no way to tell what noise the television emits at a store with 100 other televisions running at the same time. This television emits a freakishly loud high-pitched tone when turned on. My neighbors can tell when my TV is on because they can hear this noise. I’m sorry Philips, but you guys could be causing several migraine headaches. Run from this television if you are sensitive to high-pitched noise.
(Update 01-06-2002, My migraine headaches are gone. This television needed a few weeks to break in. Its high-pitched noise is now no louder than any normal 27 inch television.)
Very Attractive Television Appearance5/5 points
This is a very pleasant and expensive looking television. It is very simple in presentation design. The Screen is very symmetrical and the is bordered by frame where the speakers sit behind. It has a power switch on the front of the television with two LED lights. The television controls are actually on top of the television, hidden from the audience. There is also a third A/V input hidden on the side of the television behind the speaker frame near the front of the television. Set this television up on a symmetrical entertainment system for the optimal elegant display. I have gotten quite a few compliments on the television setup of my living room.
Dimensions and Weight
The dimensions are (LxHxDEPTH) 20”x23”x31” and is 38” from corner to corner. The television is extremely heavy, 99 awkward pounds. It took two of us to lift it up the stairs. I bet I could have done it myself, but I wanted to pass on the risk of 1)Breaking my back 2)Smashing my new television 3)and making a complete fool of myself struggling to get to my front door as the neighbors watched.
I would prefer not to grab the television at this time and set it on a scale to weigh it. I can’t seem to find the manufacturers specs for weight. I would say that it is over 80 pounds (99 lbs, thanks for the update Paul Fernández
). The majority of the television’s weight is in the front, which makes it possible to tip forward when transporting to another location. I do not like a front heavy television, but according to Epinions Member, prothumian, in a comment he left me, extra weight in the front is from the extra glass needed to make flat tube technology work. I would place this TV on a very secure entertainment center. I wouldn’t want kids playing around it and having it tip ontop of them.
Picture in Picture
This is a handy feature. You have to have a splitter in order to get the signal that you need to run PIP. The incoming signal, such as cable, needs to input into the television twice. The splitter splits your cable line into two lines so that you can hook up two cables to your television.
The remote has a section designated for Picture-In-Picture functions. Just turn it on, select one of the two sizes available, position the box into one of the screen corners, and control the channel it is on by pressing the PIP channel up and down buttons. The PIP channels flip by much quicker than the regular TV. For some reason it takes a second to display each channel when channel surfing in regular mode. I use PIP to surf, since it is much quicker. Push the SWAP button to switch the regular screen signal and the PIP signal. There is no audio for the PIP image, by default. I don’t think you can change that.
Audio Volume Leveler Control
This feature attempts to control the sound level of all the channels and commercial breaks to a consistent level. It does a good job. It keeps the viewer from always having to adjust the volume from inconsistent television broadcasting.
Auto Chron
This feature automatically makes sure that your clock is set correctly. I’m not sure the science behind this, but there must be some kind of outside signal letting the television know the precise time and Daylight Savings Time changes. This could be a handy feature for Californians in Brownout territory.
AutoLock
Allows you to block your kids from watching certain channels or programs rated for adults.
Auto Programming
This feature scans all your television channels and programs the working channels. This feature can be quite a pain, especially if you have two incoming signals. It seems to program all the scrambled cable channels that you do not subscribe to. You have to manually go through and delete these channels, and don’t forget to delete the same channels off your second set of channels; your PIP set. I have run into trouble programming my channels. I bet it is just human error, and would prefer not to go into detail of the problem. I’ve got it running fine now.
Auto Picture
The television comes with preset color, tint, and contrast settings. The manufacturer sets these settings to what they think looks best when viewing movies, sports, multimedia, etc. A single button on the remote shuffles through the various settings. This is much easier than setting the colors yourself, but if you want, there is a custom setting to tweak with all you want.
Auto Sound
This is much like the Auto Picture, but the bass and treble are the influenced factors. Choose from three factory-set controls, or from one custom setup with a single button.
Channel Edit
This is the manual fix to the Auto Programming feature. You use this feature to manually add or delete single channels from memory.
Closed Captioning
A handy feature if you are hard of hearing or need to have the television on mute. A single button on the remote turns this feature on and off.
ImageMax
I am not a fan of ImageMax. It tries to sharpen the image. This can help a poor signal, but I find that it takes away quality of my standard cable broadcasts. It makes dark images darker, and light images lighter.
Onscreen Menu 3.9/5 points
There is a lot of information and controlling you can do through the menu. With all the features available on this television, the menu is bound to get confusing. Follow the menus and submenus and do the best you can. It is pretty simple to operate if you know the terminology. The menu also divides the text into different colors. Refer to the 50-page manual if you get stuck.
Sleep Timer
A single button lets you choose 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 minute timers that count down to zero and shuts the television off. This is an absolute must for those of us who fall asleep at night in front of the TV. Setting up the sleep timer for the television allows the TV to fall asleep after you exit into the world of dreams.
Standard Broadcast (VHF/UHF) or Cable
I think that almost every television has this feature. You can watch television from an antenna or from Cable. The good thing about this television is that you can do both at the same time. You don’t need a separate switcher to select which source you watch from. Just hit the source button on the remote to switch from antenna to cable or from cable to antenna.
Surf Button
The surf button is a nice feature. Let’s say you don’t watch every channel available to you. You can program your favorite channels into the Surf Control. Now you can surf through only your favorite channels by pressing the surf button.
Timer
Turn your TV into an Alarm clock. This option is totally useless for me, but it might come in handy for people on vacation, or who leave the house for various periods of time. You set the time when the TV turns on, and the time when the TV turns off. You can even choose the channel that is to be displayed when the TV is activated. It may also come in handy to help you remember to watch that show that you wanted to watch at 9:00 tonight on channel 27.
Care 1.6/5
According to the Salesman, (who could be full of bologna trying to sell me a warranty) this television is high maintenance. It is very expensive to get this television tuned up. The inside of the television attracts dust like a dust magnet and affects the picture quality. You need to have the television serviced once or twice a year to realign the photon guns and clean out the dust. I bought a 5-year service plan from Good-Guys to have the thing serviced as many times that I want for the next five years, for no charge (other than the $150). I’m guessing that I was suckered into spending more money, but I’m willing to spend $150 for the service. It also includes the replacement of a damaged remote control, which is very possible with, since there is no telling how crazy this television will drive me when trying to figure out the remote.
Philips is rated one of the highest by Consumer Reports for maintenance reliability. This television shouldn’t run into many problems, but because of the technology, a person will have to pay a lot of money to get it fixed if anything does go wrong.
Conclusion
You need to know what you are doing when using this TV. This isn’t a TV that you just plug into the wall and start flipping through channels. There are a lot of things that need to be setup before you can start watching television or movies.
I highly recommend this television for picture quality and the overall physical design. Component hookups are awesome if you can afford them and pay off when watching DVDs. This is a great movie-watching television, which is what I wanted most from my new TV.
The remote problems, the high-pitch squelching, the maintenance requirements, and the weight distribution of this television prevent me from highly recommending this television. A person shouldn’t have to read a book to figure out how to operate some of the simplest features of this unit. I would pass on purchasing this television and look for something that nearly eliminates the negative issues that I have with this model.
Shop around and be sure to check all the features of a television first hand; don’t just judge the television by picture quality at the store like I did. A television is quite an investment, so spend wisely. Keep in mind of the devices that you want to hook up to the TV and make sure that the television you are shopping for can handle them.
(UPDATE December 11, 2002. My tv throws an occasional temper tantrum. The controls quit working for hours at a time, doesn't matter if the tv had been on or off. This happens about once every other day. The TV repairman couldn't find the problem. I think I saw this tv now at WalMart for less than $450. I wish it would flip through the channels faster. Picture in Picture flips through the channels fast.)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 699
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Epinions.com ID:
glennhanna
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Member: Glenn Hanna
Location: Eugene, Oregon, USA
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 64 members
About Me:
Glenn Hanna of Eugene, Oregon. Born 1980.
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