Refrigerators, dishwashers and ... HDTV?
Written: Feb 12 '05 (Updated Nov 10 '05)
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Pros: The picture quality is outstanding, and it also works great as a computer monitor.
Cons: The aspect ratio instructions are not as clear as they should be.
The Bottom Line: This is a fine quality LCD TV and computer monitor with an excellent price.
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| shopaholic_man's Full Review: Westinghouse Electric W32701 27 in. LCD TV |
I tend to think of dishwashers and refrigerators when I hear the name Westinghouse, so I was surprised to see that Westinghouse had an LCD television. Nevertheless, there it was at my local Best Buy, and it was a nice looking HD TV. It was also six hundred dollars cheaper than the next least expensive HD set. I purchased the 27 inch Widescreen High Definition LCD TV with the assurance that I could return it with no questions asked within thirty days. I was worried that an inexpensive set made by a company not traditionally associated with TVs may not measure up. I have not returned it!
The TV is quite thin, less than 6 inches, and its quite stylish looking. It is also fairly heavy, about 40 pounds or so. It has a good array of inputs, Two component video inputs, a VGA input (for your computer), a TV input (for the basic cable feed), AV input and an S-Video input. The 27 inch unit lacks a DVI input, but if you move up to the 30 inch Westinghouse LCD TV it includes DVI input. After hooking my unit up to my progressive scan Pioneer DV 563A DVD player and HD Comcast cable box, I was pleased to see that the TV picture, especially on the HD channels is stunning! If I gave up something for the price break, I cannot see it in the picture quality! Even the regular cable shows look great on this set. I used component cables to plug in the DVD and HD cable box to the set. I didn't notice any lag in the display ( a complaint on some LCD TVs)
I put this TV in my bedroom to use as both a replacement for my old computer monitor and a small 20 inch TV. At first I was disappointed with the image on the computer. All my images were stretched out on the widescreen monitor. If I set the TV to 4-3 the image looked fine, but I wanted to take advantage of the whole screen!. My computer had no setting for 1280 x 768, which the Westinghouse manual states is the best setting for the monitor. The website for Westinghouse was no help either, and there were no downloads on their site to correct my problem. There was however, a tech line to call. I called, and the Westinghouse support staff told me that the problem was in my video card, and I needed to download the newest drivers for my video card. I have an Nvidia Geoforce Graphics card, and I took the suggestion. I downloaded the latest drivers, rebooted, and viola! I had many new resolution settings including 1280 x 768. Now my computer monitor looks terrific. I also downloaded Fine Print from Microsoft so that the type looks smooth at the large size. Now in the morning I can sit down with my coffee and read all the news on Yahoo while watching cable on the Picture in the Picture.
Yes, the Westinghouse TV also has a nice PIP function. You can work on the computer and watch TV or whatever. The picture is rather small on the monitor and you can only make it 4 inches x 7 and a half inches. (I measured that, I only guessed at the weight). I had two minor quibbles with the Picture in the Picture function. One, the aspect ratio is not adjustable. If you are watching in wide screen mode, the PIP is in widescreen mode, even if your source is a 4:3 source. Also, you cannot view either Component video source or the VGA source at the same time. If you are using the computer or watching one of the component sources, you can only view the TV, AV or S-video source. I used a work around by using both a regular video feed from my cable box, and the S-Video source from my DVD player. So, when I watch the main picture, I use the component video source, but if I watch either source on the PIP, I use the inferior feed. Since the size of the PIP is so small, the loss in quality isn't really apparent.
I have one other minor complaint about the Westinghouse TV. I am a stickler for watching my movies in the aspect ratio that the director shot the film in. The instructions were rather confusing for which "scaling" mode to use for the various aspect ratios. I eventually figured them out though. My instructions referred to 4 modes, but the TV actually only has 3, wide, 4:3 and fill all. 4:3 as you would guess properly displays any standard TV show and old movies or full screen movies with black bars on either side. Fill All is used for watching wide screen movies or 16:9 TV shows with black bars at the top or bottom only on movies shot in the wider screen format of 2.35:1. Wide, which I first assumed to be for Wide screen movies, is actually the ideal choice for movies letterboxed for viewing on 4:3 TVs. Wide will enlarge the image to fill the screen while maintaining the proper aspect ratio. (When I first wrote this review, I mistakenly said it did this wrong, but after experimenting, I found I was simply incorrect, because I misunderstood the titles for each Scaling option. I believe that the TV I purchased is slightly updated from an earlier version because no panoramic view is offered, and my TV has a pedestal base rather than two feet. From other reviews I have read, it also appears that the handling of aspect ratios has been improved. So, 4:3 for TV, Fill All for Widescreen, and Wide for letterbox!
The remote that comes with the TV is large, which I like, it makes it harder to misplace. That is good, because some functions are only available on the remote and not on the set (such as the PIP functions). The speakers on the television are television speakers. I hope that if you spend this sort of money on an LCD monitor, you put all your audio outs through your surround sound receiver and don't rely on the TV speakers. They sound to me like all other TV speakers, lacking bass, and overall range, but able to convey the dialog. On the other hand the TV sounds stellar when you put the audio signal through your surround sound system (which of course, has nothing whatsoever to do with the TV).
Overall, I am very pleased with the Westinghouse LCD TV. It has replaced both a TV and a computer monitor in my bedroom, and it looks terrific from all sources. My complaints are very minor and easy to overlook. I am glad that I gave this TV a chance, because now I have a great quality TV and I saved myself a lot of money.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1,099.00
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