Phillips' 42" Plasma HDTV

 

New member
Username: Hello_peoples

Post Number: 3
Registered: Mar-06
Has anyone bought the Phillip's 42" plasma HDTV, costco has it for like $1899.00 Is it any good? Phillip's is a pretty good name, I know some have had a recall on them but not this one YET!

Its seems way cheap..........
 

Silver Member
Username: Rysa4

Post Number: 440
Registered: Jul-05
is this the one that was part of last weeks recall?
 

New member
Username: Kirbi

Post Number: 1
Registered: Apr-06
Phil,
I believe I have the same plasma. I got it for around the same price. I've had it for 6 months so far and I love it. I've read reviews of this tv after I purchased it, and it sounds as though there were some bad ones produced. Like I said, so far its great. I did get it at costco. Picture is great in HD. If you don't have hdtv, don't spend the money on this tv.

I believe the recall was on the abialight versions of this tv, which typically run 5-600 dollars more.
 

New member
Username: Hello_peoples

Post Number: 4
Registered: Mar-06
Thanks, Vin, I have had it for like 4 days and so far so good. Does your TV make a faint buzzing sound when the power is off?
 

New member
Username: Robedo

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jan-05
I went out to Costco and got this TV. Great picture but when switch off into stand by mode I get the buzzing sound. Thinking of returning it. Is this particular to this model or a property of plasmas in general?
 

New member
Username: Kirbi

Post Number: 2
Registered: Apr-06
I have no buzzing sound that I know of. Good thing you bought it at Costco, they'll take anything back even years later.
 

New member
Username: Hello_peoples

Post Number: 5
Registered: Mar-06
Dave I have the same problem, did you find out anything about it or take it back and get a new one?
 

New member
Username: Suzuki

CA US

Post Number: 1
Registered: Apr-06
I got the 42" Philips plasma this morning at Costco when we found out Dell LCD's were only available online. The Model No. is 42PF7220A/37--not one of the Ambilight models recently recalled for safety reasons.

The screen was working at first, so we left it in channel setup mode. (It supposedly takes up to half an hour!) When we got back from lunch, the set was off, and since then, exactly half the screen displays incorrectly.

It's hard to describe: The right half of the screen is broken into blurry vertical bars about an inch wide--like we've lost horizontal resolution. The problem is persistent, but sometimes resolves for a few seconds at a time.

Except for the stupid voice recognition, the Philips support line was O.K., but the service rep could not solve the problem and recommended a local repair shop. (It's on-site warranty work, but the place is closed till Monday.)

Sorry to say, this is my first Philips appliance and thanks to this ridiculous problem, we're going to miss "The Ten Commandments"! :P. We plan to return the thing on Monday and order a 37" Dell LCD.
 

New member
Username: Ikram

Post Number: 2
Registered: Apr-06
folks,

I'm in for a 42" Plasma and so far the short list is:
1. Samsung HP-S4253
2. Philips 42PF7220A/37

- specs are same (infact Philips is slightly better)
- PRICE: I can get Philips $500 cheaper!!

Q1: Any takers for Philips over Samsung?


/Ikram.
 

New member
Username: Mpmmpm

Post Number: 1
Registered: May-06
I went through 2 of these phillips 42" plasma tvs in 1 day. I was not a happy camper. The first tv had a giant dent in the top of the silver grill part and when it was turned on it had a purple line that continuously stayed on. I took that back and picked up a new one from Sams and the 2nd one worked and looked great for about 1 hour then it popped and then never turned on; it was totally fried. I took that one back and demanded my money back. I love Plasmas, but they are just not real reliable.
 

New member
Username: Robedo

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jan-05
Just returned the Philips due to the fault reported above. They claimed that the buzzing noise in stand by mode was due to the cable company not installing a DSL filter on the coax cable input. Not sure about that.

I noticed that another $100 has been shaved off this 42" Philips unit since I bought it.
 

New member
Username: Suzuki

CA US

Post Number: 2
Registered: Apr-06
Ikram:
NOOOOOO!!! Not the Philips!!! I know it's tempting, but it's not THAT cheap, and you can't count on it working right out of the box...if ever!

If you don't mind the hassle of scheduling service for a brand-new television (under warranty, of course), then you can get it for a good price, but personally, I don't think it's worth it. (I have this old-fashioned notion that TV's should be "plug-and-play". 8P)

Unless you absolutely need a huge picture, (how about a projector?) I'd recommend a nice LCD. (I wound up with a 37" LG [37LC2D]. It has plenty of features and seems to compare favorably with the pricey Sharp Aquos line.)

LG Electronics is growing on me: They don't always incorporate state-of-the-art technology, but the price is right, and they seem to make solid products, often with unique, if incidental, features. (They do make plasmas, but I can't say whether or not they'll work any better than this particularly junky Philips model. Can't be any worse, I suppose!)
 

New member
Username: Ikram

Post Number: 3
Registered: Apr-06
I survived the craving for buying the Philips and finally bought the Sammy (HP-S4253).

I am very glad to see the Sammy in action - its
absolutely fantastic...
 

New member
Username: Isnomad

California USA

Post Number: 2
Registered: May-06
I bought two Philips PF509830A/37's and a PF429830A/37 and so far they suck. The Philips support is the worst I have ever endured. The Ambilight recall was easy enough to deal with and well worth the feature, which is to friggin cool. But there are so many other issues and Philips seems unable and unwilling to fix the issues. I am thinking about calling up AMEX and sending these turkeys back.
 

Silver Member
Username: Rysa4

Post Number: 470
Registered: Jul-05
I didnt want to say anything but none of these problems with Phillips plasmas are suprising. In side by side comparisons, the ones that do work have poor color rendition next to upper tier plasmas ( upper tier does not mean more expensive)
 

New member
Username: Quty

Post Number: 2
Registered: Apr-06
I think all of these TVs, regardless from which manufacture, has problems. Just read about other manufactures' TV on this site, including Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic. You'll see they all have problems. Some have in few weeks and some in few hours.

I do agree that the Philips Tech support auto messages are annoying, but they do try to work out your problems. If you happen to be an unlucky one, you might have to go thru the hassel of scheduling service....... Keep in mind that nothing can keep you from running into the same situation with other manufactures.

I own two of the 42PF7220A/37 right now. One at home and one in my appartment at school. The one at home is almost 9 months. The one at school has a high frequency buzzing noice in the back (sounds almost like the sound of a neon-light about to go dead). After exchanging it, the new one works just for almost 5 months now.

Regarding "the color rendition", it could be the setting or it could be your taste. Some people love the rich color. For me, it looks fake. If you set it right, (at least for me), I cannot tell, the color of any "upper tier" from the color of the Philips (given that they have the same contrast ratio and brightness).
 

New member
Username: Quty

Post Number: 3
Registered: Apr-06
I mean: "After exchanging it, the new one works just PERFECT for almost 5 months now"
 

New member
Username: Robert_kares

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jun-06
I have a Philips 42 inch plasma TV which I puchased at Costco. Model 42PF7220A About once a week the sound will go dead. If you switch to a different channel and then back to the channel that had the problem the sound will return. You can also get the sound back by turning off the TV and turning it back on. I complained to Philips and they sent me a USB Card with new software that did not solve the phoblem. I am now waiting for a repairman to come to my house. Does anyone else have this problem. Help!!
 

New member
Username: Thanwu

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jul-06
I had a one Philips 42PF7320A/37 from SAM's 7 months ago. Picture quality was good, but the coxial audio did not work from the beginning. I contacted the costomer service to fix it. It was not done properly, so i returned it to SAM's and bought one Panasonic TH-42PX60U right away from Circuitcity. My experience with Philips: Poor support. A lot of bugs in the TV they made: for examples, the TV will blackout when you switch chanels between SD and HD; The unit I got had some click sound when it was off (I guess the power unit has problem).
 

New member
Username: Cattlovver

Florida

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jul-06
Robert Kares ... YES YES I have the SAME problem!!! The sound just dies ... no patter that I can see... will go for weeks then it will do it several times a day. the channel changing doesn't work for me ... I have to turn it off and back on again. Got it from Sam's in Nov 05 - have not called support yet ... guess I should soon! But I really don't want to hassel with taking it any where - what a pain that would be. Otherwise I really love the TV - please let me know if you get your issue resolved ... cattlovver@aol.com
 

New member
Username: Cattlovver

Florida

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jul-06
Tao Han - I also hear clicking sounds when its off?? very strange? I hope it's not going to implode on me or something!!!
 

New member
Username: Thanwu

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jul-06
Hi, Jill Brown:

I returned my TV to SAM's Club after Philips could not repair my TV on a timely manner. The technician came to my house three times to replace the AV board. It did solve the coxial audio problem I have, but he did not know how to set the turner size right. The AV board's default setting is for 50" Plasma. All the image in my set looked like zoomed pictures. It should be a very simple setting issue, but they asked me to send my TV to their shop which I didn't want to do(I just don't want to leave my brand new $2000.00 TV in the shop waitting for repair. It is too much hustle.) I am very happy with my Panasonic TH-42PX60U. Everything works well. There is a resean why the Philips sells a little bit less than other brand: The parts quality are not good. The overall image quality for this philips set are not bad, but compared to my Panasonic TH-42PX60U, this unit lacks details in the bright or dark scene(I calibrated both TVs with a calibration DVD). Maybe you could get better service than I do. Good luck!

Panasonic TH-42PX60U
Pansonic S97S DVD Player
Yamaha RX-V2600 Reciever
Dishnetwork 211 HD reciever with Bronze HD package
Axiom M60ti, VP150 speakers
 

New member
Username: Nick47

Post Number: 2
Registered: Nov-05
I am on my 3rd Philips Plasma set & retuned each of them with problems (Thank SAMSCLUB good return policy).

Last one a 42PF7320A had a problem with AV1 HD input. The picture would intermittantly get distorted & you would see horizontal lines. I thought it was the Cablevision's HD set-top box (Scientific Atlanta Explorer 4200HD) so exchanged that and the Component cables. The problem persisted. So I exchanged it for a Philips 50PF7220A set last week. This also has the same problem.

My 2nd set used to shut down after 10 to 20 minutes of play ( some overheating circuit protection I guess. I had that set for 3 months.

Does anyone else has same problem with their AV1 input? Two sets with the same problem is too much of a coincidence.

I might go and exchange it for a Samsung or a Panasonic ( ofcourse costs more).
 

New member
Username: Robert_kares

Post Number: 2
Registered: Jun-06
I have complained to Philips bitterly over my 42 inch plasma tv as discribed above. They finally authourized a factory afiliated technician to come out to the house and he loaded the latest software which seems to be making a major difference. My advise if you are having problems is find out what version of the software you have and what is the current version.
 

New member
Username: Thanwu

Post Number: 4
Registered: Jul-06
Hi, Nick Rewari:

You should just return it and buy something else like what i did. I checked many forums and too many people had problems with this Philips plasma. I suggest all the Philips owners test all the connections of your set. Maybe one or the other is not working. I will not buy any Philips TV in the future for sure.

Good luck for everybody,

Han
 

New member
Username: Seanbell

Post Number: 1
Registered: Aug-06
HI,

I have a 50 PF9630A/37. IT is VERY noisy (like a white noise) when it is producing white images and variations. It's getting to the point where I can't watch TV anymore (so what's the point in having such big expensive Plasma). Anybody know why this may be happening? It's not the Ambilight.

I agree that Phillips Service Call Centre sucks. They were just not interested. Was it a mistake to buy Phillips?
 

New member
Username: Mister_jerry

Lewiston, ID

Post Number: 1
Registered: Sep-06
I am trying to figure out an issue with my Philips 42" Plasma. I have my output from my Satellite receiver as HDMI and going into the HDMI 1 slot. The problem is that I can get no audio unless I pull the HDMI cable out (doesn't matter which end) and re-insert, then it works fine. It doesn't matter if I have the HDMI cable going into 1 or 2 on the TV. Any thoughts whilst I troubleshoot whether it's the TV or the satellite box?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Bigpoppaphile

SAINT CLOUD, MN United States

Post Number: 32
Registered: Mar-06
you may want to try setting the audio options on both the cable box and the tv. I know on my cable box it has those settings buried in its menu systems, one or the other might be on stereo and then the tv or sat box would not be expecting the signal for audio on the hdmi.
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