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Philips 42PFL7432D/37

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Pros
Excellent menu setup
Cool ambient light feature
Cons
Mediocre picture quality

Philips 42PFL7432D/37 Review

by Lincoln Spector

Its extras give the Philips LCD set some appeal, but other sets have better pictures.

The first thing you'll notice about the Philips 42PFL7432D/37 (after struggling to plug your HDMI cable into a connector that's facing down and nearly impossible to see) is its Ambilight--two LEDs behind the set that bounce light off your back wall to create a visual setting around the screen. You can select the color of this light, or have the TV choose colors to match the on-screen image. Too bad Philips wasn't as clever about the light that comes out of the front of the TV.

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Not that the images the 42PFL7432D/37 displayed were universally dreadful. It handled high-def details--from facial stubble to brick walls--as well as any set in our roundup. But its color management fell short of the best-performing sets', and overall the image looked somewhat dark.

These results are disappointing given that the 42PFL7432D/37 is one of only two LCD sets we looked at for our November 2007 issue's HDTV roundup that has a 5ms response time (other sets specified 8ms or higher), and that it had the best out-of-the-box setup wizard (Philips calls it the "settings assistant") in the group. The PC World Test Center didn't use this setup wizard, which shows you split pictures and has you pick which half looks best; instead our lab relied on the same calibration routine it used for all the other sets. But if you're inexperienced with television configuration or you don't want to spend a lot of time on it, this wizard may help you achieve a better image with the 42PFL7432D/37 than you would get from many other HDTVs.

The Ambilight and the excellent setup wizard aren't the only extras. The 42PFL7432D/37 comes with a headphone jack, so you can watch it late at night without waking up your kids (or your parents), and a USB port for connecting a camera (for viewing photos) or an audio player (for listening to music). It doesn't support picture-in-picture capability, though.

Philips's remote is long, thin, and backlit, and it has plenty of empty space around its few buttons. But that ease of use comes at a cost: The remote isn't programmable.

Lincoln Spector

User Reviews for Philips 42PFL7432D/37

Reviewed by: ewalton1st

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Clear Picture, loved the ambient lights while they lasted

Weaknesses: poor customer support, when replacing newly purchased TV Philips will send a refurbished unit that will barly last past the original warrentee

Overall Evaluation: I purchased a 42inch Philips from Circuit City in March of 2007. In September it had issues with blue speckles in the upper corners. After talking to philips customer support they determined that it was a defective unit and shipped a replacement, (I found out today that the replacement was a refurbished unit). The power supply on the replacement unit has gone out one month past the original purchase date. Philips is telling me that there is nothing they can do, and referred me to an authorized repair shop. The repair shop quoted $600 or more to repair, if he can get the repair parts. This unit is built by Samsung not Philips, so repair parts are being used to build new units not repair broken ones. I spent alot of money to watch T.V. for one year. Don?t buy Philips they don?t stand behind their product, and will bait and switch with replacements during the warrantee time.
Reviewed by: metalcoat

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Clear picture, great warranty support, Ambilight, Case is a good looking polished black surface with glass polished stand.

Weaknesses: No optical out (digital coaxial). HDMI 1.2a (not 1.3) Loose cable from control board to panel, but technician came within 3 days and fixed it

Overall Evaluation: A quick comment, Ambilight is not for everyone and can be turned off with the hit of one button on the remote. 3 HDMI ports work well with a Xbox 360, Cable Box, Dvd upscale.

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