Philips 30PW8402/37B refurb

Hi. Am trying to find a widescreen HDTV (minimum 26 inches) for as little $ as possible. (Am moving cross country and couldn't take my old tv -- seems silly to buy a new analog one now, given the impending signal change, etc.) I found this one online: 30 in Widescreen HDTV Monitor - 30PW8402/37B (refurbished) here:
http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/menuHandling.do?query=30PW8402%2F37B&shop=OUTLET&x=19&y=11&AID=10303851&PID=552179&SID=999
and i'm curious what anyone thinks about this set. have read consumer reports that philips makes bad tvs.
(sorry to post this qusetion a second time, but i didn't have "philips" in my first subject line and no one has reponded)

Hi. Am trying to find a widescreen HDTV (minimum 26 inches) for as little $ as possible.

The overall specs look good. The price is an absolute bargain.

I've read a few reports of people complaining about discoloration in some area of the screen, which goes away when the screen is degaussed (done automatically on power up) but eventually comes back. I'm not clear if that is due to nearby magnetic fields, or some issue with its own internal speakers causing it. Not enough information to say, but since everyone isn't complaining about it, I'm assuming these people have something nearby that is putting out a magnetic fields causing their problems.

The second significant complaint I've read is that a white area will turn yellowish after being on the screen for some time. This is almost always due to the brightness being too high. (It'll heat up and warp the shadow mask temporarily.) Evidently, the set doesn't limit the max brightness enough to keep this from happening. Solution? Don't turn the brightness full blast.

The third significant complaint I've read is something about white shading towards the top during dark scenes. I'm not clear if this is a bug that affected a few people, or most sets, but it was said to be annoying.

I'm rather conservative in my selection of electronics (preferring a tried and true to a new "better" but unproven solution). But I think, for the price, I'd jump on this as my second HDTV. Or, if I wasn't wanting to spend a bundle and I wanted to get my first HDTV, I think I'd also go for this.

If you outgrow it, a few years down the road, it'll still make a good second TV, and it is likely to not become outmoded because it does have a HDMI input.

I've read a little about the warranty situation on Philips. Appears not to be in-home, but you bring it to an authorized repair shop. Probably not too bad of an issue in a good sized city. Not premium service, but then, you're not paying premium dollars.

But for $418, free shipping, factory refurbished and sold from the factory, a 30" HDTV with HDMI input? Are you kidding me? Oh yeah. I'd pull the trigger.

have read consumer reports that philips makes bad tvs.

Here we go. This is a description of a problem specific to this set that gives me some pause:
http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=610172&Main=607203

I'm not sure what to make of the above link reporting issues. That post thread doesn't clarify if that problem with the lines occurs only with zoom mode (I don't think I've ever zoomed anything).
The other option that I researched was the Toshiba 26HF84, which is a little bit pricier.
I really just want a TV that works (don't watch it that much; mainly for movies -- will probably get basic cable soon but have never had it before). But my husband thinks it's better to buy a new one than a refurbished one.
In a few years, will be in much better position to buy a nicer TV but I don't want to just throw away a few hundred dollars now (otherwise I'd just buy a new analog set for $150)
Any last thoughts?

I have both sets: Toshiba 30HF84 and the Philips 30PW8502 (identical specs to the 8402, slightly different cabinet)

The Toshiba has a bit of a grainy picture, and there are plenty of issues with the HF84 and HF85 series sets. Mine has already been repaired once for a faulty digital input board.

On the other hand, the Philips is a spectacular set for the money. Overall picture quality is better than the Tosh, and I have not had any of the reported issues after 4 months of use. The only problem I had was poor geometry out of the box and I adjusted that easlily through the service menu.

If you buy the Toshiba, make sure you get it from a brick and mortar so you can easlily return if need be. Good luck!

Basic cable will be a disappointment in quality... you need to get HD digital cable to feed your set a signal it can show off.

I just stumbled across this topic after googling around (just registered to post this message :) ). I just got this TV today. When I turned it on, I had my stand-alone TiVo connected and running. I saw those 3 colored lines across the top half of my screen. I didn't think much of it at first because it went away. After reading the messages here, I thought back. My TV was in one of the zoom modes out of the box. Since then, I changed it to Widescreen mode and have not seen those lines re-appear. So if they don't show in the Widescreen mode, it will be fine with me.

I haven't gotten myself an HD receiver yet (I have one for another TV, but I didn't feel like undoing all the cables just to test it). I should probably get an HD receiver very soon. My opinion on the picture in SD is really bleh. Maybe it's my cheapo freebie RCA DirecTV receiver. This Philips is replacing a 15 year old 19" Sharp TV and I think the screen was just too small to notice how bad the picture quality really was. So I'll blame my RCA receiver on the picture for now. I assume the bigger the picture, the more the flaws stand out.

I thought the manual was kind of bland. Yeah I know, you don't really need a manual. I like to look through them when I get new toys though. In the remote control codes section, it mentions how to set up for an Amp, but doesn't offer any Amp codes. No RCA Sat Receiver code either (maybe it's under another name...I'm not concerned since I'll be replacing this RCA receiver).

Audio is probably what you expect from a TV. I send my sound through a surround sound receiver, so I can't really measure the TV sound quality.

Once I get an HD receiver, I'll compare it against my HD projection TV and try to remember to stop back and let you know what I think of the picture.


You can e-mail me if you have any questions that I might be able to answer.


PS. That 15 year old 19" Sharp TV I just replaced was a showroom model from Montgomery Wards! lol Here's to hoping I get a long life from this "factory renewed" Philips!

I picked up DirecTV's H10 HD receiver last night. What a difference the receiver makes. HD is what I expected, but SD is a lot better than what it was with that RCA freebie receiver. So now I can say I am happy with the picture of this TV.

Still no lines in the regular widescreen mode. Maybe those lines in zoom mode are the reason the TVs are selling so cheap. I won't use zoom. All in all, I'm very happy with this TV for a second HD TV and only $440 at my door. A 30" widescreen looks big in a bedroom. :)

I've read several compaints about this issue. I don't think it's the tube, but some sort of bug while switching AV modes.

If I turn on the TV and switch it over to my DVD component input I notice it very obviously.

Now if I turn the TV off, but leave the DVD player on. Wait a few seconds and turn on the TV again. WHAMMO! That light area is gone, as long as I don't switch AV inputs on the remote. Once I rotate throught all of the inputs back the the DVD input.....It returns.....Weird, but it works....

I guess it's worth mentioning that my original TV, after about a month started turning itself off. It was completely random and the only way I could get the TV to work again was by unplugging the AC cord. I spoke to tech support and they had me "reset" the TV and wait to see if it happened again, but offered me a reference number and a phone number to the local repair place.

Local shop picked it up and did a great job keeping me informed of what was happening. They were in touch with Phillips througout the process. Phillips had them replace what was referred to as a "small board." After doing so, the TV was still not working correctly after they tested it. I was contacted by my local shop and they told me Phillips was replacing the TV and as soon as they received a replacement, they would be contacting me for delivery.

It took Phillips almost two months to send me another TV. I am not happy about this whatsoever. All I can do is write a nasty letter and realize this is the kind of service to expect from Phillips. This will factor in my decision on all of my future purchases of electronics.

I've had a refurb 30PW8502/37B for a couple months now, and have two major problems with it. Firstly, I get the flickering r,g&b horiztonal lines when in zoom mode on any input src. But more importantly, the 480p input source goes crazy from time to time--flickering with parts of the image scattered all over the screen. Like a sync failure or a vram failure. It lasts about 5-10minutes and then goes away for hours. Turning off the TV doesn't fix it. It happens even on the DVD player's menu screen (no disk playing).

I'm going round and round with Philips customer service on this, and so far they refuse to replace the TV, instead wanting to endlessly fix it. The local service center claims to have replaced all the boards in the TV--everything but the tube, but the problems persist. They are at a loss as to how to fix it.

Has anyone else seen this? I'm trying to determine if these issues are design flaws which would be present in any replacement TV they might send.

Other than these problems, it seems like a very nice set. But I'm quite unhappy with Philips customer support so far--they refuse to take responsibility for the problem or find solutions. I've been without a fully working TV for the entire warranty period! I'm regretting this purchase... :mad:

never buy philips tv i bought a refurbished one and it sucks so i smashed it up.