Unless you know me personally, you won't realize what a big deal this is. I haven't owned a TV in about ten years and prior to that my TV was a tiny, rarely used 12" CRT. But watching TV was not a major component of my life and when it finally died I didn't worry myself about it. I installed a TV tuner card into my computer, just in case, but on the whole I was much happier without having to worry about who won on American Idol. I admit, in some respects I became this guy.
But when I saw the Westinghouse TX-42F810G 42" LCD HDTV for $400, I knew I had to buy it.
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But it was 42", and even with tax and a 3-year store warranty the whole thing came to less than $500.
At home, its deficiencies became even more obvious; this TV does not have a great display. It's terrible with non-HD content and even with higher-quality images there is a lot of pixellation. The image is often dark and muddy as well, due to the lack of acceptable contrast. And those rear-mounted speakers? They aren't loud to begin with and much of their power is pushed out in the wrong direction.
So, this is not a good TV. But I love it anyway.
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Ultimately, I'd have a hard time recommending this TV to anyone who wasn't in the same situation I was; it's probably better to spend two or three hundred dollars more and get a decent 32" plasma; the Westinghouse TX-42F810G is going to disappoint the average viewer. But I'm an edge case and for my limited needs it suits my purposes.
Hmmm... I find it amusing what mixed reviews this TV gets on the net. So many say the picture is "stunning", even compared to name brands next to it. Some say you have to tweek the settings, others say they did nothing. Yet others have had reliability problems. But I can't believe the picture is as bad as you say. Even the cheapest 720p HDTV's have a great picture, how can this 1080p be worse? BTW, is yours still working well?
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