Philips WM4302 HDTV in Walmart

[ub4me]

Hi,

I saw Philips WM4302 in Walmart yesterday.
It's on clearance for $989 (original price was $1384).
WM4302
However I couldn't find any reviews on it.
You guys have any thought on this televition?

Thanks!

 

[xchangx]

looks like you still need a reciever and everything. But you can't go wrong with Phillips.

If I had the money I would get it.

 

[conjur]

It's 4:3...nah...pass...you could get this 30" widescreen for $999 and it's 16:9.

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: conjur
It's 4:3...nah...pass...you could get this 30" widescreen for $999 and it's 16:9.

I concur. You need to get 16:9 nowadays.

 

[MarkW]

Well between the 30" widescreen, and the 43" 4:3. I would pick the 4:3 since you will get a bigger picture than the 30" widescreen on widescreen movies.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: MarkW
Well between the 30" widescreen, and the 43" 4:3. I would pick the 4:3 since you will get a bigger picture than the 30" widescreen on widescreen movies.

Only taller...no wider. And *ALL* HD programming will ALWAYS be letterboxed on a 4:3 set. Why bother? Makes no sense.

 

[tm37]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: MarkW
Well between the 30" widescreen, and the 43" 4:3. I would pick the 4:3 since you will get a bigger picture than the 30" widescreen on widescreen movies.

Only taller...no wider. And *ALL* HD programming will ALWAYS be letterboxed on a 4:3 set. Why bother? Makes no sense.

bigger picture perhaps?

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: conjur

Only taller...no wider. And *ALL* HD programming will ALWAYS be letterboxed on a 4:3 set. Why bother?

Video games and SD content.

If you're not watching exclusively widescreen content, you're vulnerable to screen burn in on CRT and (older) RP sets. But that's primarily because I think stretch modes are as big a travesty as fullscreen edits.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw

Originally posted by: conjur

Only taller...no wider. And *ALL* HD programming will ALWAYS be letterboxed on a 4:3 set. Why bother?

Video games and SD content.

If you're not watching exclusively widescreen content, you're vulnerable to screen burn in on CRT and (older) RP sets. But that's primarily because I think stretch modes are as big a travesty as fullscreen edits.

Nope...as long as the Contrast/Brightness are properly set, you're fine on burn-in (direct-view) and phosphor wear (projection).

I've had my 55" Mitsubishi WS RPTV for 2 1/2 years and watched a fair amount of 4:3 programming and video games and there is no problem with the display at all.

Besides, say for the XBOX, many games are 16:9 and 480p or better!

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: conjur

Nope...as long as the Contrast/Brightness are properly set, you're fine on burn-in (direct-view) and phosphor wear (projection).

Besides, say for the XBOX, many games are 16:9 and 480p or better!

If you view 4:3 material exclusively on a widescreen set (but why?), you will eventually get burn-in, even with proper calibration. Keeping levels adjusted properly will certainly delay the onset, but the problem is that it's really set-independent, so it's really something of a gamble if you're going to watch a lot of material which isn't the proper format for your TV.

And I'm not ready to give up my classic consoles yet.

The real problem is that there's just not enough HD content out there right now, so the only people I know who've gone fully widescreen are those who use their TV exclusively for DVD viewing.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw

Originally posted by: conjur

Nope...as long as the Contrast/Brightness are properly set, you're fine on burn-in (direct-view) and phosphor wear (projection).

Besides, say for the XBOX, many games are 16:9 and 480p or better!

If you view 4:3 material exclusively on a widescreen set (but why?), you will eventually get burn-in, even with proper calibration. Keeping levels adjusted properly will certainly delay the onset, but the problem is that it's really set-independent, so it's really something of a gamble if you're going to watch a lot of material which isn't the proper format for your TV.

And I'm not ready to give up my classic consoles yet.

The real problem is that there's just not enough HD content out there right now, so the only people I know who've gone fully widescreen are those who use their TV exclusively for DVD viewing.

Oy vey!

From a post I made a few days ago:

CBS (full prime-time schedule minus 'reality' and news shows but includes sports like NCAA tournament, SEC College Football, US Open, Masters, etc.), ABC (pretty much the same as CBS but Monday Night Football will be HD as were the NHL finals!), NBC (a few shows incl. The Tonight Show), WB, FOX (only 480p on some shows), HBO-HD, Showtime HD, Discovery Channel HD, ESPN HD, HDNet and now HDNet movies, Cinemax HD coming soon, oh, and there's PBS, too. The CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, WB, PBS, UPN (forgot to mention them can be had OTA for free. No subscriptions required

HD over cable is growing pretty quickly now and is a very inexpensive way to get programming. No initial outlay for an HD satellite receiver is required and the monthly increase is usually pretty small. DirecTV is adding more HD (the HDNet expansion and ESPN and I believe Discovery, too) in just a couple of weeks and will surpass DISH, at that point imo, for most HD content.

Not enough content???

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: conjur

Not enough content???

HD availability varies by geography (I get about half of what you've listed). Of the broadcast HD content, I don't pay attention to most of the sporting events, so that's even less for me to watch. I expect that there will be more content of interest in the future, but right now, there isn't a critical mass to say that automatically going to a widescreen format TV is a slam dunk. Obviously YMDV.

 

[Doggiedog]

Woohoo! I'm finally getting cable HDTV on Monday. Too bad my TV is 4:3 though.

 

[ub4me]

So, any thought on this television?

 

[conjur]

uhh...skip it...get the 30" 16:9 from Best Buy instead.

 

[ub4me]

30" wide is too small for me. I need bigger one.

 

[conjur]

Drop a few hundred more and then get the 34" widescreen. That would be about height of a 43" 4:3 when watching a DVD but you get the benefit of the widescreen (since humans see more left/right than up/down).