Thoughts on the Philips 26" Widescreen tube (26PW6341)?

Seth--L · 07-11-2004, 10:52 AM

I want to get a TV for this upcoming academic year, and when looking at what stores like J and R, Best Buy, and Circuit City have online, I was surprised how relatively inexpensive widescreen tubes are. Because this TV will be in my bedroom, I don't feel that I need anything larger than 26" (and that's about my price range). Also, it will almost exclusively be used for watching DVDs.

Philips has a non-HDTV widescreen tube which on paper seems to fit all my needs. So my questions are:

1. Can anyone comment on the quality of this TV?
2. Should I consider spending more and getting a HDTV-ready TV (keeping in mind how I will be using it).
3. Not including TV shows, about 35% of the films I own on DVD were made before the days of widescreen. I can't stand the way widescreen TVs stretch a 4:3 image, so, am I crazy watching 4:3 films on a 16:9 TV since the image will be so small, and should I just get a large 4:3 TV in that case?

thanks for any feedback.

Stephen Hopkins · 07-11-2004, 01:05 PM

I would let your standard TV watching habits dictate whether you get a widescreen or 4:3 set. That said, even if 35% of your DVDs are 4:3, that means 65% are 16:9 and undoubtedly 100% of your new purchases will be 16:9 if that's the OAR.

If you can swing the extra $150 to get a 26" HD set I would do it. Progressive Scan DVD can look alot better than interlaced and HDTV is really coming on strong. But if $450 is your limit then that looks like a good set.

There is also a 32" non-flat 4:3 HD set from philips that sells for $550 at walmart. I went with this set because it offered the best screen size for standard TV while still giving about a 30" diagonal 16:9 screen. It also has a 16:9 squeeze mode so you can get the most resolution out of widescreen DVDs. I chose size and HD over flat screen and really think it was the right decision.

Hope this helps

Seth--L · 07-11-2004, 11:05 PM

Thanks for the feedback.

I'd rather not spend more than $450. Dare I say here that I'm not looking for the absolute best in picture quality -- just something that does a better than just good job in a small room for watching DVDs.

I'm wondering if I should just save some money and buy a 27" 4:3 tube. My main rationale for going with a widescreen tube was that I would get the most out of my anamorphically encoded discs, and it wouldn't be nearly as bulky as a 4:3 TV's comparable 16:9 viewing area. (There's also a certain sheik novelty to owning a widescreen TV)



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