Buying a new HDTV is a BIG deal. With prices anywhere from a couple hundred dollars up into the tens of thousands, it’s important to do your research. It’s important to find an unbiased source. Although the electronics salesman at your local store is probably a great guy, you can often find some great HDTV deals online; you just need to know what to look for!
Here are a few things to look at when reading HDTV reviews:
Screen type: LCD TV, LED, Plasma TVs, or Projection?
Resolution: 720p or 1080p?
Built-in tuners?
Enough rear and side inputs?
Wide viewing angle?
High contrast ratio?
PC Compatible?
Reiability rating?
Good warranty?
Compatible with Blu-ray, cable or satellite TV?
There are TONS of manufacturer-specific features you’ll also want to evaluate. Keep all these things in mind when shopping and you’ll find a great quality HDTV at a fantastic price!
Up for Review: Westinghouse VR-3225 LCD TV. The model suits the requirements of an inexpensive and budget HDTV. It offers an original 1080p resolution that allows you to watch your favorite HD movies and television programs on the 32-inch LCD screen. As most of the latest movies, television programs and video games are being made in an original 1080p HD resolution, the VR-3225 will allow your family members to access a wide variety of digital content. The manufacturer has further included a set of input options to access your offline collection of digital content stored on compatible digital devices and discs.
You will also like the flexible option provided by the TV set for convenient placement and usage. If you are planning to place a 3D HD TV set with a bigger screen size in your main living room, the model will suit the requirements of the additional or backup set for your family. At the same time, the ultra slim and lightweight design of the model allows users to easily accommodate the TV set in their small sized apartments. With an increase in the number of television channels, it has become necessary for a modern family to possess more than one TV set.
Therefore, you also have option to place the model inside your kitchen, study, dormitory and bedroom. However, the 60 Hz refresh rate provided by the TV set will impact the viewing of a wide variety of digital content. The refresh rate may suit the normal television programs like news, weather and family dramas. But the refresh rate will not be effective in completely removing the motion blur while watching the faster moving sports and action scenes.
Westinghouse VR-3225 Features and Specifications Review:
1080p HD Resolutions
60 Hz Refresh Rate
Ultra Slim and Light Design
6000: 1 Contrast Ratio
176° Horizontal and Vertical Viewing Angles
2 HDMI and 1 PC Input Options
Infrared Remote Control
The refresh rate will also have an impact on your kids’ experience of watching their favorite sports and action scenes and playing video games. They will surely demand a TV set that supports their favorite movies and video games made with the 3D technology support. However, the manufacturer has further included a set of connectivity ports and terminals to compensate the lack of any option to access internet on the TV screen and watch the latest 3D content.
The model comes with 2 HDMI and 1 PC input options. But in comparison to similar TV sets available in the market, it does not offer any direct options to access the digital content stored on your USB devices and SD memory card. You can use the PC input options to use the model as your computer monitor. Similarly, the HDMI ports allows you to access your offline collection of movies, music and photos stored on various compatible discs and devices including the camcorder, video game consoles and Blu-ray player. On the whole, the overall features and lower price-tag make the TV set usable as you main as well as second or backup set for a modern family.
Up for Review: Westinghouse SK-26H640G LCD TV. There is not much to talk about the Westinghouse models unless it is the latest 3D models. This 26-inch set is very basic and has hardly any features which will inspire you to buy it. It is only a plain LCD model and has no pretences of providing you with LED panel. Most of the TVs being released today are LED ones with people preferring to buy LED models because of its superior picture quality and energy conservation. The LCD models, which were once considered to be accessible only to the elite, have now been overtaken by the LED models. This 26-inch model has nothing to boast about as it neither has a very good display size or high-end features.
Because this is just a 26-inch model, you will not have much use for it in the kitchen or the kid’s dorm. A few years back, the kids were happy enough if they had a separate TV in their room but today, you can’t fool the kids with a basic set any more. They want a set with a good display size and having 3D and Internet TV. They can’t be satisfied with this 26-inch set which does not offer any of the high-end features. It has only 720p resolution and 800:1 contrast ratio which cannot be considered to be good for viewing movies on the Blu-ray player or playing games on the gaming console. The resolution of 720p will however, not create any problems if you watch the regular TV fare. In fact, the 720p resolution is quite good for the 26-inch display.
Westinghouse SK-26H640G Features and Specifications Review:
The viewing angle of the TV is given as 160 degrees/150 degrees in the vertical and horizontal directions, which is a far cry from the 178 degrees viewing angle in the latest TVs. This means that you can only watch the set when you are seated right in front of the TV. If you sit a little away and at an angle, there will be washing away of colors at the edges. The picture quality will be pretty bad and you won’t get the best images that the set produces. The TV also has a low refresh rate which makes the images look blurred in the action scenes. Thus, it is better that you stay away from the Blu-ray players and the gaming consoles and think of viewing only the regular TV programs.
The sound is surprisingly not too bad in the set. With most of the features being very basic, you may feel happy to have a sound output of 10W in this 26-inch set. This can be good in a small room as you can hear the voices and music quite distinctly when you sit close to the TV. Your office can be a good place for this set where you can see the news and weather when you want to with a good sound level. The number of HDMI in this set is 2, which is also fine if all you want is to watch the normal TV programs. Since you won’t watch the movies or play games, you won’t need the HDMI for these devices. The set top box will be your only requirement. This set can only interest you because of its low price and if you are really looking for a basic set.
Up for Review: Westinghouse VR-2680DF LCD TV. It is difficult to understand why Westinghouse has made so many models with almost the same specifications. Most of them are just basic models with the minimum features. This 26-inch set has no particular features to flaunt, except perhaps for the full-HD resolution. It is difficult to find a good use for this set. You obviously can’t keep it in the living room as it neither has the display size or wonderful features which can make it the proud occupant of the central place in the house. It is not small enough to fit into the kitchen. And your kids will erupt with rage if you suggest gifting them with this featureless TV. If you ever consider buying this set, then it can only fit into your office, where you can put it on a few times during the day to listen to the news or the weather.
The 26-inch display can be best for your office and so also the 1080p resolution. This full-HD resolution can help you see content which has great precision and clarity. Of course, the 26-inch screen size is not too large and even 720p would have sufficed. But the charm of full-HD resolution is something different and you won’t mind paying a bit extra for it. However, the contrast ratio is not something alluring and you won’t get great black levels in the set. This means that the picture quality may not be good. It would have made the images much clearer if the contrast ratio would have been a lot better than 800:1. With this value, you may not enjoy the images at night.
Westinghouse VR-2680DF Features and Specifications Review:
The viewing angle is 160 degrees in the vertical and 150 degrees in the horizontal direction which indicates that the images will not look as sharp at the edges as when you see the TV right from the center. The colors will be washed out at the edges. If you buy this set strictly for the office, you will be the only one seated in front of the TV and so you won’t have any problem of image quality. The sets today are offering 178 degrees viewing angle in both directions and by comparison, this set has nothing to offer. The refresh rate of 60Hz is also another reason why the images will not appeal to you. It will not be able to keep out the blurring from the fast moving scenes.
There are only 2 HDMI in the set but you can use for connecting the set top box and the home theater system. Although you have a built-in tuner, you will need the set top box for watching the encrypted and paid channels. The other HDMI can be used for the home theater system as the sound output is only 6W in this set. This may not be enough for you. But if you want to keep the sound at a very low level since the TV will remain in the office, you may not need another sound system to supplement the audio. Since this is a 1080p set, you may want to connect the Blu-ray player or the gaming console to get more entertainment too. You can look for this set if you can really be happy with the features.
Up for Review: Westinghouse VR-5585DFZ LCD TV. Most of the modern people love to select a high-end 3D HDTV with larger screen size for their main living room. But there are many people who are still not addicted to the 3D movies and video games along with accessing internet on the TV screen. Westinghouse has launched this model by targeting the segment of customers who are looking for a 55-inch LCD TV set at a lower and affordable price-tag.
Despite of sporting a 55-inch screen size, the VR-5585DFZ does not support some of the more advanced features like 3D technology support and wired or wireless options to access internet. But it offers much better video quality and resolution to the viewers to watch access their favorite movies, television programs and video games. The 1080p HD resolution offered by the TV set is the maximum as per the current standards.
You can watch your favorite non-3D digital content with an increased 1080p HD resolution. The resolution will also suit a wide variety of television programs and movies being aired on different television channels. Westinghouse has also improved the refresh rate to 120 Hz to complement the video resolution. The refresh rate is much lower in comparison to the features offered by other advanced models available in the market. But the rate is still high enough to remove the motion blurs while watching a wide variety of scenes.
Westinghouse VR-5585DFZ Features and Specifications Review:
1080p HD Resolution
120 Hz Refresh Rate
Slim and Light Design
176° Horizontal and Vertical Viewing Angles
3 HDMI Terminals
Infrared Remote Control
Your kids will like the TV set due to the video related features as they can watch their favorite sports and action related content and video games. The refresh rate will remove the motion blur when they are watching the faster moving scenes involving sports and action. However, the lack of TV technology support may not make the model popular among the kids. Westinghouse has also included 186 degrees angular viewing option to provide users with an exact TV viewing experience even when they are not occupying the seats placed directly in front of the TV screen.
The viewers will also miss any wired or wired networking option to access the web content and websites directly on the TV screen. The manufacturer has included a set of input terminals to access your offline collection of movies, music and photos on the 55-inch LCD screen. The 3 HDMI ports allow you to connect the TV set with compatible devices like Blu-ray player, camcorder and video game consoles. But you will miss any direct option to access the digital content stored on your computer, USB devices and SD memory cards. Therefore, the overall connectivity options look almost normal in comparison to the advanced models launched by other manufacturers. However, the lower price-tag justifies the various features offered by the model and makes it usable as a second or back up TV set for your home.
Up for Review: Westinghouse SK-32H640G LCD TV. Westinghouse has launched the 32-inch TV set by targeting the growing demand for second or backup TV sets. The growing number of television channels has made it essential for a modern family to possess more than one TV set. As the tastes and choices of the family members differ based on their age groups, multiple TV sets allows a modern family to enjoy a wide variety of movies and television channels.
Similar to other buyers, you can purchase a high-end 3D HDTV model with a larger screen size for your main living room. At the same time, you can consider SK-32H640G as the second or backup set to watch normal programs occasionally. The almost bases video related features and low price-tag make the model suitable to watch normal television programs like news, weather, talk shows and family dramas. Westinghouse has further provided the model with an ultra slim and light design to be placed in various parts of the house.
You can use the model in a flexible manner by placing it inside a small sized apartment as well as in various parts of your house including bedroom, dormitory and kitchen. The model also supports 176 degrees viewing angle to allow users to watch their favorite television program by occupying a side or corner seat. You cane even watch the scenes in an exact manner while performing other kitchen or other routine tasks. As the model is suitable only for watching the normal content, your TV viewing experience will not be impacted by the video quality and resolution.
Westinghouse SK-32H640G Features and Specifications Review:
1366×768 Resolution
60 Hz Refresh Rate
Ultra Slim and Light Design
176° Horizontal and Vertical Viewing Angles
2 HDMI Input Options
Infrared Remote Control
However, the resolution and refresh rate offered by the 32-inch LCD TV set will have an impact on watching the latest movies and television content. Most of the latest digital content are being made in 1080p HD resolution. So the 720p resolution provided by the model will not suit the requirement of the latest digital content. Similarly, the 60 Hz refresh rate offered by the set will not be able to completely remove motion blur while watching faster moving scenes involving sports and action. These features will further prevent you to from buying the model for your kids’ room.
Westinghouse has also included two HDMI ports that allow users to access their offline collection of movies, music and images stored on compatible digital devices and discs. But the normal video related features will not encourage you to explore these additional connectivity options included in the TV set. You can consider the TV set to watch the informative television programs like news, weather and talk shows that does not required better video quality. Also, the low and affordable price-tag of the model makes it suitable as a backup or second TV set for a modern household.
