Westinghouse's 40-inch VK-40F580D LCD HDTV / DVD combo gets reviewed
Filed under: Reviews, Displays, Westinghouse
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kcjones @ Jul 14th 2008 9:00AM
"While we tend to view a built-in, non-upscaling DVD player as a bit of a waste..."
Did you fall for the Bestbuy sales ploy of refilling plasma TVs with plasma gas? There is no need to put two scalers in this product. This HDTV scales all images to its native resolution. Therefore, the DVD image will be upscaled. Now if you want to complain that the internal scaler is not adequate, that may be a fair gripe if true, but asking for the addition of a dedicated DVD scaler only displays your lack of video knowledge.
Now the true downside to internal DVD players in HDTVs is that optical drives such as CD and DVD player are considered the most unreliable devices in consumer electronics. So the manufacturer is marrying consumers' most reliable product (TV) with their most unreliable product (CD/DVD Player). So if you have to send out your DVD player to be repaired, you end up sending your HDTV along as well.
TomBBY @ Jul 15th 2008 10:22AM
"Did you fall for the Bestbuy sales ploy of refilling plasma TVs with plasma gas?"
Which store did you get THIS imformation from? That was never part of any training I got from Best Buy!
"Now the true downside to internal DVD players in HDTVs..." HEAT! Until you're able to purchase a combo with a consumer removable/replaceable DVD player "module", I would stay away from larger (32" and above) combos altogether.
"So if you have to send out your DVD player to be repaired, you end up sending your HDTV along as well."
This is one reason why I would never offer one of these as a "main use" television.
Big Wizz @ Jul 14th 2008 1:50PM
Only a chump would buy a TV-DVD combo...
Mark M @ Jul 14th 2008 5:35PM
This type of thing is perfect for your non-tech grandparents and other relatives who don't know how to connect up a DVD player, and are confused by having to use 2 remotes - a huge chunk of the market. I've always been surprised there aren't a lot more of them around.
kcjones @ Jul 15th 2008 11:00AM
TomBBY said,"Which store did you get THIS imformation from? That was never part of any training I got from Best Buy!"
You never got this information in training, because Best Buy DOES NOT OFFER ANY FORMAL TRAINING to audio video sales staff, including Magnolia. I worked for Best Buy including its District Office for a year and a half, so I know for a fact. The plasma gas refilling was a common ploy to get consumers to purchase extended warranties. This occured when Best Buy first started selling plasmas. A simple google search will provide you with plenty of stories and commentaries my consumers and HDTV magazine reviewers.