 Great Buy!!! |
| Review Date: February 15, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lance G. Drollinger, Salt Lake City, UT USA |
We had no reviews on this tv to read when we went to buy it, the only good lead that we had about the Sylvania brand, was the fact that my Father bought one for his room, a different model, but he loved it. He is a hard man to please, so to get his buy-in is a big deal. We have been very pleased with this TV, it has a great picture quality, and great sound. The size of the TV is perfect, it is not so big that is takes up the whole room, it fits in the corner of our room on the wall giving us the add space we needed.
I think I fell in love with this TV, not only because it is a great deal, but because I saw the Utes beat down on the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl a few days after buying it!!! Oh baby what a great picture for a great game!!!
Anyway enough said, Great TV, for a great deal!!! |
Tried it out
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| Review Date: January 31, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Amelia Brown, USA |
For the $500 sale price this is a very good deal. I went to brick and mortar Target and tried it out.
The Sylvania nameplate is now owned by Funai [China] which is a large mass-market manufacturer with a mixed reputation. Some hate it and think quality (and quality control) is terrible while others find good value for basic electronics. It contends on the low end price and is improving if this model is a representative sample.
This is the LC370SS9, not to be confused with the previous LC370SS8. That 9 or 8 on the end is very important. The 9 is the newer model here and looks to be a vast improvement on the 8. The 9 is identified in pictures by the oval base. The 8 has a rectangular base. AVOID THE 8 at all costs!
Low end flat panel LCD TVs are usually HEAVY and POWER hungry.
The previous model "8" weighed in at 45.5 pounds(!) while this "9" weighs a modest 33 pounds by comparison (info from Sylvania web site). That is a BIG plus, especially if you want to hang it on the wall. The 8 is not just heavy but also most likely a power hog too. On low end LCD flat panel sets you can put your hand above the ventilation slots and feel the heat pouring out. You can feel heat coming out of the top of the newer 9 model but it's not excessive. It is also Energy Star compliant now.
Picture Quality is somewhat subjective but the cheaper sets naturally use cheaper production materials and construction. PQ is about what one would expect at this price; Ok, not bad, not great. The set is 720p which is fine for a 37" set since the screen is not large enough to warrant 1080p. Anything 46" or larger it's usually recommended that you go for a 1080p resolution.
Set Up is very easy with this TV. Basically plug and play. If you want to hook it up to your computer it has a VGA input which is a plus. The menu is very intuitive and easy to navigate. Not many settings you can play with though. Just the basic contrast, brightness, color hue and intensity. The exception is closed captioning which strangely enough has options galore. Sound settings are almost nil. Sound quality is just ok, again what you would expect at this price point. There is, however, a dgital audio output which is great if you have a home theater receiver to plug into. In that case you can extract wonderful sound for this set through your own speaker set-up.
One bright spot is the remote control. Basic but responsive and VERY easy to use. Often the remotes which come with low end TVs are just awful! This one was a pleasure to use right out of the gate. No bells or whistles, like backlighting for example, but very clear and user friendly. Piano black finish on the front of the remote may or may not please. It does attract finger prints.
The plastic oval base is very easy to install and feels stable enough when set up. At first you'll look at the three tiny screws used to attach it to the set and think "uh oh," but they serve their purpose quite effectively contrary to first impression.
The set I bought had just one stuck pixel, a bright green one in the upper right hand of the screen. Pixels are very tiny though and I had to look closely to even see it. A good way to check for stuck pixels is to plug your computer into the TV and select a background of all white and then all black. On each setting get up close to the screen and look for little specks of color. Though tiny they can be irritating if they stand out in certain settings like a night scene in a movie. My set had just the one stuck pixel.
This set, on sale, is the best price I've ever seen for a 37" flat panel. 37" sets are usually not much less money than 42" sets because so many more people buy the standard 42" size. If one needs a 37" size to fit a certain spot, and has limited funds, then this set could be a good choice.
My only other concern is longevity. Funai has had problem models in the past which caused customer frustration and headaches. This model appears to be a genuine improvement. Only time will tell of course. Unfortunately there is only a 3 month warranty so you save money but take a chance.
That's my test run. Your mileage may vary.
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It Fits. Good value
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| Review Date: February 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Bob, Cincinnati |
This is our new bedroom TV. We have an armoire that is exactly 36" wide. This Sylvania (Funai) and the Sharp were the only 37" TVs I was able to find that would actually fit. With a sale price under [...] at target, I thought this was worth a shot. We have two other flatscreens - both Samsung Plasmas (50" 1080p and 42" 720p). This is our only LCD. The Samsungs do have a better picture (highly rated in consumer reports, CNET, etc.), but this one is pretty darn good for what it is. I do notice that fast action is blurred more on this set than on the plasmas. But, it's just fine for a bedroom TV (and probably other locations). I have seen LCDs where viewing angle is a problem - not so with this unit. No visual decrease in picture at 45* angle. All in, it is a great value and a fine TV.
The screen "out of the box" was too bright for my taste. A few adjustments, including putting it into power save mode, movie view, cool color and turning down brightness and contrast about 20 points which seemed to help. |
Great Low End TV But......
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| Review Date: June 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Billy K. Howell, |
| I purchased the Sylvania lc370ss9 at Target yesterday. Set up was easy. The picture quality is excellent. The sound quality is little tinny but can be smoothed with the bass/treble controls. I picked all the local hd channels with the internal tuner. It ismuch better reception than the set top box I was using on my 4 year old HD ready Samsung. It has penty of inputs, PC, 2 HDMI, Digital Sound out, 2 compnet a/v outs. I chose this TV not only for a $527 price after the 10 percent Target card discount but it fit barely into my old entertinment center (36" wide TV is 35.8"). I have a DVD, Direct TV DVR R22 and a Direct TV R10. My only complaitnt is the remotes for both DVR's will not operate the Sylvania(Fuani) TV. I have tried several aftermarket remotes and a an Avex R8 learning remote. Well, I learned the Avex remote turned the Tivo on, but it did not learn anything from my tv remote. Now my wife has 4 remotes instead of 3. I will look for remotes. LOVE THE TV HATE THAT MY 2 SATELLITE BOXES DO NOT LIKE IT! |
More than worth it in this economy
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| Review Date: February 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Cheap Dutchman, Grand Rapids, MI |
| We just bought this for our condo. Last year I bought a Panasonic for our other home and, of course, the Sylvania picture may not look as good as the Panasonic's. But you know what, how "perfect" does the picture have to be? No matter what you buy, next year there will be a technology that looks better. The fact is that the Sylvania is less than half the price and picture is beautiful. We are very happy with it and, in these economic times, it's a great looking flat panel for a fair price. We've even dumped the cable and satellite service and still get a GREAT picture on it with an indoor antennae. Think of the money we are saving with the free over-the-air digital channels. Why, it'll pay for my Sylvania in 6 months. |
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