32PW9527 Virgin !

A widescreen virgin here, about to hopefully purchase a Philips 32PW9527.
I have had a quick look around the forums and the feedback seems to be very good, but i am a little concerned with the issue with what tube you actually receive in the set.

Can anyone summarise the 2 tubes and which one do i need to ensure for best results and lack of problems.

Also, i have no DVD or cinema kit yet as i want to get the TV first and build from there.

Confirmation that this TV is a sound investment would also be appreciated.

 

Tubes... either a Panasonic Quintric F or a Philips Cybertube.

Both tubes are very good and to be honest I'm extremely happy with my 9617 which has a Quintrix F. The main advantage with the Philips tube is that it has far less internal curvature (behind the flat front glass). Other than that, both tubes are pretty good. Some Quintrix Fs are "blessed" with rather poor geometry but I've been lucky on this front.

In all likelyhood, you'll get a Philips tube as apparently Quintrix ones were only used on early 9527s.

I suggest you look at a thread started by Binesh regarding autoformatting... if indeed the 9527 cannot switch between 16:9 and 4:3 this may be a reason to reconsider.

Picture-wise the TV is a sound investment for certain.

I can recommend the 9617 very highly if you decide to go the integrated dolby digital approach... it does sound rather good.

 

I looked at a 9527 yesterday and it definitely had a phillips tube, but worryingly, the picture looked a bit soft, especially down the right hand side, which was confirmed when switching to teletext which was poor in comparison to a 32PW8717 on display next to it. Hopefully this was just an early/poorly set up model.
Also, when playing back DVD it didn't Auto switch to 16:9, (had to do it manually), which I know is only a minor annoyance, but confirms RCTs comments.
I was considering one of these myself, but I think I'll hold on until I,ve seen a couple more examples.

 

Just a thought to you and rct...............

Has anyone contacted Philips about this 'direct' for a response on the automatic switching to 16:9 ???

 

Two people have ... read this carefully

 

cheers rct !!!

I am extremely nervous about making my first purchase in the widescreen / cinema world !

What i was looking for was............

a 32" widescreen / flat / nicam only / 100hz (i think) so that i get the best possible picture, with Pixel Plus if possible but without paying for all the Dolby gubbins as the DVD and cinema kit will handle all that.

Budget i was planning on was £1000 absolute max !

Also, i want the TV to be as current as possible and to stand the test of time.

The word 'minefield' seems to spring to mind !