Philips 32PW9617

I bought the Philips 32PW9617 television for $1100AUD. It worked for about eight months, and then it started taking longer and longer to turn on.

Now I wait five minutes for any picture. Just a black screen with sound.

Then, three months later the 'main board' blew up. It cost $500 to repair. The other problem still persists.

I rang Philips to complain and received no help or sympathy.

I am disgusted with the service and the product, and I will never buy a Philips product again. My 51cm Sony TV has been working without a hitch for six years. I know which brand I'll buy next!

Quite simply the shimmering on the Philips 32PW9617 Widescreen TV is really annoying. It really depends on what you are watching though as some programmes are worse than others. Has anyone else experienced this problem and found a solution. The buzz from the wireless speakers is worse when they are just switched on, but it does tend to die down after a period of time. Watching football is a nightmare, shadowing and shimmering is quite noticeable and very disappointing.

As soon as the Philips 32PW9617 was switched on we noticed blothces on the blue set up screen - these also became evident on the any white background or when watching football. We had two different engineers who came and gave conflicting solutions - eventually told the set would have to go back to the Service Dept for several days. At this point we decided to return the set and get a refund.

It should also be noted that although pixel plus looks very impressive in the showroom it is incredibly annoying when you sit down at home to watch a film - totally unnatural and unrealistic.

Have now got a Loewe Aconda 9381 which blows it away!

I'm a bit worried reading all the bad experiences, as I have had mine only a few months.

So far I have been extremely pleased with my set, in all circumstances of use.

Menus are simply laid out, and reminders are easy to set using the nextview function, although I've still yet to read up on when or if at all a full week listings nextview system will be available in the uk in the future.

Pro Logic sound on normal tv is surprisingly distinct, and DD 5.1 at night with the lights off is really great if used with additional amp and front speakers

channels can be easily hidden from the ch+/- via the installation menu, using the lesser used buttons concealed under the flap.

A small trivial thing I don't like is that the screen format button is under this flap, which I am constantly flapping to get the most from the various types of broadcasts we get these days.

The Automatic screen format usually works well.

True widescreen broadcasts are recognised in all cases I have experienced with Freeview, and when changing back to a 4:3 channel, the ratio will revert back to the ratio you last used for a 4:3 broadcast - ie. if you watch 4:3 in 14:9 mode, go to a widescreen broadcast, and back to a 4:3 programme, it would revert back to 14:9.

14:9 is what I often use to watch most widescreen analogue programmes which are not often in actual 16:9 format, but I have to flap the flap to change back to 4:3 mode.

I'll fix my dislike for the lap by buying a new 6in1 Kameleon remote...

What would have been nice, is if Phillips had included their Phillips ondigital/itv digital box in the remote control functionality, which although can control vcr, cd, tape, tuner, dvd, and satellite ...... isn't programmable, and doesn't use the same frquencies as my other equipment.

But really, I'm happy with this tv - it really does seem to be one of the best available

After these reviews, I'm a little worried though - a colour blotch appeared recently, appearing as purple on the 'no signal' blue, and green on white pictures (noticable easily on Colin McRae 4 on PS2)

This has changed from one side of the tv one day (during Italian GP) to the other side another day (whilst watching Champions League)

This would suggest the colour tube isn't going to last the 10 years we would expect of modern tv technology, however I am now a little more optimistic that, having thumped the screen a few times, it has disappeared - so perhaps some colours became trapped somehow.

Despite this I am still happy with my set .... so far!

Really stunning bit of kit, but will have to see how it lasts

I have had 3 9617 `s and all have shaded bands which are very visible whilst watching football during left to right camera movements. It has become very anoying and my eye tends to watch the bands instead of the football. Any one else have this. Otherwise very good. Speaker hum rectified by unclipping sender unit

Purchased my Philips 32PW9617C in April this year.

The first set had to go back as a pixel had gone.

The second set has been OK except for the excessive buzzing and interference on surround speakers.

Now the colour and brightness chane on their own and the set has turned itself off twice.

An engineer is due to call to fix it.

Hope he does...

Philips 32 PW9617 - Purchased in Nov 2002, in Jun 2003 the set would not switch on, just a red flashing light at the front of the set, after two and a half weeks being repaired by the Philips repair contractors 'Endeva' they returned the set. Within one day it had gone again.... And we thought Philips was a reliable name. Not a good advert for Philips!

The picture quality with Pixel Plus is superb but it seems to have problems with fast panning shots and is definitely not suitable for watching football so I run it in 100Hz mode permanently now. Quality is still excellent.

I think I've fixed the interference with the speakers by moving them off the ground so don't let this put you off - after having dolby surround without cables I could never go back.

The wireless speakers are particularly useless when a tv audience program with clapping or cheering is on. The interference that is caused makes the speakers reverberate as though there is feedback. But at an extra cost you are able stop using the wireless facility by purchasing the necessary cables and wiring them to the tv.

With pixel plus (which is otherwise flawless and the best picture i've ever seen) on moving objects or panning you get a silvery glimmer around the object (a bit like when you could almost see the predator in the film 'Predator')

I would appreciate anyones opinions / advice on curing the buzzing sound from the back of the set? Should I go for third time lucky?