Best Buy - "Unadvertised Specials"

I've had a westinghouse 32" for over 9 years and have had no problems with it. I bought a 60" westinghouse 2 years ago and it still works perfect. They make a quality tv. They just don't have as many options as the big name brands.

I've had a 42" Westinghouse for 6+ years. No issues at all. Obviously the picture won't compare to the name brands, but it's been fine for my needs and the price was right.

Can haz links?

choctawfootball said:   The 46 Westinghouse is a fair deal at $380.

As comparison Kmart had the 46 RCA with 60Hz refresh rate for $300.
Which I think was a much better deal.

But the problem is that the sub $200 specials for 40 inchers from Amazon and such is a much better than the best buy and Kmart deal together.

Doubtful that most want to hear this, but...

5-6 year old 47" Westinghouse. Still going strong. Even survived a cross-country move.
1 year old 60" Westinghouse. Works great.

The DC is a good one.

FWers like cheap prices, but not cheap quality.

jamesmotron said:   I wouldn't buy that Westinghouse for $280. I cannot emphasize to anyone just how poor of quality Westinghouse tv's are. The only possible reason to buy one is maybe for a guest room where it will get little to no useage. Don't be surprised if it'a already messed up right out of the box. Dead pixels, ghosting images, sections of the screen that are different colors, no power, etc...

I suppose if you manage to get one that works (unlikely) and it stays working (even more unlikely), then it is a good deal. Maybe get the protection plan? Personally though, I would not risk it.

Just my 0.02

I disagree, i switched from a 1080p 120hz Sony lcd to an led Westinghouse. The Westinghouse has better picture and color then the Sony and it was half the price. My experience is with the 40" 1080p led lcd and 46" 1080p 120hz lcd. The strange thing is the 40" had the smooth motion/cinemotion effect and the 46" does not. To the best of my knowledge the least reliable brand is Phillips with the highest warranty claims of any manufacture. I did buy mine from costco which makes returns a snap if you fear it might be a boat anchor.

pros:
good picture/color
plenty of inputs
slim design
draws around 70 watts running

cons:
missing screws for the stand (non issue for me since i wall mounted it)
worst in class sound (non issue if you use surround sound)
I am assuming less reliable then a big brand but who knows, for all we know they could all be made in the same sweat shop in china. Ive read some reports that some of these westinghouses use samsung panels.

sopheaps said:   I've had a westinghouse 32" for over 9 years and have had no problems with it. I bought a 60" westinghouse 2 years ago and it still works perfect. They make a quality tv. They just don't have as many options as the big name brands.
Look, I'm no expert on this, but let's be clear here: Westinghouse doesn't really "make" TVs. They licensed the name from the company that let's anyone use it for the right price. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Licensing_Corporation) So Mr. Woo, the current president, then goes out and sources the cheapest possible parts that can be assembled into a TV and sells it as a "Westinghouse" TV. People buy it because the name sounds familiar and the price is so low. Sure, some might get a good one, and the picture quality might actually not be so bad. But in the end, you get what you pay for, regardless of the occasional exceptions.

cows123 said:   Oh crud. Isn't Westinghouse a big nuclear reactor company now. Time to pick up that clearance potassium iodide.

Totally different company. Same name, but that's it. And yes, I know you were making a joke.

buttons252 said:   jamesmotron said:   I wouldn't buy that Westinghouse for $280. I cannot emphasize to anyone just how poor of quality Westinghouse tv's are. The only possible reason to buy one is maybe for a guest room where it will get little to no useage. Don't be surprised if it'a already messed up right out of the box. Dead pixels, ghosting images, sections of the screen that are different colors, no power, etc...

I suppose if you manage to get one that works (unlikely) and it stays working (even more unlikely), then it is a good deal. Maybe get the protection plan? Personally though, I would not risk it.

Just my 0.02

I disagree, i switched from a 1080p 120hz Sony lcd to an led Westinghouse. The Westinghouse has better picture and color then the Sony and it was half the price. My experience is with the 40" 1080p led lcd and 46" 1080p 120hz lcd. The strange thing is the 40" had the smooth motion/cinemotion effect and the 46" does not. To the best of my knowledge the least reliable brand is Phillips with the highest warranty claims of any manufacture. I did buy mine from costco which makes returns a snap if you fear it might be a boat anchor.

pros:
good picture/color
plenty of inputs
slim design
draws around 70 watts running

cons:
missing screws for the stand (non issue for me since i wall mounted it)
worst in class sound (non issue if you use surround sound)
I am assuming less reliable then a big brand but who knows, for all we know they could all be made in the same sweat shop in china. Ive read some reports that some of these westinghouses use samsung panels.

I would agree that they actually do have surprisingly decent picture quality, if you find one that works. The problem is, they have an incredibly high failure rate. Phillips might be number one in manufacturer repair, but Westinghouse is probably number 1 by a longshot in Not working out of the box, or failing within days, resulting in a lack of a need for manufacturer repair, since it's just plain broken. I used to work at a job where I processed inventory of various defective televisions (from nearly all big names like Sony, samsung, sharp, lg, Toshiba, rca, philips, Mitsubishi, etc etc), and I assure you Westinghouse was the #1 most frequent brand with defects by a longshot. They seemingly had the largest variety of issues too (though this could just be my perception due to the frequency of their failure).

There are many brands that utilize panels from other companies. Best Buy sells Insignia TV's, some of which DO have Samsung Panels for significantly less than the comparable Samsung. It still makes no difference if the mainboard, power supply, or any other internal component is a cheap piece of junk.

All I can say, is at least Best Buy has a solid return policy, so hopefully anyone feeling lucky enough to gamble with the Westinghouse, is able to return it in the case of a defect.

AW100 is selling for 246 at B&H. Not a good deal at bestbuy.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist.js...