Philips 20PF5120 20-Inch Flat LCD TV

Review by James Whitmore for Philips 20PF5120 20-Inch Flat LCD TV
Rating:
My wife an I love this t.v. We have it in our bedroom and love it’s compact size and great picture. It took only minutes to get it from the box to viewing. It is very easy to navigate through the on-screen menus. The only draw back I have seen is the remote. I had to return the first one I bought because the remote quit working. The replacement developed the same thing after two months. I called philips and they were very helpful and sent out a new one. I also bought a universal remote at best buy for 10 dollars (also by philips) since then not a problem three months..

Review by Nazareth geek for Philips 20PF5120 20-Inch Flat LCD TV
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First thing: I bought this tv from Target walk-in after seeing it here. Great picture for SD 4:3. Very good sound (5 watts/channel vs. 2 or 3 w/c for comparables). Near complete input selection (coax, composite, s-video, component, DVI-I). A good tv for this class IF NOT WALL MOUNTED. If you plan to use the included stand exclusively, this seems to be a worthwhile tv.

Backstory: Bought tv as a gift to be wall mounted in a kitchen on an articulating arm. Chose a Peerless SA730P articulating mount for 10-24″ flat screens (a quality mount from a respected company). Tv to be mounted about 5′ high, with slight tilt down to table. Arm to swivel tv around for cooking/cleanup viewing. Tilt to be locked, arm extension and rotation allowed for viewing.

Problem: The mounting point for an external mount (VESA 100 standard) is on the BOTTOM OF THE INCLUDED STAND! That’s right. The stand pictured above is not removed to reveal a mount point in the center of the tv’s back, but pivoted back 90° behind the speakers revealing the VESA 100 bolt pattern on the bottom. This moves the tv out from the wall by about 3-4″. But, more important, it moves the tv up and out from the mount point MULTIPLYING the weight of the tv. Imagine holding the tv from a handle centered in the back of the screen. Now imagine supporting the same tv from a 4″ lever connected to the bottom of the tv.

Result: Failure of the mount to hold the tv with anything over a perceptible tilt down. I returned the tv and bought another brands’ 4:3 20″ lcd. The stand included with this tv unbolted from the VESA 100 pattern centered on the back of the screen (as I think is the norm). The articulated mount has since functioned well and as planned, with plenty of movement. The bummer is I think the picture was better, and I know the sound was, with the Philips.

Review by Nyghtshayd for Philips 20PF5120 20-Inch Flat LCD TV
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This TV is nice, it has almost all the hookups you need.

Regular cable does look a bit… regular but that just may be because I have split the signal to another TV(a flat screen LCD) DVDs look just as great from a regular dvd player on this and my flat screen TV but now I can tell even better what is CGI and what is real. I thought that 20″ would be too small but the clarity leaves that thought behind.

My biggest problem is with the remote control and menu functions, they’re clumsy, inconvenient, incomplete.

Nutshell: If you’ve liked the picture on an LCD flat screen, this is not THAAAAaaat much better.

Pros:

+Great picture with unsplit cable connection

+Can change picture format with one button

+Change Color format with one button

+Good sound**

+Change sound format with one button

+Looks good even when off

+PIP when using as PC monitor-to-TV**

+Smooth Sleek remote

+Some nice remote functions

Cons for TV:

-May need color adjustments

-Clock…? Where’s the clock?

-TV Menus are awkward and incomplete

-Not HDTV… is EDTV…

-No composite(RCA) audio output

-Must use headphone jack for any type of surround and then the tv speakers are disabled.

Cons for Remote:

-Surf feature on remote??? It’s a menu. I just as well enter the channels myself.

-I would rather the input/source select to cycle the input channels than a menu.

-Button placement is a bit awkward.

-User manual Describes functions that this unit doesn’t have(Sleep/Wakeup)

-PIP on remote is only for if using as PC monitor

Despite the cons, I would still get this unit for what i does do and for the price.

Review by Bill Silcott for Philips 20PF5120 20-Inch Flat LCD TV
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This product is everything I (Very capital I) needed. Two small complaints; the wall mount IS inconvenient, and the remote control worked for all of 10 minutes. However, if you intend to use this device as a freestanding unit you will be VERY satasfied. Great picture, and sound, with easy access to the many audio and video ports. Its the perfect fit for a smaller apartment or a bedroom.

Review by Carol S. Bruce for Philips 20PF5120 20-Inch Flat LCD TV
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My husband purchased this TV for me for Christmas. So far, I am very happy with it. Wouldn’t have minded a larger screen, but what I do have seems to be a great picture.