Philips 26PF5321

...a replacement I choose this Philips 26" Flat Screen HD Ready Monitor.

My budget wasn't huge so I had to make do with what I could find bearing in mind a few necessities:

- It must be HD Ready - HD content is becoming the norm in terms of gaming as well as movies and even TV programs. This TV was to last me at least 5+ years, so I wanted to be future proof.

- Have 2+ Scart sockets, one of the main ...
...Scarts at the back became very loose, due to constant swapping between Freeview / DVD Player / VCR Player and PS2, and so having 2+ would mean I wouldn't have to switch it so often.

- Be at least 20" and widescreen, 19" was fine in all honesty, but since movies these days are widescreen, getting that extra bird in the corner is always nice.

As you might have guessed this TV met all of my above criteria and ... more

My previous TV, which was a 19" Mistubishi CRT TV finally bit the bullet, and to find a replacement I choose this Philips 26" Flat Screen HD Ready Monitor.

My budget wasn't huge so I had to make do with what I could find bearing in mind a few necessities:

- It must be HD Ready - HD content is becoming the norm in terms of gaming as well as movies and even TV programs. This TV was to last me at least 5+ years, so I wanted to be future proof.

- Have 2+ Scart sockets, one of the main reasons my previous TV began to fail was that the Scarts at the back became very loose, due to constant swapping between Freeview / DVD Player / VCR Player and PS2, and so having 2+ would mean I wouldn't have to switch it so often.

- Be at least 20" and widescreen, 19" was fine in all honesty, but since movies these days are widescreen, getting that extra bird in the corner is always nice.

As you might have guessed this TV met all of my above criteria and thus was a perfect match.

This TV features:

-HD Ready 1366 x 768 Resolution - 720p or 1080i - sadly no 1080p
-2 HDMI inputs
-2 Scart Sockets
-1 YPbPr
-PC Input
-Built in FM antenna
-2x 5 watt Speakers

After a couple of months usage - would have prefered to review straight away, but would rather have a good time using it to appriciate the pros/cons - I've realised a few things.

Installation is easy. Litterally assemble it, and put the TV on. Nothing more to it! The remote that comes with it is very slick and has lots of useful buttons, but isn't crowded with useless buttons, they've kept it simple and neat - perfect. In any case you can refer to the instructions, which is easy to follow with diagrams as well as being in several different languages.

The image is amazing, the picture quality is really above that of a standard TV, even if the signal is a standard 480i/576i the picture is sharper and brighter, in contrast to my old CRT as well as my friends TVs.

One thing that makes this TV very efficient in displaying pictures is that it automatically sets the TV depending on the input. For example, if it's freeview or a film that I'm watching it will turn to 16:9 widescreen, however if it's a film with subtitiles it will switch to subtitled mode, though 4:3 and 14:9 aspect are rarely used, however useful depending on the source.

Sound wise, the sound is of high quality, can do virtual surround sound, which I had no idea was possible, but it really feels like it's coming from different directions creating a movie-like feel even if its a 2.0 system. However, this is obviously no match for a real 5.1/7.1 setup. One thing I've noticed is that it doesn't handle bass sounds too well, after watching 24 and Bleach in some cases the bass sounds fuzzy, if I had a subwoofer I think this wouldn't be present.

The amount of connections are very impressive for this mid-range TV. It has 2 scart and 1 component input, which means my Freeview, PS2 and VCR are all connected, all I have to do is switch the channel, which is very convenient.

I've connected my computer using a DVI to HDMI cable, and the picture is excellent. The films I've downloaded from lovefilm, appear with quality second to none.

With the monitor being a flat screen, it saves so much space it's unreal. Very useful if you've not got too much space around the house.

Would I recommend this to you? Definetly. This TV for only 500 pounds, when I purcahsed it, apparently 400 pounds now on amazon. Has great visual qualities as well as input selection. HD Ready, is brilliant, allowing me to watch my HD films in unprecedented quality. With 2 HDMI inputs, this means I can have my PC and my soon PS3, or my highdef DVD Player both plugged in, which again is very convenient. Also PiP [Picture in Picture] can be used to show 2 HD pictures in side each other, another fantastic feature if your playing a game and want to be on the web at the same time! No idea why, but a nice little feature!

The only thing that makes this TV rate from Excellent to Good is the mere sound annoyance that makes the subwoofer sound a bit funny if the volume is on 70/100 and the bass is extreme, which is a rare! 

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