Magnavox 9P6031C 60 in. TV

Following 9-11, Its been said that Americans are "nesting" (staying at and closer to home). Prior to that tragic event, my family was already moving in that direction. With that in mind, I set out to transform my castle into a fully equipped multi-media utopia. To complete my task, the most integral component undoubtedly would be the television in our family room. In my quest I had three simple criteria; Big, Big & Bigger! We luckily have a custom built media niche in our family room that can accommodate a television of up to 64". Being the Taurus that I am, I must thoroughly research all potential purchases and weigh functionality, appearance, and overall value. I reviewed numerous sets and spent many hours driving to and from stores to compare picture quality & price. I couldn't count the number of sale advertisements & internet web sites that were scanned over & visited to gather enough information to narrow my search. Sony, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Toshiba & RCA/Proscan all had excellent products in the large rear projection T.V. category. But once again, being the Taurian that I am, I simply couldn't part with upwards of $2,500. Alas, it seemed as if I would be destined to wait and ride the market out until further reductions were made to analog projection sets. And then, on that one fateful day--I found the Philips/Magnavox. (that fateful day just happened to be the day after Thanksgiving 2000) It's not that I hadn't priced Philips' sets before, but the sets that I had seen were "Philips only" which apparently are the higher-end versions of Philips products. This particular set is a Philips/Magnavox joint venture. Philips/Magnavox, as I was told by the sales consultant, is the Philips subsidiary sold primarily in North America. The 9P6031C that I discovered was a floor model in excellent condition. The retail price at that time was $1899 and the unit was on sale for $1599 at Best Buy, but because it was an open box item the "asking" price was $1299. Once finding an available sales associate, which is not an easy task on the day after Thanksgiving, my Taurian nature arose. I offered to purchase the unit for a cool $999 and the sales associate refused. Denied but not defeated, I accompanied my future wife to complete our holiday shopping at the store. Before leaving, I approached the sales associate again with the same offer and this time with success! My final price was slightly higher because I purchased the four year service agreement for an additional $199. Also, on this model, the screen protector is extra and costs $149. Which I would highly recommend, even though it can give off a glare as sunlight hits it from different angles. It provides a certain clarity & the "feel" of a regular tube set. If given another opportunity, I would have definitely forgone the service agreement. Philips/Magnavox has an excellent warranty of one year parts and labor, so I basically paid $199 for three years of protection. Best Buy threw in free delivery and I was in heaven. At that time, our house was under construction and I was staying in an apartment that was on the second floor. Upon delivery, I discovered what a cumbersome task moving such a large unit is (the unit weighs in at a hefty 215lbs)and even though on wheels it is a chore to maneuver. The two delivery drivers had difficulty navigating the stairs and put a 1" scratch on the cabinet. I called Best Buy's customer service department & received an additional 10% off, which made me very happy since the scratch was hardly noticeable. After that I made two subsequent moves. The first was moving in with my wife-to-be and the second moving into our new house. Once again, it can't be stated enough how challenging it can be to move this unit, especially when stairs are involved. Thankfully, I didn't inflict any addition damage on the unit during the later moves. The final tally on this unit came in at $1333.71 which isn't bad considering that includes tax, the service warranty & the screen protector.

As for the picture, The quality is exceptional. I'm not in the least bit a "techie", but it really doesn't take one to appreciate the quality picture this unit delivers. As for specifics, this unit touts digital prepared connections, component input (perfect for your DVD player), magnabrite lens (using a delta 77/78 lens), digital convergence, a wideband video amplifier that extends the video bandwidth to 10mhz & can yield up to 800 lines of resolution (H.D. T.V. is 1080), a two line comb filter and picture in picture for your viewing pleasure. In addition to the component inputs, there are an ample supply of other inputs. Including, two S video, two sets of a/v for video & one for audio. For out-put it includes, one video & two audio, with two rear surround sound speaker jacks. The viewing angle is 160 degrees, so visibility is never a problem unless your far to the left or right. For sound the unit comes with Philips/Magnavox's patented "True Surround Sound" that boasts a 10-watt Hi-Fi stereo sound system at 5-watts per channel. The sound quality is good, but I run the audio outs through my receiver and when combined with the output of the television I achieve true surround sound to enhance our viewing experience. To control your unit, the 9P6031C comes with a universal remote that's compatible with tv/vcr/dvd/dbs/cable. It's both easy & enjoyable to use. Simply put, this unit is an all-around excellent value. It delivers a superior quality picture that rivals those of higher priced models & the sound out-put is capable. The price is very reasonable when compared to other comparable units. I am very pleased with my purchase & would happily recommend this product to anyone that's looking for outstanding standing picture quality at a very favorable price. Since purchasing the Philips/Magnavox 9P6031C it's been bye-bye movie theaters and hello couch!