Westinghouse 42 inch LCD 1080p best buy
2 1/2 years later, this is my 3rd set and it is worse than the first. I bought this at the June 2006 BestBuy sale. It seems like this model is seriously cursed. I may never buy another Westinghouse TV again (other was a LTV-32w3 that had problems). It’s a shame because the picture was one of the best despite lacking somewhat in the black levels. With color tweaks, it can be improved. It is too bad the quality control is so poor.
First were the lockups with the 1.16 firmware. No other issues. Banding was minimal to non exsistent and the DVI 1/2 and HDMI inputs allowed a 1080p signal with no sparkles.
Customer Service.
Calling them, they gave me the option of sending it in at my expense or sending someone to upgrade it. I told them to send someone. Sending it across the country and back was not for me.
It took 11 months, dozens of calls, a lost service repair ticket and 2 technicians (one was a serious flake) to finally get the 1.19 upgrade. Unfortunately the last technician bricked the TV. So, it had to be sent to Westinghouse anyway. Of course, the dead TV was sent first before they sent the replacement. They said it was company policy.
Replacement TV.
After the replacement arrived, it was a refurbished unit that looks to have never been refurbished. The pedestal stand was melted and warped. Maybe it was from sitting in a hot warehouse. The casing was scratched and marked. I never tested the rest since the stand was in such bad shape.
After calling Westinghouse, they didn’t have a replacement part. I had to send the whole TV back a second time. Again, they wanted the old TV before sending a replacement.
My Third Set.
The 3rd TV came had banding and sparkles on the digital inputs. None of this was on the first TV. Maybe they solved the lockups though, big consolation. I think their idea of repair was upgrading the firmware, forget the rest of the problems and sell the defective units as refurbished. Westinghouse has a wonderful service dept.
What An Experience.
After almost 2 years since purchasing the set, they simply wore me down. I no longer want to call them again. It no longer matters that it is a defective TV. Heck I bought a LG since I had no stable TV for several months.
Westinghouse support was awful, they never solved my problems and their products are buggy. I finally gave up and now it just sits in a box.
