Philips in N. America

[Smokey]

Although Philips is an European company, all their LCDs in North America are made by Taiwanes company Funai since LG and Philips ended their joint venture.

To tell difference between genuine Philips LCDs and one made by Funai, the TV model number ending with /F7 are made by Funai. All their N.A. models end with that number.

[Woochifer]

FYI, this arrangement has been ongoing for almost three years. Funai has licensed the naming rights to a lot of other familiar brand names like Sylvania, Sansui, Emerson, and Symphonic.

You mentioning this because you're finally ready to pull the trigger on a HDTV???? :cool:

http://www.funai.us/topics/2008/080409.html

[Smokey]

I was curiouis about Philips since the poster Nasir who lives in Europe was talking about one of their model and how good they are. I'm guessing that Philips LCD in Europe are made by Philips themselves thus alot of difference between their Europe and NA models.

Philips name in NA has pretty much been going down the hill since they teamed up with Magnovox back in early 90's. I will not pull the trigger on Philips TV :D

[Woochifer]

I was curiouis about Philips since the poster Nasir who lives in Europe was talking about one of their model and how good they are. I'm guessing that Philips LCD in Europe are made by Philips themselves thus alot of difference between their Europe and NA models.

Philips name in NA has pretty much been going down the hill since they teamed up with Magnovox back in early 90's. I will not pull the trigger on Philips TV :D

Uh, Magnavox and Philips were the same company since the early 70s. Magnavox and Norelco were simply Philips' North American nameplates for their electronics products. The 1990s was when Philips began to phase out the Magnavox brand, and over the last decade they phased out the Norelco name.

[Smokey]

Wow, Magnavox and Philips go back further than I thought (I should have read Wikipedia :D). Think 90's stuck in my mind since that was when I started seeing "Philips Magnavox" faceplate on their TVs. Tried one of their 27 inch CRT TV back in '95 and took it back the next day.

[bfalls]

I know at Sony, if we ever have problems with a player not playing a DVD it's usually a Philips.

[harley .guy07]

Wow, Magnavox and Philips go back further than I thought (I should have read Wikipedia :D). Think 90's stuck in my mind since that was when I started seeing "Philips Magnavox" faceplate on their TVs. Tried one of their 27 inch CRT TV back in '95 and took it back the next day.

Yeah I had a cousin that worked for Philips in the 80's in Salina Ks and he had a system that had a Magnovox cd player in it when Cd's first came out and sold for a small fortune just for a basic unit and most of his stuff was either Philips or Magnovox(employee discount). He worked there while going to college and it was a pretty big place then and it was right outside of Salina but from what he told me its a mere shell of what it was because of overseas manufacturing.

[Woochifer]

And just to further confuse the market, it looks like Funai has dusted off the Magnavox brand and added it to their rebadging collection. Strange that they would bring it back after Philips spent the better part of a decade phasing it out.

www.magnavox.com


Yeah I had a cousin that worked for Philips in the 80's in Salina Ks and he had a system that had a Magnovox cd player in it when Cd's first came out and sold for a small fortune just for a basic unit and most of his stuff was either Philips or Magnovox(employee discount). He worked there while going to college and it was a pretty big place then and it was right outside of Salina but from what he told me its a mere shell of what it was because of overseas manufacturing.

I recall that a lot of those early CD players had the Philips badging, even though Magnavox was supposed to function as their North American branding. They were well regarded for their upgradability (supposedly much easier to work on than the Sonys), and I remember seeing third party upgrade kits for the Philips/Magnavox CD players.

I had a Philips CD changer from the mid-90s. It was one of those bitstream converter models, and it sounded pretty good for a budget model. It was also the fastest loading CD changer I've ever used.

[Nasir]

In Europe, Philips is a household name and in general their stuff is more expensive but good quality. I started working for the Philips Analytical X-ray division in 1994 and they sold it off a few years later and is at present called PANalytical where I still continue my job in Portugal.
I am NOT biased in any way, in fact I have never owned a Philips TV, but I have bought almost all other of their household electrical equipment and still continue to do so for 2 reasons: They are pleasing to the eye so my wife likes them and secondly their build quality is sound.
The big CRT in my living room is a Sanyo and NOT a Philips because when it comes to CRT my preference is Sony. Both the Sony and Philips TVs were SO expensive that my finances did not allow that, besides, I had just got married and there were other priorities...
In all these years since 1994, the Sanyo has served me well and on one occasion there was a little problem with the picture but to MY dismay I managed to fix it just as the wife was being mentally prepared for a new LCD!!
At any given moment, should my CRT fail, there are already 2 or 3 well researched and personally preferred 40 inch models to show to my wife and to listen to her views ( liar!! ) before buying.
For me Philips is the best for 2 reasons: the motion is handled very well and their top of range 3D has a matte screen. The price however is outrageous and the optional 3D kit makes it (almost) unaffordable.
Sony and Samsung for me are so neck to neck that I cannot decide which one to choose
from their 3D LED offerings. I already have a 32in Samsung LCD in a HT setup in the sanctuary of a bedroom, and am pleased with its performance. However their flagship Tvs are not to be found everywhere, just like the Philips. The BIG put off for me is their reflective glass screens, Price wise, the entry level 3D LEDs from all 3 manufacturers ( 4 including LG ) are well priced, but they do not meet MY matte screen criteria.
compete on a