Westinhouse LVM-37w3 refurb $329 + shipping compgeeks

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Anyone else have theirs yet? FedEx dropped mine off just as I was leaving for work this morning. It's hard sitting here with an unopened box at home. Today is going to be a long day...

that was my yesterday.. I had 3 24" LCDs and a DP adapter sitting on my porch for 8 hours while I sat at the colo going bananas. lol. the most helpful distraction was staying busy... :)
 
SOLD OUT!​

I am so ridiculously stoked for mine to come on Wednesday :D

I took a photo of my current desk setup and did some photochoppin' to see what it will look like if I put my two LCD's (20" + 22", both widescreen) next to the Westy...

lcdmockup.jpg

Top picture is my setup currently

Those are not bad shoops "D
You are gonna have a sic setup.

Wish I lived in CA so I could get in on the group buy :D
 
Got mine yesterday. Haven't unboxed it yet, been too busy. But it came in a huge box, so I assume it is well padded. Box was in good shape (hard to "throw" an item this heavy).
 
AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll never purchase from Geeks.com again, and I've purchased plenty of items worth lots of $$$ from them in the past.

I opened the box, that looked in good condition, and inside I found a horribly packaged display. a couple pieces of thick plastic bubbles on the left and right sides of the screen, and that's it. nothing on top, nothing on bottom... it was pretty much damn near free floating int he box.
i plug it in and the screen that looked ok when it was off, has a giant white crack halfway through it, so the display panel inside is cracked....

2 hours of phone calls with Geeks, Westinghouse, and Westinghouse's repair facility later....

Westinghouse support was really helpful, and I even talked to a repair technitian and the conclusion was, that Both the Westinghouse rep and I found the entire blame to be Geeks' horrible packaging and they should cover the cost, the guy then gave me the # to their repair shop in case I wanted to find out what it would cost, I called the repair shop, and they said they can't fix it if it's a panel issue which it is... so to figure it out with Geeks.

I called Geeks yet again, and they were completely complacent and acted like I was just another phonecall that day, not a customer who just paid them over $400 and received a broken item...

my options as told by a Geeks rep.
1. return/refund that could take up to 2 weeks.
2. return & swap for a ghetto Visio, that WILL take at LEAST 2 weeks
3. keep the broken display and stare at it while wishing it weren't broken.

I then talked to a Geeks repair technician and he basically talked to me like I was a child who didn't understand that they know more about displays than I do and they would swap it for a "better" display and the Visio was (in their mind) a MUCH better display for a computer.... oh, AND they couldn't even put the Visio on hold for me if I wanted to swap for it, so if it sells out, I dont even get a ghetto tv in return, i have to get cash back, and i was told that it is absolutely impossible to provide any sort of compensation, not even if it means swapping for a tv that is $50 more for the trouble.

So I took the only option I have... RMA #... which will take up to 2 or 3 days to receive an EMAIL from geeks, which will have instructions, and "eventually" i'll receive a shipping label from FedEx...

I knew the price was too good to be true... All of you who are/were lucky enough to be able to drive and pick it up from their warehouse lucked out! Because these people couldn't properly pack a piece of paper inside of on envelope.




Edit:
This is effed up display
31a068a5.jpg



this is all that was used to pack the display in a much larger box.
ab6b3981.jpg




If anyone could help me pick out a suitable replacement off of Geeks.com that I could exchange it for, I'd be grateful.
I want something that will have excellent picture quality on my computer via DVI or HDMI and look perfect from only a couple feet away as the 37w3 does.
I noticed they have the refurb 40" 1080p westinghouse tv's, they have tuners so they're classified as "TV's" and not "monitors" but I'm not sure how they differ in picture quality, if they are better at all, then I will pay an extra $100 to exchange for one of those...

but I really haven't liked the picture quality of the Visio's I have seen in person so I don't like the idea of exchanging for the only "similar" item they have which is the 1080p 37" Visio...

So, my fellow [H]'ers, any suggestions?
 
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Damn man, that sucks so [H]ard. I know you were excited, too.

I have one I might let go of, depending on where you are...yhpm.
 
ouch! that really sucks... I am sorry! I hope this story has a happy ending for you though.
 
Sorry to hear about that! Also the customer service sounds horrible. Not to rub salt in the wound, but I am now exponentially times happier that I was able to get in on DarkTao's deal.

Best of luck to you though with RMA/upgrade.
 
Same horrible packaging! The bezel on mine is completely cracked in the bottom right corner and several little pieces were floating around!!! I will take pics and stuff but first I have to hurry up and see if this thing works! Logging off now! :(
 
Mine arrived damaged as well. Pieces of the bezel were cracked and floating around, and one side of the base support brackets were sheared off. I took the base and back off, and was able to fix the problem with new bolts, and some superglue on the bezel. It's now working just fine, and the fixes are now invisible, but for the shipping cost, I really did expect better. The packaging was insufficient to say the least...

p1060170hih.jpg
 
^^ Oh shit man, that looks terrible!
:( I wish mine was in that good of condition... no joke.. I didn't realize it at first but my stand is all bent and effed up as well, on top of the screen being cracked =(

I hooked it up to my 360 & PC, it lookssoooo damn good, but the giant crack kills the deal haha. Hoping I get the shipping label from fedex tomorrow so I can get this return process rolling
 
What are they doing on the shipping for the return and the replacement for you phimp?

I guess I should count my lucky stars it works, and bonus no dead pixels or anything. Otherwise I'd have to worry I'm left with nothing for my money. Sounds like you well get some sort of corrective action.

Wonder what it would take to replace the front bezel. Minor crack in the back behind all the damage but it's mostly ok other than the pic. Maybe I can get some monies refunded. I'm certainly not footing the bill of shipping the return and again for a replacement of whatever they got.
 
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What are they doing on the shipping for the return and the replacement for you phimp?

I guess I should count my lucky stars it works, and bonus no dead pixels or anything. Otherwise I'd have to worry I'm left with nothing for my money. Sounds like you well get some sort of corrective action.

Wonder what it would take to replace the front bezel. Minor crack in the back behind all the damage but it's mostly ok other than the pic. Maybe I can get some monies refunded. I'm certainly not footing the bill of shipping the return and again for a replacement of whatever they got.
Well, after talking to them again I worked out free shipping back.
I received an RMA # from them a few minutes after getting off the phone.
Now I'm waiting for FedEx to email me a prepaid shipping label and then I have to pack it back up and bring it to FedEx, and use MY OWN money to pay to have it properly packed (because otherwise by the time it gets to them it'll have broken in half with their provided packing methods), then wait 7-10 days till they get it, then wait about a week for them to diagnose it and find out if it's repairable, etc, if they can repair it, which they won't be able to, they'll send it back otherwise they'll offer a full refund (not sure if this includes the $101 shipping I paid or not.
The replacement is "any item of equal or greater value" that has roughly the same specifications.

Which leaves me with either the Visio 37" 1080p (I am NOT a big fan of Visio at all), or the Westinghouse 40" 1080p TV. They are both about $100 more than the 37w3 but they are the only items they have that are even close to comparable.

Something tells me I'm going to end up with a Visio :(
 
Well... I will be going down this weekend... freaks me the fuck out, as I was only going to open the two I am getting.... Damn,,, I really dont want to drive back 10 farked up monitors....

Ugh.... I need to think of how to package 10 of these... how annoying...

So other then physical damage from poor shipping.... they all work electronically....


Damn...
 
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Well for those of you that got the monitor in working order these settings are from the really long thread that made my Westy (going on 3 years) look really decent. Try them out and see what you think.

Westinghouse LVM-37W3
Brightness 41
Color Settings: Neutral
Contrast: 60
Saturation: 60
Sharpness: 0
Backlight: 20
 
Fawk.... Well... I will be going down this weekend... freaks me the fuck out, as I was only going to open the two I am getting.... Damn,,, I really dont want to drive back 10 farked up monitors....

Ugh.... I need to think of how to package 10 of these... how annoying...

So other then physical damage from poor shipping.... they all work electronically....


Damn...

From what I see, they all appear to be fine electrically. The damage is due to poor packaging. You see, the monitor was protected on all sides except the bottom. The monitor base sits on the bottom of the box and absorbs any and all impact. Since yours aren't being shipped across the country, you are likely fine.

Well for those of you that got the monitor in working order these settings are from the really long thread that made my Westy (going on 3 years) look really decent. Try them out and see what you think.

Westinghouse LVM-37W3
Brightness 41
Color Settings: Neutral
Contrast: 60
Saturation: 60
Sharpness: 0
Backlight: 20

Thanks for saving me the time in looking this up. I'll give them a shot now!

Edit: Just tried them, and it looks great. Thanks man!
 
If anyone could help me pick out a suitable replacement off of Geeks.com that I could exchange it for, I'd be grateful.
I want something that will have excellent picture quality on my computer via DVI or HDMI and look perfect from only a couple feet away as the 37w3 does.
I noticed they have the refurb 40" 1080p westinghouse tv's, they have tuners so they're classified as "TV's" and not "monitors" but I'm not sure how they differ in picture quality, if they are better at all, then I will pay an extra $100 to exchange for one of those...

From what I recall of that TV, it's not a good choice for PCs. Only the 37" and 40" HD Monitors were. The others all sucked like any other TV. It's not like they just through in a TV tuner and said "good to go".

I guess it is time to check mine when I get home for lunch. I'm gonna do a big photo unwrap because of this (for insurance purposes, in case geeks lays it on FedEx). Even if the bezel is cracked, I want my shipping refunded.

You all should bitch up a storm as well. Geeks should have to eat the cost of the shipping for the cracked bezels. Obviously (from reading up above) their customer service sucks - but it's worth a try. Think of it this way, for those of us who did get it shipped, are we all going to have to SHIP it back? That would be absurd.
 
Well, after talking to them again I worked out free shipping back.
I received an RMA # from them a few minutes after getting off the phone.
Now I'm waiting for FedEx to email me a prepaid shipping label and then I have to pack it back up and bring it to FedEx, and use MY OWN money to pay to have it properly packed (because otherwise by the time it gets to them it'll have broken in half with their provided packing methods), then wait 7-10 days till they get it, then wait about a week for them to diagnose it and find out if it's repairable, etc, if they can repair it, which they won't be able to, they'll send it back otherwise they'll offer a full refund (not sure if this includes the $101 shipping I paid or not.
The replacement is "any item of equal or greater value" that has roughly the same specifications.

Which leaves me with either the Visio 37" 1080p (I am NOT a big fan of Visio at all), or the Westinghouse 40" 1080p TV. They are both about $100 more than the 37w3 but they are the only items they have that are even close to comparable.

Something tells me I'm going to end up with a Visio :(

Vizio is actually a better brand than Westinghouse, as far as mainstream goes. This Westinghouse is not the be all end all big screen. It's just cheap and affordable. You'll be happy with the Vizio if you don't have to pay any additional money.
 
Vizio is actually a better brand than Westinghouse, as far as mainstream goes. This Westinghouse is not the be all end all big screen. It's just cheap and affordable. You'll be happy with the Vizio if you don't have to pay any additional money.

Have you seen the quality of a computer connected to a vizio? I have not had the opportunity to. I have yet to see any "TV" that is as crisp and clear as the westinghouses for computer use.
 
Vizio is actually a better brand than Westinghouse, as far as mainstream goes. This Westinghouse is not the be all end all big screen. It's just cheap and affordable. You'll be happy with the Vizio if you don't have to pay any additional money.

Another problem with the Vizio is that it is a TV as well. When they dropped the 37w3 Monitor and came out with the TX line that added the tuner it was a totally different beast all together. This monitor is quite good for gaming where most low end LCD TV's are not with huge input lag being the major issue.
 
Have you seen the quality of a computer connected to a vizio? I have not had the opportunity to. I have yet to see any "TV" that is as crisp and clear as the westinghouses for computer use.

Well I guess you're not looking hard enough because LG/Sharp/Panasonic has some nice fast "TV's" that has superior image quality while being just as fast or faster. But none at this price range so it's irrelevant :)

Another problem with the Vizio is that it is a TV as well. When they dropped the 37w3 Monitor and came out with the TX line that added the tuner it was a totally different beast all together. This monitor is quite good for gaming where most low end LCD TV's are not with huge input lag being the major issue.


You're correct, I forgot about the input lag on Vizio's but a search on AVS shows some satisfied users with the Vizio LF models for pc usage.
 
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Received mine. It was A-OK. No noticeable dead pixels. Mine got here overnight (FedEx runs trucks from L.A. to Vegas nightly), so they didn't have much time to drop it as it would if it was going farther than 6 hours.

However, here's a lovely picture of the packaging. How this even went across anybody's mind as acceptable is beyond me. Seriously ....

DSC_0177_Vga.JPG



Yes, what you see is correct. Protecting the screen is a one layer of 1mm foam and 1 bubble wrap.
 
I would cry if my Westy was packed like that. thank god I saved my original box from Christmas 06.
 
However, here's a lovely picture of the packaging. How this even went across anybody's mind as acceptable is beyond me. Seriously ....

DSC_0177_Vga.JPG



Yes, what you see is correct. Protecting the screen is a one layer of 1mm foam and 1 bubble wrap.
Exactly how mine was, only it was on a truck for 8 days and traveled from SoCal to Washington...

I'm just really hoping they have a replacement model or another broken one they can take the panel out of for me. I hate the fact that I'm probably not going to be looking at a WH 37w3 in a couple weeks...
 
Well I sent in my bitchy email. i don't want to send this shit back, it would easier and more fair in my situation to refund me some money.
 
Well I sent in my bitchy email. i don't want to send this shit back, it would easier and more fair in my situation to refund me some money.
I would at least ask for a refund on the shipping cost.
Or return it all together and buy something else... that way they can take the panel out of it and put it in mine with a broken display, and I'll get a working on in return =D haha.
Yeah, if I were you, I'd just deal with the cosmetic issues with the bezel and demand a full refund on the shipping costs.
 
I'm about to box my display back up - FedEx is picking it up in the morning to be shipped back to Geeks.

So to see just how bad it really is, I put up a solid gray color on the entire screen via DVI from my computer... it is absolutely horrific.
Giant crack in the panel, large dark spot, and it looks like air or something is getting inside of hte panel, not sure what it is, but you can see spots on top and bottom where it looks almost like something was dripping in the panel, water? or just air getting in where it's not supposed to be... not sure.

37w3_defective.jpg


I'm really curious as to whether or not someone lost their job in Shipping/Receiving for screwing up almost every single display they sold.
 
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