Superb picture, excellent color rendering, German Build quality, great looks

sluggish button responce;on-screen menus sometimes clutter display

I am also one of those (lucky) individuals who discovered this TV set by chance. I initially went to the store with the intention of buying one of the well-known, well-hyped brands (Sony, Phillips e.t.c.). However, the Loewe Calida set on display
immediately caught my eye. It really stood out among the rest both in picture quality and vivid colors. I was so impressed with the brand that I asked more info and finally I opted for the more expensive Loewe Arcada 8772ZP.
Never regretted it.. It worths every penny I paid for.
The colors and the picture are so vivid and impecable, that they spoil you.
Bad TV reception, worn video tapes, nothing stops this TV from giving the best picture possible. In fact the picture quality from rented VHS tapes is so good especially in the Digital Movie Mode (DMM), that I am sometimes tempted not to buy a DVD player. But I think I will finally do , because, if it looks so good with noisy sources I can only dream what the quality from digital source will look like.
Though I am a man which seeks of substance than looks I must also tell you that this TV is REALLY GOOD LOOKING and impresses my guests even before switching it on.
The only problem I encountered with this set is the delay when switching channels, but this is only a minor nuisance. Another minor nuisance is that sometimes the on-screen menus fill the screen. This is a problem when you have to adjust the picture because it masks important regions of the picture you use to make the adjustment.
But generally it is a superb TV set and I highly recommend it. My only regret is that I didn't have enough money to buy the 32" set..

Similar Products Used:

Saba, Phillips

Good looks, accurate color temperature & color decoder, decent video processing to 480p

Major problems with geometry and blooming, considered "acceptable performance" by Loewe/Sensory Science! WHAT A CROCK!

Up front, this is only my experience, so it's somewhat hard for others to make a fair judgement, but I see a pattern that I felt needed to be shared with forum members.[/I]

Who hasn't been seduced by the goods looks of a Loewe DTV? I know I was, so fall of '99 I purchased a 32" Loewe 4:3 Arcadia - the model with the georgous black piano finish! BTW, the picture looked terrific: out of the box, excellent grayscale, no red push, and all input upconverted to a nice 480p picture. Of course, anamorphic DVDs were shown properly - after all, this is a $3000 DTV. At the time, there was no competition. I was very pleased.

Late last year, something happened. I turned the set on one day, and the geometry was off. I decided to get a service manual, so I called Sensory Science, the distributor in the US. Well, when you call SS, you never speak to a live person; you must leave a message and then hope the callback happens at at time when you are available. This certainly raised an eyebrow. After several rounds of phone tag lasting for 2 days, I was finally able to place the order for the manual.

The manual arrived, and I tried to correct the bowing that I saw at the botton and top of the screen, but any control to adjust this was absent. Since I was planning to go to CES, I figured I'd drop by the SS booth. Sure enough, a rep from SS told me what I could do to fix the problem - he'd seen this on other Loewe sets. Back home, the "fix" had absolutely no affect. I began to wonder if SS folks really understood how the Loewe works.

Again, I called SS, and again after a round of phone tag, I connected with a guy from SS tech support, who decided that my Loewe needed a new video card that would increase the voltage and correct the bowing problem. OK, so the card is ordered, Myer-Emco (the DC high end dealer where I bought the set) puts the card in, and my 'fixed' Loewe is returned. With great anticipation, I turned the set on - what I saw almost made me throw up! Not only was the geometry distrotion still there (hell, M-E hadn't even checked the picture, since the new card affected the horz height which I had to reset), but now the picture bloomed when large white areas were present. To compensate, I had to lower the contrast, and now have a dim flat picture. For this I paid $3000???.

Suffice to say, I've been round the block with SS & M-E, with the cursory fingerpointings, misunderstandings, and outright lies that I guess are typical of "customer service" today. SS even sent out an east coast rep who agreed that the picture was not of the quality that should be expected, but to no avail.

At this time, SS has taken the position that the set meets "spec" - this is code for a company that does not wish to expend any effort or money to meet customer expectations. M-E has agreed to give me 60% of what I paid for the Loewe as a down payment towards a replacement, but I'm now wondering what my extended warranty for the Loewe is for. It's a performance guarantee, BTW.

So, the bottom line is this: with a far greater selection of DTV sets now available, and competative prices, why would you want to deal with a company that believes the following is "within spec?"

Check out image here: http://members.bellatlantic.net/~jmikef/images/jmf_loewe.jpg

PS: If it's not clear by the picture, the set is incapable of producing a straight horz line except in the very center.

Excellent color rendition, good control over motion artifact
ability to change aspect ratios.

none that I have encounterd

This is one georgous set, contol over every aspect of the
picture. I can acctualy handle wathing my VCR occasionaly.
And even though my area has the worst cable signal ( and anyone who want's to argue with me about that need's to take a trip to Modesto California).I also have yet to see
a HDTV with a progressive scan dvd player have as much control over video motion artifact as this set. So it won't
do 1080i, 720p, but it well accept a SDTV signal at 480p
which looks very good. Run it with an excellent dvd player
( I use the Denon DVD1500 ) with a good pair of component video cabes ( I use monster Z series reference ) and you should have one of the most outstanding pictures on your block. Did i also mention great sound for a tv too.

Similar Products Used:

Mitsibishi Cs32309 (last of mits tube tv's)

Perfect color excellent on blacks and whites.

Slow tuner, cant power off at remote.

Just wanted to say, the Loewe, is the best TV i've ever seen!

DVD's look like your really there, also cable and VHS, & S-VHS look even better on this TV!

Compared it to , a Sony XBR-200, side by side, it blew the sony away... Blacks and whites look the best i've ever seen, on any TV.
Also the 32" Loewe is not to heavy 25lbs less than my Sony 32" XBR- 48.

Similar Products Used:

none

Outstanding in every aspect. State of the art technology.

None

This is the best 4:3 TV in the market. Period. You will not find any other TV that even comes close to it in terms of image quality or looks. If you're thinking about flushing your old LDs down the toilet, then think again because with this TV set they will look almost like DVDs.

Simply outstanding in picture quality that can be unrivalled by any other manufacturer. The jap TV's are nice but remind us of the Jap speakers- too bright and too full of colour!!!!! Definition of blacks and colour hues makes this such a tireless endless pleasure to watch.

German over engineered programming, which is more entertaining as a challenge if you have the time. Eventually produces fabulous results

Worth its wait in Gold. You will keep this one forever, unless you transpire to go for a larger size picture.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Panasonic and Grundig