Poor picture quality from 130 degree vie...

It is unfortunate but "off angle" viewing will compromise the picture especially on larger TV's and LCD. Off angle viewing can come from the vertical axis or the horizontal, as you described. This is clearly illustrated with a laptop computer. Adjust the screen forward and back (vertical plane) and you will see very clearly that you get the brightest picture in a very small amount of range of the screen. Likewise, viewing from the side compromises picture as well.

I also don't believe that the delay is indicative of any problems.

I have this unit and you can make the set turn on much fast if you go to Options menu, then the Setup menu (sun icon), and the last choice under the Setup menu is called "Power-on Mode". Select it, and change it from "Power-Saving" which is the factory default, to "Fast".