26" LCD TV - HD Ready £378 delivered! (merged) [CLOSED]

onedah

Just found these UK reviews:

Verdict Excellent
http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=936

Verdict 80%
http://www.maxpc.co.uk/reviews/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=34451&subsectionid=702&subsubsectionid=498

3 out off 5 - Does mention poor picture quality
http://www.t3.co.uk/reviews/entertainment/tv_-_lcd/dell_w2600_lcd_tv

4 out of 5
http://www.pcplus.co.uk/reviews/monitors/dell_w2600_lcd_tv

Very good 7/10
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/televisions/0,39030219,39188369,00.htm

pjrouse

black_star wrote:

Thanks for a great post. I read the post last week, did my research, read the reviews out on the WWW and read everybody’s comments on here. As I am only used to CRTs I even went to Currys, Dixons and Tescos to check out these LCD TVs! After having a look I realised that LCD is really a different animal compared to the “old” CRT and I think needs to be treated differently. Although I appreciate why people treat them the same as a CRT and compare them to a CRT.

TV arrived yesterday. I honestly can not find anything wrong with it. I think we need to keep things in perspective here. It is a great TV for the price. I appreciate that £340-£380 is a hell of a lot of cash but in LCD terms for a 26” TV it is not. If we want an all singing all dancing 26” LCD TV that has exceptional picture quality then we need to go and spend £700+ on a Sony or something?
If we have bought this TV and think it is a pile of rubbish then send it back and maybe in future do a little more research before purchasing?

We have two CRT based TV’s in our house. We have a 32” flat/wide screen in the living room and a 21” CRT flat screen in the bedroom. I was never under the daft illusion that this TV was going to replace the TV in the living room. So I purchased it for the bedroom and I have to say it works great. I read the “Perfectly calibrate your LCD TV” (thanks for the link!) and tinkered with the settings a little and I am more than happy with the quality of the picture and sound. Even using the second worse connection (standard Scart?) it is great for Freeview and playing DVDs.
This discussion is getting more about the technical aspects of home video rather than a “Grabbit while you can”!
If you are not a techie type or TV purist, not into the science of gold connections/formats, protocols, appreciate you only get what you pay for and are prepared to take time to read a manual and a LCD calibration guide. Then this is a brilliant buy/find.

I appreciate what people are saying about discontinued stock and falling prices. However, how long do you wait? No matter how long you wait within a few months a newer model is available and usually for less.I can’t wait for next year when hopefully the 37” ones drop or are being discontinued as the living room 32” CRT needs replacing!
We will always take a hit financially when purchasing electrical/electronic consumer products. What we aim to do on groups like this is reduce that hit and maybe save some cash?

Finally - someone with some perspective !!!!!

Lets face it this TV may (or may not) have been around a grand at the beginning of the yr but as we all (or so I thought) are aware, LCD technology has moved on since then.

However for the vast majority of us who arent massive home cinema buffs and techiefiles who must have the latest and greatest i guess this TV will do just fine.

If you expect the performance of a CRT for watching TV and DVD via Scart you will be disappointed - however I expect if you bought a £2000.00 LCD TV you would still be let down when comparing to CRT.

If you thought that as LCD is newer than CRT it must be better picture wise then you really should do a bit more research before spending that kind of money IMO.

If you expect the performance of a current LCD that retails for £1000.00 then again I suspect you will be slightly let down, BUT for those of us who appreciate the performance issues between LCD and CRT and are happy not to have the latest sony in their house then I guess this will be just fine?

I will report back on Friday when mine arrives but I guess the differing opinions on here reflect the vastly differing expectations of those who purchased one.

tonyfaestoney

Nemo is fine.
I am now wondering whether to give this TV to my son for his bedroom and hope a 37" LCD is reduced in the "Jan Sale" or reduced very shorly!
As there are so many issues with this TV is it possible that there could be a "faulty" batch. Or could Dell have changed the supplier/manufacturer? Or is it all down to personal preference and expectation?

Blackstar, I find it strange you are now thinking of panning tv off to kids and wondering if tv is a "faulty batch". You also stated you were aware this would not replace CRT quality...why the change of mind?

Onedah, these reviews have previously been posted and only furthered the confusion as to what tv they were actually reviewing as it does not appear to be same 1 from posts on forum. I can't believe that is their reviews espcially when the price was £1000+ when reviewed.
p.s
Still waiting on call back from dell over 3 hrs later :mad:

Flimber

black_star wrote:

Link courtesy of Flimber, page 25
http://www.cnet.com.au/hometheatre/...40003563,00.htm

...

Correct link

Perfectly calibrate your LCD TV

silps

I wonder if the models they send to magazines for review haven't been tweaked and optimised. Magazines don't buy off the shelf for reviews, the manufacturer sends them the item and I am sure there a perks for the magazine employees somewhere along the line. I think only Which? magazine buys the item themselves for review.

Got the call for Dell confirming the cancellation of my order and received an e-mail regarding a question I asked about returning the unit if used, they say they have had to mail concerned department and are awaiting reply. Don't they know their own terms and conditions? I always shop online and this is the worst service I have ever experienced and I never even went ahead with the order. God knows what would have happened then...

black_star_2

tonyfaestoney wrote:

Blackstar, I find it strange you are now thinking of panning tv off to kids and wondering if tv is a "faulty batch". You also stated you were aware this would not replace CRT quality...why the change of mind?

Onedah, these reviews have previously been posted and only furthered the confusion as to what tv they were actually reviewing as it does not appear to be same 1 from posts on forum. I can't believe that is their reviews espcially when the price was £1000+ when reviewed.
p.s
Still waiting on call back from dell over 3 hrs later :mad:

Apologies for confusing everybody and not being concise enough.

Panning is not a word I would use. I think selfish is more appropriate, giving the smaller screen to my son and buying a bigger one for me and my Other Half to have in our bedroom.

I offered the faulty batch as an explanation as to why there was a such a huge difference between my experience and the experience of some other people.

When I mentioned about replacing CRT with LCD it was more to do with size (32" CRT for 26" LCD).
The fact that I would consider purchasing another LCD for the bedroom should really enforces how impressed I am with this Dell TV.
I would consider buying an LCD for the living room. However, given the guidelines for viewing distances and the size of our living room I would need to buy a 47" screen. This is financially prohibitive! Unless somebody finds one for £340 quid! Even if my name was Gates and I could afford a 47" screen I would still have to go down to the local superstore to look at it first though.

I support the comments of pjrouse.
I am not an expert, a buff or a techie in this field and do not know my backside from my component. That is why I read the reports, reviews, the manual and waited until I got the TV out of the box and set it up before commenting.

You are right though, £1k+ was a hell of a lot of cash. Do you think that this time next year we will be gutted because we forked out £340? Frightening isn't it?

Good luck with Dell. Got to go, Oscar is about to get a beating....

Madaha

Here's a review from only a couple of weeks ago from a top US gaming wesbite's point of view (sorry if it has been posted before):

http://gear.ign.com/articles/666/666568p1.html

The price they are reviewing at is $999 - or £580, so still a lot more than we're paying.

...W2600 is not a fundamentally bad product, especially in light of its price point. Options for HD capable displays get pretty broad at price points above $1,700 (CRTs, DLPs, and low end Plasmas), but for those not yet ready to invest thousands in a new TV, the W2600 will let you get your foot in the high-definition door and your money's worth out of your future XBox 360 and Playstation 3.

Overall Rating 6.3

Personally that's about what I'd expect for what I'm paying, nevermind £580 that this recent review is based on, so i can't wait for it to arrive tonight :j
That said, I have a DVI out on my PC and a component DVD out so I can get the most from it :cool:

Thanks a lot to plasticfantastic for finding this amazing deal.

Furq_3

Surely the big issue here is the W2600's lack of upscaling?

Standard-definition material gets streched and looks somewhere between poor to 'okay' (depending on quality of source and leads).

Hi-definition stuff looks crisp - and mighty impressive for a £350 TV.

That's the bottom line, no?

Township

As a matter of interest reading through Perfectly calibrate your LCD TV. What is a "daylight" lightbulb and where does it go?

Flimber

Furq wrote:

Surely the big issue here is the W2600's lack of upscaling?

Standard-definition material gets streched and looks somewhere between poor to 'okay' (depending on quality of source and leads).

Hi-definition stuff looks crisp - and mighty impressive for a £350 TV.

That's the bottom line, no?

Well it must perform some kind of upscaling else the onboard PAL TV image wouldn't fill the screen, would it ?