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

Citizen_Kane_3

I think this thread should now be closed as the offer has been withdrawn by Dell.

The 26" LCD TV is now available for £499 rather than £378 (or cheaper).

See
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=305&l=en&oc=W2600TV

Furq_3

Flimber wrote:

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

But it just stretches the image - and looks pretty poor.

Madaha

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?

It seems to be. To me that means: if I set my PC resolution to 1280 x 768, then connect to W2600 using a DVI cable..... then feed DVD & Freeview through the PC, then I'll get the ultimate results possible?

kmkmkm

Flimber wrote:

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

Is it just me, or is £350 still a lot of money? For £275 you can get a 28" CRT with outstanding picture quality for everything you connect to it. Halle Berry has got THREE faces in Gothika on this TV. For £350 I expect one face, not three. For £30 I wouldn't be happy with three Halle Berrys on my telly.

mrm3

I see terrible ghosting and smearing when using RGB scart from a DVD player.

Not sure why component is supposed to make a diff. My DVD has component so I will buy a lead and try it out.

Hss anyone else tried RGB scart and found it poor and then tried component and found it excellent?

honestDave_2

well I ended up buying 3 cause it was such a great price (extra 5% via quidco).

I agree, the quality is not good enough for a main TV, but this is around the £350 mark so lets not expect a SIM2 here.

I've put one my bedroom and its fine.

Another I'm using as a TV / PC / xbox monitor and despite the 25ms response time, I'm pleasantly surprised with the performance.

The third I'm ashamed to say is going to hang in the toilet as that's my only room with out a tele.

Great find OP.

kmkmkm

Madaha wrote:

It seems to be. To me that means: if I set my PC resolution to 1280 x 768, then connect to W2600 using a DVI cable..... then feed DVD & Freeview through the PC, then I'll get the ultimate results possible?

I hoped for this, but DVD through the PC was still shabby. Dark scenes had no detail, ghosting was present and the picture was grainy (the grainyness is not Dells fault. If you take the resolution 1280*768 and make it 26" across, then it will always look grainy. On my 19" CRT monitor, I use 1600*1200 so the difference is huge).

Fogg1969

PS users, may want to try this free utility, Powerstrip.
http://entechtaiwan.net/util/ps.shtm

It basically allows you, with the right gfx card, to hone your pc's output resolution to match its display device. I can't speak for the LCD, however I used it with my LCD video projector with exceptional results. Worth a try, maybe?

Furq_3

kmkmkm wrote:

Is it just me, or is £350 still a lot of money? For £275 you can get a 28" CRT with outstanding picture quality for everything you connect to it. Halle Berry has got THREE faces in Gothika on this TV. For £350 I expect one face, not three. For £30 I wouldn't be happy with three Halle Berrys on my telly.

Yes, but a £275 CRT won't do high-def, takes loads of space etc.

If you're not using hi-def, the Dell probably isn't a good option imo.

If you are using hi-def (PC, Xbox 360, progessive scan DVD etc), it's an absolute BARGAIN.

That, to me, is why opinions are so polarized in this thread.

black_star_2

kmkmkm wrote:

Is it just me, or is £350 still a lot of money? For £275 you can get a 28" CRT with outstanding picture quality for everything you connect to it. Halle Berry has got THREE faces in Gothika on this TV. For £350 I expect one face, not three. For £30 I wouldn't be happy with three Halle Berrys on my telly.

You are absolutely right. For that kind of cash you can get a 32" Flat/Wide Screen CRT with all the advantages.
Does she have three bodies to go with her three faces?

honestDave -thanks for the feedback regarding TV/PC/x-box. My son is having a PC and x-box soon so the TV will come in handy for him. Which will save on the space in his room.
Ashamed? It is the only place where you can get any p1ss and quiet in our house!

Fogg1969 -thanks for the link and info it will definately be useful