Cheap LCD TVs discussion

Lopo

Roger_Rampant wrote: »

Not really. The whole point of sites likes this is that by shopping around, you can buy a quality product at a bargain price.

Only temporarily due to currency fluctuations, the overall trend in LCD and Plasma TVs has been a substantial price reduction over the last few years, which is set to continue.

Oookaaay....well there was me thinking this was a forum for discussions & constructive helpful opinions!

Tosh = nice vibrant panel <=> Kenmark = budget panel + feature rich. Was that not a good enough sensible quality based spectrum for you?

Both actually have good sturdy remotes - a trivial factor people often dont get to check in advance with their cheerio catalogue/net purchased panel. Nothing on par out there matching these on spec with ACTUAL decent build quality and without denting the pocket too badly if you do want these to last a few years at least!

Prices remain relatively static, manufacturers are sneaky like that - its the feature sets that change more now than when buying a CRT tv 10-15 years ago.

...and seriously, you do get what you pay for at the end of the day. Eg, The top of the range 32" CRT 6 years ago were the Philips Pixel Plus ranges, and Toshiba Picture Frames - costing in the region of £1200 when first released, later dropping to £900-ish as they dated. Todays 32" LCD panels, not far off, A pioneer was released only a few months ago for a whopping £1200+. Would I buy one? hell no!....but little price shift witnessed on the high end models of 6 years ago...and yes it has only just dropped rapidly on Pioneer exiting the display tech market!

Next gen kit to look out for - Cell based Tosh tv's, Y! widget based Sony/Sams etc.. wait until you see the first gen prices for these as they wont be pretty - DLNA ready all net connected for streaming with local intergrated interfaces for direct browsing, upscaling by panel rather than device dependancy thrown in too... powerful stuff if your into gadgets or have an appreciation for innovation - things are moving faster than technology of 10-15 years ago - loads more to come. :rolleyes:

How much is a NIC - few quid perhaps, DLNA certification license royalties £5-15 perhaps? Cell processor prices, dropping fast... will the manufacturer slap on a high price for all these - of course! - needed, maybe not - but you get it if you pay for it....simple as.

Roger_Rampant

Firstly, they were selling 50" TVs for thousand of pounds a year or two ago, now you can find them for less than eight hundred pounds. Not sure how you can claim that prices are going up. Yes, it's a discussion forum, and I am entitled to disagree with your opinion.

Secondly, I absolutely detest the phrase "you get what you pay for". It implies that if you pay more, you are automatically getting a better product. Let's use an example. Let's say that I went to Richer Sounds on Boxing Day and bought the Sony KDL32V4000 for £299. Then spike9 posted in this thread on 20th February.

Sony Bravia KDL32L4000 at Makro from 25 Feb 299.99 plus VAT.

Let's suppose he went to Makro and bought that TV, he has spent more money than me, so presumably as "you get what you pay for " he will have a better TV than me? No, of course not. Because it is not always true that "you get what you pay for"! Buyer beware.

Lopo

Hehe, I agree - early adopters of years ago will always pay through the nose but very kindly & helpfully drove the prices down for the rest of us, basic point that and goes without saying it really. Present day its easy to buy a very poor imaging 50" panel for the £800 you describe - thats my point, why do that? - simply not worth it, market is getting flooded with low end models. £800 wasted frankly...£1100 and "knowing" the tech is better money spent for long term benefit - you get what you pay for!

You describe a situation where time has passed and perhaps little detective work has taken place with perhaps little real knowledge/understanding of how TV's and flat panel tech works - describing a bad situation I would say and hardly savvy mse'ing - clearly the KDL32L4000 purchase would be poorly thought out, or simply a scenario of having missed out on the good stuff over the hol season. Anyone who paid near £300 for the KDL32L4000 deserved to get taken if they never shopped around!

End of Jan witnessed prices rising by as much as £100 for other 32" panels, Sams 457 model for example, what you described for Feb seemingly fits into this movement too and so was not really much of an example and clearly would not be a very good purchase...

If your forced suddenly to buy a main tv because your existing one went bang - you are very unlikely going to be waiting 6-7 weeks doing futile comparrisons. Average Joe will want a solution fast-ish and if your looking at 50" large panels, for £800 you get a poor tv, for £1100 you get a good sensible better buy...understand the tech and with this meaning; you get what you pay for!

barnabee

John Lewis now have the Samsung 32" A457 back in stock at £341 with the usual 5 year free guarantee and free delivery. Link here

Roger_Rampant

you are very unlikely going to be waiting 6-7 weeks doing futile comparrisons.

Yet again, another comment sneaked in there which gives me misgivngs about your real intentions. Why would it be futile?

You get what you pay for at the end of the day. Prices are going up by the way - and they will continue to do so too...

This to me says "go out and buy NOW, because prices are going up..."

I'm going to stick my neck out here, but my guess would be that you sell these things for a living, and reading between the lines of your messages you are encouraging people to go out and SPEND, SPEND, SPEND. If I'm mistaken, then of course I apologise. I could be wrong - I often am! :rotfl:

Incidentally my TV went pop and it didn't take me anywhere near 6 or 7 weeks to do the comparisons. The Internet, Google and Quick! Grabbit are your friiends.

Lopo

Comparrisons become futile they span many months as your example stated - thats the point of that comment! Prices were sales driven, went up late Jan, and will go up again shortly....facts, sadly - the current climate is the larger one of many aspects driving this...

People sit there waiting months for prices to come down, your somewhat right, I'm suggesting dont do that as you end up forever waiting for the next best thing around the corner, as they are on the way up as new features get released - panel tech changes - prices rarely shift...people forever wait as they often want the best, but never prepared to pay for it and instead opt for a lesser tv with the mindset they have a good deal - consumerism gone mad frankly...

Here's a test for you if your up for the challenge - what would be the best kit to go for if you wanted the following setup? 40-42" panel - Freesat - Full HD. I'll leave you to come up with the other good features and benefits of the product set you choose bearing in mind, future proofing a little if your true to form and firmly wearing your mse hat... Promise you, I'll prob come up with a better setup for maybe a little more money, but prudently sensibly spent with good reason why that will save ££ long term with the benefit of having now.

I loathe the bulk of sales staff...they rate themselves as experts and simply fob fob and fob you off some more and never have real product knowledge even though features are often the same across manufacturers with little if any ability to explain them,...people far too easily part with their hard earned £££'s buying kit that oboletes faster than they can get it home...more real experts in parting with cash!

(I work in telecoms but have a strong financials based technologist background - I know my gadgets and the associated markets that make and drive them...;) )

I've not read this entire thread tbh - curious, which TV did you buy if I may be so bold to ask !?

dc

Lopo you are missing the point.
Re-Read the thread title.

Cheap LCD TVs discussion

This is not about top brands, but bargains.

Roger effectively is saying that paying half RRP is better than paying Full RRP.
Quality like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder

Not long ago there were lots of good cheap 32" Hanspree's around, which I presume you would not have touched with a bargepole, yet people were very happy with their purchases

Lopo

:rolleyes:

dc wrote: »

Lopo you are missing the point.
Re-Read the thread title.

Cheap LCD TVs discussion

This is not about top brands, but bargains.

Roger effectively is saying that paying half RRP is better than paying Full RRP.
Quality like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder

Not long ago there were lots of good cheap 32" Hanspree's around, which I presume you would not have touched with a bargepole, yet people were very happy with their purchases

Hardly missing the point - hence the 2x 19" suggestions made in earlier posts...money prudently well spent rather than *just cheap - You get what you pay for!

Post #9 put it well...read on below that.

Lack of quality is when the cheapo remote fails for new reason, and then you punt £30 on ordering a replacement or a universal jobby that tailors *all* the features of the original remote and forever then guess what buttons do what... if that floats your boat...fine!

Buy wisely if you want it to last, particularly for big screens....its just advice!

(Anyone know of a cheapo alternative to the AM DB9 I can buy out there!?! :rolleyes: )

inflationbusting

For me, 'cheap' is a subjective term and very much depends on the product on offer.

A cheap Sony LCD is still going to cost more money than a cheap supermarket LCD of similar spec. What do you buy then?

I guess that the utility derived from a product differs for every person. For someone who watches a lot of TV and plays games, and likes the social upgrade effect from buying a big brand - then the utility derived in spending the extra money is quite justified. Someone who doesn't watch TV that much, only occasionally with no games, would not derive benefit from better picture quality, etc.

You could argue that McDonalds 30p extra to make your meal large is great value - certainly you could not buy the extra 50g of fries and 150ml of drink for that - but if you are not going to eat it - ie derive utility from it, then that money is wasted.

It's like the Sky vs Sky HD debate. No-one doubts that HD is better, but whether it is worth the money to watch the same programmes.

Roger_Rampant

Lopo wrote: »

I've not read this entire thread tbh - curious, which TV did you buy if I may be so bold to ask !?

Sony KDL32V4000 - probably about the fifth time I've mentioned it so far in this thread. :rotfl: