First LCD TV - Lots of questions?

rca779

Firstly apologies for the long post, but I am about to step into the big wide world of LCD TV and home entertainment and I have a number of questions that I am hoping the kind guys & girls of MSE might be able to help me with.

I have only been looking at “kit” for a couple of days, but at the moment I am keen on the following:

LG32H5000 TV (HD, 1080p, 100Hz) on sale at Currys for £449.
Samsung DVD Recorder (DVD-SH893M/XEU) on sale at Laskys for £163.

So my questions are as follows:

1. Does my current choice of TV look OK. I have a budget of up to £500?
2. How about my choice of DVD recorder? I have a budget of up to £200?
3. Would I be better off waiting for the January sales or is it unlikely that I would save much?
4. Any know any discount vouchers to get this kit cheaper?
5. I plan to install the TV on the wall and so want to minimise the number of cables hanging down. Would I be correct in thinking there should only be two cables – the TV power cable and an HDMI cable connecting the DVD recorder to the TV?
6. Is the advice I have received from Comet about the DVD recorder correct:
a. I can record Freeview TV OK?
b. I can record one Freeview channel while watching another?
c. I can copy digital camcorder files onto the DVD recorder hard disc via the USB cable and then burn these files onto a DVD on the recorder?
7. If I want to connect my Son’s PS2 to the TV, would I need another cable (SCART) hanging down the wall or can it be connected via the DVD recorder some how?
8. What is the best way of disguising the cables hanging down the wall – I have wall paper on the wall at the moment and don’t have any spare?
9. How much should I spend on the HDMI cables – the prices seem to vary hugely despite the fact they seem to have a similar spec?


Any help to a complete newbie to the world of home entertainment would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks

jaydeeuk1

1. The LG is a decent little telly. How far away will you be sitting? To appreciate 1080p on a 32", you'd need to be using it almost as a computer monitor Would a 37" look ok in your room? Theres an LG 37LH3000 with ful HD which for £449 is a good price.

2. Someone else can probably advise better on that than me. But see point 6 - dvd recorder has awful reviews on amazon by end users.

3. Who knows... Doubt VAT will make much if any difference, but if something is already really cheap, I doubt it would come down much more.

4. Cashback sites, hotukdeals and look for the vendor.

5. If everything is going through the DVD recorder, then yes. But you don't have any HD kit there...

6. The DVD recorder has shocking reviews. I'd look for something different.

e.g
http://!!!!!!/lTynv

7. Possibly
8. ???
9. IMO, theres is little, if any noticable difference between a £5 and a £30 cable. Unless you have £1000's of kit, I'd just get the cheapest 1.3 cable you can find.


!!!!!!! MSE won't allow links to amazon, yet I can post links to gambling, !!!!!! and warez sites if I wanted to... :rolleyes:

computershack

Don't get hung up on 1080p. There's a scale of screen size vs distance which shows what you need to be at to differentiate between one and the other. AFAIR, at 8ft or more, you need to have a whacking huge telly to notice the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Also, all HD broadcast content is no higher than 1080i.

almillar

You'll have more than an HDMI and power lead going to the TV. Aerial lead to the TV for it's freeview tuner for example. If I was doing this I'd hook up most of the connections to the TV and route them and let them hang. Tidy, and allows for future equipment additions/changes.
I'd rather buy a Freeview PVR (£100, record 2 channels at the same time, also watch another on your TV) and a Blu-Ray player (£100, plays DVDs too), and you lose DVD burning. Do you really need to burn DVDs? Can you use your PC instead?
Connect your PS2 directly. You might like to use component instead of SCART.
A £2 cable from ebay might be the same as a £20 one from PC World. My advice (and lots of people have lots of different advice!) is to go as cheap as you like, and just remember IF something goes wrong, that the 1st thing to blame is your cheapo cable, not your hi-tech equipment!

mutley74

Try Richer sounds...good advice and reasonable prices compared to currys and cheaper 5yr gtee.

rca779

almillar wrote: »

You'll have more than an HDMI and power lead going to the TV. Aerial lead to the TV for it's freeview tuner for example. If I was doing this I'd hook up most of the connections to the TV and route them and let them hang. Tidy, and allows for future equipment additions/changes.
I'd rather buy a Freeview PVR (£100, record 2 channels at the same time, also watch another on your TV) and a Blu-Ray player (£100, plays DVDs too), and you lose DVD burning. Do you really need to burn DVDs? Can you use your PC instead?

Great advise and I am starting to think the same. If I have a Freeview PVR with twin tuner, would I still need an ariel into the TV? Could I not just use an HDMI lead from the PVR to the TV?

almillar wrote: »

Connect your PS2 directly. You might like to use component instead of SCART.

Sorry for sounding thick, but can you explain a bit more about using a component instead of a SCART? What component are you talking about?

JasX

/opinion

looking at last year I'd definitely consider waiting till the end of December sales -last year just about everywhere has 32" TVs for £350+ (good brands like samsung, LG etc).....

yes last year isn;t necessarily any kind of guide to this year but unless you really want to watch xmas telly on it you'll probably find a good buy.

almillar

You would wire the aerial through the Freeview PVR the same way as you would a VCR - ie. Wall - PVR - TV. The PVR will have an aerial in and aerial out for this exact purpose, just like a VCR. Do you NEED to do that? No, but the freeview tuner inside your TV will be wasted. Do you need 3 Freeview channels all at the same time? Maybe not. Is it worth the cost and hassle of fitting a £2 aerial lead to be able to record 2 channels and watch 1? I think it is, but up to you.
Component cables look like Phono cables (the red and white ones) but are red green and blue. You can get a component cable for you PS2 and use it, which will free up a scart socket from the back of your telly, and will get the best picture out of the PS2 (change the display settings in the PS2 menu). For most people that might be overkill though...