Need Help Choosing New TV!

mleonard79

Hi everyone,

Not sure if I should be asking this on here or the techie forum so might just put it up on both. We've been thinking of getting new tvs for the living room and bedroom for some time (we've currently got 2 good old-fashioned Toshiba CRTs that have lasted over 10 years!) I initially thought of splashing out on LCD but after reading some forums I think the market's a bit volatile and the quality of some questionable. So couple that with the fact money's tight I've decided to look for good widescreen CRTs instead (we don't have widescreen at the mo and I like to watch movies on Sky+ and the sides being cut off drives me mad!)

From looking around I'm hoping to get a good 32" widescreen CRT for the living room and maybe the same or a 28" for the bedroom and don't want to spend more than £300-400 at most for each. I'm just looking for tvs to last a few years and tide us over til the LCDs come down in price. I've been looking on price comparision sites and ebay and I've seen some 32" and 28" sets ranging from £140 to just over £300. As some are probably reasonably old sets I can't find any reviews on them online and was hoping any of you tv experts on here could have a look at them and give your opinions on which is the best in terms of quality and value for money. Some come without a stand but I can always pick up one cheaply on ebay. Of course if anyone has seen any better sets or prices feel free to let me know!

1 28 INCH HITACHI WIDESCREEN TV C28WF5605

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200011382433&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1


This works out at £139.99 but without a stand so I'd need to add a bit for that. It seems a very good price for what looks like a nice tv but I don't know how old a model it is and what the quality's like.

2 Toshiba 28Z53B 28" Flat Widescreen TV

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200010469247&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

This works out at £149.98 again without a stand. As it's a toshiba I have less worries about the quality but again couldn't find much out about this set

3 Philips 32PW6518 32" Pure Flat Widescreen TV

http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/store/dix_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1380870212.1154342972@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccgeaddihffhlifcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=491520&category_oid=

This works out at £166.99 which is an amazing price for a 32"!! I'm just a bit worried dixons may be a very old model that they're just trying to offload as I can't see why its so cheap!

4 TOSHIBA 28Z47 WIDESCREEN TV + STAND

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&item=280011203583&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

This works out at £229.98 with stand included. Again its a toshiba but is there enough of a difference between it and the 28Z53B to be worth the extra £80?

5 Philips 32PW6517 32" Widescreen TV with FREE DELIVERY!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&item=150016511164&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

This works out at £259.99 without stand and seems a good price for a 32"

6 TOSHIBA 28YT56 - 28" FREEVIEW TV & DVD RECORDER OFFER

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOSHIBA-28YT56-28-FREEVIEW-TV-DVD-RECORDER-OFFER_W0QQitemZ230012770921QQihZ013QQcategoryZ22639QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This works out at £239.98 all in (obviously having Sky I don't need the freeview part but I thought since it has this it must be a more recent model and may therefore have better picture etc I also don't need the dvd recorder but don't need to take it)

7 *TOSHIBA 32YT56 - 32" FREEVIEW TV / FANTASTIC PICTURE*

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOSHIBA-32YT56-32-FREEVIEW-TV-FANTASTIC-PICTURE_W0QQitemZ260014088199QQihZ016QQcategoryZ116871QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This works out at £364.97 with stand - seems a good price for what is obviously a reasonably new model but are the new features it may have worth it?

Please let me know what you think and if anyone has any of the sets what are they like!! Thanks a lot for any advice.

Regards

Michelle

Little_John

None of your ebay links work. Good choice on sticking to CRT for the tme being I would do the same as the decent plasma screens are still expensive.

If your current toshiba TV's are still working why replace them? ok the widescreen thing butchsnge your configuration to letterbox the picture rather than cut the sides off. What ever you decide stick to Tosh or Sony and go for 100Hz they are stunning to watch.

MercilessKiller

Is there much difference between 50hz and 100hz? I'm thinking of buying a crt also and ive noticed a phillips 28" CRT Flat going for about £125... though its 50hz... will be getting NTL for it too.

mleonard79

Hi Little John,

Hmm that's curious, I posted them last night and they all worked then. Not sure how to fix that :mad: Yeah I know I could just stick with what I've got but the widescreen thing really is bugging me a lot - I'm quite happy to wait another couple of years to get LCD and HD etc but I don't want to wait any longer to get the widescreen as I watch a lot of movies and it's so annoying - esp for foreign films when the subtitles get blocked off! I agree I want to stick to a brand name and Tosh has been so good for me for so long.

Merciless Killer - I was wondering the same thing about the 100hz as opposed to the 50hz as I've read a lot of things saying that 50's better too. I guess it's all dependent on what you're using the tv for. I think one's better for gaming and the other's better for prcture quality but I'm damned if I can remember which way round it is! For me personally picture quality is what matters. Where have you seen a philips for £125?

I'll try to fix those links! Thanks for any help out there.

Michelle

MercilessKiller

Ye same picture quality is more important for me.

Thanks Michelle.. i'll do some research and post my findings

mleonard79

Ok I've re-pasted the links - it seems like they went inactive so I don't know if after a while that'll happen again - not sure I can do anything to stop that They're working for now though!

Michelle

MercilessKiller

It would appear that there is not much difference when it comes to CRTs and 50hz and 100hz.. especially without HDTV.

If the price is much different stick with 50hz would be my advice.

Stompa

FWIW I have a Toshiba and it hasn't been very reliable. I wouldn't have one again.

mleonard79

Hi Merciless killer,

Yeah I've pretty much come to the same conclusion about the 50Hz and 100Hz too.

Stompa - I guess different people have different experiences. I've only ever had Toshiba TVs and never once had a problem. The current ones have lasted over 10 years with no issues so I rate them pretty highly but of course they could have been making worse products since mine was bought hence what happended to you.

Anybody got any opinions on which out of the ones I'm looking at is best? Thanks.

Michelle

mleonard79

Hi Merciless Killer,
Did you decide on one yet? I finally decided to go with the Philips 32" widescreen one from dixons as I thought the price was too good to miss. Had the order all ready to put through last night and then saw the discount codes bit at the bottom so thought I'd be a good MSEer and come and ask if anyone had any codes and just do it in the morning. So of course now I have the discount codes the tv's out of stock :mad: Typical. Might be back to the drawing board for me.

Michelle

MercilessKiller

michelle, I have found a 28" Phillips availbale from an ebay shop in derby for £125. Can be collected or posted for about £40.

I think this is great value but can't get to derby yet anyway. However if your interested I can happily share address/phone details of the shop in a PM?

Its a good tv too. 28" widescreen, Real flat.. special sound and visual enhancements too.. no stand included.. 6 months warranty.. guarenteed no scratches/damage etc etc... So its everything but sealed

I dont think i'll see much better but I have to wait till the end of august before I can go ahead anyway. Derby's far away from where I currently live so until i move to stafford on september the 1st i'll have to wait