New 19in TV, help me pick

[Deleted User]

Hi,

I'm not really looking for an all singing, all dancing TV and so far I've narrowed it down to the following:

Alba 19in HD Ready Digital LCD TV - £99.99
LG 19in HD Ready Digitial LCD TV - £139.95

How much better is the LG over the Alba? I appreciate Alba isn't such a recognised brand.

CHR15

Not even necessary to click the links

LG Every time

Heres proof

[Deleted User]

CHR15 wrote: »

Not even necessary to click the links

LG Every time

Heres proof

:rotfl:

I agree. LG every time but it's for a couple moving into their first house, and their after a no frills (modern) TV. This model looks tons better than the equivalent Dixons offering i.e.

Matsui vs Alba:
Size: 15.4 in vs 19
Brightness: 200 cd/m2 vs 300
Contrast 400:1 vs 1,000:1
Response time (in ms) 16 ms vs 6

Personally I don't think it can beat at this price. From the reviews on the site it looks a decent enough TV, acceptable for the average person I reckon. I just wanted more opinions...

PhylPho

Alba doesn't exist. Grundig doesn't exist. Wharfedale doesn't exist. A whole host of brands don't exist.

The companies they represent went bust / sold up years ago.

Argos buys the names of these defunct outfits then commissions cheap-end Chinese manufacturers to stick 'em on products for sale at Argos.

Thus if you buy an Alba, or a Grundig, or a Wharfedale (to name but a few)when you look at the back page of the 'manufacturer's warranty' that's boxed with the product, the name is Argos and the address is the Argos UK main office.

All these branded products have one thing in common: there's a reason why they're cheap.

For TV advice you're in completely the wrong place.

Just as you would be if posting for savings and investment advice on avforums.com.

[Deleted User]

PhylPho wrote: »

Wharfedale

Not sure about this one...

PhylPho wrote: »

avforums.com

I've posted their too... The reply I've had so far...

I own that Alba and in my opinion the LG isnt that much better. Actually its not better at all. The Alba has a great picture, i use it for DVD's just off a normal DVD player and im more than happy with it. The sound is probably the best ive heard on a 19 inch screen, except for possibly the Panasonic at nearly 3 times the price. Its a basic TV but its good basic. You wont get anything anywhere near as good as it for that money in my opinion.

[Deleted User]

Bumb............

I'm starting to think the Alba is a false economy to be honest...

PhylPho

David: Argos sells DAB / FM portable radios modelled after the Pure Evoke XT in style. Depending upojn Argos's whim, the radios can be badged either Wharfedale or Grundig. Sometimes the whim is particularly, er, whimsical: the winter catalog 2009 showed a picture of the Wharfedale radio, complete with branding, and captioned it as a Grundig.

As to the avforums post, anyone who tells you that the sound from a thin-frame LCD TV of relatively small size is even halfway tolerable probably doesn't mind an output tinny at the top, compressed in the middle and absent in the bass. No LCD TV at that price / size is going to compare with the speakers of an old-style CRT -- even if those weren't exactly hi-fi.

as ever, it will come down to the proposed purchase budget. Though at the figures you've quoted, I'd be seriously inclined to look on eBay for a locally available TV -- obviously, success here depends on location: if you live near a large town or city, the prospects are good.

For some weird reason, many LCD TV purchasers are upgrading to 1080p despite the fact that this is, as usual, industry hype and only of benefit to someone sitting so close to the screen that their legs wouldn't stretch out anyway.

It's these non-1080 LCD TVs which are being sold now: pretty much the seller's loss, the next purchaser's gain. (Best brands: Panasonic -- as usual; Sony; Samsung; Toshiba. But the usual caveat here is don't buy blind: LCD sets need to be viewed first, bought afterwards. Not t'other way around.)

Finally. . . unless space is at a premium, why the choice of 19"? By LCD standards, that is -- perceptually -- a smallish telly: I've people buy a 19" and then say afterwards that they wish they'd bought a 26".

Inactive

PhylPho wrote: »

Argos buys the names of these defunct outfits then commissions cheap-end Chinese manufacturers to stick 'em on products for sale at Argos.

.

Are you sure about that, I thought that they were made in Turkey.:)

[Deleted User]

PhylPho wrote: »

David: Argos sells DAB / FM portable radios modelled after the Pure Evoke XT in style. Depending upojn Argos's whim, the radios can be badged either Wharfedale or Grundig.

Could you explain the Whafedale kit here then?

PhylPho wrote: »

Finally. . . unless space is at a premium, why the choice of 19"?

I'm simply looking for a TV on a budget. I agree the Alba is a false economy, probably breaking within a couple of years. The 19" isn't ideal I know but for a new LCD from a big name brand it looks like it'll do the trick.

spaceman5

Deleted_User wrote: »

Could you explain the Whafedale kit here then?

I'm simply looking for a TV on a budget. I agree the Alba is a false economy, probably breaking within a couple of years. The 19" isn't ideal I know but for a new LCD from a big name brand it looks like it'll do the trick.

wharefdale have always made speakers though have they not, i`m sure when i was a kid they where the speaker to have, maybe they branched out into the world of televisions and it did not work out, so maybe as when previous poster says that argos took over the wharfedale name, it was only the tv division, and the original wharfedale went back to what they where best known for i,e speakers, i dont know, just hazarding a guess

[Deleted User]

spaceman5 wrote: »

wharefdale have always made speakers though have they not, i`m sure when i was a kid they where the speaker to have, maybe they branched out into the world of televisions and it did not work out, so maybe as when previous poster says that argos took over the wharfedale name, it was only the tv division, and the original wharfedale went back to what they where best known for i,e speakers, i dont know, just hazarding a guess

Probably right