Confused Over What's On Offer

kah22

I’m looking at two televisions on the Argos Site, both have an almost identical model number. One is described as:
Panasonic 32 Inch Full HD 1080p Digital LCD TV - TX-L32S20B. 529/6345 @£500 while the other is described as:
Panasonic 32 Inch Full HD 1080p Freeview LCD TV TX-L32S20B. 087/1741 @£700. The only difference I can see is that one is described as ‘Digital LCD TV’ while the other is described as ‘Freeview LCD TV,’ Numbers at the end also differ.

When I look at the speck the cheaper is described as having a ‘Freeview HD digital tuner.’ While the more expensive one is described as having a ‘ Freeview HD digital tunerFreeview HD digital tuner.’ The only other difference seems to be that the cheaper one is described as having ‘V-Real Pro 4 image enhancement.’

I'll soon be in the market for a new television and I do like the Panasonics but I can’t for the life of me see where the £200 difference comes from. Can anyone tell me? My primary aim is buying a tele that is Freeview HD ready and both of these seem to fit the bill.

Kevin

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi Kevin

These look to be identical TV's and a pricing error by Argos. Either that, or someone has copied the wrong information into the lower price one and it's a different TV. The 529/6345 and 087/1741 are the Argos item numbers and have nothing to do with the TV.

If I were you, I'd buy the £499 jobbie, but take a screen print of the comparison in so you can make sure they actually give you the full HD Freeview TV!!

bskelhorn_2

As oscar has said the only difference is the stand at the bottom of the TV. Checking the specs on panasonic match up to that of Argos. Buy the cheaper one and print out the description - happy days.

kah22

Disappointment reigns. Went back to the Argos website this morning and guess what - yep the site had been changed and the cheaper television has a new model number attached to it

Had I been living in Great Britain I would have bought there and then but I live in Northern Ireland and with the proper equipment it is possible to receive television FTA broadcasts from the Republic of Ireland. But there is a lot of confusion over what is suitable and what is not. The Republic use mpeg4 to decode their signals and, as I understand it, televisions with the FreeviewHD logo also use mpeg4 and should, therefore, be capable of receiving the Republic's broadcasts but the jury seems out on this issue and well 500 quid is to much of a gamble.

I contacted the Panasonic help line and asked the following question:

Can you advise me if the following television is capable of decoding RTE's digital signal: Panasonic 32 Inch Full HD 1080p Digital LCD TV - TX-L32S20B

I received the following answer.

at present the Panasonic Irish models should be able to receive RTE broadcasts, but British models will not. The British models are denoted by a B suffix and the Irish by an L suffix. The TX-L32S20B is a British model and therefore cannot receive RTE from the Republic of Ireland

I was also advised on another forum that Panasonic nobble their televisions so that televisions sold in the UK (specifically Northern Ireland) cannot receive broadcasts from the Republic of Ireland. Televisions are much cheaper here in NI.

In an attempt to find out what tellies can and can't receive digital broadcasts from the Republic I contacted a number of local electrical shops and their knowledge of the subject was absoloutely dismal; some didn't even know the difference between Freeview and FreeviewHD!

Back to the drawing board !