Bargain alert! 32" HD Ready LCD TV £499 from £699

PUREHOMES

why a lot of these lesser name brands are so cheap is that they are classed as disposables. Ie The components used to make them have a relatively short life compared to bigger brand name models.

codger

I am a new member of this site but my understanding of its ethos was that it was all about 'value'. Not 'price'.

Posts about cheapest this and cheapest that are certainly helpful to folks like me who are mindful of their money. But I am also reminded of my mother's long-ago dictum:

Only millionaires can afford to buy cheap.

Which means that when it comes to oddly-named strange new "brands" of no discernible provenance and no known existing user base, I realise I am most certainly not a millionaire and therefore cannot afford to throw away, say, £400 on an LCD TV when saving up and paying 50% more would fund the purchase of something that will perform much better "out of the box" and last a damn sight longer.

Surely, a bargain is only a bargain if its true worth is known.

On which basis I'm betting that if an "unknown" LCD TV is on sale for £399 then that's NOT any kind of bargain at all but a reflection of just what you get from something churned out in China at a unit cost of less than £100 and duly marked up for UK sale.

It's cheap. . . because it's cheap.

On a separate note, I cannot understand why there is such a preoccupation with LCD TVs anyway. When we came to examine the performance of a short listed half-dozen by viewing them in not one but four different retail outlets, it was apparent that £1 for £1, they offered nothing at all other than an expensive fashion statement.

We bought a 32-inch widescreen old-fashioned Sony CRT instead from one of the retailers we visited. Ex-showroom display, it was £165.

The salesman who did the deal afterwards confided that, "to be honest", the Sony CRT's performance was "as good as, and in many cases much better" than any LCD they had in stock. . .

But of course, it isn't fashionable. So how sad are we??

mpazza

maestromarv wrote:

Once true HD filmed productions (Lost, Dr Who and a few other up and coming BBC projects) do make it to HD channels (and you get SkyHD or Telewest TvDrive) 1080p is the only way to go. Anything else is a bargain option, a mid-line filler for all brands from crappy goodmans to top Panasonic/Pioneer.

On the resolution issue i read somewhere that 720p was progressive scan while 1080p will be interlaced, I thought that interlaced was only needed for CRT technology can any techies explain which will give the best HD picture?

RedOnRed

codger wrote:

I am a new member of this site but my understanding of its ethos was that it was all about 'value'. Not 'price'.

Posts about cheapest this and cheapest that are certainly helpful to folks like me who are mindful of their money. But I am also reminded of my mother's long-ago dictum:

I completely agree with you and to hear some people saying on these LCD threads that a poor £399 LCD TV will do until they can afford a better brand and model beggars belief...they'll never be able to afford if they keep on splashing out on rubbish.

delorean_2

codger wrote:

...when it comes to oddly-named strange new "brands" of no discernible provenance and no known existing user base, I realise I am most certainly not a millionaire and therefore cannot afford to throw away, say, £400 on an LCD TV when saving up and paying 50% more would fund the purchase of something that will perform much better "out of the box" and last a damn sight longer.

Agreed, to a certain extent. But let me add an extra aspect tot his discussion if I may.

I was in the market recently for a new TFT screen. There is a big difference in price between 'known' brands and 'not so known' brands. I therefore assumed that I should purchase a 'known' brand product for the reasons you already outlined.

Then I discovered, through knowledge passed on to me from a wise friend who works in this area that a lot of the cheaper brands actually use screens by major brand names. The reason being that only a select few names actually make the screens and then sell them on down the line to other names. I believe Samsung is one of the biggest of these, though please correct me if I am wrong.

The same principal applies to LCD and Plasma sets. Although with some of these cheaper brands they use lower grade, cheaper components, that although represent savings to the customer actually mean your unit is made of cheaper, inferior components and is simply more 'throwaway' than a more expensive branded unit. That difference is obvious when you compare the quality of the displays in store; although for a better test use a DVD or something in a demonstration rather than relying on the salesmans word.

All LCD, CRT, Projection and Plasma screens have an approximate number of hours for how long the display/bulb will work for. You cannot escape that fact no matter what brand name you buy. In most cases because the more expensive sets use better quality components the lifespan hours tend to increase for the most part.

I would agree with your advice in the case of buying a new TV that to buy a cheap set is throwing your money down the pan in most cases. The best thing to do with the cheap companies is to do your homework and dig up info on them, find out what components they use, who they source the displays from. Then finally head in store and ask for a demonstration using a DVD you have brought in with you yourself.

Again in some cases, cheap is not always best. A new TV set is a hefty investment, I say if you can't afford (for example) £1000 now for a new TV, save up until you do have enough as you don't want to be spending a fortune again on a new cheap TV set not long after buying it.

Remember, LCD and Plasma ALL have pre-determined approximate lifespans based on the components they are made up of. Investigate those and the manufacturer first BEFORE handing over your money.

RedOnRed

LCD/TFT screens have a backlight which has the lifespan of a typical household low energy lightbulb of around 10,000 hours. They will go, it's just a question of when. I work in IT and it's common practice to have to replace a TFT laptop screen and that's usually due to them not even reaching 10,000 hours.

Additionally, when ever I go into a large TV showroom like our huge local Comet, the LCD TV brands that stand out the most are Panasonic, Sony and Philips, whilst the cheap brands just look, well, erm, cheap...and inferior in quality.

CRT screens are a proven technology, more reliable and for terrestial TV better quality. However, I recently swapped my Iiyama CRT monitor for a TFT one and have to say the TFT isn't nearly as good but I do get to reclaim my desk space, which can be contributing factor to going LCD/TFT.

codger

Hi delorean -- good points, but where LCD TVs are concerned, it's more than just the screens, isn't it? Samsung may dominate for the major component, and they're certainly and deservedly a respected manufacturer, but what about all the bits and bobs in an LCD's gubbins?

In my experience, it's tended to be the case that the relatively unknown brand has often been a 'best buy' when the product was relatively uncomplicated. So I was happy to go with a Daewoo DVD player (cheapo, cheapo!) rather than a Big Name, and then a, er, Daewoo Freeview digibox rather than ditto. . . and last but not least, the completely unknown and totally anonymous Proline DVD recorder from Comet, a third of the price of other bigger units with lots of flashing lights and stickers on the fascia.

Both Daewoos and the Proline turned out to be superb buys. But when it comes to LCD TVs, and especially those claiming to Hi Def, then I'm stuck with the suspicion that though the screens may well have been sourced from a reliable source, the other stuff is bin ends. . .

Red -- too true about chucking money away on almost-but-not-quite the good stuff. Seems to me there are always two economies: the real economy, and the false economy. Sorting out the one from t'other can be expensive as the difference is invariably never apparent until it's too late. . .

delorean_2

codger wrote:

...when it comes to LCD TVs, and especially those claiming to Hi Def, then I'm stuck with the suspicion that though the screens may well have been sourced from a reliable source, the other stuff is bin ends. . .

It varies from product to product. Check the set in the shop, get hands on with it and check for build quality etc. Who cares if the spotty sales kid is looking at you like some sort of weirdo.

I told one once "hey, i'll do what I like thanks, if you want a sale then let me look at this properly before I decide to buy it". Don't let some young kid boss you in to a sale when it's likely they haven't the first clue what they are talking about!

Strayed OT there sorry.

Essentially it boils down to research and hands-on experience before making a purchase. The internet is a great tool for the research aspect (sorry for stating the obvious there lol) but you could also phone the company, ask friends who might have that set and so on.

You can find true bargains like you say. My DVD player is made by Mirror and it plays anything and everything. I could throw an omelette on the disc tray and it would somehow manage to play something! But DVD players and TV sets are a world apart. A display is a different ballpark altogether and therefore you need to take many more things in to account first. The components being a very close second to the display panel itself. Build quality is a not so important a factor in any case at all really, although nobody wants an ugly product whatever it is do they?

codger

delorean wrote:

Essentially it boils down to research and hands-on experience before making a purchase.

Spot on! Which is why time-limited offers are such a problem, it's as if you don't pull the handle NOW you won't win the jack-pot.

But even delaying a purchase to take time out to research it can be a nightmare where hi-tech is concerned: being pretty thick about these matters, it took me three months to even begin to understand what people were on about in a particular AV forum.

So hands-on experience is the best. Unfortunately, it's too often the case that the cash gets handed over before the hands get a grip on the product.;)

sconieroany

I am sorry to report that Woolworths have now placed my LCD on back order, due to the botched up credit card verification on the web site, I am hacked off with the rubbish excuses, my order still shows pick up Thurs 5th october, but acording to the numpty on the net, it will be November at the earliest.

Argos have nothing to fear from "The big red book" if this is the best they can do.