Digihome 26" HD ready LCD TV

MSE_Martin

What's the deal?

The price of state of the art TVs is slowly dropping, with cheaper deals for HD and LCD coming along (i.e. big, thin, flat hi-tech tellies).

This is a Digihome 26 inch HD Ready LCD TV* from Amazon , delivered for £319.99, a top price.

Before carrying on though its worth noting Woolworths was offering a £399 32" HD ready LCD TV, and some stores occassionally have them, yet most are sold out. Woolies has said its likely there'll be more stock before Xmas, and I'm constantly checking and will of course include it in the weekly email when it happens

What are HD and LCD?

It's the current must-have for techie addicts - yet getting HD now may prove to be good future proofing.

HD is short for high definition TV, in other words better resolution which will produce a better quality of picture - especially good for sports and nature type problems.


Why do i need a special TV for this?

Analog TV's can't be used to receive HDTV because the older technology just won't work. HD ready TV's means the TV is able to receive this type of picture but you will still need special HD receiver such as a Sky or cable HD receiver box to be able to get the picture.

Currently these are quite pricey, so to go completely HD now isn't cheap. However the format is likely to become increasingly common over the next few years, so if you're looking for a new TV to last you a number of years, getting an HD TV does mean you are future proofing so you can receive this technology once the price of the receiver boxes drops.


MoneySaving Warning

While this is very good value, £320 is not a small sum of money; don't be tempted to buy if you can't afford it. TV technology prices tend to drop for the same thing, so saving up and waiting a while can often pay off.

Remember the MoneySaving mantras

IF YOU'RE SKINT

Do I need it?
Can I afford it?
Can I find it cheaper anywhere else

IF YOU'RE NOT SKINT

Will I use it?
Is it worth it?
Can I find it cheaper anywhere else?

Martin

IF YOU SPOT A SIMILAR PRODUCT CHEAPER PLEASE CLICK REPLY AND TELL OTHERS

* Using these links helps the site stay ad-free and free to use, as they’re ‘affiliated links’ which invisibly take you via commercial price comparison services like Moneysupermarket or Find, which then pay this site per click. You shouldn’t notice any difference, the links don’t impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things I write) is NEVER impacted by the revenue. If it isn’t possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it is still recommended and still included. For the sake of transparency go to amazon.co.uk for an unaffiliated link. Click on the following link for more details on how this site’s financed.

jamesd

One note on this one: "The 25-millisecond response time means it's capable of handling fast-moving action without image blur or lag."

This appears to be a false claim.

You need a 20ms or lower response time to keep up with 50 frames per second. Apparently Sky broadcasts in 720p/50 (720 progressive, 50 frames per second). Even 20ms isn't really low enough because it means that the screen will be forever in the process of changing from one frame state to the next, with part always wrong.

Gamers and those who enjoy trying to follow hockey pucks or explosions are most likely to be affected.

Checks show a Sony reporting 8ms and Phillips reporting 16ms.

lordexavier_the_2nd

Asda have a 37inch own brand lcd tv for £650 if that helps any one

janaltus

"but you will still need special HD receiver such as a Sky or cable HD receiver box to be able to get the picture .... Currently these are quite pricey, so to go completely HD now isn't cheap. However the format is likely to become increasingly common over the next few years, so if you're looking for a new TV to last you a number of years, getting an HD TV does mean you are future proofing so you can receive this technology once the price of the receiver boxes drops."

'cuse my ignorance but based on what you say above ... does this mean that we throw away our Freeview boxes when we upgrade to HDTV and HD monitors ?

RedOnRed

janaltus wrote:

'cuse my ignorance but based on what you say above ... does this mean that we throw away our Freeview boxes when we upgrade to HDTV and HD monitors ?

Some new TV's have Freeview boxes built in. In which case you wouldn't need an external one.

Newbold

But this set doesn't appear to have a digital (freeview) tuner, does it? If not, it's old technology and you'll still need an old-fashioned external box with it!

Steve_C_5

Be careful. The digital transmissions used by the current Freeview boxes ( and the boxes them selves ) whilst the quality is better than analogue are not HD standard/resolution. This means that when they start transmitting HD for Freeview all the current recievers will need replacing ( boxes and tuners in TVs ) if you want to recieve HD via Freeview.

Jnelhams

Slight problem with Freeview, is that technically there is no bandwidth for HD and so you will probably never be able to buy a Free to Air HD box, only Sky has the space for HD.

Lopo

freeview has bandwidth for 2-4 HD channels apparently come 2012 when analogue is switched off...

So not fantastic though....and yes it will be tuner change time again if you want the HD functionality!!

duncanda

Be careful of the statement about being "HD Ready" as well when selecting a TV. A weekend article in a newspaper said that a lot of "HD Ready" TV's can't actually display true HD because they don't have an HDMI interface. Apparently this interface is a high speed digital interface between HD tuners e.g. Sky box , etc. and the TV. Therefore providing digital HD. If your TV doesn't have at least one of these then you need a digital to analogue converter (at extra cost) which is a slower interface and reduces the image quality, thereby defeating the purpose of HD. The article went on to say that even if you got an analogue to digital converter, some TV manufacturers will not guarantee that they will work with their TV's. Do a Google search for an explanation of HDMI. Also as jamesd posted previously the "response time" is also important.

RedOnRed

When ever someone posts one of these cheap as chips "HD LCD TV's" I completely fail to see where the Money Saving bit comes into play.

The most important aspects of purchasing a TV seem to be being overlooked. Those are picture quality, sound quality and how future proof is it for forthcoming technology. Surely only when all those boxes are ticked can it then be deemed a bargain (if the price is right).

If we all bought things simply because they are cheap, regardless of the quality, we'd all be driving around in Trabants.