Buying new TV - Freeview HD options

scooby75

I currently have a 10 year old Philips plasma TV (think it's 40 inch) and use Freeview through a cheap box.

I'm looking to get a new LCD / LED HD TV but not sure what to do. I know a lot of TVs have built in freeview, but what about freeview HD+? Is that only available through a set top box?

Also What kind of price can I expect for the plasma if I flogged it at, say, Cash Generator (I really cannot be bothered with things like eBay or car boot sales - I just want shut of it to get a new tv)? It does have image burn at the bottom and top corner (caused by BBC news ticker bar and clock) but it's not really visible most of the time, otherwise it works absolutely fine.

gjchester

Can't help with the selling TV bit, the bopttoms dropped out of them and a 40 set you will only get a few hundred if your lucky.

However we bought my MIL a 40'' Samsung 5520 TV, £500 from John Lewis with Freeview HD built in, as well as internet capable so can do Iplayer, and various other things such as Flickr, LoveFilm and you tube (she'll only use iPLayer). It can play from a HDD but not record to one.

We did look at some that had basic PVR options (I think it was a Sony that can record to HDD) but decided it was a lot of hassle to get a basic PVR and bought a standalong Phillips Freeview HD+ box. I fully expect the PVR to fail in 2-3 years as they constandly spin the [EMAIL="HDD@s"]HDD's[/EMAIL] so I though better to have seperate devices that can be replaced independantly than one that does it all.

Colin_London

scooby75 wrote: »

I currently have a 10 year old Philips plasma TV (think it's 40 inch) and use Freeview through a cheap box.

I'm looking to get a new LCD / LED HD TV but not sure what to do. I know a lot of TVs have built in freeview, but what about freeview HD+? Is that only available through a set top box?

Also What kind of price can I expect for the plasma if I flogged it at, say, Cash Generator (I really cannot be bothered with things like eBay or car boot sales - I just want shut of it to get a new tv)? It does have image burn at the bottom and top corner (caused by BBC news ticker bar and clock) but it's not really visible most of the time, otherwise it works absolutely fine.

Almost all new panel TVs above 32" have Freeview HD built in. In fact, unless you are buying a budget brand, it is quite hard to buy a 32" or bigger without it.

HINT: You don't want a TV that is just labelled 'HD Ready'. You want one that advertises Freeview HD compatibility, a.k.a. 'DVB-T2' reception.

If your new TV has it built in then you don't need a set top box to receive the Freeview HD channels.

However, Freeview+ HD is different. The '+' bit indicates PVR functionality in addition to HD. Usually you need to buy a seperate PVR STB for the ability to record, timeshift etc., although some TVs do give limited recording ability if you plug in a USB hard drive - my latest Sony does this, and I plug an externally powered Hard Drive into it to record HD programmes (which my old Humax PVR does not have the capability of doing).

gjchester

Colin_London wrote: »

Almost all new panel TVs above 32" have Freeview HD built in. In fact, unless you are buying a budget brand, it is quite hard to buy a 32" or bigger without it.

Actually thats not that true.

We looked at a lot of sets before deciding on the Samsung and it will change but at the moment there are a lot of TV's that are not Freeview HD equipped on the market, and to be honest it's not made clear by the makers.

almillar

Still plenty of TVs without FreeviewHD as above - especially if you're looking for a bargain as it's often older stock. Anyway, if you want proper '+' functionality, that involves watch one/record another (or record two) and that involves 2 tuners - I'm unaware of any TV that can manage that - so you'll still need a box under the TV. So saying that, maybe you'd want to save a few quid and go for a cheaper TV that doesn't have Freeview HD, but that is still Full HD Ready - 1080p?

matthewcol

gjchester wrote: »

Actually thats not that true.

We looked at a lot of sets before deciding on the Samsung and it will change but at the moment there are a lot of TV's that are not Freeview HD equipped on the market, and to be honest it's not made clear by the makers.

True, many TVs getting flogged these days are 'HD Ready' meaning they arent even FULL HD let alone freeview HD.

scooby75

Thanks everyone.

So, I need to make sure the TV is HD (1080) - not just HD ready, and to buy a freeview HD+ box. Or I can forgo the HD+ bit, just get a normal freeview HD TV with a USB port and shove a memory stick in it (I've got a couple of 8 gig ones). Does that sound right?

If so, I've come across Tesco Outlet on eBay (by mistake) flogging refurbished TVs. Do I dare buy one?

gjchester

scooby75 wrote: »

Thanks everyone.

So, I need to make sure the TV is HD (1080) - not just HD ready, and to buy a freeview HD+ box. Or I can forgo the HD+ bit, just get a normal freeview HD TV with a USB port and shove a memory stick in it (I've got a couple of 8 gig ones). Does that sound right?

Only if the set records to USB, again some do, some don't, the Sony we looked at did but the model below it didn't and sorry I don't have the model numbers to hand but the one that did was I think something on the lines of a 40cx524 and the one that didn't was a 40cx423

8GB may be a bit optimistic, Video is big, and hour of standard Def can take 1 to 2 GB of space up.so you may need to think of a bigger stick size.

almillar

Scooby - ignore the marketing guff - you're looking for a 1080p screen. Ignore HD Ready/Full HD etc as they can mean different things, just look for 1080p in terms of resolution. Also as above, be aware of what you're missing out on if you take a TV without FreeviewHD. I'm not saying don't buy one, just know what you're buying.
I would also say that if you're going into this purchase knowing that you want to record stuff, you should go for a separate Freeview HD+ recorder. If you go with the USB recording feature of SOME TVs (good luck with that minefield!) then you'll be disappointed the first time you're watching 1 programme and want to record something else (not possible as you've only 1 tuner). With the right Freeview HD+ box, you'll be able to record 2 things on it, whilst watching a 3rd on the TV's tuner, or something you've already recorded on the box's hard drive. You'll be talking about a 320gb drive at least I guess, which kindof dwarfs these 8gb sticks!

scooby75

What about watching something non-HD on a HD TV? Most of my films are not in HD? Will that be a problem?

almillar

No - why would it be? Are your films on DVD? They'll be DVD quality. You can get DVD players with upscalers, that try to improve the picture a bit, but don't expect it to be anything like real HD quality.