32" HD-Ready LCD TV now £235 delivered

Former_MSE_Lawrence

What’s the deal?

The price of big, slim, high-definition tellies is still falling as more and more people upgrade. Especially at the budget end retailers are keen to make way for new stock, resulting in the lowest prices we’ve seen yet, in time for Christmas.

Where can I get em’?

• Beko 32WLA520HD £235 delivered (£229 in-store). Argos was offering this 32” 1080i/720p TV set for just £199.99 late last week, but has now pushed the price up by £30. Nonetheless, this is still the cheapest 32” LCD screen on the market at the moment. For the money, you get one HDMI digital input, 1 composite input, 1 VGA (PC) input and all the standard analogue connections you’ll use. It lacks a Freeview tuner, and the contrast & brightness ratings are unexceptional, but for the money these are small gripes. If it’s unavailable in your area, try Homebase; as part of the same group as Argos, it also offers this deal.

• Hannspree XV JT01 £299.99 delivered. This Hannspree model has been king of the budget HDTV’s for some time, getting good reviews across the board. In glossy piano black, it looks better than the Beko, and offers one more HDMI connection as well as better contrast. Other than that though, its spec is very similar to the Beko’s. It’s available from web retailer Ebuyer for £299.99 inc. free delivery.

Things to watch out for – HDTVs

1080p/1080i: The little i and p letters signify ‘interlaced’ and ‘progressive scan’. 1080p is considered ‘full HD’, and offers the best picture quality available with high detail even on fast-moving footage. Budget models offer 1080i, which isn’t as good at showing fast footage, and 720p, which is better at keeping up but less detailed. Most people however will struggle to tell the difference on smaller 32” screens; suffice to say that both will offer a much crisper picture than your old TV if you use a good quality source.

Tuner: For the sake of future-proofing, it’s advisable to get a set with an in-built freeview tuner. Analogue tuners will only be useful for a couple more years, as the terrestrial TV signal continues to be turned off around the country. Of course, it’s also easy to buy a freeview box or personal video recorder separately and plug that into it, but this uses up an input.

Digital Inputs: HDMI inputs are the best way of connecting high-definition sources. Most budget sets only have one, which is something to consider if you plan to plug in a high-def games console (Xbox 360, PS3) as well as another hdmi source; you don’t want to be forever switching delicate connectors behind the TV.

Source Quality: LCD TVs can look a bit ropey when displaying analogue signals, as they have to fill in the gaps in the picture to ‘upscale’ it to the TV’s native image resolution. Some TV’s therefore have problems with ‘artefacts’ – jagged little squares in the picture. Since proper HDTV quality channels are limited and rather expensive at the moment, it’s best to take a look at any prospective purchase in action showing regular tv before buying if possible.

Seen the TVs above or similar cheaper somewhere? Post below and I'll add them to the top post.

jammiev

also look out for 24 frames per sec (24fps) and 100hz motion!

:beer:

TDIfurby

Don't forget the voucher "trick" in Argos effectively makes the £230 Beko £200 anyway (when collecting in person) - Go in with a mate or the other half, take £100 each to separate tills and get £100 of vouchers each, and you get £10 extra voucher each for spending £100. One of you take your £220 of vouchers and go buy the TV with an extra crisp tenner. Then, you get another voucher for buying the telly. £30 of "free" vouchers makes the telly £200 anyway essentially. Thanks to another MSE'er for this tip, but it needed passing on.

PS: I have this BEKO now and am loving it. Never had LCD/flatscreen before so to me it's a revolution. One thing I noticed is poor is the bass boost function. Don't bother. I plumbed mine through my hi-fi video socket and it's much better. Everything else is pretty cool though.

Tinman

[quote=TDIfurby;__One_thing_I_noticed_is_poor_is_the_bass_boost_function.__Don't_bother._:D__I_plumbed_mine_through_my_hi-fi_video_socket_and_it's_much_better.__Everything_else_is_pretty_cool_though._:)[/quote]

I bought it for the kids bedroom so i find that a good thing.:D

brad

Remember. Unless you use HD TV's in HD mode they are not as good as the old CRT TV's. At the moement you can only get HD via SKY or using HD DVD or Blu Ray Player (Playstation 3). I am sure there are some more examples that some kind person will post, but you get the idea. Sport or any fast moving picture on HD TV not using a HD signal will not be as good.

papito

TDIfurby wrote: »

Don't forget the voucher "trick" in Argos effectively makes the £230 Beko £200 anyway (when collecting in person) - Go in with a mate or the other half, take £100 each to separate tills and get £100 of vouchers each, and you get £10 extra voucher each for spending £100. One of you take your £220 of vouchers and go buy the TV with an extra crisp tenner. Then, you get another voucher for buying the telly. £30 of "free" vouchers makes the telly £200 anyway essentially.

From Argos Voucher terms and conditions;

Excludes the purchase of gift vouchers using gift vouchers as a method of payment.
Does it mean you won't get a gift voucher?

LadFromWales85

But your not purchasing vouchers with vouchers

Your purchasing two £100 vouchers with £100 cash each time, getting a £10 voucher back for each transaction.

Then your going back to the tills with your two £100 vouchers and two £10 vouchers, along with a tenner, to buy the TV

Wish I could get one though! None anywhere near me

fat_jedi

papito wrote: »

From Argos Voucher terms and conditions;

Excludes the purchase of gift vouchers using gift vouchers as a method of payment.
Does it mean you won't get a gift voucher?

What they mean is that two people go into Argos with £100 cash each.

They then buy £100 in vouchers each - Argos rewards them both with a £10.00 gift voucher.

Now they have £220 in Gift Vouchers. So they just need £10 cash to get to £230 (the price of the tv). When they combine their vouchers and £10 note to pay for the TV, Argos will reward them with another £10 voucher.

Effectively, they got £30 towards their TV courtesy of Argos just by being clever with how they paid.

FJ

asharon

It doesn't have to be two seperate people. I waited in line and purchased £100 voucher and got £10, then did the same again. Then purchased the TV and got the £10.

aScottishBloke

MSE_Lawrence wrote: »

What’s the deal?

Tuner: For the sake of future-proofing, it’s advisable to get a set with an in-built freeview tuner. Analogue tuners will only be useful for a couple more years, as the terrestrial TV signal continues to be turned off around the country. Of course, it’s also easy to buy a freeview box or personal video recorder separately and plug that into it, but this uses up an input.

For the sake of future-proofing I'd advise against any built in freeview tuner. Whilst this may offer simplicity it does not gaurantee access to the full range of digital programmes planned for the future. Sky have already submitted plans to change their programmes to a subscription package which would likely require a new receiver, and what about terrestrial HD programmes planned for the future, are all integrated sets capable of decoding then displaying the resulting picture ?

Just my thoughts.

Rusty!

The Beko 32" is now £399 in Argos :shocked: